Thursday, October 11, 2007

SEB Lithuania to the BGF World Finals!



SEB Vilniaus Bankas Lithuania has secured a place in the BGF Business Game World Finals, hosted by Business Game Factory. After defeating their SEB colleagues at the SEB Championships in Business Management held every year in September, the Lithuanians advanced to the BGF Semi-finals where they won all the competitors. The SEB team will now enter the BGF World Finals competing against the other semi-final division winners. If the SEB team succeeds a world top 3 position, they will be heading off to the BGF Award ceremony held in Cannes, French Riviera!

Team leader
Virginijus Doveika, Head of International companies said, “This game is a great teambuilding opportunity as well as a chance to practice your managerial decisions in a competitive environment. In terms of competition; the bigger number of competitors you have (in one division), the more fun you get. The diverse background of competitors is the key thing to a great competitive environment, that's why it gets more and more tougher, as well as more and more fun, with every stage. Although in its infancy and less regular; I find business simulations way more practical than other training methods. I recommend the BGF Tournament, as we have another team from SEB Vilniaus Bankas starting this year. Now we are waiting for the finals, to get the most out of the game “


Business Game Factory wishes; Virginijus Doveika, Vilius Juzikis, Vytautas Ašaka, Julius Duksta and Vita Markeviciute all the best at the BGF World Finals in November, you can do it!


For further information contact:

James Baker-Duly, +46 735 109397
james.bakerduly@bgfactory.com
www.bgfactory.com

Semifinalists from the April and May rounds




April and May tournaments are finished and we are proud to announce 11 new semifinalists that have qualified their way to the BGF Global Semifinals, taking place in September. Congratulations to the semifinalists and also to all the teams who were participating in the BGF Business Game Tournament.


- ABB (China) - Team Hot Pot. Members :Lisa Zeng, Simon Zhu, Susie Yang, June Zhang and Charles Wang.

- CAPSA (Spain) - Team Vía Lactea. Members: Griselda Arias, Celia González, Charo Suárez, Abelardo González and Alfredo Ron.

- Ingeniería de Software Avanzado (Spain) - Team Hal. Members: Maria Cavestany, Luis Albea, Gloria Rodríguez, Israel Rubio and David Pradies.

- Swerock (Sweden), Team Pemalani. Members: Per Swensson, Martin Lindström, Lars-Olof Persson and Nicklas Stenqvist.

- Syngenta (Switzerland). Members Simon Grundy, Kriszta Olah, Franziska Badertscher, Rodica Evtuhovici and Andreas Steinle.

- Sandvik (Finland and South Africa) - Team Serv4U. Members: Timo Sokkeili, Hennie Potgieter, Danie Burger and James Ooshuizen.

- Stora Enso Publication Paper (Germany) - Team Hedwig. Members: Simone Fiedler, Sabine Dunne, Franziska Schütt and Andreas Irmscher.

- Red.es (Spain) - Team Ñoquia. Members: Elena González, Ines Hernándo, Alberto de Vicente, Noemí Lera and Raúl Ballesta.

- Puumerkki (Finland) - Team Puumerkki. Members: Ilari Varhimo, Petrus Berg, Jari Lehto and Niklas Sundström.

- Nokia (Finland): Team Prodigy. Members: Tuomo Puha, Mikko Rieger, Catalin Gheorgiu, Mikko Nurmi and Tommi Vilkamo.

- Anima Praha (Czech Republic): Team Mix. Members: Vojtech Janouksek, Jiri Plisek, Pham Huu Uyen and Martin Kupka.

Petteri Salokangas
petteri.salokangas@bgfactory.com
http://www.bgfactory.com/

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

BGF In-House Tournament for Syngenta

Five teams of Syngenta coming from different countries (Brasil, Singapore and Swizterland) were participating successfully in the BGF In-house Business Tournament.

Andreas Steinle, member of the winning team in the business game said: "What an exciting time! For 4 weeks our daily work life has been additionally animated by a challenging and thrilling business game. Analysing the market, seeking opportunities and making your own decisions - in short: running our own business was worthwhile doing a few extra hours. The game illustrated in a very entertaining way, the complexity of a company and how difficult decision making can be. But there is not only the learning effect, which makes this game a special event. Competing against 4 other teams of the same company, the game became very quickly one of our main topics during coffee and lunch breaks and therefore also delivered a nice social component.

The final result of the first round tournament was very close. Luckily we managed to finish first, and, as we had to defend the leading position right from the beginning, it turned out to be quite a tough race. How we did that, we are not going to tell yet, of course. There is still a Semi-Final to play and we are very much looking forward having another go."


Team CellStar from Syngenta Switzerland: Simon Grundy, Kriszta Olah, Franziska Badertscher, Rodica Evtuhovici, Andreas Steinle.

For more information:

Petteri Salokangas

Business Game Factory Ltd

petteri.salokangas@bgfactory.com

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

BGF Business Game Tournament - The semifinalists from the March tournament

(On the picture, GRANIOU team from Spark Ibérica Spain (Vinci Energies), from left: Raúl Olid, Carlos Fresnillo, Marc Kienzler, Edgar Meseguer and Luis Enrique Truc)

Once again the competition was tough but rewarding! We have 8 new teams proceeding to the semifinals of the BGF Business Tournament:

- Atlas Copco Compressors, Canada, team 40PLUS
- Turku Energia Oy, Finland, team MAKERS
- Spark Iberica SA, Spain, team GRANIOU
- SKF Industrie S.p.a., Italy, team T9ITALY
- SCA Hygiene Products spol. s.r.o., Slovakia ,team FEMPRO
- Oy Metsä-Botnia Ab, Finland, team BOTNIA4
- SCA Hygiene Products, Czech Republic, team BIMBIS
- KONE Liften en Roltrappen BV, Netherlands, team SNEBB





On the picture 40PLUS from Atlas Copco (Canada): Front Row - Serge Labrecque (Area Customer Care Manager - Eastern Region), Leo Di Bello (Sales Manager - Eastern Region); Back Row - Al Moubayed (Custom Solutions Manager), Michael Pezzuto (Credit Manager), Michel Favreau ( Customer Service/ Supply Manager)


There were four teams coming from the in-house tournaments: Atlas Copco, SCA Hygiene Priducts, Metsä-Botnia and KONE Liften en Roltrappen BV.

The BGF In House Tournament is arranged as a closed session for the client company, which takes client’s managers to an exciting ride in the global business world at the top. The internal competition and networking will lead to knowledge sharing among the teams and benchmarking from other great talents within the organization. In addition to this, the winners of the tournament will proceed to the BGF Semifinals, where the world leading companies are competing for entering the BGF Finals. As a reward, the three best teams in the world will be invited to the BGF Awards, a luxurious prize giving ceremony in Cannes, on the French Riviera



(On the picture SCA Hygiene from Slovakia)

Juraj Oravec from SCA Hygiene Slovakia said: "It was very positive experience for us to join this business game. Through it we learnt how important is to focus on each area which has impact to shareholder value of the company. It was also a good team building activity for us. Our vision was: "It is not needed to be perfect, but to be the best"


BGF Business Tournament is the biggest web based business tournament in the world. The tournament structure includes preliminary heats, semifinals and the BGF World Final. The three best teams of the year will be invited to the BGF Awards, organized in Cannes, on the French Riviera. BGF Business Tournament builds strategic excellence, management board dynamics, ability for financial analysis and fact based decision making and precise follow up.



The participants will be acting as the management board of a global company with the task of running the business successfully for 5 fiscal years. The winning criterion is total company shareholder value.




(On the picture, SNEBB team from Kone Netherlands: Back Row - Paul van der Kwartel, Rudi van Seters, Tijmen Leusink; Front Row - Ruud Feenstra and Bas Degeling)

Some testimonials from the Kone In-House Tournament:


“It was an exciting game with several advantages, like getting to know the other team members coming from different functions in the company. During the game you can see the influence from the aspects (e.g. marketing, process improvements) that contribute to the benefits of a company and you learn to manage them in a sensible way. The competition was strong; this forced us to play the game in the best possible way which made the game even more exciting!! We think it is a great game to learn from and above all enjoy it!” Ruud van Seters, Commercieel specialist, KONE bv Liften en Roltrappen

“My team found the whole experience both interesting and enjoyable. The competition aspect of the game adds an extra layer of focus to the learning experience. Background material and "rulebook" is valid and thorough.. It was a good opportunity to work closer together with colleagues that otherwise does not work together regularly. I speak for the whole team when stating that this was the most fun, comprehensive and, not least, instructive business game any of us has participated in.”
Erik Johnson, Installation Manager, KONE Scandinavia


“The development of team’s financial and decision making skills are made by building participant’s own understanding of material rather than the memorization of facts. This is very effective method to learn how different functions work together in the organization. It also demonstrates how the top management needs to balance between different expectations of the customers, employees and shareholders. Business game was an excellent team building exercise. It will help you to get to know everyone in your team and work out a decision making process to reach the objective more efficiently. Overall, I can truly recommend this game to build better teams.”,
Tuukka Komssi, Senior Specialist, KONE Corp.



(Team MAKERS from Turku Energia on the picture from left Markku Vesala, Anki Kiviniemi, Mika Karbin, Jani Rantanen and Jukka Hummelin)



(Team Bimbis from SCA Czech Republic, from left Petr Sztkowski, Jitka Strnadova, Jozef Bojkovsky, Helena Dvorakova, Marcel Fajtova and Igor Holzknecht)

Friday, June 8, 2007

BGF and Aditya Consulting announce strategic partnership

World's top online business simulation game organizer Business Game Factory Ltd, Finland, has made its new partnership with Aditya consulting in India. The partnership between BGF and Aditya consulting will be a milestone for both of the companies as the companies share the common values in Business developing.



India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the corporate culture follows a spirited trend towards the domestic and the international market. BGF's key product 'Business game' will play a major role to spur the indian market, thus is believed by the both companies.



Business Game Factory Ltd, which has leading international companies as its clients in 66 countries, is looking forward to work with Aditya consulting and discover the Indian market. BGF's Managing director Mr. Taavi Thiel hopes, the partnership between Aditya and BGF will bring the glory of the world leading business game tournament in the Indian market. Mr. Thiel added: 'We are happy to have a Aditya consulting on board as our partner in India.'



Mr. Mathew Antony, Managing director of Aditya consulting India, is also looking forward for a great cooperation with BGF in the coming years. He thinks Indian market is fascinating and ready to make the best of such a world class product as Business simulation game.


For more information:



Riz Haque

riz.haque@bgfactory.com

Business Game Factory Ltd.



Mathew Anthony

mathew@adityaconsulting.com

Adytia Consulting


Tuesday, May 15, 2007

BGF Business Game Tournament - Awards 2007 in Cannes, France

The luxurious BGF Awards were once again successfully arranged in Cannes, on the French Riviera, in March 2007. The top 3 teams in the world celebrated their victories together with the BGF Cannes crew. Teams from Nokia, Philips and Stora Enso were taken to exclusive dinners, to a private wine yard, a private residence on the hills of Cannes and cruises on the shore of Cannes and St. Tropez. The rumor has it that also the original Rat Pack paid them a visit and performed the old classic “come and fly with me” in tuxedos.


(On the picture the top 3 teams in the Global BGF Business Tournament in Cannes France: Nokia Finland, Philips Ibérica and Stora Enso Finland)



(On the picture the winning team from Nokia. From left to right Itsvan Kello, Stefan Widomski (board member of BGF), Anna Ryden, Pekka Säynätjoki, Jan Luukkonen (from BGF) and Stefan Nymander)



(On the picture the 2nd best team from Philips. From left to right José Ramón Córcoles, Ana Solano, Susana Sebrango, Juan Carlos Aguilera and Fernando Borau)


(On the picture the 3rd best team in the Global BGF Business Tournament from Stora Enso. On the picture from left to right Toni Tahvanainen, Sanna Sorsa, Krista Forsström, Anu Silvennoinen and Harri Taipale)

Monday, April 16, 2007

BGF Business Tournament - New semifinalists from the January tournament

(On the picture from left to right Markus Alitalo, Akira Kameda, Tomi Kuparinen, Akira Nakano and Takeshi Oyama from Nokia Japan)

- Atlas Copco Spain, Team OLÉ
- Skanska Foundation Projects Sweden, Team Grund AB
- Pöyry Forest Industry Consulting Oy Finland, Team RockRock
- Fortum Power and Heat Oy Finland, Team Chaleur
- OJSC VimpelCom Russia, Team Advanced
- Nokia Corp Japan, Team 5samurai

BGF Business Tournament is the biggest web based business tournament in the world. The tournament structure includes preliminary heats, semifinals and the BGF World Final. The three best teams of the year will be invited to the BGF Awards, organized in Cannes, on the French Riviera.

BGF Business Tournament builds strategic excellence, management board dynamics, ability for financial analysis and fact based decision making and precise follow up.



(On the picture from left to right Carlos Moreno, Eva Hernández, Emilio Diez, Marina Romero and Roberto Pascual from Atlas Copco Spain)


The participants will be acting as the management board of a global company with the task of running the business successfully for 5 fiscal years. The winning criterion is total company shareholder value.



96% of all participants would like to play again and recommend participation to other colleagues



(On the picture from left to right Matti Savolainen, Oskari Lehto, Petteri Kuusela, Sakari Imeläinen and Fred Nykänen from Fortum Power and Heat Oy)




(On the picture from left to right Kimo Mikkonen, Petri Jokinen, Tuomas Salo, Juha-Erkki Nieminen from Pöyry.


Suvi Anttila, CEO and President of Pöyry Forest Industry Consulting Ltd. said: "We found the BGF Business Tournament very enjoyable and useful. It is great for team building and improves internal networking while at the same time challenging strategic thinking and analytical skills. We feel that the game nicely combines a big picture approach with sufficient room to maneuver and implement oneʹs strategies and tactics. The program is also very well organized and due to the conceptʹs flexibility, teams with tight schedules can also find the time to participate."



On the picture Mats Tidlund and Anneth Aglo from Skanska Foundation Projects. Missing are Joakim Berg, Frida Lindmark and Christelle Södergren. Mats Tidlund said: "The participation in the BGF Business Game has been an encouraging and enjoyable experience for everyone in our team. On a fundamental level, it has increased our ability to see the overall picture of business and how different business functions and the interrelations of these influence the performance of a company in a dynamic environment. The most important benefits for us were the development of our analytical and strategic skills and the improvement of the group decision-making process by taking advantage of the different knowledge and experience in the group. The competition atmosphere gave an exciting touch to the game and we will gladly recommend the BGF Business Game to other business units in Skanska."