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BTS Tournament Testimonials
Read What Clients are Saying About BTS Tournaments
- "I have used (BTS Tournaments') business simulation in an intensive training for project managers in Sweden. The training was intended to enhance the general business skills of the project managers, but we also found that it was good from a teambuilding perspective. To be recommended."
- Mats Wäppling
Deputy CEO
NCC
- "(BTS Tournaments) provided very interesting business insight and also helped to facilitate team building internally in the company."
- Bruno Carr
Senior Manager
Ernst & Young LLP, UK
- "We participated with 3 teams in the BGF business game from different locations and nationalities. The main benefit for our team was to increase the team spirit inside our company. The competition against close colleagues inside the organization was an extra source of motivation. Now our team has a better overall overview of the different aspects of a company. We recommend creating a multidisciplinary team in order to improve knowledge sharing. Good experience!"
- Emilio Camblor
Operations Manager
BP Solar, Europe
"We had two objectives behind participating in the BGF - Business Game training program. Firstly we wanted to learn to work and function as a team and secondly we wanted to develop an overall picture of business in general. In all fairness, the BGF program has met with our expectations, especially in BSC thinking, which is imbedded in the training model.
In my opinion this program offers most of its value to middle management levels or specialists as a separate training in support of management programs already employed. In addition, all participants should have a working relationship, but it’s not necessarily needed."
- Lauri Kivistö
Director, E-Business
Tapiola Insurance
- "As a team we gained an increased understanding of the complexity of running a complete company. The importance of an overall perspective became increasingly clear as we worked as a management team running the case company. We found that understanding the sum of all activities made the total, and that everything can be ruined by mismanagement of one functional area. What we will take with us from this business game is an increased understanding of pricing, resource management and the importance of team work."
- Håkan Toll
Controller
Ericsson Sweden
- "Some key areas in the game were formulation of strategy in the beginning, and analysis of competitors and market development throughout the game. We had people with different backgrounds in the team, and teamwork was a positive experience. What stands out in the training is seeing how things relate to each other in business, for example how paying dividends changes your EVA."
- Marja-Liisa Laihonen
VP Finance
Rolls-Royce
"Taking part in the Business Game gave our marketing and sales team a new perspective on the financial aspects of a business. Seeing 'immediate' effects of strategy implementation was a great leaning tool.
Every member of our team found the experience valuable and would gladly repeat it. In a corporate world where time is precious this is a great endorsement!"
- Nicola Evans
Product Manager - Stalevo/Ritalin
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Australia Pty Ltd
Chemical Industry
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“The BTS Tournament offers the unique opportunity to learn as a team
in a very pleasant way, how to get to a common understanding of what the key issues are that need to be tackled within a business
environment. It provides the possibility to understand what the interdependencies are within a company given any decision that
is taken during the tournament. It therefore helps the team-members to work effectively and efficiently together as well as it
increases the knowledge of how a company or a business works or operates.
In addition to the increase in the behavioural skills and the knowledge-gain in the technical area, it also provides a lot of fun and it can create a lot of passion. I have seen it in my team when we were participating: It can get addictive!” 
- Stefan Pintér
Head of Finance Corporate Operations
SYNGENTA INTERNATIONAL AG
- “The training is a real managerial adventure that generates commitment to the results and focus efforts not only on the internal processes, but also on the market. This is very recommendable training for other people in our organization who need to get the big picture of business. I really enjoyed the training.”
- Anders Maxe
Area Manager
KEMIRA KEMWATER Sweden
- “Participating in the BTS Tournament was a good experience. In the very beginning it looked like merely a simulation but after the first round we understood - this was a serious training exercise! The main things we experienced were teamwork, competition-related issues, and responsibility for decisions taken. By changing numbers in the decision sheet one can see how one or another decision can affect the final result. Even now that we have completed the training, people are still discussing how one decision or another could be made and how the team should behave in the round to follow. We wish the same positive experiences to all teams participating in future BTS Tournaments. It's worth doing!!!”
- Vigintas Bartasevicius
General Director
UAB VIVACOLOR
- “Referring to our earlier experiences in business simulation training,
we decided to participate. It was very educational to learn about team dynamics. Participants had not been working intensively
together before, thus in the beginning decision making and the implementation of those decisions was a challenge. The team
developed rapidly in the beginning of the tournament and by the end of it we performed extremely well. It would have been
interesting to see the results if we could have continued for two extra rounds.
The importance of expertise and professionalism in different areas of business was emphasized. Since all the team members were from different functions it was a good learning point for all to see the connection between different tasks of individuals. The importance of planning and follow up were most important areas of the training itself. Preparing a strategy and trying to follow it was a good exercise as well.“ 
- Pasi Moisio
Marketing Manager
OY AGA AB / THE LINDE GROUP
- “My work is very much involved in product development, management
and product usage matters. Financial issues are not directly touching my everyday life, but of course all the functions in any
company have to aim in a way or another at a good financial result. Therefore it is important for everyone to understand
something about business management, and also facts behind decision making when it concerns really big issues in the business.
I liked the business tournament, although it meant additional work! We had a good team; the team members took the training seriously but not too much so, we had a lot of fun also in our meetings. We participated in the tournament almost as real employees in that company. I myself learnt something new especially about difficulties how to run a company, how to take competition into account, how to make fundamental decisions about important investments and human resource matters. The tournament was a kind of eye-opener concerning these issues for me. And it still helps – after two years - to understand businesses a bit more, not only in our own company, but also when following decisions made in other companies.” 
- Leena Ristimäki
Development manager
KEMIRA GROWHOW Oyj
- “When I was chosen to be a member of our team in the BTS Business Tournament Training Program, I proudly accepted the challenge! We had different kinds of backgrounds, which I think increased the potential of our team: we had two from marketing, another two from finance, and one from the computer side of business (who by the way was able to point out some things/perspectives that would never have occurred to the rest of us). The learning experience turned out to be very positive for all of us. We didn't have any physical meetings but instead used the phone, net meetings and e-mail for our decision-making as a team, and this worked fine. I personally believe it was the team being fully committed during the meetings that enabled us to win the tournament. We all learnt something about aspects such as finance and marketing, but more than that, about management itself. I would like to use this opportunity to thank the Support Team at BTS Tournaments for their availability and quick answers to our questions! They were always there and did a great job. We are now anxiously looking forward to the semi-finals!”
- Ricardo Rocha
Financial Analyst Business Planning & Analysis Department
BOREALIS GROUP
- “As in any organization unification is quintessential to success. I saw the BTS Business Tournament as the perfect tool for the unification of key people in Nordic Lubricants Oy. I have to say the concept and business simulation model have all the elements in place to develop better business understanding and bring people from different areas together in team sense. But like everything in life, what you put in is what you get out. It comes recommended to organizations with similar objectives.”
- Tuomas Pääkköne
Country Manager Commercial
NORDICS BP/CASTROL
- “I think that this Business Tournament is not only a great opportunity to freshen up those financial skills, but a joyful learning experience all along. There is the team dynamics aspect, the management of time and resources, the communication challenges and also a great way to get to know new co-workers. To me, some learning experiences have had more impact than others. I think it is important that each individual takes responsibility for their own learning from the Business Simulation. Sometimes the learning opportunities some up where you least expect them – it’s about learning what to do but also what not to do in the situations that we face. Thank you to all that have been involved in this. Now, my team and I are looking forward to facing the challenges from other companies in the next round.”
- Kim Lindborg
IT Application Portfolio Manager
PERSTORP SPECIALTY CHEMICALS AB
- “The business tournament provided by BTS Tournaments is an excellent tool for developing business skills. Our idea was to get some training for the management board. We happened to have a rather heavy workload during the process, but happily this did not interfere with the training as the concept turned out to be very flexible. We always found time for the training, and we deeply enjoyed the whole thing. Analyzing one's results round after round, as compared to those of the competition, was especially exciting. The fact that there were live competitors against you all by itself increased the level of motivation. This is something that I can truly recommend to others!”
- Curt-Erik Lövberg
Managing Director
SUOMEN KARBONAATTI OY
- “For someone who has come from a manufacturing / engineering background, it was really useful to work directly alongside sales and marketing colleagues, and be exposed to some of the analyses, and decision making processes, they make on a daily basis. A lot of people talk about the power of diverse teams, but this was a chance to lead one in a competitive situation. Our team had a blend of different functions, skill sets and cultural backgrounds. I found this very rewarding, and I hope to translate the learning from this to my current work. With respect to the BTS Tournaments exercise, I felt that this was as realistic as it could be. The team was able to share information and take management decisions, without meeting "Face to Face". This replicates the realities of doing business in the modern corporate world. We tried to meet F2F, as part of a team building initiative, but sadly with other commitments, the logistics did not work. However, we don't believe this negatively impacted our performance. The exercise also showed us, how fortunes can change throughout the business life cycle. I think at one stage we were second bottom in the group, but we worked our way back, and coming into the final round we were leading. This again reinforces the realism in the exercise."
- John A Cockburn-Evans
Engineering Manager
DU PONT
- “The most important reason for our participation was the opportunity to practice and develop our decision-making skills. During the training we soon noticed that the business simulation is an excellent tool for improving teamwork skills as well. After the training we had a clearer understanding of how different aspects of business work together for the common goals, and we had come to see the value of having people with different ways of looking at things in the team. Understanding the dynamics of financial statements and product profitability was another area where we had gained ground. Looks like a good development tool for us!”
- Kim Nordell, CFO
Mario Ormeno, Controller
NORDKALK
- “Our company participated for the first time in the BTS Tournaments program with our Polish management team. The tournament taught us not only to see business in a wider perspective but also to work better as a team. We had great fun while participating, and waiting for the results after each round was also a very exciting time. We have decided to continue this training with other teams and I can warmly recommend it to you.”
- Tapio Saarela
Vice President Operations
TIKKURILA – TBD Poland
Construction Industry
- I have used BTS Tournament business simulation in an intensive training for project managers in Sweden. The training was intended to enhance the general business skills of the project managers, but we also found that it was good from a teambuilding perspective. To be recommended.
- Mats Wäppling
Deputy CEO
NCC
- Our company took part in this business simulation for the first time, and the experience was very positive. The training itself was of high quality, customer service was superb, and the members of our team were fully satisfied. They said that this helped them more clearly understand the big picture of business, and also how different parts and aspects of business relate to each other. Furthermore, working effectively as a team, managing time and using phone conferences as a decision-making aid were all areas of considerable improvement. Being prepared and having discussions at different phases of the decision-making process were prerequisites for getting the most out of the training, and also for success in the tournament. This is an excellent tournament, and we can recommend participation to others as well!
- Hannele Kulmala
Chief Financial Officer
Finnsementti Oy
- The most important reason for our participation was the opportunity to practice and develop our decision-making skills. During the training we soon noticed that the simulation is an excellent tool for improving teamwork skills as well. After the training we had a clearer understanding of how different aspects of business work together for the common goals, and we had come to see the value of having people with different ways of looking at things in the team. Understanding the dynamics of financial statements and product profitability was another area where we had gained ground. Looks like a good development tool for us!
- Kim Nordell, CFO
Mario Ormeno, Controller
Nordkalk
- The simulation works effectively as a tool for gaining general business understanding, i.e. seeing the big picture of business and experiencing how different aspects of business are related to each other. The training is also useful for improving teamwork skills, spreading knowledge and different angles within a group, and getting to know your colleagues better. For maximum value, it makes sense to be careful when gathering the team (different kinds of people with different backgrounds). The whole process from making the order to the end of the training was smooth and easy to go along with. When the time is right, we will consider participating with another team.
- Kimmo Karppanen
CEO
YIT-Yhtymä Oyj - YIT Kalusto Oy
- We decided to participate in the BTS Tournament for the first time, after which we can say it was a good decision. Our organization is situated all over Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and the business tournament was a good tool to connect people and get them working as a team. All people have different skills in different areas and the business simulation helped the participants to understand and get a better view of how different aspects work together in the business. We will definitely take part in the tournament again.
- Christoffer Mannström
Business Development Manager
Market Area Russia Optiroc Oy Ab
- My organization had just gone through a process of change, and I thought the BTS Business Tournament might well suit our needs in the situation. The training offered an opportunity to work as a team and brush up our strategic thinking and imagination, in a setting reminiscent of the daily work environment and its requirements. The training supported holistic strategic thinking, giving a balanced view of the various aspects involved in managing a business, also helping us develop depth and scope in our understanding of financial issues. In the team, we had people with diversity in educational backgrounds and areas of responsibility, which stimulated team dynamics. The final Feedback report that we received after the tournament was excellent; reading it was like walking through the process again, analyzing the decisions made in the course of the training. The training was easy to carry out, not requiring any special arrangements. I warmly recommend!
- Erkki Jaala
Area Director
Lujatalo Oy Sisä-Suomi
- The BTS Business Tournament Program provided us with a thorough understanding of modern business practices in the context of the end product, and of an investment/production industry. It equipped us with the tools necessary to raise the level of our contribution to that of excellent in terms of the management of production, and on a personal level to develop even further our practical expertise and finally enhance our work performance. Based on this experience our organization is ready to participate in a new tournament challenge.
- Juha Antti Juutinen
Customer Service Manager
YIT Security
- The tournament provided a market-oriented view of business management, bringing adequate attention to competitor analysis. From an engineer's perspective the most illuminating thing was working with business figures. You needed to analyze cold business figures and make various calculations based on them, and finally come up with carefully thought-out decisions. Another important aspect was trying to find the most important issues buried under everything else. We had a number of eureka moments, realizing something truly important. As a corollary, the business simulation was an exercise in avoiding to be disturbed by all the minor things that really do not matter in the large scheme of things. Furthermore, the significance of deciding on your strategy and sticking to the chosen path was an important lesson. The training experience helped us develop our skills for long-term planning and decision-making in general. All in all, there was a lot of learning.
- Jouko Niemonen
Director
LEMCON OY
- The participation in the BTS Business Tournament 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 tournament and we will gladly recommend the BTS Business Tournament to other business units in Skanska.
- Mats Tidlund
Technical Manager
Skanska Foundation Projects, Sweden
- Skanska in the Czech Republic has participated two years in a row in the business simulation training provided by BTS Tournaments. From a learning point of view, we have improved our understanding of business issues from all key perspectives. We got an understanding of the importance of our decision making skills and what consequences our short-and long term decisions have on the bottom line. Depending on background, some team members have also improved their financial acumen and for people with technical backgrounds there has been an increased understanding of marketing issues. Since this training is a team effort, participants also learnt to recognize, and draw on, the knowledge of each individual team member. From a Human Resources point of view, the training has also been a good help for us when designing new training and development programs.
- Frantisek Vladar
HR Director
Skanska, Czech Republic
- We greatly enjoyed participating in this tournament. It was challenging to analyze matters and issues none of us normally do in our daily work. It was also exiting to grasp an overall view, to make decisions based on our findings, and see how the results came out. A great benefit with this exercise is to gather people from different professions and to combine their knowledge and experience. For us it worked out well. We had fun and learnt a lot which will be useful both in present and future assignments. We definitely recommend the BTS Business Tournament to other units in Skanska.
- Lars Karlson
CFO
Skanska Project Support AB, Sweden
Consulting Industry
- BTS Business Tournaments provided very interesting business insight and also helped to facilitate team building internally in the company.
- Bruno Carr
Senior Manager
Ernst & Young LLP, UK
- Over the years, we've had a number of teams participating in the training. The areas of most interest to us have been team building and learning to understand business on a practical and concrete level. The results have been very positive. To be highly recommended!
- Jan Malm
Senior Partner
KPMG Sweden
- For Ernst & Young Southeast Europe (EYSE) the main benefit from participating in the BTS Tournament was team building and improvement of internal networking across EYSE country teams. We had Corporate Finance people from five different countries in the team, professionals who did not know each other in advance, and we can say that they co-operated efficiently using all information technology means of communication available. Among other benefits were things such as improving financial modeling and managerial skills and seeing how different areas of a business relate to each other. The training highlighted the importance of strategy, financial analysis and sound decision-making. It was generally a smooth process, support was available from BTSi and the manual and other materials were very interesting and to the point. We are happy with the results and the members of the team are keen to participate in the next round (semi-finals). It was a good tournament!
- Georgios P Smyrnioudis
Director Transaction Advisory Services
Ernst & Young Finance S.A. Greece
- The main benefit from the BTS Business Tournament training is the learning
that occurs during the training. It was pedagogically very effective for us to work with a model close to the reality. The exercise
enables you to get a good overall view of the company under your command as well as the market. While it counts the most what you do
yourself it is important to keep your eye on the competitors as well. The training was also a team building exercise for us.
br /> The BTS Tournament is good tool for making improvements in areas such as marketing, sales, strategy and market analysis. A good and worthwhile training program for people who want to develop their business understanding and get the big picture of business! 
- Jesús Gutiérrez Baz
Manager
Soluziona Consultoría y Tecnología, Spain
- We gathered a team of consultants from Soluziona Barcelona, people with willingness to learn and become even sharper in business understanding and skills. The BTS Tournament was an excellent tool for seeing the cause and effect dynamics of the decisions that you make in different business areas, and it helped you to see the interrelation between these areas. We had lots of fun in our group, and it was both nice and beneficial to hear and learn from the opinions of the other team members. The competition aspect was an extra source of motivation. Good training, an experience we can recommend to others.
- Ferran Cascales
Manager
Soluziona Barcelona, Spain
- The BTS Business Tournament gave us the opportunity to practice our business skills as the management board of an imaginary multinational company. The case used in the simulation was extremely interesting, well formulated and challenging. For our team from Czech Republic, the training turned out to be an effective tool for improving strategic thinking as well as budgetary planning. We built our strategy based on our analysis of competitors and assessment of future prospects for business development. It was fun, it was exciting, and it was great for team building. A good experience of learning by doing. We recommend this for others in our organization.
- Jiri Zazvorka
Sales Director
Soluziona - Unión Fenosa Professional Services, Czech Republic
Energy Industry
- “We participated with 3 teams in the BTS Tournament from different locations and nationalities. The main benefit for our team was to increase the team spirit inside our company. The competition against close colleagues inside the organization was an extra source of motivation. Now our team has a better overall overview of the different aspects of a company. We recommend creating a multidisciplinary team in order to improve knowledge sharing. Good experience!”
- Emilio Camblor
Operations Manager
BP Solar, Europe
- “Our participation in the BTS Tournament was beneficial for more reasons. First of all it gave us a perspective about a company as a whole, looking beyond our specific working areas. Also our teamwork abilities have improved: how to split the work in the team, how to communicate effectively and how to aggregate the results. We should not forget about the fun elements: it was always exciting to see what the other teams did and wait for the outcomes of the rounds.”
- Erika Szuks
Learning Manager
Shell Hungary
- “We decided to take part in the BTS Tournament as we saw it as an innovative exercise of “learning by doing”. We gathered a team of five young potentials from different business functions. The learning experience was a success in terms of motivation, group dynamics and business skill development in general. It was also fun to do this in interaction with other international companies participating in the same tournament division as our competitors. The main benefit for us was improved business understanding and seeing the big picture of business more clearly. The people in the team are now better prepared for making a contribution to our organization. We really enjoyed the experience, and we are going to participate again. We also warmly recommend this for others as well!”
- Diana Cotonat & Claudio Carrillo
Training and Development Manager & HR Director
Pan American Energy
- “We had a team of young potentials that shared a competitive attitude join the Championship. They were from different areas of the organization so that there were different views represented in the team. We wanted to introduce them to working together under pressure as a team and face similar challenges that they will be facing in their day-to-day business. For us, it is important that the different parts of the organization are working for a common goal, and can depend and learn from each other. The BTS Tournament proved to be excellent in developing these relationships with colleagues and getting a feel of the real challenges of our business. In addition, our team had so much fun and was hungry to aim for even better results that we put a new team together for the next available competition. We are happy to give them the opportunity to develop themselves especially when the result is a group of people that work very effectively together for the common goal of our organization!”
- Thor Haakon Helgesen
Senior Vice President
Statoil Exploration & Production Norway
- “We had lots of fun while participating with the simulation. Sharing information and listening to the opinions and perspectives of others was one of the best aspects of the exercise. After the experience, we better understand different areas of business and how they interact with each other. An excellent tool for team building, and a good training program in a broader sense as well!”
- Joaquín Ancín
Managing Director Renewable Fuels
Acciona Energía
- “The BTS Tournament gave us the opportunity to practice our business skills as the management board of an imaginary multinational company. The case used in the BTS Tournament was extremely interesting, well formulated and challenging. For our team from Czech Republic, the tournament turned out to be an effective tool for improving strategic thinking as well as budgetary planning. We built our strategy based on our analysis of competitors and assessment of future prospects for business development. It was fun, it was exciting, and it was great for team building. A good experience of learning by doing. We recommend this for others in our organization.”
- Jiri Zazvorka
Sales Director
Soluziona - Unión Fenosa Professional Services, Czech Republic
- “After participating in the BTS Tournament training event we as a team now have a clear understanding of the parameters that guarantee shareholders’ VALUE and PEACE OF MIND and how it is sometimes/somewhat irrespective of the profit you are making. We also developed a better understanding of the problems raised as a result of investments which do not take EVA into account, but rather focus on NIBIT and/or ROCE. As a team we are better able to control the various elements which affect the outcome of the business simultaneously, and the relationships that exist among these elements. Finally, the enhanced business planning and forecasting skills we developed will definitely aid us to a better future in our careers”.
- Hassein Asgari
Consumer Sales Manager
Shell Iran
- “As in any organization unification is quintessential to success. I saw the BTS Tournament as the perfect tool for the unification of key people in Nordic Lubricants Oy. I have to say the concept and business case model have all the elements in place to develop better business understanding and bring people from different areas together in team sense. But like everything in life, what you put in is what you get out. It comes recommended to organizations with similar objectives.”
- Tuomas Pääkkönen
Country Manager Commercial
Nordics BP/Castrol
- “In my opinion, what is most important about an exercise like this Tournament is that we develop and apply skills in a systematic way, and transfer the many lessons learned from the BTS Tournament to our jobs. We have learned to trust each other’s judgement and decision making abilities, and a strong team spirit was developed. Our enthusiasm remained high, and we were really looking forward to the final!”
- Geir Bjornstad
Vice President Finance and Administration
Statoil Marketing & Trading (US)
- ”After a tough competition we ended up being the winners of our tournament division, and so, we were glad to proceed to the semi-finals! Behind our success there were hours of competitor analysis, ponderings over various strategic options, and sharing of different angles and ideas among the people in the team. The more time you put in, the better are the results, and the more you learn. The BTS Tournament helps to improve analytical skills, deepens business understanding, and works as a team-building exercise as well. Special thanks to the BTS Tournament Training Support team, who helped us whenever help was needed! A good and worthwhile business training exercise!”
- Valerio Ferro
Marketing Manager
BP Solar, Europe
- “We participated in the BTS Tournament training with a team that was comprised of managers and other employees from different parts of Vattenfall Västnät. The educational experience was rewarding, offering us an opportunity to analyze market reports, competitors and the results of our company. The tournament gave us an opportunity to interact as a team and gain understanding of the importance of having a helicopter perspective when managing the affairs of a company. Apart from being a fun challenge and learning experience, this was good as a team building exercise. The team met for a couple of hours every other week to make decisions for 'our' company, and waiting for the results was equally exciting round after round! It was a good and fun tournament, with a flexible approach.”
- Magnus Adolphsson
Marketing Director
Vattenfall Västnät
- “ConocoPhillips entered a five person team with a mixture of skill sets, exploration geoscience, business development, finance, in the BTS Tournament in October-November 2004. The experience was very positive, we found the tournament well organized with rapid feedback between rounds. The tournament lasted 10 weeks. We found the tournament a good test of broad based business skills ranging from strategy definition, price setting, market and financial analysis. One of the interesting aspects of the tournament for us in a commodity business, where the price of our product is outside our control, was the challenge of setting product prices in a competitive market. As a group we enjoyed the experience and would recommend others to try their hand.”
- Richard Lunam
Director Exploration Portfolio
ConocoPhillips, USA
- “The training was totally on target, helping us analyze a company's strengths and weaknesses, create a strategy, translate it in to decisions, and then analyze the results. All this was made possible by a well designed simulation with all the changes, ambiguities and challenges that came close to real-life difficulties. Our team enjoyed the training sessions round after round. We were able to plan our own time schedule and have sessions in a known and relaxed atmosphere. The fact that we had no financial person in the team made our achievements in the competition even more motivating. It was an experience we can recommend.”
- Filip Thierie
Production Manager Fortum Oil Belgium
Later Neste Oil
- “Our team dynamics worked very well in the BTS Tournament. The team was a combination of old-timers and people who had recently started at the company. It was exciting to see how, despite everybody having their own ways of thinking, we always easily came up with a common understanding. In our opinion, the Tournament provided by BTS is an excellent enhancer of teamwork skills. During the training, we also became acquainted with financial terminology, and gained a helicopter perspective view of the things happening in a company. Our team decided to participate as we were offered the opportunity, and no doubt we would be willing to do the same again in the future. Should somebody approach us and ask if the training was able to meet our expectations and if we were willing to recommend this to others, the answer would be a definitive YESS!!”
- Tiina Mäkitalo
Training engineer
TVO
- “The training is a real managerial adventure that generates commitment to the results and focus efforts not only on the internal processes, but also on the market. This is very recommendable training for other people in our organization who need to get the big picture of business. I really enjoyed the training.”
- Anders Maxe
Area Manager
Kemira Kemwater Sweden
- “We decided to take part in the training in order to give the team members an opportunity to improve their management skills. One thing we found valuable in this respect was the teamwork aspect. Among the other benefits were things such as understanding finance, seeing how investing in the future of a company pays off, and experiencing markets evolve. Basically what we were looking for was learning to understand how to successfully manage a business. We are happy with the results, and the members of the team would like to participate again.”
- Risto Takkala
Former Vice President Fortum Oil Refining Later Interim CFO
Neste Oil
- "The main benefit for us was to understand the company as a whole. As a finance manager I felt very comfortable making financial decisions, however it was in the other areas that I felt a little bit uncertain. It was at this point that teamwork and knowledge transfer began and the whole learning process happened. We all contributed with opinions on the different business functions and issues, and in a democratic manner we made our business decisions. We learnt from our successes and our mistakes, making it a very good learning experience that I can recommend to others!"
- Manuel Fernández Durán
Finance Manager Grupo Red Eléctrica de España
Red Eléctrica Internacional
- “Everybody in the team greatly enjoyed participating in the BTS Tournament. The training was outstanding! The simulation provided a lot of excitement and delight with competition being one of the most important components of the tournament, enhancing team engagement and enthusiasm. Overall we found this to be a great experience and would happily recommend the BTS Tournament to others, especially to those in leadership positions!”
- Kenneth Block
CFO
Vattenfall Forsmark Sweden
- “SN Power Invest participated with a team bringing in representatives from different functional areas to mirror the way we would work with many of our daily corporate tasks. The competition gave individual team members a good insight into how a company functions as a whole, and proved to be a good way to develop the key business skills of market analysis, strategy formulation, pricing, production planning and financial analysis. The competition proved to be a very good way to mimic the market dynamics, where tough competitive strategies have a direct effect on the market and ultimately on the fate of a company and its profitability. The BTS Tournament proved to be a good learning experience as well as a tool for letting colleagues from various areas of our company get to know and learn from each other in an informal and fun way. A very good experience on the whole.”
- Jan-Erik Felle
SN Power Invest
Norway
- “The BTS Tournament provides experience in decision making for various kinds of markets (increase/decrease of marketing budget, price changes, production decisions, etc). Finding our own way of doing things and learning from our own mistakes is a life-long lesson that is better than anything else with one of the great benefits of the Tournament being the ability to listen and discuss various viewpoints. The BTS Tournament has made us a better team in our everyday activities. Furthermore, we found the BTS Tournament to be a good balance of great fun and hard work, very professional, congratulations!”
- Monika Veres & Pan van Geffen
Shell International Exploration and Production
Financial Industry
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“We had two objectives behind participating in the BTS - Business
Tournament training program. Firstly we wanted to learn to work and function as a team and secondly we wanted to develop an
overall picture of business in general. In all fairness, the BTS Interactive program has met with our expectations, especially
in BSC thinking, which is imbedded in the training model.
In my opinion this program offers most of its value to middle management levels or specialists as a separate training in support of management programs already employed. In addition, all participants should have a working relationship, but it’s not necessarily needed.” - Lauri Kivistö
Director, E-Business
Tapiola Insurance
- “The idea was to develop our employees' managerial skills. The team members improved their ability to see cause-and-effect relationships between different business functions and in business in general, they also learnt to see with clarity things from a top-management perspective. Another plus: to work effectively as a team was one of the key elements for getting results. After the training people have a more analytical approach to their work. I believe that BTS business training can be a valuable element of any organization's management training plan!”
- Timo Laitinen
Senior Vice President
Henki-Sampo (Sampo Life)
- “Participating in the business tournament training helped team members coming from different units learn to see how different aspects of business influence a company’s operations and profitability, in a manner that was both very clear and effective. It became apparent that it is not enough to concentrate on just some areas or processes. An impressive profit is the result of seeing the big picture of business and making decisions as a group, taking advantage of all the different angles different individuals can offer. Participating in the tournament was a positive and enjoyable experience, and good for our team spirit.”
- Hannu Oksanen
Director
Handelsbanken Finance Plc.
- “Participation in BTS Tournament has increased teamwork between different units and departments as well as improved our internal networking. We are very satisfied with the cooperation with BTS Interactive and the enthusiasm among SEB employees for participating in these business training events has increased year on year.”
- Anders Halvor
SEB Group
- “BTS Business Tournament Program is a rather unique business simulation designed to help middle managers formulate their skills in all aspects of company management, get to know each other better and learn a few different ways of looking at business development. We at CSAM Luxembourg put in a team after being invited to compete by Nordea Luxembourg and it was extremely interesting, the main thing being to compete against other financial firms and create contact into their organisations - I can recommend it.”
- James Beddall
Director, Head of Benelux and Nordic Sales
Credit Suisse Asset Management
- “HBOS Financial Services first took part in the BTS simulation in 2003,
regarding it as an exciting and "different" development opportunity for our Managers, particularly as we were able to bring a team
together from 5 different geographical locations in our Organization. BTS Interactive did a very good job in providing materials and
making sure that queries were responded to promptly. This has resulted in HBOS FS and BTS Interactive building a very good
relationship and we will once again be entering a team in the 2004 competition.
The team found the competition to be enjoyable, challenging and in particular it gave them the opportunity to learn in an innovative and interactive way. They learned a great deal from each other, as it provided an opportunity to bring individual talents to the fore and they all remarked on how much they had benefited from working effectively as a team. It obviously worked - we were delighted when our team made it to the semi-finals of the competition! One of our team members summed up the learning he derived from participating as the following:
Stretch, deeper understanding of how decisions are made, sticking to strategy, buzz of competition, understanding accounts, juggling the plates, working in a team, getting sales targets right - science or magic, generating profit, keeping morale good but cut costs, go for it but don't go bust, winning is everything, stick to your guns. I give it 5 stars for personal development!” 
- Paula Collins
Management Education & Development Consultant Organisation & People Development
HBOS Financial Services
- I recommend the BTS Business Tournament to those whose work or studies are
genuinely supported by the learning benefits. However, it is important to note that for the benefits to fully materialize, 100%
commitment to the task is required. Success in the tournament may require a considerable investment of one’s time, so, in my opinion,
the desire to succeed and the determination to stay committed throughout the process are absolutely necessary. If these elements are
there, the tournament gives much more and the work of the team is much closer to a real-world situation.
The tournament was an enjoyable experience, and afterwards cooperation among the people who were in the team is even more functional than before.” 
- Pekka Mäkinen
Risk Manager Company Insurances / Risk Management
Fennia
- “The Championship in Business Management took us to the other side, into the customer’s shoes. Our team members all work in the corporate area, and we took part in order to get a better sense of what kind of decisions and problems our customers face when managing their businesses. The tournament helped us to see how various decisions made in finance, marketing, personnel, production and other areas affect each other, and most important, how they affect the bottom line. It demonstrates how difficult it is to manage a company in a constantly changing market, and this practical knowledge is very useful to us in our daily work. The tournament also shows how important it is to form and then follow your company’s chosen long-term strategy rather than suddenly making big changes, although big changes are sometimes necessary for survival. It was a worthwhile for banking professionals to sit on the other side of the table for a change, and we certainly benefited from the experience.”
- Erik Duer
Corporate Account Manager Central Jutland Finance Centre
Danske Bank
- “We participated in the BTS Tournament with a team of managers mainly from our Corporate Department. The training proved to be effective at enhancing teamwork skills and boosting team spirit. In addition to being fun as a competition, this is a good tool for seeing with clarity the basics of business in action and learning how different aspects of business interact. You just need to put in the effort and concentrate on the task at hand. Being a team of banking professionals, our point of view was very much one of understanding the thinking of our customers. This is also why our team consisted of people who are in contact with customers on a daily basis. In my opinion this is the kind of people that can probably benefit the most if you put together a team from the banking sector. We liked the tournament very much.”
- Valter Jonzon
Vice President
Nordea Norway
- “We have taken part twice and have used the business tournament to encourage team building across our organisation. The tournament is complex and requires thoughtful decision making plus an assessment of the business risks involved. The other significant element is the competition - the desire to beat other teams becomes strong as the tournament unfolds!”
- David Rorrison
Senior Manager
MGM Assurance UK
- “The concept is effective, a lot of learning taking place in a small
amount of time. Our people were able to see the impact of their business decisions immediately after each tournament round. They
learned to translate strategies into concrete action steps. They got a feel for how different areas of business dance together,
more or less in harmony, depending on the decisions made. In real life it would have taken years to experience these things on
such a concrete level.
Now our team is more coherent and better prepared for challenging business situations. We have grown as individuals, and we can serve our organization better than before. Good training! We will participate in the future again. To be recommended in our organization and others, especially for people eager to improve their business skills and strategic thinking.” 
- Rafael Picazo & Oscar Serrano
Director & Control Director
Aon Re International / Latinoamerican HUB
- “I am going to participate with my team in the Polish Business Forum 2004, due to our positive experiences in the past. We have used this tool for training our managers in business understanding, strategic understanding and teamwork skills with great success. I warmly recommend this to our Nordic colleagues here in Poland. May the best team win!”
- Raimo Valo
President of the Board
Bank Svenska Handelsbanken (Polska) S.A.
- “We were four persons that participated as a team in the business tournament, with the intention of participating in a practical exercise focusing on management training as well as teamwork. Through participating we felt that we got an increased understanding of the holistic perspective of running a business and the importance of understanding how different parts of an organization must interact in order to create superior results. We also improved our teamwork skills within the team. To be recommended!”
- Jan-Olof Bergström
Head of Cash Management, Organizational- and Institutional Clients
Föreningssparbanken
Forestry Industry
- For the first time SCA Packaging in Italy has participated in business tournament organized by BTS Interactive. We would like to mention a few aspects of the business tournament which we found important and where we were able to improve our skills. Learning to analyze and take into consideration all details of financial reports is one area where we felt we were able to improve our skills. The training was interesting also from a team-building perspective; we saw improvement in our teamwork as the tournament wore on. Since this was a business tournament with participating teams from different countries, we also found it very interesting to be able to compare our skills to people from different cultures and mentalities. Marketing, investments and pricing are areas where we see we can apply some of the learning that took place during the training.
- Claudio Romiti
Managing Director Italy
SCA Packaging
- Based on a very positive experience from our previous participation, we decided to take advantage of this training tool to develop even further a new group of key people in Kappa St. Petersburg. Our aim as in the previous year was to expose our organizational talent to the big picture of business. The development areas with our teams have been in the understanding the importance of cross-functional cooperation, the impacts of effective departmental budgeting and outsourcing decisions; returns on investments and competitive strategies have on a company's performance and bottom line results. We have also had the pleasure on both occasions to beat the competition and go through to the semi-finals.
- Andrey Zalessky
Operations Manager
Kappa St.Petersburg A/O
- My department has used BTS Business Tournaments for years for developing business understanding, and we will use them during the year ahead also. The people who have participated have improved their understanding of how different decisions are related to each other, and how the decisions as a whole influence the destiny of the company managed. The experiences having been very positive, I strongly believe in this learning tool, a nd I warmly recommend it.
- Harri Turunen
CFO, Metsäliitto Osuuskunta
Metsäliitto Group
- When participating in the training, our idea has always been to improve the business understanding and managerial skills of high-potential people in the organization with the help of a tool that enables learning to take place in an atmosphere of excitement. A key area has been seeing how different decisions affect each other and the bottom line. This is certainly a good and flexible way to improve managerial capabilities.
- Heikki Tarvonen
Managing Director
Stora Enso Sachsen GmbH
- We have used the BTS Business Tournament several times as a tool for improving general business understanding and team related skills. In the tournament teams operate, in a setting not very far from reality, as top management teams, analyzing the market, forming strategies and making concrete decisions. They see what is important and how things relate to each other. Members of a team learn from each other, everyone having different ideas and perspectives. The training is not only effective but also flexible, and it being in the form of a competition helps boost the level of motivation. We have been happy with the simulation itself, with the materials, and the customer care provided. This is something to be recommended, and we now have another team waiting for their turn.
- Jan Kivioja
CFO
Metsähallitus
- The BTS Business Tournament is a perfect training tool for high
potential people. The participants learn to widen their business view. They learn to understand the impacts of disparate
inputs on the business in a quickly changing environment. They learn to analyze the business environment and to utilize the
know-how of every team member, each having different backgrounds and working in different functions.
We are very happy with the results, and the members of the team warmly recommend participation and training of new teams with excited mindset: Tomorrow we would like to perform better than yesterday. 
- Yrjö Olkinuora
Vice President and General Manager
UPM-Kymmene, Rauma
- In real life one never gets the whole picture unless you're in top
management. This BTS Business Tournament gave us a good helicopter view, and we were able to visualize how the different areas
impact on each other and on the business as a whole. We got an insight into decision making from top management's perspective
and the importance of putting to use available and reliable information.
Nevertheless one never knows everything for sure, you also have to relay on your experience and instincts. In this business tournament I clearly noticed that, as in real life, the most important matter was communication. A constant dialogue with your colleagues gives great synergy, every individual contributes with his/her own views, resulting in new thoughts and ideas being born. - Henrik Kass
Product manager
Upm-Kymmene Jakobstad
- The BTS Business Tournament is an excellent training tool for potential leaders within our company. Participants get the helicopter view that is so important in our daily business, and teamwork and team spirit are also improved. Participants being faced with fluctuations in demand and all kinds of market information leads to team discussions, new ideas, and new ways of doing business.
- Henrik Østerbye
Sales Director
UPM - Kymmene A/S Denmark
- The BTS Tournament is an excellent tool for training people in
strategic thinking. In the tournament people form the top management team of a company, and as we worked on the tournament
enterprise's strategy, we were able to learn to see how different parts of the company (such as its functions) were
interconnected. It became evident how the decisions made can lead to healthy growth or disaster, or something in between.
The simulation is also a good tool for improving one's analytical skills, and people learn from each other as in real life. After each round, we found something that could be done even better. People were highly motivated to search for the "perfect decisions." - Xu Ming Hui
Deputy Finance Director
UPM-Kymmene Changshu Paper Mill
- Four tournament rounds with a lot of fun and fruitful discussions! Our team was put together with people from different divisions in the company, and it was stimulating and challenging to discuss the simulation case from different views. I think we all got experiences useful in our future work, and I warmly recommend participation in the BTS Interactive training program.
- Veronica Stigsson
Research Scientist
Noviant AB, Sweden
- The training experience was much better than we could have imagined. Thanks to the excellent arrangements by BTS Interactive we as a team learnt a lot with an element of fun present. The program really enlightened our strategic thinking and operational understand due to some basic business concepts that are well demonstrated. The training has helped us to better understand financial reports. As a team we were all active and contributed a lot, and as such we were able to learn from each other and deepen our friendships. The key benefit from this training was an even better understanding of the company evaluation and that of our own team members. We believe that we are now able to perform better after the training in these three areas: Paying dividends rather than retaining too much earnings, the relationship between marketing and price, and the cost balance between own manufacturing and outsourcing. We are looking forward to entering the next step and are willing to join again!
- Xie Daorong, Fan Ze, Simon S Wang, Liang Jianwu, Wang Ping
Metso Paper China
- Our PES PL team took part in the BTS Business Training Program in late 2004. After an exciting fight we managed to beat our competitors and go through to the semifinals. Running a virtual c ompany has been a very interesting challenge for us. We believe that we now have a better and wider understanding of business, especially where a company’s strategy is concerned. Additionally we have had the opportunity to observe many different strategies, which various teams tried to get the best possible results. We are impatiently waiting for the semis and aim to produce a good performance.
- XOlaf Kacperski
Business Development Manager Pan European Sales Poland
Kappa Packaging
- We met physically between every round consuming between 3-5 hours of our time per round. We would like to point out some of the key benefits behind why we decided to participate in the BTS Business Tournament training: Firstly, we wanted to “sharpen the saw” regarding our financial knowledge & strategic thinking and finally to increase our team work capabilities. Now there are three areas where we are able perform better after the training: 1. we have an even better understanding of the profit & loss statement. 2. our overall understanding of risk management developed further. 3. a better understanding of the balance sheet (paying dividends etc). After all was done, we had a great time together!
- Harry Deng
Manager
Metso Field System China
- To ensure team communication of participating in the Tournament, we
used an internal program allowing us to hold a virtual meeting in an interactive way. Thus all team members were able follow
interactively from their own screen the flow of the meeting and provide comments and feedbacks on the decisions via the phone
simultaneously. The tournament was also the ideal platform to pilot the program.
I would like to share some benefits of the BTS Business Tournament Program and the take home for the participants. It became clear to us that when managing a company one should have a long term strategy that is adjustable according to the market environment. It was also interesting to observe and manage the markets influence on the chosen strategy. After a time you are able to see with clarity the key focus areas as well as the areas that are less viable. Analyzing competitors and markets, planning strategic moves and understanding what is relevant and what is not are definitely areas where participants are able to test and improve their skills and thinking.
It is important to try and anticipate your competitors' strategy, however one should remember that when you think you have an excellent idea on how to gain a decisive advantage there are most likely competitors who have seen the same potential.
It was a lot of fun and it was interesting to compete against colleagues. Very good training tool! 
- Juha Kasslin
Business Development
Finnforest Corporation
- The BTS Interactive program improved my strategic thinking, analytical skills and co-operation with respect to teamwork. Now that I have better analytical skills, and a broader understanding of general business I am more strategically focused and will be able to make a better contribution to my organization.
- Lucy Yang
Manager
Metso Automation China
- We started the business tournament with a heterogeneous, and to each other rather distant group of people from sales, finance, R&D, and technical service. A group, that during the tournament grew into a motivated team working well together towards common goals. The members did their home work prior to the sessions, analysing tournament results and data, and during the meetings strategy, tactics, and especially business drivers within different business functions were discussed, and acted upon. Learning was in the form of new insight into previously less known business functions, and the co-dependence as well as linkage of management decision making between functions. Summing it up; it was a good learning experience, improved cross-departmental team work, and it was fun. All in all, it was a worthwhile exercise that easily can be recommended further.
- Niklas Björkman
Development Manager
Stora Enso Publication Paper
- We participated in BTS Tournament for the first time and it was a powerful learning experience. Normally when you participate in training programs, they tend to focus too much on details rather than the big picture. In the BTS Tournament we liked the fact that it focuses on the big picture because the main issue for any company is to see the big picture. We also liked the great competition and the fast results. As a whole we liked it and it made very complex business issues clear and understandable.
- Henrik Larsson
Controller
Stora Enso Packaging Sweden
- For us the main benefit was team building. We had people from three different countries in the team, and after the training we know each other better and work more effectively as a team. This is good training in general management as well. After the tournament we had an evaluation meeting and agreed that the right things are there and in a balanced way. The level of complexity is appropriate for the target audience. It was a smooth process, and the manual and other materials were clear and to the point. Good tournament!
- Suvi Anttila
President & CEO
Pöyry Forest Industry Consulting Ltd
- We participated together with other Atlas Copco teams in the training. Our team was put together from different parts of the organization in order to create synergy effects. The feedback we have received from the team is positive. The common feeling is that one's horizon has been broadened. Participants see the effects of an action (like a price decrease) not only in their main field of interest but for the company as a whole. Another advantage is that theory becomes virtual reality. And finally: the competition element is always challenging. A flexible approach and a positive experience!
- Jeannette Verzijl-Damen
HR Director
Atlas Copco Compressors Nederland
Manufacturing Industry
- We found the BTS 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 tournament nicely combines a big picture approach with sufficient room to maneuver and implement one's strategies and tactics. The program is also very well organized and due to the concept's flexibility, teams with tight schedules can also find the time to participate. Our 2007 team eagerly awaits the semi-finals!
- Knut Hovind
Director HR & Quality, KONE Scandinavia Managing Director
KONE AS, Norway
- Some key areas in the tournament were formulation of strategy in the beginning, and analysis of competitors and market development throughout the tournament. We had people with different backgrounds in the team, and teamwork was a positive experience. What stands out in the training is seeing how things relate to each other in business, for example how paying dividends changes your EVA.
- Marja-Liisa Laihonen
VP Finance
Rolls-Royce
- The training concept is good, well balanced and well executed. The case we were solving reflected modern business thinking, emphasizing the most important points. Good manual and other documentation. The training being in the form of a competition raised our level of motivation and commitment.
- Esa Vataja
Unit Manager
Uponor Suomi Oy
- What we had in mind when we decided to participate was to improve our
new management team's business understanding and team-related skills. The training was well structured, the schedule being just
optimal, not too tight or loose. An advantage was also that we could choose the time and space for the rounds - efficient use
of time!
The tournament helps participants focus more on the external environment -customers and competitors. It emphasizes the significance of positioning in the marketplace as well as how essential it is to see your decisions in the context of those by the key competitors. The importance of the long term as compared to the short term becomes clear. 
- Teemu Airaksinen
General Manager Cabinet Drives/System AC Drives Automation Technologies
ABB Oy
- This is a great tool for practicing teamwork and simulating what decision making in the business environment is all about. The tournament allows teams to test how well they can execute strategic and tactical plans in a competitive environment.
- Pertti Hokkanen
Vice President Business Unit Low Voltage Drives Autom. Technologies
ABB Oy
- After the experience, we understand more clearly and more broadly things such as the dynamics of make-or-buy decisions, pricing & marketing, RTD and the impact of process improvement on sales volume. It was also interesting to follow how the decisions of the other ten global teams affected our plans. It was not only about good budgeting or so, as the need for an effective strategy and action plans were clearly to be seen. On a more general level, we now understand better how different decisions affect profitability and the balance sheet, and how different decisions relate to each other. Because of the experience, we will be able to make better decisions. We had a good time together. Time well spent!
- Christer Winberg
Director, Business Development
Metso Automation Inc, Field Systems
- We had four IT people in the team. During the process, most of the decisions were made in phone and net meetings, as the group physically met only once during the training. As everyone knew each other beforehand, this worked very well. The best thing in our experience was the improvement of general business understanding. It was easy to see more clearly how a company's profit is determined, for instance. This is a good tool for sharpening one's grasp of the dynamics of business from a holistic perspective.
- Pekka Pajalahti
Vice President, Information Technology
Metso Paper / Corporation
- After the first tournament round, the team we had in the training was seventh, but partly because of effective teamwork they finished the job as the second best team of the division. These are some of the observations they made during the training: (1) You always need to know your goal; (2) Managing a business has many aspects and they tend to be related to each other; (3) It is better to be proactive than reactive; (4) Benchmarking yourself to the competitors can be very beneficial; (5) How you allocate your resources really makes a difference; (6) You need to improve and develop your company all the time, there is no standing still; (7) Being big is not everything, and being small can be beautiful; (8) Having too much money on the bank account can be very expensive; and last but definitely not least (9) Having diversity in the team is a great blessing (you just need to utilize it).
- Jukka Järvinen
President
Outokumpu Harjavalta Metals Oy
- The main benefits of the tournament can be summarized as follows: demonstration of the most fundamental principles of general management in an efficient and nice way; opportunity to explore and experience benefits of teamwork under relaxed circumstances; demonstration of the complexity and implications having to do with the decision making process, as well as the significance of quality assurance of this process; possibilities regarding efficient penetration of (main aspects of) new areas.
- Piotr Druzynski
Business Auditor
ABB Sweden Group Internal Audit
- The BTS Interactive training was very interesting and provided a fun learning environment. The tournament was an effective team building experience even though our team members reside in four different office locations throughout Canada. We gained a practical insight and understanding of an integral business environment and the numerous interactions and complexities involved in making decisions. It was clear that a well-defined strategy and deep analysis of results were of paramount importance to succeed in this tournament.
- Kevin McAllister
Business Unit Manager
ABB Canada
- The main purpose for us joining the BTS Business Tournament Training Program was to take advantage of some practical management training with an emphasis on teamwork. The tournament we took part in was an effective solution, in regard to both time and cost, with flexible execution over the internet. We were able to improve our understanding of the importance of strategic thinking and engaged in a lot of investment-related problem solving. For us, marketing, finance and product development were the most essential learning areas.
- Satoshi Takagi
Manager, Development & Quality Assurance
Alfa Laval KK (Japan)
- We participated with a multidisciplinary team gathered from different departments in the organization. Our team had lots of fun during the training, and the exercise turned out to be a good tool for helping one gain visionary understanding as well as more fully grasp the complexities present in real-world decision making. We have improved our strategic thinking, we can predict more accurately market behavior, and we have sharpened our skills in areas such as finance, marketing, HR, and production. Good and entertaining training! Recommendable for people who want to develop their business understanding and strategic thinking.
- Roque Corral
Head of Department of Technology and Methods
Industria de Turbo Propulsores S.A.
- In this tournament, the impact of management decisions on the business becomes evident very soon. The simulation covers most aspects of management in a concentrated form.
- Christopher Ganz
ABB Switzerland AG
Power Technology Plant Automation
- Our team consisted of managers from three different countries, and what the tournament did was provide a feeling among the participants' of a united Benelux organisation. As a management team of the simulated company the group began to identify with the problematics that are faced by senior level management. They also began to understand their own strengths and weaknesses and that of the group as a whole on a more concrete level. The tournament gave the group the opportunity to view a company in a big picture sense, thus highlighting the complexity of running a business. It is our intention to join the tournament on an annual basis as a part of the development, recognition, and reward programs for our high potentials.
- Peter Van Den Meijden
HR Director
ABB Benelux
- Electrolux Belgium participated in the Global Business Tournament that BTS Interactive runs each year. It was an interesting and rewarding experience. For example, the importance of creating a strategy and sticking to it was vividly illustrated. In forming a strategy, we needed to understand how different parts of the company interact, and on the other hand, we needed to be able to see the company from a holistic perspective. Another interesting area was risk management: how to evaluate your risks, and how much risk you can and should tolerate, if the goal is to get as good results as possible. We became very result-oriented. As our team included people from different areas and departments of Electrolux Belgium, the teamwork aspect was also important. All in all, it was a rewarding experience.
- Jan-Francois Koeune
Marketing Director
Electrolux Belgium
- Through the tournament, we now fully understand a company’s operation is dependant on teamwork of the different function areas. Every round has a different market condition, which gave us a chance to consider our strategy. Team discussions create an opportunity to fully express ones opinion, and then make decisions based on consensus. Every round I carefully read the materials and made an analysis in contribution to our team’s discussion. Normally every team member read the materials by themselves, and after everyone had finished there homework, we then met together to discuss and finalize our decisions. Know we understand the relationship that exists between different operational functions and better understand importance of a strategy if you wish to have a competitive position in the market. We also found that it is extremely important to fully consider the environment and make plans before starting projects. Finally I have seen the value in not only considering my own business function, but the entire business chain.
- Rachel Yang, Gregg Yang, Rachel Xiao, Stella Li, Eva Li & Joanna Li
Volvo Construction
Equipment China
- We participated in the BTS Business Tournament Training Program
with a team of key people from both group M&A and group controlling. We found the program to be very useful in terms of
developing managerial skills and understanding the big picture of business. Our team consisted mainly of persons with financial
and M&A experience, and the training has developed their understanding of other major areas in business such as production,
operations, logistics and long term strategy. In addition to this we would like to underline the program's ability as a team
building and knowledge sharing method.
All training arrangements and the service provided were of excellent quality. We see the value of this program being included in the development portfolio of the ABB organization. - Ulf Hoof
Head of Mergers & Acquisitions Group Function Mergers & Acquisitions and New Ventures
ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.
- I have participated in several business tournaments, and this
is the best in which I have participated. In addition, the training worked very well as a learning process. In the
beginning our 'company' consisted of a group of people, but we surely were a team at the end. We were enthusiastic and
eager of learning.
We learned a lot of general management and accounting issues - it was fun, and it was well worth the effort. Our team proceeded to the semifinals, and even almost caught a ticket for the final round. - Jonni Jahnukainen
Process Owner, Order Fulfillment Process
ABB Oy, Marine and Turbocharging
Medical/Pharma Industry
- “Taking part in the Business Tournament gave our marketing and sales
team a new perspective on the financial aspects of a business. Seeing 'immediate' effects of strategy implementation was a great
leaning tool.
Every member of our team found the experience valuable and would gladly repeat it. In a corporate world where time is precious this is a great endorsement!” - Nicola Evans
Product Manager - Stalevo/Ritalin
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Australia Pty Ltd
- The tournament gave a good perspective to executing strategy on a practical level. It proved to be an effective tool for employee integration, as the related team work helped to see the entity through other peoples' tasks. Also, as financial aspects were in crucial role, the tournament showed how financial management and other functions impact the bottom line on a short and long term. I found the tournament very interesting and the competition mode added to motivation. In my opinion the tournament should be participated on a regular basis and sufficient amount of time should be allocated to it.
- Heikki Törmi
Group Manager
Orion Pharma
- “We participated in the BTS Tournament with the intention of gaining a global understanding of how a company and the marketplace functions. It soon became very clear to us that even though the case in the tournament company is not set in our industry we were able to achieve our objectives and the team members developed ongoing skills in finance, planning of production etc. The team also developed an applied understanding of the relationships that exist across the various functions of a company regardless of the industry. We are currently participating in the training with a second team with the same objectives in mind.”
- Dóra Szegletes
Training Manager
Abbott Laboratories Hungary
- “We participated in the business tournament together with other AstraZeneca teams worldwide. We had two teams that were put together from different parts of the organization, and for the team from our marketing department it was a great training tool. The teams learned a lot about the importance of results, but this was also put into a holistic perspective. Since the teams had to act as the management team and make all kinds of decisions related not only to financials, but also personnel, production, marketing etc, the training made a point in emphasizing the importance of interaction between different departments within a company. A good approach to training personnel!”
- Dorte Vogel
HR Director
AstraZeneca Denmark
- “Participating in the BTS Business Tournament training for us at Aventis Pharma GmbH in Vienna was a pleasure. The training offers a good platform for improving ones general business understanding, further more it exposes people to issues such as: - planning; implementing; and fine-tuning in a strategic sense. Finally as a team we believe we have developed even further in our analytical skills making us better decision makers. The structure of the tournament supports team building with the right balance between learning and fun, and as a team our efforts have been rewarded by being placed 1st in our tournament division. Team AvePhone is looking forwards to the Semi-Finals and we hope to repeat our success.”
- Walter Heider
Head Material Management Supply Chain/Purchasing
Sanofi-Aventis Pharma GmbH
- “Our decision at Ferring Hungary to participate in the BTS Business Tournament Program was motivated by a very positive experience by our Austrian colleagues. The program arrangements are executed well, with the right balance between learning and fun present. As a management team we have strengthened our relationships and are better equipped to discuss strategic issues involving all departments. From a functional point we found the program to be a good tool for strengthening one’s strategic understanding and analytical capabilities. We can completely share our Austrian colleagues' opinion on the value-adding nature of the BTS Program.”
- Zoltán Szilágyi
General Manager
Ferring Hungary
- “We started out with the intention of improving the team working amongst key people in Ferring Central & Eastern Europe. The take home from this training event was much more. Apart from improved team work, people from different departments were exposed to issues and challenges from other business areas, which normally were not of concern to their departments. At the end of the day we now have a group of people who understand the mechanics of business even better and perhaps more importantly the benefits of cross-functional cooperation in terms of the bottom line results. We are currently due to start a new training session with 4 teams with the same objectives in mind.”
- Dr. Günther Kneissl
General Manager Central & Eastern Europe
FERRING Arzneimittel Ges.m.b.H
- “The BTS Business Tournament is a realistic depiction of business today, from the perspective of the senior management team. We as a team and as individuals understand better the aspects involved in business decisions, and more importantly their financial implications. We believe that in our industry the market is continually changing and evolving, and this is where the training is most effective - By developing a deeper understanding of a “market” as a concept, and enhancing our analytical skills, we are better equipped to react to these changes in market conditions and keep our employer competitive. Finally, solving complex business issues requires out of the box thinking and the tournament is certainly testimony this fact, hence we recommend this to organizations with a realistic and flexible development option in mind.”
- Dr. Laszlo Szabo
Mananging Director
Eli Lilly Hungária Kft
- "While it was sometimes difficult to get the team together as we are from different business units, we think it worked well and actually added a certain amount of value to the program in terms of inputs and opinions. We realized an increase in the business acumen among our members; and being from different functions we were all exposed to issues associated to business areas outside of our normal everyday scope. The result is a better understanding among all of the drivers of success and failure and the interdependence that exists between the different functions of an organisation. Depended on the learning goals, we recommend this program for individual contributors through to certain executive roles".
- Katalin Bucsy BU
Manager
Johnson & Johnson Ltd. Hungary
- “It was as well very good to meet other people inside the company from other
divisions. Good team building exercise.
It was a very educational learning by doing exercise and at the same time interactive, as a group you listen to the others, give your own ideas, analyze results, evaluate and finally and make the decisions. Good training. I would warmly recommend this to others!” 
- Miguel Ribagorda
Product Manager Nuclear Medicine & Oncology
Philips Ibérica S.A. Medical Systems Division
- “The Business Tournament gave me the opportunity to see the business from the top management point of view and to lead a global company for 2 months. This helped me to look at the business from a broader point of view and see the important contribution of other departments. It was very good that we were mainly from marketing and some of us had to take up a completely new function overnight and learn this function via doing it. This made the tournament much more fun and by the end of it we really learn a lot.”
- A. Grefkowicz
Product Manager CVS
Novartis Poland
- “The reason we participated was to further improve financial understanding from a holistic perspective. Now, after the training, we are better and faster at reading financial reports, we are able to work on our strategy from a wider perspective, and we are more skilled at evaluating the profitability of various products and the whole organization. Seeing how things relate to each other was beneficial. Last but not least, the tournament was exciting! We can warmly recommend this as a tool for improving business understanding.”
- Sirkku Holttinen
V.P. Operations
Orion Corporation Orion Diagnostica
- “It was a great experience from several points of view. We had to learn different functions quickly; we were able to make global decisions, in an environment with a high degree of competitiveness. We had to work with large amount of data and needed to prioritize this data for the purpose of making effective decisions. This is something that I have to use in my daily job and it was very useful that we have to do it in a business that we did not know anything about.”
- P. Komorniczak
CNS Franchise Director
Novartis Poland
- “The Business Tournament helped me to understand on a higher level how I can influence the work of other departments and what the impacts of my decisions are on the total business. Having taken up the role of a Supply Chain Manager in the tournament I understood the impact of inaccurate forecast from the marketing department on the business and the importance of effective communication between these departments.”
- Z. Sobala
Product Manager CVS
Novartis Poland
- "To participate in BTS Tournament has been a great experience from a professional point of view as well as personal. The training gives you an excellent approach to a real company, learning how important it is to make decisions in the different parts of the company and how these decision influence the whole market. You have to make a strategy, take decisions and analyze results related not only to financials, but also in marketing and sales, production, human resources, getting a good perspective of the whole organization. The tournament was also a team building exercise for us, as we were people from four different businesses resulting in increased the contact with each other. It is the third year that our company has participated in this training and we recommend it to anyone."
- Marco Gracia
Commercial Department
Philips Medical Systems
- “The Business Tournament gave our marketing team a nice insight into the
inner workings of the business world with all its aspects. It highlighted the breadth and the depth of different facets of managing
a company, and the interconnections of all sorts of decisions and their effects on the final outcome of the business. It energized
our team and built up a sense of teamwork combined with great and practical learning!
A definite win-win!” 
- Raffi Stepanian
Marketing Director EMEA Life Support Solutions
GE Healthcare Devices
Telecom/IT Industry
- As a team we gained an increased understanding of the complexity of running a complete company. The importance of an overall perspective became increasingly clear as we worked as a management team running the case company. We found that understanding the sum of all activities made the total, and that everything can be ruined by mismanagement of one functional area. What we will take with us from the BTS Tournament is an increased understanding of pricing, resource management and the importance of team work."
- Håkan Toll,
Controller
Ericsson Sweden
- The most important benefit for us was developing analytical skills and teamwork as ways to improve results. We learned about new ways of working under conditions similar to those existing in the real world. Now we are able to perform better in developing strategic plans. We have also improved our financial knowledge and business functionality. Recommended for people in our organization and others, especially for those who want to develop business understanding and teamwork skills at the same time. Good training!
- Ernesto Osses
Commercial Manager
Telefónica CTC
- The training was very exciting and motivating from the very beginning. The
best part of the exercise was to understand better the different parts of the company and see the interrelation among them. The BTS
Tournament gives an excellent cross-functional picture of the company and a good global picture of business.
It was a very educational learning by doing exercise and at the same time interactive, as a group you listen to the others, give your own ideas, analyze results, evaluate and finally make the decisions. Good training. I would warmly recommend this to others! - Miguel Ribagorda
Product Manager
Philips Ibérica
- The BTS Tournament completely satisfied our expectations. The key for our success was to have a strategy fixed and ready from the very beginning. Our team had been gathered from different business functions, and this contributed to understanding business as a whole. Our managers saw the impact of their decisions both on the short and the long term results. Another key point was teamwork. After the training, the members of the team are more committed, and the whole team is even stronger than before. Competing against other major real-world telecoms in our tournament division was an extra source of motivation for our team. We highly recommend this training for everyone!
- Carlos Palet
HR Director
Retevisión Audiovisual
- We participated in the BTS Tournament training with a multidisciplinary team from our Finance, Processes and Service Development departments. The BTS Tournament helped develop an understanding of the parameters involved in running a global telecom organization. It also simplifies this into the various functions, and highlights the interrelationships of decision making between these areas of business, to which we are not normally exposed. It was most beneficial to see the impact of our decisions on a global level, and make strategic adjustments accordingly. Finally we found it to be a good teamwork platform, and as an added value we improved our English language skills. I recommend this as a worthwhile learning tool
- Alicia Pardillo
Service Development Advisor
T-Gestiona
- I recommend the BTS Tournament especially for helping people in the beginning phases of their careers understand the fundamentals of the practice of business. The simulation allows participants to see how their decisions affect the outcome and to experience on a first-hand basis the laws of business. The whole spectrum of business essentials being covered, participants' perspectives are broadened beyond the limits of their own fields of expertise.
- Markku Järvinen
Vice President Enterprise Services
TeliaSonera
- The main benefit from the BTS Tournament training is the learning that occurs
during the training. It was pedagogically very effective for us to work with a model close to the reality. The exercise enables you to
get a good overall view of the company under your command as well as the market. While it counts the most what you do yourself it is
important to keep your eye on the competitors as well. The training was also a team building exercise for us.
The BTS Tournament is good tool for making improvements in areas such as marketing, sales, strategy and market analysis. A good and worthwhile training program for people who want to develop their business understanding and get the big picture of business! - Jesús Gutiérrez
Manager
Soluziona S.A.
- The BTS Tournament has been a very fruitful experience. We felt ourselves
like real Top-Managers a point in time: working as a team, designing a business strategy and taking decisions in a highly competitive
international environment.
The Tournament is quite well developed and is very close to reality; therefore the experience will be very useful for us in the future. I do recommend this training tool to whichever kind of company, regardless of its sector or size 
- Antonio Fernández Cervantes
Production Control Department
Fujitsu Manufacturing España
- My personal responsibility inside the company is Material Management, and as a result of the training I have learnt quite a lot about sales/marketing, finance and production functions, which I believe will have definite value and impact on the concept of my future. I took a very active role in the tournament and after 5 rounds of intensive decision approach, I see that I am now able to look at and diagnose a business entity as a whole. Moreover, I am sure, as a role of management, I can propose and contribute ideas and solutions for business planning. If I could have another chance, I believe I could do better. It is very nice to have different ideas from each of the team members, as I think any team is able to achieve better results when all the recourses of that team are mobilized and used to its full extend. Teamwork is very important! I am now able to perform much better in all aspects of business after the training.
- William Wang
Director
Twentsche (NanJing) Fibre Optics Ltd China
- Really good fun! That would be a summary of our experience of participating in the tournament run by BTS Tournaments. We participated as a team from Ericsson Taiwan, and apart from having a good time during this experience we also learnt a lot in regards to business understanding and teamwork. If we would mention three areas were we felt we improved our skills, these would be business strategy, analysis and team work.
- Lancelot Cheng
Solution Manager
Ericsson Taiwan
- It is an excellent tool for fast learning. There are great benefits in terms of strategical understanding of the management within a telecommunications company. It allowed me to see the big picture of business and understand the key factors in the management of strategy against direct and indirect competitors, also to see the effect of well thought decisions taken under pressure. For me it was a very fruitful experience with high value added, the reason being in simulations you are able to see very interesting conclusions in a short period time, conclusions that in the real world would only be visible to high profile people with many years experience within the organization.
- Javier Berenguela
Commercial and planing Supervisor
Telefonica Chile
- The main benefit for us was getting a broader perspective in the management of a global business and identifying the interrelation between different areas of an organization. The tournament was well structured and gave us the opportunity to share our knowledge with other colleagues in our organization. It was very educational to see the impact of your decisions in such a short period of time, as this in the real business world would have taken years. Team building and healthy competition against other companies from various countries was an extra source of motivation. Good training!
- Maribel Labrado
Financial Consulting Department Manager Financial Institutions
Fujitsu Services España
- “To have a good benefit from the BTS Tournament training it is necessary to
have a basic understanding about some management tools like strategic planning, reading a income statement and so on. BTS Tournament
participants should have some training (or understanding) before they start the tournament.
The BTS Tournament itself is a very good possibility to use this management tools very close to real life. You learn a lot about a complex system there the influences are not always clear and not linear. You have also to accept that you can not control all things. One of the most important things was to learn a lot about team work. This is on a standard training (with teacher) always on a very theoretical level. Here you have to act in a team. You have to learn how the team is making the decisions. You see the way from everybody's opinion to the team opinion. You learn how to influence the team and see how other team members influence the team. You learn a lot how management teams work in real life. The BTS Tournament is an efficient way to train special the last point.” 
- Werner Stampach
Manager Engineering Service
Elcoteq Elektronik GmbH
- Participating in the BTS Tournament gave us an opportunity to see how well we worked as a team, taking advantage of the different contributions and perspectives provided by each individual. There were two primary areas where we felt we improved during the tournament: we became better at teamwork and improved our understanding of the big picture. It was also interesting to be able to analyze the market dynamics. A flexible and good learning experience.
- David Spong
Director Finance and Administration
Ericsson Saudi Arabia
- To participate in the BTS Tournament has been a great experience from a professional point of view as well as personal. The training gives you an excellent approach to a real company, learning how important it is to make decisions in the different parts of the company and how these decision influence the whole market. You have to make a strategy, take decisions and analyze results related not only to financials, but also in marketing and sales, production, human resources, getting a good perspective of the whole organization. The Tournament was also a team building exercise for us, as we were people from four different businesses resulting in increased the contact with each other. It is the third year that our company has participated in this training and we recommend it to anyone.
- Marco Gracia
Product Manager
Philips
- Five persons from our Finance Department went through the business simulation training and the most important thing that they learned was how different parts of the organisation interact - the holistic perspective. In a large organization such as Hewlett-Packard it is essential that people get a sense of the importance of each division, and get the overall picture.
- Mr Peter Brink
Director of Administration
HP Sweden
- We have had a team developing business skills in the traditional Tietoenator training event year after year. Our key people have felt the training has been beneficial, and that is the reason for our frequent participation. Analytical skills and team-related issues have been among the ares where we have benefited the most. BTS Tournament is a good, enjoyable and effective way to improve one's business understanding.
- Pekka Hirvonen
Vice President processing and network
Tieto Enator
- “We experienced the BTS Tournament training program as both exiting and rewarding. It was exciting to learn about the business relations between functions and analyze markets and competitors in a simulated business competition. The concept was well structured and as such motivated the members of the team to grow their own competencies. However, the most rewarding was team building. Members from different parts of the organization got to work together, develop trust in each other's opinions, and learnt to listen and communicate effectively.”
- Ilkka Katko
CFO
IBM Finalnd
- Electrolux Belgium participated in the global BTS Tournament that BTS runs
each year. It was an interesting and rewarding experience. For example, the importance of creating a strategy and sticking to it was
vividly illustrated. In forming a strategy, we needed to understand how different parts of the company interact, and on the other
hand, we needed to be able to see the company from a holistic perspective.
Another interesting area was risk management: how to evaluate your risks, and how much risk you can and should tolerate, if the goal is to get as good results as possible. We became very result-oriented. As our team included people from different areas and departments of Electrolux Belgium, the teamwork aspect was also important. All in all, it was a rewarding experience. - Jan-Francois Koeune
Marketing Director
Electrolux Belgium
- Electrolux Belgium participated in the global BTS Tournament that BTS runs
each year. It was an interesting and rewarding experience. For example, the importance of creating a strategy and sticking to it was
vividly illustrated. In forming a strategy, we needed to understand how different parts of the company interact, and on the other
hand, we needed to be able to see the company from a holistic perspective.
Another interesting area was risk management: how to evaluate your risks, and how much risk you can and should tolerate, if the goal is to get as good results as possible. We became very result-oriented. As our team included people from different areas and departments of Electrolux Belgium, the teamwork aspect was also important. All in all, it was a rewarding experience. - Jan-Francois Koeune
Marketing Director
Electrolux Belgium
- We participated with a team of 5 people in the IT-Telecom division. The
team was gathered from different business units and departments. The experience was very positive in terms of group dynamics and
gave us the opportunity of getting to know other people in the company. We had lots of fun!
The BTS Tournament is a good training tool to get the big picture of business, especially for people who are not familiarized with top level management decisions. As well it can be a tool to identify high potentials. Some areas where you can improve your understanding/skills are finance, production, marketing, human resources, etc. Good training and teamwork tool! 
- Juan Jesús Leon
E-solutions Director
Grupo GMV
- We participated in the BTS Tournament training program with a team from Avanzit Tecnología. Our team consisted of people from different functions of the organization, which contributed to a larger amount of knowledge transfer and an overall positive learning experience among the members. The main benefit for our team was getting a more concrete take on the big picture of business. Meaning, it was extremely valuable for us to see how our decisions in different areas, affected the company as a whole, and to see the impact of our employed strategy in both the short and long term. In addition, we found the element of competing against other companies from different countries to be very exiting and realistic in this global BTS Tournament training program. The program was fun, educational and to the point. Good training!
- Luis García
Managing Director
Avanzit Tecnología
- “The BTS Tournament in Business Management is the best business simulation
competition I or my team members have ever been part of. We learned about each other as a management team, such as about the strengths
some of us have in various areas of business that are not part of our everyday work experience.
We enjoyed competing - and beating - teams from our company, as well as competitors in the telecom market. I can only say that BTS Tournaments did a great and professional job of organizing and taking care of our every need throughout the competition. We all looked forward to our results against the other teams!
I would strongly recommend BTS Tournaments to anyone seeing the need to get team members to learn about each other, the need to learn about practicing the business of business, or the need to learn to make decisions quickly in a teamwork context, all in an environment that lets you see the results almost immediately.” - Mitch A. Lewis
Head of Marketing
Ericsson Multi-Service Networks
- - I really enjoyed it, a powerful learning experience!
- A brilliant tool to see all the aspects of business at the same time, and handle the complexity of all parts This has really improved our team work. As we co-operated over national borders (5 people from 5 different countries) and were only using the phone as a tool - this was a tremendous proof that teaming without face-to-face meetings can be successful
- A holistic approach is developed and complex budget/forecast decisions are being made
- I recommend this training especially for business leadership programs
- We developed our understanding of how different areas in a company affect other areas, especially within capital structure
- We increased our knowledge about EVA, cost of capital and retained earnings and capacity - Mr Preben Herholdt-Rasmussen
IBM.com Sales Centers, Nordics
IBM
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