Business can be harsh. Business can be friendly.
This reality is reflected in the ExoroGame Global Challenge, held on 2-4 June 2008 in MYMCA Hotel Singapore. Over 40 teams participated in this challenge. From Indonesia, there were 4 teams taking part in this competition. These 4 teams were from SMAK 4 BPK Penabur, SMAK Abdi Siswa, SMA Tarakanita 2 and Prasetiya Mulya Business School.
The first day was still an introductory stage for all the companies. Most companies were run independently, showing safe and steady progress. It seemed that the companies were still reluctant to make a big move. They tend to play safe while making a close observation to the competitors’ strength. Well, everyone needs warming up..
On the second day, the competition was getting rougher. The products were arranged in such a way that the supply to companies were very limited. This supply shortage had forced the companies to find innovative solution to keep the availability of goods to be sold to customer. Bidding for supplies was inevitable; increasing cost greatly, a disadvantage for companies. It is a good example showing that scarcity will always occur in our daily life. Sooner or later, there will be some circumstances that will cause supply shortage, followed by a significant increase in price, just like the price of oil that keeps increasing these days.
Basically, on the second day, the game was unpredictable and companies found difficulty in forecasting their profit and revenue in each round. Adaptation was crucial and companies were expected to find opportunity to survive. An approach that I found very impressive is the one that buys supplies not directly from the supplier, but from other companies that failed to sell their goods on the customer table. (Those who have played ExoroGame would know what I am talking about.) Never think about it, right? Doing this, the company did not need to go through those bidding process and would be able to purchase goods at normal price. What an opportunist mindset!
The third day and the final day of the competition was the most exciting day of competition. Why? Firstly, it is because of the modification of the game. Before the game started, the companies were given a piece of paper with several profiles. Each profile had different amount of starting capital and unique specialties. Each company had to choose a profile most suited to their management style and strategy. Secondly, on this day, there were really a lot of negotiations and mergers going on among all the companies. There were mutually benefit negotiations, but there were also mergers to revenge and defeat a company that monopolized the game in unethical way, I believe.
At this point, ethical and moral issues are questioned. In business, you will always face many unethical ways to expand your business. There is always a grey area of regulation for you to play around with. But in my opinion, integrity is the key success in running a business. That is proven since many big and successful companies have integrity as one of their core values.
So, finally, the competition ended. The result announced during the prize award ceremony was as followed:
· 1st winner : Hwa Chong Institution
· 2nd winner : St. Andrew Junior College
· 3rd winner : Temasek Junior College
Although there is no winner from Indonesia, I think it is a good experience for all of us to take part in such competition where so much thinking and strategizing involved. After all, we had fun together and hope that we could send some delegates again next year.
