The Chocolate Factory Simulation

Imagine an experience where the behaviors of leaders and their impact on significant organizational outcomes are revealed in real-time. Imagine that at the end of 3 – 5 hours, leaders, individually and collectively, are equipped with the practical knowledge they need to confidently implement successful culture change within their departments, business units or organizations. The Chocolate Factory Culture Change Simulation provides a way for organizations to fast-track the process of changing their culture by providing leaders at all levels with a practical approach for achieving effective culture change main objectives include:

  ~ Helping leaders understand their role in shaping and changing their company’s culture.

  ~ Helping leaders use levers to intentionally shape and change their company’s culture.

  ~ Helping leaders understand the link between values, culture, and performance.

Further, the simulation will help you answer the following important cultural questions:

  ~ How do leaders achieve culture change?

  ~ How do leaders behaviors influence culture?

  ~ How do we create a collaborative culture?

  ~ How do we create a culture that promotes innovation?

  ~ What behaviors most contributed to finding a powerful solution? Impeded it?

What Is Company Culture?

Company culture is not just for large, established corporations. It is, on the contrary, an elementary part of every business, which (whether you realize it or not) lies deep within the bones of every company.

Company culture has been defined differently by different people. What they all have in common, though, is the fact that company culture necessarily deals with why and how people do what they do within a business. It involves:

  ~ Company Vision/Mission

  ~ Behavioral Norms

  ~ Symbols

  ~ Values

  ~ Language

  ~ Assumptions

  ~ Systems

  ~ Habits

  ~ Beliefs/Ideology

Any company serious about its culture needs to understand how these various components are working together to support strategy execution and goal achievement This should be done sooner rather than later.

The good news is leaders have the means to create high-performing cultures at their fingertips. What they lack is the know-how. The Chocolate Factory Culture Change Simulation fills this gap by providing a simple and practical framework they can use to proactively influence and shape culture.

Who Is The Chocolate Factory Simulation For?

Companies today more than ever are faced with rapidly changing environments – new competitors, evolving customer expectations, changing demographics, emerging technology – all of which are working together to create more and more pressure on results, and many companies are discovering that their successful playbooks of the past are no longer working. The culture which helped you get your company to where it is today may longer be enough, it, like everything else in business, needs to evolve and advance in order to keep pace with external change.

Another instance in which the Chocolate Factory Simulation may be useful is when companies want to make a major strategic because it helps leaders know what to do to shift their organization’s culture so that it is aligned with company’s new strategy.

The problem is that leaders don’t know how to change culture. Many shy away because of concerns about a company’s culture being too vague, time-consuming and complex or, if they do try and make a cultural change, they typically revisit the company’s values and clarify behavior expectations but they don’t actually change the system to support the desired behaviors. Such an approach is sure to fail.

How It Works

In the simulation, you are a leader in a complex chocolate manufacturer with multiple locations and business units, from kids candy to premium chocolates. The problem you’re facing is dramatically shrinking profits.

Also, an exciting innovation is emerging in the chocolate industry which has the potential to dramatically increase sales. But the question is: Can you and the other leaders in your organization work together to make tough decisions and capitalize on this financially lucrative opportunity. Representing four Business Departments, plus Research and Development and the Executive Team, the groups must rapidly craft recommendations to your Board about how to improve profits to save your company for short and long-term.

This fast-moving simulation provides the opportunity for groups to experience their own culture dynamics and gain insights into the behaviors and assumptions that are operating to support or diminish breakthrough performance gains. They also examine how the design of different elements of the organization ‘system’ influence culture. The result is a practical approach they can use to intentionally create the culture their department, business unit or organization needs to achieve its goals.

When To Use

The simulation is designed for leaders at all levels who are tasked with creating a high-performance culture. This includes executive teams, mid-level managers, project teams, culture champion networks, department, and business unit leaders, HR/OD teams and others. Use it as part of:

  ~ Leadership development programs and retreats

  ~ Department defectiveness initiatives

  ~ Culture change initiatives

  ~ Business transformation initiatives

  ~ M&A integration

  ~ Department amalgamations

Cultivate meaningful, professionally-rewarding interactions within your company via our Chocolate Factory Culture Change Simulation or please feel free give us a call today at (833) 391-1896 for more information or email us at inquiry@culturestrategyfit.com.