tl;dr: Building a value chain game is draws upon both the underlying theory and the real world practice. Here are the high-level steps we use to weave them together to make an engaging learning experience.
Do you have a value chain game? This is one of the requests we’ve heard most often, and so we finally built one. A mini-game sure, but it’s helpful as a proof of concept that we can build upon if it’s popular. This particular mini-game also offered a chance to profile the build process, from research and design, to testing with professionals who apply this concept in the real world, and finally to launch.
Step 1
The first step in building the value chain game was to understand what teaching points to highlight. In this case, the focus is on the interconnectedness of the organization, and how impact is ultimately driven by context. In certain industries and markets, a certain link on the chain might be the main driver of value. However, this often changes in a neighboring market, adjacent industry, or even within a direct competitor.
Step 2
Making this relevant and vivid for students is the next step. Each decision in the game needs to have a direct tie to the teaching points, and at the same time roughly align with decisions people actually make at work. Balancing this tension is the art in what we do, and we elected to set this game in the context of the turnaround of a struggling business.
Step 3
With the context in place, we started to spell out the details of each decision and we were pleasantly surprised to see how the theory and the practice aligned. With an early draft in place, we reached out to practitioners. One CEO in particular had just taken the reins of a PE portfolio company and he had conducted a value-chain analysis to prioritize initiatives in his first year. He helped us adjust some impact weighting, and added color to the decisions made within certain departments. At the end of the session, he provided the best feedback of all by asking when he could use the exercise with his team.
Step 4
Before that happens, we need to complete the development and testing process. Since it’s a mini-game, that includes prototype development (learn more about that here). Once we have generated an prototype that we think works, we begin play-testing and adapt our prototype to make the experience more engaging or edifying. You can help us on that path by testing out a beta version of “Value Chain Clinician” below:
Step 5
Once we believe this version is ready for production, we’ll begin robust QA-testing before finally deploying it to our marketplace. If this exercise gets traction, then it’ll be a candidate to become a full SimCase, but in the meantime it’ll remain free to play in our mini-game catalog here.
If you have feedback or would prefer a live walkthrough for this mini-game or a larger SimCase, you can reach out to us here ([email protected]). We’d love to hear from you.
