Capsim business simulations · Delivery
How a business simulation is delivered.
The same arc runs a four-hour workshop and a thirteen-week course. This is the reference for planning one: the steps, how classes and teams are sized, the formats, the timing, what the room needs, and what support covers.
On this pageThe arcSizingFormatsTimingRequirements and supportFAQ
The arc
Nine steps, whatever the format.
- Plan Agenda, materials, schedule, staffing. A Capsim consultant turns this from months into days for a first delivery.
- Create the simulation Pick the simulation, set the parameters and modules. A few minutes; we walk new instructors through it.
- Register students Bulk registration by the institution, or self-registration with a coupon or card. Students need to find their teammates and competitors on the site and in the reports.
- Onboard Videos, tutorials, a rehearsal round, and the starting reports. About an hour of self-paced work; the instructor's overview fills in the rest.
- Introduce Schedule and logistics, team assignments, the scenario, and what's due. Slides and videos are provided.
- Practice rounds At least one. Teams analyze, decide, submit, and see results before anything counts. The second practice round is where the consequences of the first become real.
- Competition rounds Up to eight. Each round opens with a debrief of the last one, introduces any new module, and closes with a deadline. Coaching happens while teams decide.
- Presentations Teams account for what they did and would do differently, to the class, a visiting board, or a shark tank.
- Wrap-up Final results by the measures teams chose, a winner declared, awards. Fifteen minutes in a tight schedule, a ceremony when there's time.
Sizing
The vocabulary of a setup.
Company. The business entity in the simulation. Run by a team, an individual, or the computer.
Team. The people running a company. Three to seven works; five is the sweet spot. A solo CEO only if that person has run the simulation before.
Industry. The companies competing head to head. Six by default, as few as two, up to ten. At least one human team; the rest can be automated, each playing a distinct strategy.
Tournament. Human teams against each other in one industry, filled out with automated companies as needed. This is the norm, and the one students prefer: everyone starts from the same position and it's a free-for-all.
Footrace. Every team runs in its own identical industry against the same five automated competitors, and results are compared across industries. Any number of teams; the Capsim Challenge runs more than a thousand this way.
Class. Any mix of the two, from one team to a thousand-plus participants.
| Class size | Recommended setup |
|---|---|
| 2 students | Footrace. One industry, one team of two, five automated companies. |
| 12 students | Tournament. Three teams of four plus three automated companies, or four teams of three. |
| 42 students | Tournament. One industry, six teams of seven. The largest single-industry tournament. |
| 70 students | Tournament. One ten-company industry, seven per team, rather than two industries and two debriefs. |
| 300 (2–3 day event) | Ten tournaments of six teams, five per team, one lead instructor, ten facilitators. A ballroom. |
| 1,000+ | Footrace. A special event; the qualifying round of the Capsim Challenge runs this way, with the top six advancing to a tournament. |
Formats
Onsite, online, or blended.
The room
The instructor can work the room, stop the class to make a point, and share a teachable moment with everyone at once. Best in a flat room with team tables and two- to three-hour sessions. Breakout rooms feel private to teams but make no difference to outcomes and cost the class its shared moments.
Synchronous and asynchronous
Synchronous sessions of two and a half to three hours (virtual classroom for debriefs, breakouts for decisions) come close to onsite intimacy. Asynchronous deliveries trade that for reach and cost: recorded debriefs, discussion threads, decision critiques by video. Team meetings stay synchronous either way; asynchronous teams disintegrate.
Best of both
An onsite kickoff and practice round, synchronous early rounds, asynchronous middle rounds, and an onsite or synchronous wrap-up. The usual shape for corporate universities and events; also our recommendation for most campus courses that aren't entirely in the classroom.
Start the simulation in the first class. It's a lab, not a test. Running the company first creates the appetite for the content that follows; students stop asking why they need a mission statement and start asking how to write one.
Let students use everything. AI, YouTube walkthroughs, Reddit advice: encourage it in the introduction. Each team's position is the product of its own decisions in a market the other teams keep moving, so there is no answer to look up, and if five teams follow the same advice, the sixth wins.
Timing
What a round costs in hours.
In a course
Think of the simulation as one to one-and-a-half credit hours embedded in a three-credit course. The instructor spends one to three hours a week on it, most of it in class debriefing and coaching, almost none lecturing or grading.
- Debriefs: 30–45 minutes for practice rounds, 30 for competition rounds 1–5, 15 for rounds 6–8.
- Team meetings (class plus homework): 2–3 hours for practice and early rounds, 90–120 minutes mid-game, an hour by the end.
- Cadence: debrief on the first class of the week so teams have the week and a weekend. Six-week modules run two debriefs a week. Mini-terms run like a seminar.
In a seminar
Rounds are short and intense: 60–150 minutes early, less later. Nobody lectures. The instructor coaches full time and teaches in snippets as the simulation raises them.
- Four-hour workshop: introduction, two rounds, two debriefs. The simulation as backdrop for a behavioral agenda (CapsimCore).
- One-day seminar: practice round plus four rounds, presentations, final debrief.
- Two-day seminar: team analysis exercise, practice round, five rounds with HR and TQM added along the way, presentations, wrap-up.
- Blended seminar: onsite kickoff, seven online sessions, onsite wrap-up; eight rounds.
Requirements and support
What the room needs, and what support covers.
What the room needs
- A browser. The simulation is software as a service, available around the clock, with nothing to install.
- Reliable bandwidth (20 Mbps or better) and a screen of at least 1280×720. Laptops and most tablets work; phones are too small.
- Rounds process in seconds, automatically or on the instructor's command.
- Standard audio-visual for the instructor. Printed reports are optional; expect seven to ten pages per company if you print.
- LMS integration with single sign-on and gradebook sync for the major systems.
What support covers
Every instructor gets a consultant. At no charge: train-the-trainer, sample syllabi and agendas, course design and setup, a results review before your first debrief, online shadowing during first deliveries, student support with 24-hour turnaround, event planning, bulk registration.
Paid: onsite or online instructors and facilitators for programs that can't fail, and custom module development. Large events, from a 300-person conference to a 1,000-plus footrace, get planning through to clean-up.
Questions instructors ask
Frequently asked
How much class time does the simulation take?
In a course, plan on one to one-and-a-half credit hours' worth embedded in a three-credit class: a debrief each round and time for teams to decide, with the rest as homework. In a seminar, a full delivery runs from four hours to two days.
Do teams have to meet in person?
No. Together at the same time, yes, but team-meeting software works as well as a table. We recommend a blended setup for every course that isn't entirely in the classroom: a virtual team headquarters, recorded decision critiques, and drop-in coaching by appointment.
What's the difference between a tournament and a footrace?
In a tournament, human teams compete in one industry from identical starting positions. In a footrace, every team runs in its own identical industry against the same five automated competitors and results are compared across industries. Tournaments are the norm; footraces scale to any number of teams.
How large can a class be?
From one team to more than a thousand participants. A single industry handles up to 42 students in a six-company tournament or 70 in a ten-company one; larger classes run multiple tournaments or a footrace.
Can students use AI to win?
They can use it, and we encourage them to. Each team's position is the product of its own accumulated decisions in a market that competing teams keep moving, so there is no generic answer to look up, and a plan goes stale the moment competitors act.
Plan your first delivery with someone who has run hundreds.
A 30-minute demo, then a consultant who helps with the agenda, the setup, and the first debrief.