Global Management Simulation Experience

Description

This course has a very practical approach to strategic international (marketing) management, which includes financial analysis and planning. The course is built around a Management Simulation (management game).

Plan, implement and evaluate an international brand marketing strategy within a realistic simulated environment. In this course, participants work as a marketer or manager in a small international, multi-disciplinary decision-making unit of a manufacturer within a competitive industry as part of a Management Simulation game, in which your firm will compete with other firms in the market.  

You will involved in planning, implementation and evaluation processes, involving ongoing marketing, competitive and financial analysis, as well as coordination of marketing programmes and operations capabilities (capacity and inventory management, sales forecasting and so on). These efforts lead to the development of marketing strategies which are implemented within short-term and long-term marketing plans.

More and more organisations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, realise that they must offer their customers a unique value if they want to be and remain successful. This requires an organisation to make well-informed, data-driven choices. What value does the organisation want to provide and what value is the organisation able to provide? This also implies the exclusion of  certain activities. Strategic management and marketing deal with the selection processes involved.

Your goal is to improve your firm's long-term financial performance. The performance of your team will be evaluated via a multi-factor, balanced scorecard evaluation system that includes financial, operational, and customer-facing performance metrics. Will you be in the best team at the end of the week?

 

NB: This course is also part of the 5 weeks' track Innovation in European Business and the 6 weeks' track Innovation in European Business XXL .

What previous participants (summer 2025) say about this course

"It was the first time I could join such an international classroom; very rich through the participants, not only through the teaching."

 

We were challenged on more/broader aspects than just sales/marketing planning; I enjoyed it, and also working as a team, and those other assignments - besides the game - that were included.

Lecturers

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Bart Toering, MSc

Target audience

This course is a valuable challenge for students in bachelor programmes on Business Administration, Marketing, and Finance, and is also open to bachelor and master students in other fields, as long as you have some background or interest in business.

A good command of English is necessary! Given the interactive nature of teaching, students must have the capabilities to actively contribute in class and communicate (understand and speak) in English well, ideally min level B2.

Aim of the course

This course aims to provide you with the opportunity to put your decision-making competences to the test, in an international, and sometimes hectic environment.

At the end of the course you have gained an insight into your own strengths and weaknesses in the field of vision making, analysis, planning, budgeting, coordinating and cooperating in an international team and in strategic  international (marketing) management in particular.

Study load

50 hours of lectures/field excursions + assignments (self-study), flanking the management simulation game.

Please note: You must attend all learning activities (e.g. workshops, fieldwork) to be able to receive the Certificate of Participation and/or the credits for this course, unless absence is officially approved by the teachers and the coordinator of the Utrecht Summer School. You will be expected to be present until the final day of the course has ended. Please keep this in mind when booking your return flight. You can find your schedule in the Day to Day overview of your course on the course page.

Tags

• decision making
• international marketing
• management game
• marketing management
• simulation
• strategic management