Business simulation as a vehicle for job Saudization of management positions.

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Jumpstart Your Saudi Managers’
Career and achieve better business
results
CESIM Business Simulation
Multiple customized industry sectors; Banking, Telco, Power, Marketing,
Services, General & International Management, Hospitality.
http://ashraf-osman.com Author : Ashraf Osman, 2013

Introduction
Saudization or job localization in Saudi and other GCC countries has been an ongoing
challenge for quite some time. The employment pyramid has 3 levels:
1. Performance level (technical, administrative, service jobs).
2. Middle Management or departmental (decision making and HR skills).
3. Senior Management (strategic and financial decision making).
The base of the pyramid (performance) witnesses a lot of ongoing efforts and
initiatives on both training as well as regulatory fronts, however the middle and senior
management represent a different challenge.
Decision making is the result of training, coaching and real life experience, taking
wrong decisions and making mistakes is inevitable as well as costly.
The cost could be loss of profits, market share, or worse losing organization’s
reputation. The only way to avoid this is to include “Business Simulation” in the Saudi
managers qualification program.
Author : Ashraf Osman, 2013

Introduction
Business simulation gives the participant the following benefits :
1. Actual use of learning content
2. Immediate use of subject matter knowledge
3. Work closely with others
4. Compete against real people
5. Engage human emotions (discuss, apply, review, compete, etc..)
Above all, it is a safe environment to practice real life situations, compete against real
people. You take decisions that will affect your company and see the immediate effect
on your P&L statement and balance sheet.
This presentation is about what I consider the best player in the field of Business
simulation (CESIM). I have been in GCC countries for 20+ years and know the
challenges they face in localizing as many jobs as possible and I confidently believe
that Business Simulation is a great tool to expedite the building of qualified Saudi
decision makers.

Introduction
CESIM is a Finnish company that started
developing business simulations since 1996.
In my opinion they have the best multi-lingual,
multi industry, customizable portfolio of
business simulators in industries as Banking,
Telco, Power, Marketing, Services, General &
International Management, Hospitality.
Now relax and enjoy the presentation

What is “Simulation”?
• The imitation of the operation of a real-world
process or system over time.
• Used to show the eventual real effects of alternative
conditions and courses of action.

Why “Simulation”?
Simulation is used when the real system cannot be
engaged, because it is:
 Not accessible
 Dangerous
 Unacceptable to engage (costly)
 Being designed but not yet built

Information Retention Rate
0
20
40
60
80
5 10 20 30
50
75 80
Retention rate
Source: NTL Institute for Applied Science

History of physical simulation

Benefits of Physical Simulation
• Personnel and equipment safety
• Financial risk avoidance
• Actual use of learning content

Business simulation

Benefits of Business simulation
• Actual use of learning content
• Immediate use of subject matter knowledge
• Work closely with others
• Compete against real people
• Engage human emotions
(discuss, apply, review, compete, etc..)
• Ability to instantly see the quantitative impact of the
qualitative decisions (taking bold decisions and see the
impact on profitability).

What today’s leaders want
• Training content that is :
– Helpful
– Engaging
– Applicable
– Challenging
– Contemporary

Engaging ?
• What is your reaction if the police tells you:
1. “There is a violent criminal loose in your country”
2. “ There is a violent criminal loose in your city”
3. “ There is a violent criminal loose on your street ”
Engagement increases with the possibility of direct impact.

Simulation and Game Theory
• Creating successful Sims requires balance between:
– Business acumen
– Learning acumen
– Technical acumen
• A good business simulation should be:
– Highly engaged
– Learn a lot about the subject matter
– No distracted by technology
– Run by experienced facilitators

Game theory
Source: Using Business Simulations and Serious Games by Hugh Hunter

What happens in a simulation
1. Participants read the setup and background (case).
2. Participants make decisions within their teams.
3. Participants see results in the form of a winning
metric( s).
4. Participants make more decisions to try to better
their positions against the other teams.
5. At the end, there is a placement of team
performance. There are clear winners and losers.

Simulation types
Simulation type Engagement Strategic
Application
Corp. Cultural
Awareness
Development
Complexity
Human vs. Computer Medium-Low Medium Low Medium
Human vs. Human High High High High
Off the shelf Low Low Low Low
Tailored High High High Medium
Customized High High High High

How Children Learn
No Risk
No Fear
Don’t care if they look ridiculous !
Talking
Trying
Playing
Asking
Agree/di
sagree
Children
learning

How Adults Learn
Adult
learning
Want to use what they know
Wonder why they’re here
Resist & resent
Want to feel acknowledged
Then finally start learning !
• Risk
• Fear
• Self-Image

Adult Learning Using Business Simulation
Want to use what they know
Adult
learningWhy should I learn this?
Resist & resent
Want to feel acknowledged
Start of learning
• No Risk
• No Fear
• Immediate use of subject matter
• Self-actualization through competition with real people
Trying
Talking
Asking
Agree/di
sagree
Playing

http://ashraf-osman.com Author : Ashraf Osman, 2013

Author : Ashraf Osman, 2013http://ashraf-osman.com

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Business simulation as a vehicle for job Saudization of management positions.

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