Gaming as business: Accenture experience Ivo Wenzler Wouter Jan Kleinlugtenbelt

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Gaming as business Accenture experienceIvo
WenzlerWouter Jan Kleinlugtenbelt
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Accenture portfolio of simulation offerings

• Questions from our clients
• What will the future market look like and what
  are the probable effects on our way of doing
  business?
• Where do we want to be in the relation to that
  future and what needs to change in our strategy?
• How do we change, and how do we effectively and
  efficiently develop, implement, and apply the new
  capabilities we need?
• How can we accelerate critical capabilities,
  maximize human performance, and make the results
  we have achieved sustainable?

Better Cheaper Faster
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Market simulations

• Problem Complex, nonlinear, qualitative and
  quantitative, strategic, dynamic, mostly outward
  oriented.
• Objectives Insight and understanding, knowledge
  creation, discovery of behavior, demand and
  supply modeling.
• Audience Individual decisions makers, multiple
  players (groups of executives), organizational
  focus.
• Interaction Model driven, medium level of
  abstraction, computer based (SD model) or
  computer supported.

• Simulation was used to
• Provide insight into the dynamics of a
  competitive energy market
• Identify market liberalization issues and test
  key strategies for the future.
• Simulation was chosen because
• It can represent dynamics of the whole demand and
  supply market with a limited number of decision
  makers actually playing
• It compresses real time without loosing required
  level of detail, and between 10 and 25 years can
  be played in one day
• It provides quantitative responses to ones
  decisions during the course of testing different
  market strategies.

Utility 21 market simulation Client ? Utility
retail company
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Policy simulations

• Problem Complex, nonlinear, ambiguous, mostly
  qualitative, strategic, dynamic relationships,
  inward oriented.
• Objectives Insight, understanding, policy
  development and testing, negotiation, shared
  vision, consensus.
• Audience Multiple players (groups of policy
  makers), group and organizational focus.
• Interaction Facilitator or participants driven,
  medium level of abstraction, computer supported
  (decision support).

• Simulation was used to
• Test whether a market oriented electric power
  industry would be stable and affordable
  (effective and efficient)
• Provide managers with an experience of what it
  would be like to act in a market-oriented
  electric power industry.
• Simulation was chosen because
• It can represent dynamics of the national energy
  market with a limited number of decision makers
  actually playing
• It compress real time without loosing required
  level of detail, and 25 years into the future can
  be played in two days
• It allows executives of different companies to
  experiment with the future of the energy market
  within a safe environment.

Contractrijk 2000 simulation Client ?
Association of utility companies
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Dynamic business simulations

• Problem Complex, nonlinear, mostly
  quantitative, strategic and operational, dynamic
  relationships, inward oriented.
• Objectives Insight, understanding, knowledge
  creation, behavior forecast, strategy development
  and testing.
• Audience Individual decisions makers), multiple
  players (groups of decision makers),
  organizational focus.
• Interaction Model driven, different levels of
  abstraction, computer based (system dynamics
  model).

• Simulation was used to
• Develop and test strategic (asset management)
  scenarios and create insight into the effects of
  asset investment decisions on business result
• Help decision makers identify and compare
  value-creating opportunities.
• Standardize network design, with potentially
  significant reduction in investments and costs.
• Simulation was chosen because
• It provides a dynamic and quantitative
  representation of how the system works
• It helps translating tacit understanding of the
  relationships in the system into a more formal
  and transparent model that can be used
  repetitively.

Asset management dynamic business model Client ?
Utility network company
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Capability simulations

• Problem Medium complexity, mostly linear
  (sequential), quantitative, operational, inward
  oriented.
• Objectives Knowledge creation, discovery of
  behavior, process (capability) design, testing,
  optimization.
• Audience Individual decisions makers), multiple
  players (groups of decision makers),
  organizational focus.
• Interaction Model driven, different levels of
  abstraction, computer based (discreet event
  simulation).

• Simulation was used to
• Determine how robust are the key business
  processes in view of expected market dynamics
  after liberalization
• Determine the expected workload, and the
  capabilities and number of people needed to
  deliver performance
• Determine the ability of the planned IT to
  support achievement of process related
  objectives.
• Simulation was chosen because
• It is an interactive communication tool for
  creating insights into the effects of different
  future scenarios on performance
• It provides a dynamic and quantitative
  representation of how the new processes will work.

Process validation simulation Client ? Utility
retail company
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Day in a life simulations

• Problem Medium complexity, well understood,
  human performance focus, operational, inward
  outward oriented.
• Objectives Process testing, knowledge transfer,
  individual and integrated performance, confidence
  building.
• Audience Multiple players playing their
  real-life role, with individual, group, and
  organizational focus.
• Interaction Process and participants driven
  (real-life), low level of abstraction, computer
  supported (actual systems).

• Simulation was used to
• Increase awareness within management of the new
  planning process, associated KPIs and the
  reporting structure
• Increase ability of management to work with the
  new planning tool and create more accurate
  forecasts
• Help management to understand the planning
  improvement effort in relation to the companys
  turn-around process.
• Simulation was chosen because
• It provides an experiential and risk-free
  environment for accelerating learning abut new
  processes and systems
• It looks and feels like work, but without the
  real-time consequences.

Planning process simulation Client ? Global car
manufacturer
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Performance simulations

• Problem Medium complexity, well understood,
  human performance focus, operational, outward
  oriented.
• Objectives Insight and understanding, knowledge
  transfer, individual performance, confidence
  building.
• Audience Single player (at all levels) playing
  their real-life roles and responsibilities,
  individual focus.
• Interaction Model driven (simulated real-life
  situations), low abstraction, computer based
  (self-directed).

• Simulation was used to
• Increase the ability of back-office employees to
  work with new processes and systems
• Help initiate the culture change towards more
  client-centric culture.
• Simulation was chosen because
• It provides the required training with minimal
  disturbances in operations people can learn at
  their own pace
• It does not require a stable training or testing
  IT environment of new systems
• It can be reused with light modification and
  without additional delivery costs
• In addition to improved learning it brings
  significant training cost savings.

New way of working simulation Client ? Global
insurance company
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Gaming simulations

• Simulation was used to
• Provide insight into new reporting and steering
  processes and structures and their contribution
  to improving business performance
• Identify gaps between the current behavior and
  the newly required behavior
• Teach managers how to use steering instruments
  such as Balanced Score Card, PL, and Cash Flow
  in managing their respective organizations.
• Simulation was chosen because
• It provides an experiential environment for
  accelerated learning on how to effectively steer
  an organization
• It compress real time, and 3 years into the
  future can be played in one day.

• Problem Different levels of complexity,
  strategic and operational, mostly human
  performance focus, inward and outward.
• Objectives Insight and understanding, knowledge
  transfer, individual performance, confidence
  building.
• Audience Multiple players (groups within
  organizations at all levels), individual and
  group focus.
• Interaction Facilitator or participants driven,
  higher abstraction level, mostly metaphors,
  mostly no computer support.

Steering in practice simulation Client ? Utility
network company
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Ten commandments for gaming as a business

• 1. Get a clear understanding of who needs a
  simulation and why do they think they need it!
• 2. Get a clear understanding of the value
  simulation can deliver and the risks involved!
• 3. Get a clear understanding of stakeholder
  agendas and their capacity for sponsorship!
• 4. Ensure that the simulation objectives are
  clear, specific, and measurable!
• 5. Ensure that the simulation design process is
  iterative as well as interactive!
• 6. Ensure the operational excellence of the
  simulation implementation process!
• 7. Determine the effects simulation has on
  learning!
• 8. Communicate the relevance of what has been
  learned to the key stakeholders!
• 9. Ensure that learning is translated into action
  and monitor effects on performance!
• 10. Get recognition without it you will not
  grow the business!

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Questions