SIMSREE - The Only B-School in India to have organised 'Storewars'

Started with the aim of imparting practical knowledge of business and technicalities in it, SIMSREE has taken one more step to make its students ready for future challenges. Apparently, SIMSREE has become the first ever B-school in India to have organised ‘Storewars – A Business Simulation Game’. It is more interactive than other programs and it helps in gaining insights on the skills that are essential in a real business world. The rationale was to polish the knowledge and strategies of the students with necessary feedback from the coordinators. 

‘Storewars’ is one of the world's most sophisticated total business simulations used by the leading FMCG manufacturers & retailers in over 40 countries. It is a unique management development program that examines the interaction between suppliers and retailers. The participants of the game essentially run an FMCG business and manage its strategy and resources. This way, participants develop an intuitive understanding of business, its functional elements and ways to achieve a strong profitable position in the market by establishing win-win cooperation. 

It was a 2-days event, which took place on 27th & 28th January, 2014 in SIMSREE. Students were extremely zealous to be a part of the event. It was a very intense program which not only made the student look at the broader picture but also taught them to systematically analyse data. The ‘Negotiation’ round of the simulation was definitely one of the highlights of the program which gave a fair idea of how deals are consummated in the corporate world. Participants were divided into 5 teams – 3 manufacturers & 2 retailers. Manufacturers were competing against each other and so were the 2 retailers. 

The event had different decision cycles. Each decision cycle lasted for 6 months (in the virtual world). After each decision, the manufacturers and retailers were supposed to negotiate with each other. From participants’ point of view, negotiating was the most important experience and an exciting one too. It was evident from the comment of one of the participants, who was playing a role of retailer: “Our Strategy was to be price sensitive in Limburg market and mid-premium in Oland Market, we also increased the share of private labels in our portfolio which initially helped us a lot and was performing well till the first period. Prior to 2nd period we analyzed the sales and customer expectations and changed our strategy especially for Oland market and increased our stock levels. Some manufacturers stuck to their clauses and were difficult to crack whereas some due to their high inventory levels were ready to give heavy discounts. If we could change anything from the starting point was surely to increase our profit along with being the market leaders.” 

The event certainly provided the real life experiences to the participants, as their creativity in the negotiation was at stake. Key lessons were reinforced with detailed coaching and feedback on the impact of strategic and tactical decisions made during the simulation. Additionally there were breakout sessions and lectures on burning up-to-date topics that related the lessons back to real market issues. 

Special thanks to the event coordinators, Mr. Umesh Dhand and Nastia ma’am who continuously helped and guided the participants throughout both the days. Also thanks to SIMSREE’s coordinators Satyajit Sarak and Chintan Shah and all the fellow participants for making this event a life time experience. It was indeed one more feather in the cap of SIMSREE.