Business simulation fuels executive development : Program focuses on the business and strategic priorities of future managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to highlight the key role of business simulations in executive development. Design/methodology/approach – Details how an international energy corporation teamed up with a strategy-implementation firm on a program to develop senior executives. Provides statistics from a report that explores the relationship between business acumen and strategy execution. Findings – Reveals that business simulation is growing as a training approach in relation to traditional methods of expert-led lectures and on-the-job experience. Practical implications – Describes the various simulation processes that the aspiring senior managers at the energy firm went through in the process of preparing them for top jobs in the company. Reveals that the program enabled participants to think more strategically, broadened their enterprise perspectives, built financial acumen and provided an external focus and understanding of geopolitical decisions, competitive dynamics and customer and investor expectations. Social implications – Highlights changes in company’s attitudes to executive development, with greater concentration on business simulations. Originality/value – Provides the inside story of an executive-development program customized to business and strategic priorities.