Winning Strategies™ | Business Case Study

• To use financial data to analyse an organisation
• To conduct a SWOT analysis
• To work with facts, not assumptions
• To think strategically about the market
• To work as a management team on key decisions
• The value of good presentation skills

WaveRiders make inflatable dinghies for the leisure and military markets. With business performance in freefall you must use your analytical and strategic skills to find a viable future for this sinking company!

You have the following company files: finance data, sales history, production capacity, staffing, P&L accounts, Balance Sheets etc. Once you have an overview, a SWOT analysis will establish more accurately the current position. You can then work out your proposed strategy for the future.

You may decide the answer to the company's problems lies in marketing, the workforce or even the product itself. You’ll then receive six strategy cards, each one pointing to a different way forward. It’s your job to identify the one that best fits your findings. Hopefully, you'll choose the right one - and be able to argue your case! You may also be asked (by the Trainer) to prepare P&L projections for your chosen future strategy.

Teams take turns to explain their proposals (making this business simulation activity ideal for practising presentation skills). Full Trainer’s Notes explain the pros and cons of each strategy card and identifies the best one.

1. Divide participants into teams and introduce the activity
2. Issue Team Folders containing the company details
3. Allow teams up to 50 minutes to study the material and do a SWOT analysis
4. Observe the teams in action
5. Issue further materials (future options) and allow the teams time to pick their strategy
6. Lead a Debrief and listen to the team’s ideas. Use the PowerPoint presentation to consolidate the learning.

Full guidance supplied in the Trainer’s Notes.

• Trainer’s Notes
• Trainer's PowerPoint
• Team Briefing Folders containing 9 pp of info: Company History / Current Market / Financial Records for Previous Year / Internal Comments 1 / Internal Comments 2 / Market Research / Sales History & Personnel Data / Five-Year Financial & Production Summaries / Organisation Structure
• Six Strategy Cards

This activity is supplied digitally via the Northgate Trainerhub. No delivery charges apply.

Our licence offering is designed to provide exceptional value and flexibility for your organisational training needs.

Upon purchase, each Northgate activity includes a five-year licence for repeat use, with up to a maximum number of delegates per training session. The maximum number of delegates permitted for this activity is 24. This grants you the freedom to use the activity repeatedly, with the specified maximum number of delegates, for five years.

All Learning and Development (L&D) professionals based at the same site (or ‘remote hub’) as you are granted access to these resources, including to the digital files on the Trainerhub via your site-specific Trainer Dashboard, fostering a collaborative spirit within your immediate team.

Should you wish to make this activity available to a wider audience within your organisation, additional licences are required. We understand the varying needs of different organisations and aim to provide flexible options to suit your requirements.