Workshop & Business Strategy Wargame:
International Trade Disruptions

Kim Patrick Gerra has 20+ years of experience of product development and executive management. She has worked in many industries, including defense, travel, and healthcare.

Her leadership positions have included:

• Senior Vice President, Strategy, responsible for corporate strategy development and strategic partnerships, for PCCI, a predictive analytics healthcare organization
• Chief Technology Officer, for PCCI, with executive leadership of product and software development, including Information Exchange Portal (IEP), a platform for connecting social service organizations to local hospitals; and Pieces™, one of the first clinical prediction and surveillance platforms in healthcare that interprets EMR data in real-time and influences clinical decisions at the point of care
• Vice President, Sabre Labs, for Sabre, Inc., with chief leadership and accountability for global innovation, concept experimentation and product incubation across all business lines
• Manager, Information Resource Management, American Heart Association, National Center

Kim earned her BA in Computer Science from Mississippi State University

Mid-level to senior-level executives whose organizations would be impacted by disruptions to international trade, supply chains, customer demand and workforce stability, including:

• General management
• Marketing/Business Development
• Manufacturing/Operations
• Company teams of Marketing, Sales, Manufacturing, Finance, HR, who will work together on developing plans for a line of business

Companies typically send between 1 and 10 people and the session is capped at 50 (although we typically have 25 – 30 per wargame.  For more than 10 people per company, we recommend an on-site custom business wargame.  Since this is a topical wargame focused on the issues outlined, a single person can absolutely benefit, but a team from the same company can derive even more value.  If you send a six people or more, we will include a simulated competitor(s) in the game.  If not, the market and control team will simulate reactions and counter-measures of your direct competitors.  If any of your suppliers and/or customers participate, then you can experience their reactions to market events (instead of having them be simulated by wargame staff).

Uncovered strategic insights, new ideas for opportunities to pursue, mistakes to avoid, and unexpected results — that were not considered prior to the wargame

Honed skills at anticipating potential events, competitors responses, and a new mindset of always thinking strategically, weighing likely competitive responses

Altered worldview – awareness of unrealistic prior assumptions and better attunement to market conditions

Time efficiency – ability to test in a matter of days strategic initiatives and hypotheses that will play-out over many years

Avoidance of strategic mistakes and tactical responses to market conditions or the competition

Since we only allow one company per industry segment (so your direct competitors will not be there), the sooner you sign-up the better.  If one of your competitors signs-up for a session before you, we won’t be able to accommodate you in this wargame.  If you sign-up and later can’t attend, you are welcome to substitute another person from your company.

Business wargames were developed as a solution to the shortcomings of strategic planning and brainstorming to get much more in-depth, realistic, challenging learning and development conditions that produce much deeper analysis and insights. 

The “future environment” created in a wargame is difficult to explain, but a key part of the process and a key reason why people get so engaged and out of normal day to day views and habits of thinking.  A business wargame simulation lets management and key personnel experience possible futures for your company and industry and test assumptions and ideas under strategic conditions with competitors and the market reacting to (and trying to defeat) the initiatives.  Promising, new, unexpected strategic ideas can be found in these wargames along with insights that none of the participants had previously.  Companies that have gone through wargames report that they gain both immediate ideas for strategic initiatives the company needs to undertake now, and “future experience” that they use later to more quickly recognize threats and opportunities as they arise.

We will send you background information in preparation for the wargame two weeks prior, and will request some information from you regarding your manufacturing/supply network, supply chains and competitors and their capabilities.

Yes.  Our staff will capture and summarize all ideas, lessons learned and findings from the wargame.  You will receive a confidential report, within 3 weeks of the wargame.  Many participants find that reviewing these reports later provides valuable data and intelligence for shaping subsequent follow-up when actual or related events played in the wargame manifest themselves.