FAQ

In business games, participants train business contexts, management methods and teamwork according to the principle of ‘learning by doing’. Complex management problems are presented in a realistic setting. Players manage their own virtual company as a team and are in direct competition with other teams.

As managers, they influence various decision-making factors. In the MARGA business game, this concerns the areas of marketing, production, personnel and finance in different markets. Participants learn which internal and external factors influence the economic success of a company.

They complete tasks and make decisions within a specific time frame. The effects are reproduced in the simulation. From this, the players can in turn draw conclusions for the following game period with the aim of positioning themselves more successfully than the competition.

The form of the teaching method helps to convey the content in a practical, effective and fun way, which is why it is being used in management training courses.

• By managing a fictitious company, participants take on an overall entrepreneurial perspective. Business simulations depict a realistic and dynamic market environment in which decisions can be made without risk. Participants are trained to think and act in an entrepreneurial, holistic and cross-departmental manner and thus gain an understanding of economic interrelationships. Business contexts and the consequences of decisions within the company become tangible.
• Learning in business games is based on the principle of “learning by doing” and is therefore primarily self-directed. The independent development, application and repetition of content ensures that participants actively engage with the learning content and internalize what they have learned.
• The idea of teamwork and competition plays an important role in business simulations. This is because the competitive situation and the exchange and assumption of responsibility within the group promote motivation to learn.

Thanks to the game-based learning system, the players in the business game learn interactively and with motivation in a competitive environment. This promotes motivation and enthusiasm. The playful form ensures that content is conveyed in a practical, effective and fun way. Fun and enjoyment motivate participants to engage intensively with the learning content.

The mixture of education and entertainment – also known as edutainment – has a positive effect on the learning process. Learning should and must be fun and most people find this aspect much easier.

Subject-specific skills: Business management topics are covered in greater depth. These include, among others:

• Strategy development and portfolio management
• Production & resource planning
• Financial reports: balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement
• Key figure systems for profitability, liquidity, financing, asset structure
• Cost accounting and cost management
• Value-oriented corporate management

Methodological skills:By managing their own (business game) company, participants learn to apply business management content and interrelationships in practice. They train to make well-founded business decisions and get to know their role as decision-makers. In this way, they develop business decision-making skills and the ability to think and act entrepreneurially.

Social skills: Intensive discussions and joint decision-making train the participants’ teamwork skills. Success and fun strengthen team spirit and motivation. However, conflicts, disagreements and failures in competition are also part of this and not only strengthen social skills such as the ability to deal with criticism and conflict, but also lead to a more intensive debate.

Personal skills: In business games, participants deal with the learning content independently. They are required to develop their own methods for solving problems and making decisions. This promotes an independent and self-organized way of working. Self-confidence and personal responsibility, but also a high level of frustration tolerance and resilience through challenges or even failures in the course of the game are strengthened.

Business games are used by national and international companies and universities and are generally suitable for employees from all disciplines, with or without previous business knowledge: From young professionals to experts and high potentials to senior executives.

They are also ideal for students studying for their first Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with a focus on business and management.

In principle, no previous business knowledge is required. The business game arouses an interest in understanding business contexts and being able to use information from controlling to make well-founded decisions.

From our wealth of experience, we can make recommendations as to which formats and topics are particularly suitable for certain target groups.

More informationen about target groups

The MARGA offer includes open programs in which individuals or teams from different companies can participate. Our open programs take place on fixed dates at least once a year. You can find an overview of our programs here.

We also develop individual inhouse solutions for you with your desired topic focus in various formats. In doing so, we focus on your target groups and your organizational framework. Our customized business games can be tailored to your individual requirements like a modular system.

You can choose the focus of your content and integrate MARGA into existing personnel development measures. Decide on the appropriate form of application, e.g. online training, a pure in-class event or a combination of face-to-face modules with distance learning phases as a blended learning solution.

We will be happy to advise you!

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The time required can be individually adapted to your organizational framework. You can use the MARGA business game as part of one-day or multi-day in-class seminars or run it as an online program over several weeks or months, which allows you to spread out the schedule and reduce the weekly workload for participants.

Our open programs take place on fixed dates and extend over a pre-defined period of time. Depending on the program, the duration ranges from 1.5 seminar days to six months.

In general, you can assume that the time required by your participants will be somewhat higher at the beginning, but will gradually decrease later on. The reason for this is that general training, finding your way around the software, organizing the team and developing the strategy all take place at the beginning.

We will be happy to develop an individual schedule for you!

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MARGA offers a full-service package with complete implementation and communication. As soon as you have registered your participants, we take over the entire process of communication, organization and collaboration. We will keep you regularly informed or involve you to the extent you require.

We work exclusively with our own experienced and highly qualified trainers, who provide you with reliable support in terms of content and organization. We work for you worldwide – you decide where, when and how we can support you.

Individual support through tutoring during a business game program is important for sustainable learning success and therefore a critical success factor.

After all, participants can only learn what they understand. In the business simulation, learning is largely self-directed. It is therefore important to have access to competent tutors in the background at all times, who can discuss questions with the participants promptly and individually and point out connections that relate to their specific decision-making situation.

Tutoring is offered to an unlimited extent and is used extensively and gladly by many participants.

You can choose between German and English for each team. Communication with the MARGA trainers takes place according to this language choice. Each participant has the option of switching between the available languages in the MARGA software at any time. For example, financial reports can also be compared in different languages.

Each team consists of a maximum of six people. The composition is up to you. If you put together several teams, our experience has shown that we recommend heterogeneous teams with members from different specialist areas. This encourages the adoption of different perspectives and approaches. Teamwork is trained particularly intensively when you network employees from different locations. For intercontinental teams, you may need to take time zones into account.

No additional software installation is required for our online business game. Participants can access the software with their personal log-in via any standard browser.

All decisions are transmitted online via the MARGA software. All decisions can be changed as often as required up to the respective submission deadline; the data available on the decision date is decisive.

Each team member has individual access to the software, but all team members can make all decisions and also overwrite the entries of other members – communication within the team is therefore essential. To simplify matters, it is possible to create alternative scenarios.

In addition to the business game, you can integrate the following content into your program:

• Tutoring
• Tutorial notes
• Specialized webinars
• Learning videos
• Online Course “Financial Basics”
• Short courses
• Business Administration Crash Course
• Board game seminar

The board game seminar “Financial Basics” teaches the basics of accounting with ease. Participants see (and hear) vividly how their money increases or decreases on the board as a result of their own decisions. The basics of finance and controlling are taught here. Based on easy-to-understand business processes, internal and external accounting are explained step by step and are therefore suitable for beginners. The board game can also be optimally integrated into a program as preparation for the online business game.

In the online business game MARGA, participants manage their own virtual company as a team. The business simulation challenges participants to develop a corporate strategy and translate it into operational decisions in the areas of marketing, production and finance. The MARGA business game not only depicts the participants’ own multi-layered company, but also a complex market environment that forces the teams to act in line with current economic and political conditions.

Yes, we would be happy to provide you with demo access to our MARGA software. Simply call us on +49 2235 406364 or send us an e-mail to info@marga.de.