On October 31st, 2018, we were glad to host AAK’s cohort of 2018 trainees for an Apples & Oranges™ at our Headquarters in Malmö, Sweden. AAK is a global manufacturer of vegetable oils and fats, and their trainees are on track to hold future management positions in the company. They are a group of nine bright young professionals working in Purchasing, R&D, Business Development, Sales Development, and Customer Innovation, all of whom had little to no previous experience of business finance before coming to their simulation at Celemi. AAK brought their 2018 cohort to us as “We [AAK] would like to ensure that our future managers learn how to ‘speak finance’ and get to understand how they, in their role, also can have an impact on AAK’s bottom line.”
The day started bright and early at 8:00 a.m., when the trainees gathered at our Headquarters in Malmö and discussed their excitement and expectations for the day. They then moved into their teams for the day and sat down in front of their work-mats, where the teams became the management of fictitious companies.
Right off the bat, everyone was engaged and motivated to start the business simulation. Having prepared themselves the week before with their digital learning packages, the trainees knew that they had a steep learning curve ahead of them, but were ready to learn and have serious fun. Before long everyone was in the zone, and by the time the first coffee break rolled around, participants said that they were sad to have to pause!
At the end of the day everyone was full of enthusiasm, energy, and drive to take their newfound business acumen back with them to their daily work. After a full day of business simulations, the trainees had learned how to perform as one company by working together and thinking cross-functionally.
Contact us if you’d like to hear more about our business simulations and how we can help your people develop their business acumen.
