Participants Comments

Training sessions conducted by Dr. Orsini

*****

"Teamwork was also a critical factor, something that would make or break the team, How true!"

"This course put your interpersonal skills to the test..if you didn't have them before the course, you most assuredly have developed some now. "

"I believe that perhaps most important than rote memorization of financial and business principles, has been the lesson of working together with complete strangers to complete very difficult tasks."

"Overall the underlying theme was one of relief, joy and satisfaction, knowing they completed a challenging course that will benefit them in their personal and professional lives."

J. M. Defense Contractor - ex-military.

***

"No one area of the company was any more important than the other areas. Each company had to have the correct mesh to be successful."

"Teams that developed and stuck with a strategy seemed to be able to focus the resources for better competition in the market."

"The frustrations and challenges provided reinforced the importance of the business theory we have learned. I would welcome the opportunity in the future to take a similar course."

S.P. Commercial Bank Branch Manager

***

"I have spent many years managing teams and working with team motivation. A project like this allows a low risk alternative to meshing teams in the forming and storming stages of team development."

"I think it would be beneficial to an organization and I would definitely recommend it to my company."

M. B. HR Specialist - IT engineer.

***

"We learned the value of time management and diversity and how to communicate effectively."

"Don't expect management to be an easy job."

"I think the hands on experience and dedication may prove to be our most valuable asset in future careers."

T. A. M-P Administrator County Government Financial Department.

***

"This course was a great experience."

"Team work obviously comes out on top. You cannot expect to succeed in that simulation without team work."

"The virtual business environement is possible, we all proved it. We conducted meetings, made decisions, and ran successful businesses and never met one another. That is simply amazing! I'm not advocating a total anonymous employee approach to running a business, but certainly much can be taken care or through net meetings, e-mails, and teleconferencing. It can be a money saver! Hand in hand with teamwork, and not contrary to it is the individual. We all have individual strengths. These strengths have to be identified and exploited."

"You have to run a business like a business were people count on you and are looking forward to next week's paycheck. You have to stay on course."

M McC. 27 years Naval Officer.

***

"If life is anything like this simulation, communication would be the single most important factor of success."

"I thought this class was one of the most beneficial experiences in my curriculum thus far."

"This class was very rewarding and fun."

K.O. 14 years in Banking.

***

"It was a great simulation to make us aware of the business aspects as well as other practical aspects like communication, team dynamics, working in a virtual team, working in a team of people with diverse backgrounds, etc."

"Effective communication can improve the performance considerably."

"We have a better idea about activities involved and challenges faced in real life business environment."

"I find that this class has been a unique experience for most of the class members. Some students thought that this simulation is a great idea and they would love the opportunity to play it once again."

A.G. Information Technology specialist.

***

"Learning that pulling one's own weight seemed to be something big that all learned."

"I think that this class helped me learn a lot about myself and some of my strengths and weaknesses."

R. E. Future Education Graduate School Student.

***

"I think that we all have learned a lot throughout this course, and we have gained some very important teamwork skills. As well as other skills that we did not know we had before we were able to explore our abilities within the different business functions. I think each team and individual gained a lot of practical experience during the past few months that will be beneficial in the near future. I know that I have taken skills that I have learned this semester in this course and applied them to the work that I currently do."

S C-S . Had previously taken other simulation courses.

***

"I was greatly surprised that everyone had such great things to say about their team, about the respect they felt towards each other and towards the group effort"

"Everyone agrees that this class was the best way to end our undergraduate classes since it makes you use the knowledge acquired from all previous business classes. It really gives us an impression of what it is to manage a business and to prove and polish our leadership skills."

" I know that many of us are applying these lessons as we speak and many others will take them and apply them in their future role as manager. I believe that the most important lessons learned in this class were: Never underestimate any part of the business and its effect in the overall impact in accomplishing the company's strategic goals, the value of teamwork, the value of each individual's work and contribution to the overall well being of the company."

MM. Manager Family Business

***

"I think what it was is that running a company is always a big gamble but if you develop the right strategy, things will ultimately do well."

GJ

***

"I personally ended up really enjoying the whole experience and would do it again. I feel I could move on to a more advanced class with what I've learned about strategic management, business policies, market segments, R&D, marketing, production and finance."

L.R. 15 years in Human Resources.

***

"What I learned is that it is very important to facilitate a team spirit early on."

"Our team had a bad start, but we pulled together in the end by realizing that the team was more important than the individuals."

N.L. Administrative Assistant.

***

"Had we focused on being "Wal-Mart" we wouldn't have ended up the mom and pop shop of the competition."

"It certainly simulates the professional world."

C. P.

***

"However, it is evident that everyone walked away from this course learning two very important key factors. The first is that it takes team work to make a business a success. The second is that there are a lot of functional areas involved to make a business successful. Running a business was much more complicated than I realized."

W. D. Manager Fleet Management Co.

***

"In my opinion, even someone who did nothing to contribute or participate had to have learned something, perhaps they learned that with, or without them, the business will go on."

"I feel I can leave this class knowing that I have met a group of people who have made an impression on me by finding how groups really work when they become one as a team."

H.F. Manager in Hospital.

***

"I work in a corporate setting with hopes of moving up the corporate ladder. Your peers and superiors are often asked for references when you are being considered for a promotion. If you cannot function and/or work well with others (in a group setting) you will not be promoted. In my opinion, this was the most valuable lesson learned from this course."

K.O. 14 years in Banking.

***

"What made things even tougher was the fact the course decisions had no right or wrong answers."

"I immediately knew that everyone was very flexible and that this team could work together."

"This class was a learning experience and every week we came up with a newer and better way to approach smaller issues." "I have learned that to be successful in a professional manner there should be flexibility, honesty, trust and patience amongst team members."

A. K. Full-time employee; full-time student.

***

"I think we made an effective team, because what one person did not think of, another did."

"I think I contributed to the success of the team because I eventually learned how to position the products exactly where we needed them, which was my managerial role."

"Another lesson I learned was that even if just one person did not do what they were assigned it somehow affected the rest of us."

"I have learned not to hate group projects. I guess having a good group of people helped; everyone was very dedicated and very thorough."

"This course has helped me professionally by teaching me to speak up at work. If I have a suggestion to make, I will suggest it and state my reasoning for the suggestion, just as we did in our group meetings."

T. K. Working mother.

***

"I believe we were successful because of the way we were able to interact with each other and because we were all going in the same direction and that was to make our company successful."

"How easier it is to make a decision when you have a group of people who are working for the same common goal which is the success of the business."

M.A.H. Marketing Manager.

***

"I realize after calming down that if roles were reversed I would have been frustrated with me too and lost my patience, because I did not read but only skim the book and did not do the tutorials. These two things I came to realize were crucial for our understanding. This however was in the beginning and when I finally came around which was around the third week I realized that the reading, doing the tutorials and coming to the meeting prepared saved not only my team members' patience and frustrations but my own as well."

"We realized that each of us had different strengths and weaknesses so in the end the roles we had changed to the ones we were strong in. It worked out better for the whole team because we were happier with what we were doing because it was something that we were good at and understood."

"My personal opinion of this course was not good. However, after understanding more, reading and doing what I should have done in the very beginning, I in the end liked the course tremendously and learned from it."

R. E. Future graduate school Education student.

***

"Personally, I grew to LOVE the game. This course pulls the whole business nature together. It was grueling, but allowed me to really get inside of how businesses compete to become and maintain as leaders. Experiencing the challenge within the organization and capturing certain market segments was more than I expected from this course."

L. R. 15 years in HR

***

"As we begin to analyze and figure out where the mistake lies or where the error has taken place then we begin to get along much better and communicate much better."

"You had to put your personal feelings aside to think like a manager would even though you did not agree with the decisions that were made; you had still to be there."

"What I learned that could be especially of value for my professional life is not to let one person dictate the decisions and that you must communicate and work hard to get to the top and be successful."

F. P. Accounting manager at Maryland State Department of Education.

***

"The course taught me two important lessons in the world of business; the first is that I know more than I thought I did. I can make decisions quickly and while under high levels of pressure, and have begun doing so at my job. {.} The second lesson I have learned through this class is that I still have a lot to learn."

W. H. Process Auditor at Government Contractor

***

"The success of our team was based on cooperation of everyone, what was best for the team, and forgetting about each other's differences."

"My personal experience has been very enlightened because I realize that without each team member's cooperation with each other the team would fail and the company wouldn't succeed. I have no doubt that teamwork is essential for a company to achieve its goals."

K.L. Child Care Provider.

***

"The course was the best so far. It encompassed everything from having a company to run and a management team that I had to work with. It was a nice experience to know that I can run a company via email and communicate with others on such a level that the company is profitable. I met some great people that I enjoyed working with; there were some hard times but there was a lot of laughter too. The group experience will stay with me throughout my working life."

R. B. Manager in Chemical Industry.

***

"If someone had a suggestion that I did not fully agree with, I asked why they chose that answer. My team mates were very gracious in sharing the knowledge. Open door communications is a helpful resource. Many times it was hard to make a quick decision when other teammates did not come prepared and did not complete the assignments in full."

"My personal opinion of this course is it was great. In the "real world" a manager may be thrown into a company with no background about what he is setting into."

"A manager has to be able to delegate and communicate effectively. You may not agree but at least you have the information to make an effective decision. Tunnel vision is not a favorable characteristic for a manager."

"All these experiences will be effective in my personal growth. I have since taking this course started making enough positive suggestions and providing evidence to have my immediate supervisor ask me for help with interpreting reports and creating them."

T. A. M-P. Financial Dept. County Legal System., Tennessee.

***

"I was relieved to experience throughout the course that all the classes I had taken prior to this one were taken for a reason. I found myself referring back to other course texts and recalling principles of business and was now ready to venture out in my career."

"I learned that it is possible to achieve the unachievable: working together from sometimes opposite ends of the country or in different countries. Personally, this taught me that people are capable of doing just about anything if they put their mind to it. Professionally, this taught me that globalization and technology are not only here to stay but if you cannot operate within them you will have a tough time in this global economy."

J. D. M. Defense Contractor.

***

"I have a better understanding of how every decision makes such a difference and impact to other departments and to the company as a whole."

"Throughout the different business classes that I have taken I have learned many theories; this class taught me that they all matter at one time or another."

"Working with a team has taught me that it is OK to delegate authority to the right people and that all people can be as equally responsible as I am if I give them a chance."

"If I had to pick one thing that I think would help me the most in my professional life it would be that we should not judge people by a particular action and that everyone deserves the time to understand what is expected of them…and then given the chance to do it."

M.M.M. Manager - Family Business

***

"Throughout my educational career, there have been many challenges. However, this course may have been the hardest challenge to date."

"The same team member dragged the team down, never contributed anything of value, and wasted valuable time. It made several of us question the fairness of the class when someone could just take a free ride. Up until recently, I looked at this as a negative. Now I realize this is the real meaning of team work and probably one of the most important lessons I gained from this class. These issues are always going to exist and overcoming them and finding ways to get this "unsatisfactory" team member on an even keel with the rest of the team is what is needed to become successful as a team."

"I've always known the importance of team work but never realized how important it really is in business and every day life. I always considered myself a "team player" but find myself making changes in the way I interact with people at work now because of this class."

"The course provided a "reality check" that was sorely needed."

W. J. DiP. Manager - Fleet Management Co,

***

"I recall thinking how am I supposed to learn something from this little book and a simulation?"

"The leadership style allowed each person to feel significant in the team, knowing that their choices made a difference."

"The decision making process also contributed to the success of the team since there was accountability for each of us and each of us depended on the others to be accountable."

"This course has made a profound impression on what my vision of real world business administration should be."

"I feel it was particularly indispensable in having a real understanding of decision making for a company. The simulation of this course has prepared me more than probably any other course, now I can really use lessons gained throughout the degree program."

H. F. Manager in Hospital.

***

"I first felt as if I was making decisions in a vacuum, that's until I clicked on "reports"..Wow what a difference that made! All the information needed to make an informed decision was only one mouse click away."

"I think it's a great idea and would love to have the opportunity to play once again."

"This course.drove home to me the true impact of Business to Business sales."

L. B. Electronic Engineer.

***

"If I learned nothing else from this exercise, I learned that virtual teams can be very effective."

"When I open my business in the Spring, I will be a much more savvy business person. I have learned how to plot and follow trends, how to determine marketing budgets, etc. These were things I had never really thought about before."

P.P. Telecom Manager whose company was merged with another Telecom Co.

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