Companies like Microsoft have employed game theory to help analyze strategic plans.  Last February, the software giant was moving to take over search rival Yahoo.  Five months in advance of the eventual minuet of offer and counteroffer Microsoft had anticipated and planned for the resulting outcome by applying game theory.  This is a great use and application of business acumen, and business acumen training.

Game theory can take many forms, but most companies use a simplified version that focuses executives on the mindset of the competition.  According to Wharton School of Business professor Louis Thomas who teaches game theory, the formal stuff gets in the way, peeling back to the to a bare essential works best.

At companies like Chevron "Game theory is our secret strategic weapon", say Frank Kock, a Chevron decision analyst.  "It reveals the win-win and gives you the ability to more easily play out where things might lead."

Many companies only take up the idea of value found in game theory after discovering a competitor has been using it successfully.   Microsoft engaged in game theory after learning that IBM had been using it successfully. 

The concept is to get managers and others thinking about competition and customers differently.  When you have four or five players, with four actions each might or might not take, that could lead to a million outcomes.  The value of table top simulations lays in the interaction and decision making that happens among the various players as they each apply their own set of values and learning experiences to a common objective.

Game theory can be very useful in many areas of finance, particularly when decisions require both economic and strategic considerations.

Companies like BMW, Osh Kosh, Michelin, BIC, Trinity Industries, GM, Roybi, BASF, Westvaco, Norpac and many others renew their planning processes with the use of INCOME OUTCOME a business simulation that applies game theory to this evolved table top simulation.

When asked why Michelin has used the same basic simulation every year for the last 12 years their VP replied - because it delivers RESULTS every year.

Income Outcome is available in three plans, beginner, intermediate and advanced.  It is flexible enough to address the needs of a beginning sales person as well as keep the most jaded and fire tested CEO on their toes learning something new every single time.

To find out how your enterprise can benefit from Income Outcome, better business acumen and business acumen training, contact Jack Howe at Drum Beat Productions 972 462 0243.