The top skill Stephanie took away from the class? Teamwork. Dependency and trust in teammates proved necessary when trying to accomplish the task of moving through multiple simulation rounds to win.
Her team’s strategy separated itself from the rest of the competition in class. Opposing teams chose to divide and conquer by having individual team members make isolated decisions across the various business functions: Research & Development, Marketing, Production, and Finance. Stephanie’s team, however, underwent each area together. It took longer, but it was a rewarding process. And in the end, each teammate had a better understanding of a skillset they may not have possessed before. Marketing majors became finance whizzes—it was magic.
“We didn’t divide and conquer,” Stephanie said, “and that proved to be our competitive advantage.”
Overall, working collaboratively, being communicative, and discussing aspects of the simulation democratically went a long way. Her leadership strategy involved encouraging all team leaders to step up, take responsibility, and to become involved.
The decisions and strategy Stephanie presented translate directly to her current role as an analyst. Demonstrating the rationale of her choices is critical in creating alignment and boosting morale.
“I have inputs that I put in, and I have outputs that come out,” Stephanie said. “I have to explain to people why I made certain decisions, and what it means to us.”
GlobalDNA exposed Stephanie to an in-depth perspective of production, expanding into costs and shipment of products, and the complexities and opportunities that come with relocating plant facilities from the Americas to Europe or the Asia Pacific.
Stephanie shared that some parts of the course felt like a game. Moving plants to a new continent “felt like playing jeopardy a little bit,” Stephanie said with a laugh. “Which can be pretty accurate in the real world, especially when faced with emerging markets.”
Having an in-depth understanding of her team’s decisions, the real-world implications they had, and discussing them with the group was “extremely relevant to a job in business.”
Often, the projects extended well beyond the confines of class time. Teammates scheduled times on weekends at late hours across different time zones to get the work done. It didn’t always fit into the paralleled structure of the 9 AM-5 PM workday.
Both projects and work can extend beyond the “typical hours.” Work needs to get done before the next big deadline. Decisions need to be corroborated and completed before the next round of the simulation is processed.
“Some people have an aversion to working outside of work hours,” Stephanie said, “which is fine. But if that’s not your work culture, that becomes a big problem.”