Lawn Trimmers

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Lawn Trimmers is a realistic, time-limited business simulation within which you can evaluate your teams’ decision-making processes. It will demystify key business issues and test players’ strengths under pressure. Can they rigorously analyse information, debate the relative merits of a strategy, and make robust decisions in the face of stiff competition?  The game offers powerful insights into core business concepts such as business planning, market segmentation, costing, pricing and return on assets.  Success will depend on the participants’ ability to survey the market, establish the characteristics of the product to be offered, devise a suitable marketing strategy and create a production facility appropriate to the probable level of sales. Lawn Trimmers has been designed to deal with a relatively small number of variables, so that the tutor can focus on the debate within the teams and use the exercise to study the decision making process, inter-personal skills and group co-operation.
 

Objective:
 

Participants will be able to:

• Identify critical business drivers
• Test how these interlink in a successful business
• Monitor the impact of their decisions on their success
• Outline a process for successful decision making

How it works

Teams of players are pitched against each other as they start up and run their businesses which manufacture and sell lawn trimmers. Preliminary research using the materials provided helps them to formulate a business strategy. They need to decide which markets are most profitable, the size of factory required and the type of product to offer. The facilitator enters each teams’ decisions into the Lawn Trimmers program at the end of each playing period, and over successive ‘months’ players will consider their sales and advertising policies and match these with their production decisions.  Teams receive a simple P&L statement after each round, and review their market position to decide whether any changes in strategy are required. Players work hard and fast in a pressured environment to try and win by achieving the highest return on capital.
 

What participants will be doing
 

Studying written data about an imaginary company and its situation; debating alternative strategies; making decisions and entering these on a form; analysing the computer-generated financial and operational reports; observing the strategies of competitors and trying to frustrate them.

For what levels is it appropriate?

All levels of staff, up to and including management. It is also suitable for students of business management.

Included

Tutor manual; Players instructions; Program disc and all supporting documentation.

Elgood can provide facilitation for this business simulation.