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The Real Endurance Test

We are finally back from our break. We started the week with the Intopia (International Operations) business simulation game. The class were divided into 10 teams and with 20million Swiss...

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We are finally back from our break. We started the week with the Intopia (International Operations) business simulation game. The class were divided into 10 teams and with 20million Swiss Franc (I wish it was real), we were given a free hand to develop the chips and PC businesses in US, Europe or Brazil. Now, that did not sound so difficult, right? Well, it was! Everyone had a clean piece of sheet and 20million Swiss Francs. How each team developed and plans to carry out their business is entire up to them. It’s a free-for-all world.

The challenges came in developing and agreeing on the strategies and how to work together. Anyway, I shall not delve into the details and spoil the fun for the future ESMT MBA classes. I am sure my classmates and alumni will understand how this Intopia world works. The real test was getting started in an intense 5 days of planning, discussions, negotiations, anything you name it especially when you came back from a good 3-week summer break. Most of us stayed up late into the the night or even up to early morning to plan and discuss for the next decision submission. At one point, my CEO and I were still emailing and SMSing each other at 3AM! In such an intense period, anything can happen and did happened. For me, I definitely enjoyed the game and the role that I played – as the CFO and supported the team. We all put on our experiences and learning from the last 6 modules into action. We all worn many hats – marketing, production, operations, HR, finance, manufacturing, IT, etc. But, it all ended up nicely in a well-executed strategy.

In the end, we were all winner – in a way of another or another. If you thought (if you have been following my ESMT blog) that the last 8 months were the test, you’re wrong. THIS, the Intopia, is the REAL endurance test. The interactions between classmates and teams were really put to the test. For our alliance team (see pic), we working pretty well, I must say. We put aside our differences, if there were even any to start with, and worked towards a common goal. If you’re curious about this game, join ESMT and experience this real excitement.

Next week, we begin our Module 7 – the elective module. How time passes us by. 8 and a half months gone. I need to sleep now; most of us slept less than 4 hours each day for this whole week.

Jimmy

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Comments

16 August 2010

Jimmy Low

Fabio, yes it was a grueling time. Guess it depends how much time each of us want to invest into the game. Each hour has its payoff and it definitely did for my team : ) I am sure my CEO can testify to that.

less than 4 hours sleep each day - sounds like investment banking not b-school module!