Business Game

Business Game offers an in-depth exploration of strategic business management, with a focus on notions such as positioning, segmentation, targeting, and value creation, as well as product portfolio management (strategic options, demand forecasting). The course places particular emphasis on the challenges and opportunities of the circular economy, encouraging students to integrate circularity into their strategic thinking. These themes are explored within a competitive and increasingly digital business environment.
The course is structured around a strategic business simulation, in which student teams manage a virtual company competing in a B2C market. The management simulation is not an end in itself; rather, it serves as an exploratory platform to deepen theoretical concepts and connect them to the context of the virtual company.
Students will be required to incorporate into their strategic thinking the potential circularity of their products (repairability, durability, carbon footprint, recyclable materials), and more globally, of their company (Eco-Score, sustainable initiatives, etc.). This will also involve considering market reactions, where consumers and governments are increasingly concerned about environmental challenges. This growing awareness raises expectations regarding companies’ ability to adapt, placing pressure on the virtual companies.
In addition to introducing an environmental framework based on circular economy principles, the course is also grounded in another key context in which companies operate: market digitalization. Attention will therefore also be given to digital communication strategies that organizations can implement in an increasingly digitized world.
Once their strategic options are defined, students will implement them within the simulation (product design via R&D, pricing, distribution, communication). In the final phase, they will reflect on their company’s positioning in light of environmental and digital transitions.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to:

• analyze the possible strategic options for a company/organization, in particular from the point of view of its market positioning and customer segmentation;
• build the most appropriate strategy(s) for a company/organization, referring to theoretical concepts;
• understand and link information from advanced studies;
• identify and focus on information that allows him to feed his reflection and achieve his objective, when a significant amount of information is provided to him;
• reconcile the points of view of his team;
• anticipate all the activities of his work over time, under pressure in terms of time;
• synthesize one's thinking in a clear way, to argue the choices made and to communicate them effectively, orally and in writing;
• critically evaluate the relevance of the choices made.
• Understand sustainability stakes for a company in a competitive market.
• Better grasp sustainable and digital initiatives.
• Evaluate and appreciate the relevance of their choices, a posteriori

Competencies
Given the « competencies referential » linked to the LSM Master in Management and in Business Engineering, this course mainly develops the following competencies:

• 2. Master an active and integrated command of a multidisciplinary body of knowledge (content, methods. models, conceptual frameworks) essential to act expertly in the various areas of management.
• 6. Integrate and work in a team, exercise enlightened leadership within the group.
• 7. Define and manage a project to completion, taking into account the objectives, resources and constraints that characterize the project environment.
• 8. Communicate, converse effectively and convincingly with the stakeholders

Student evaluation will be determined by:
(1) a group on-going evaluation (60% of the global grade). More specifically, we assess the progression throughout the different sessions with regard to the following elements:
- progression in terms of results (company performance)
- thorough understanding and application of the theoretical concepts
- evolution in strategic reasoning (consistence in decisions, relevance in the positioning of brands in the different markets, attitude towards risk, learning from mistakes);
- group dynamics
- challenges and intermediate reports. Specific instructions will be provided during the first session
The assessment considers the quality of the exchanges held with each team during the sessions, including the questions asked, the relevance of observations and contributions, and the extent of the guidance required from the instructors. As a result, the team achieving the highest level of company performance in the simulation does not necessarily obtain the highest overall grade, as all five evaluation criteria are taken into account.
The continuous assessment system requires each student to attend all course sessions.
The detailed course arrangements, including the guidelines relating to the reports and challenges, will be communicated to students during the first course session.
If the student did successfully pass the 3 evaluation activities, the integrated method mentioned above (group on-going evaluation 60% - individual on-going evaluation 20% - written final report 20%) will be applied. If the student got a failure grade on the individual on-going evaluation, the final grade will be a failure (corresponding to the grade obtained on individual on-going evaluation).
In case a student does not get a sufficient grade to get credited for this class, and if s/he wants to be able to improve his/her grade for the current academic year, s/he will be asked to elaborate an extra individual written report, whose grade will replace the grades obtained in (2) and (3) - individual on-going evaluation and written final report. S/he won't be able to improve the grade obtained for the group on-going evaluation.
Note: In the group/team work assigned in this course, information sources must systematically be cited, according to the academic references standards. In case the student has used a generative AI, s/he must systematically mention the parts of his/her work in which s/he used this tool, by adding a bottom page note indicating if the generative AI tool has been used and the purpose of this use (information search, text writing and/or text revising). The student remains responsible for the content of its production, independently of the references used. Thus, by submitting a team/group or individual work report for evaluation, the student asserts that: (i) it accurately reflects the phenomenon studied, and to do so, s/he must have verified the facts; (ii) s/he has respected all specific requirements of the work assigned to her/him, in particular requirements for transparency and documentation of the scientific approach implemented. If any of these assertions are not true, whether by intent or by negligence, the student has violated his/her commitment to truth with respect to the piece of knowledge produced in the context of his/her work, and possibly to other aspects of academic integrity, which constitutes academic misconduct and will be considered as such.