Marketplace Simulations

It's Day 2 of Techno Innovation Week at the University of Embu, and our amazing partners in Kenya are getting the word out about Marketplace! This team of educators is so passionate about business simulations that they put together their own booth to promote Marketplace. THEY told US about what they wanted to do. And now they're telling Kenyan educators how they can transform their business courses through practical, realistic simulations. But our partnership isn't over. This February we're going BIG by bringing educators from across Africa and beyond to our Train the Trainer workshop. Professors will get to play our Venture Strategy simulation, learn coaching strategies, and connect with other innovative educators. If you want to join us, there's still room. Save your seat at our Kenya Train the Trainer: https://lnkd.in/eEwV6rVE

Kya Yourdon at Grand Canyon University crushed the competition in her class's simulation. She shared her key takeaways for success: 👏 Scared men (or women) don’t make money: take (well-informed/researched) chances! 👏 Market research is KEY: take time to understand your customer's needs, willingness to pay, and values 👏 VALUE your employees: as we doubled the typical expenditure for cash bonuses for top sales and service people- we increased our demand-per-salesperson from 81.79 in Q4 to 171.97 in Q8! --- Congratulations, Kya! We can't wait to hear how you apply these lessons in your future career!

Congratulations to Neil Griffin College of Business Graduate Programs - Arkansas State University for nurturing such strong business acumen in their students! Three of their MBA students were among the top 10% of Marketplace teams worldwide!

As the curtain closes on Fall Semester 2024, it is time to celebrate student success in my marketing strategy capstone class. Let's start with the semester-long Marketplace Simulations Bike Marketing Strategy sim, a web-based exercise that challenges students to make realistic marketing and business decisions in a competitive, fast-paced market. Each student is presented this opportunity: technology has been developed that uses 3D printing to build carbon steel bicycles at a fraction of the cost. Like their counterparts do in real life, students develop marketing strategies, design product, plan global expansion, use all the promotional tools including digital marketing and set pricing. Each student learns the power of brand, product,distribution, sales management, promotion, and pricing by doing. The goal is to build a profitable division and the winner is the student who has the best cumulative balanced financial scorecard at the end of the 8th quarter which represents two years in business. I want to congratulate these marketers who won this Fall's competition: Jenna Wetterau 2nd place, Nicholas Toolan Champ, Delaney Kolar 3rd place (top photo) and Victor Pena 2nd place, Talya Grimaldi Champ, Joseph Hoenisch (bottom photo). A special shout out to Nicholas Toolan who finished with the highest score in both sections AND placed in the top 97% in the world (yes, this game is played internationally by students everywhere). Considering that he was in the back of the pack after Q4 results came in, Nick started to climb the leader board to eventually dominate the field. Impressive work and the best performance by an individual student in the four years I have used this learning exercise in my classroom!

Not your typical day, huh? 🚀 While most folks were caught up in their usual routine—scrolling through memes, pretending to be productive, or just zoning out—we, Team 6, were leveling up with… Marketplace Simulations!! Picture this: a virtual world where you and your friends build a business from scratch. We’re talking everything from questionable ideas that might make you cringe 😬 to marketing strategies so bold, they could make Shark Tank look like a nap session. 💡📈 And the best part? The wild mix of intense brainstorming, hilarious debates, and those "Wait, did we just come up with that?" moments. Add in some friendly competition, and boom—instant chaos and brilliance all rolled into one. Who says you can’t mix business with pure nonsense? This was strategy, teamwork, and plenty of “How did we end up here?” moments. If you haven’t tried something like this yet, seriously, what are you waiting for? It’s the perfect blend of work, play, and totally unexpected genius—with a whole lot of laughs along the way. #funlearning #growth

Congratulations to Natalie and her team for earning first place in their class's simulation! She shares, "This simulation challenged us to develop and execute a strategic marketing plan in a competitive virtual marketplace, testing our skills in market analysis, decision-making, and teamwork."

Always feel good to hear from our students share their valuable #feedback .. Students of #BBAEntrepreneurship&Family Business, #ManavRachnaUniversity who participated and learnt through business simulation games an immersive and #experiential way of understanding real world scenarios.. Marketplace Simulations Ernie Cadotte Bindu Agrawal

Congratulations, Fortunate. You and your team were exceptional competitors in the Real World Global Challenge. Marketplace Simulations is proud to having selected your team and coach Dr. Swaib to participate in the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Global Forum in New York in June 2025. And, we appreciate the support and encouragement of Maria Nakalanda to enable you to participate in AfRIC 2024.

What do you do when even live case studies aren't cutting it? Dr. John O'Dwyer created a one-of-a-kind class where MBA students built their own case studies over the course of a semester. Each student got their own company to observe and interview. As they learned about management tools, they asked their assigned companies how they were using those tools for success. Students loved it—but a new policy would lead O'Dwyer to something even better. Read our own case study to find out how he ended vicarious learning in his class: https://bit.ly/3Okvtvi #businesseducation #mba #innovativelearning #educationinnovation

November 4–15 were exceptional weeks of learning. Marketplace Simulations co-sponsored the First Pan African Early Green Growth Acceleration Bootcamp (also known as AfRIC 2024) and facilitated the Real World Global Challenge. AfRIC 2024 was a truly inspiring conference led by Professor Mahamadou Biga Diambeidou for educators and students from all over Africa and the world. The conference was hosted by Université Senghor à Alexandrie with the exceptional support of its Recteur, Dr. Thierry Verdel. In the Global Challenge, Bindu Agrawal and Marketplace author Ernie Cadotte worked closely with 12 student teams as they competed in our Conscious Capitalism simulation. The Conscious Capitalism simulation is a very challenging exercise, and all students were strong competitors and compassionate Conscious Capitalists. We love the picture below because it demonstrates the joy and excitement of everyone involved. We appreciated all the hard work and careful mentoring that our coaches provided to the students. They included Prof. Richard M. Kiai (Karatina University and Strathmore University), Dr. Isaac Muiruri Gachanja (EMBU), Dr. Moctar Naba Boukari (Université Djibo Hamani de Tahoua), Prof. Kyanda Swaib K, PhD (Makerere University), Dr. Dr. Nourhane El Haridi (Pharos University in Alexandria), and Prince Derrick Dodoo (Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)) Judges evaluated all the teams relative to their performance during Executive Briefings, Venture Capital Pitch, Report to the Board, and game play. They were the top performers. The top teams included Toure Alamine Alassane dit Papa, Daniel Amani and Raïssa YENOISHI BUHALAGARHA from Université Senghor; and Fortunate Agnes Tusiime, Ronnie Atuhaire, and Elisha Nampwera from Makerere University. All the teams performed very well, and their futures show much potential! We would like to thank Recteur, Dr. Thierry Verdel, Professor Mahamadou Biga Diambeidou, and all the students, coaches, and Université Senghor staff that participated in the Real World Global Challenge. We have all been truly changed by our shared experience.