Business problems:
Alignment
Insights
Serious games used:
Business wargame
In 1992, the new CEO of ConAgra pondered the future of the company. Were the separate business units going to be competitive over the next decade? In the years to come, who would be ConAgra’s competitors? And how would the company establish a stronger global presence?
To answer these questions, ConAgra hired Booz Allen Hamilton to build and run a custom business “wargame.” Over the course of three days, executives from the company would play the parts of ConAgra, its competitors, and other players in the larger market. The players would make one turn per day, which represented actions that ConAgra could take over the course of a few years.
The game helped ConAgra identify cross-business opportunities, identify company strengths and weaknesses, and develop a broader range of options for ConAgra’s corporate strategy in the real world. The game also focused the players on the bottom line: the decisions ConAgra players made affected the share price in the simulated market. The economic advantage of investing in areas like stronger international distribution networks became immediately clear, once players could see their impact in the game.
For more information…
A book by Booz Allen Hamilton consultants that includes a description of the ConAgra game.
A Booz Allen Hamilton white paper about business wargames.
