Executive Education
The Executive Development Program (EDP) is an immersive competitive strategy simulation that draws out the connection between management decisions and business results. Participants become senior management of a fictitious company and run the business over a five-year period. The teams are either service providers or product makers for a medical device, competing on issues that include price, R&D, availability, and marketing.
Through five decision rounds, teams set strategy, negotiate terms, manage disruptions, and build relationships with regulators and stakeholders. Teams compete against each other, collaborate, and apply concepts learned in class to true-to-life business scenarios, ultimately striving to increase shareholder value. At the end of each round, team decisions are evaluated via proprietary computer modeling, which considers the moves of other teams and changes in the environment. Following each round is time to review and reflect on outcomes.
Designed to support curriculum, the game presents a unique opportunity to see how the dynamic complexity of all functional areas of a business come together in executing a strategy for shareholder value, with participants given the ability to try on a new role outside their real-life functional area and, in the process, gain invaluable new perspectives through experiential, experimental learning. The point of the simulation is not necessarily to win; rather, it offers a safe environment to experiment – even to the point of failure – in which to learn about the consequences and the limits of what is possible.
For more information on EDP, email the Learning Lab at learninglab@wharton.upenn.edu.