Buckle Up: Dealer Simulation CED Magazine, February 2009
Article Date: 02-01-2009
Copyright(C) 2009 Associated Equipment Distributors. All Rights Reserved.
'Test Drive,' a unique business training experience is coming to a city near you.
The AED Foundation and PriSim Business War Games have partnered to bring an all-new interactive business simulation experience to AED members. Test Drive: The Business War Game for Distributor Operations is proudly sponsored by BDO Seidman LLP.
Test Drive is a premier professional educational experience available exclusively through AED and will be offered three times in 2009: March 4-5 in Dallas; May 5-6 in Boston; and Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in Phoenix, Ariz.
How It Works
Test Drive participants are divided into teams, each controlling a single simulated dealership through two simulated business years, amid changing market conditions. To reinforce concepts fostered during simulation (DealerSim), teams gather together between rounds of play for a series of ‘mini-lectures’ on such topics as business strategy and basic financial principles, delivered by Jeff Lefebvre and David Semb of PriSim Business War Games.
Teams select three or four performance metrics upon which to be measured. When the final dealership results are tabulated, the team that performs best in its selected performance metric wins the simulation.
The Value of Simulation
Test Drive offers several advantages for adult learners, including: (1.) active engagement as participants discuss, analyze, strategize, experiment, and draw conclusions; (2.) immediate application of concepts; (3.) risk-free learning – the simulation makes it possible to experiment with decisions without posing any real financial or operational risk; (4.) immediate gratification that comes from receiving results of decisions in a matter of hours; (5.) team interaction that fosters a natural camaraderie.
Test Drive participants will learn:
- A “Total Dealership Perspective” on decision making
- How to apply proven business and management topics to dealer operations
- How to think strategically, use sound judgment, and analyze complex business situations
- How to develop effective business plans
- The importance of customers and their “lifetime values”
- How to read and interpret financial statements using AED’s Cost of Doing Business
- How to measure performance using financial and operational ratios
Test Drive is appropriate for all members of the dealership from every department. For more information, please call Alison Wechman at 773-297-2546 or e-mail
awechman@aednet.org.
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