Who will save the company? NEWTON students will take the reins

The company is in trouble. Its management team, however, has a convincing explanation for every problem. A new module being developed at NEWTON, Business Strategy: Leadership Game, will combine a dramatised story with a management simulation. Students will step into the action, take charge of plants within a fictional company and work through the consequences of their decisions across a series of linked seminars.

Contents:

1. Management egos on camera
2. The desicions are up to the students
3. Storytelling grounded in research

The concept was developed by Dr Martin Cenek, whose work at NEWTON focuses on strategic management. Designed for first-year undergraduate students, the module is being developed under the Centre for Management and the International Institute of Applied Management. In creating the filmed scenes, Dr Cenek drew on both his professional expertise and his theatre experience, inviting colleagues from the theatre to join the project.

Management egos on camera

A manager who needs to control everything and will never admit a mistake. A colleague whose main concern is the impression he makes. The management team at Moravia Compliments, a. s., has strong personalities and plenty of confident speeches. Beneath the surface, however, problems are mounting that no amount of eloquence can solve.

The filmed scenes use exaggeration to highlight behaviour that can get a business into trouble. Humour helps expose overlooked warning signs and moments when protecting one’s image takes precedence over responsibility for the company. Students will have the chance to identify the gap between what management says and what the situation actually demands.

The decisions are up to the students

The dramatised scenes will lead into a team simulation. Students will take on management roles and make joint decisions about how their plants operate. As they look for solutions, different perspectives on leadership, sales, finance, production and people management will come into play. Each manager will need to justify their approach and agree on priorities with the rest of the team.

For example, promising a quick delivery may help win a customer. In the next seminar, however, the team will find out whether it can fulfil the order with its available capacity and without overloading employees. A sales success may therefore create a new operational dilemma. Decisions will affect the plant’s cash flow and reputation, as well as confidence in management and the stock market index.

Each new round will build on the previous results. Teams will gradually develop their own management track record and deal with the consequences of earlier choices. The same fictional story will therefore unfold differently for each team, depending on how the students perform.

Storytelling grounded in research

The module builds on Dr Cenek’s work, “EDS: Education digital storytelling”, which explores the use of storytelling in university management teaching. Students in his research responded very positively to the combination of theory, narrative, dramatisation and interaction. The new module develops this approach into a sustained management experience.

“We therefore wanted to take this approach further and create a module where students do not just encounter management problems in textbooks or presentations, but step right inside the story,” explains Martin Cenek.

Teaching will also include ongoing group discussions of the decisions made, guided by lecturers Dr Petra Přibilová and Ing. Tomáš Dudek, both of whom bring management experience. Together with their lecturer, students will revisit the information they drew on, how they addressed objections and why they chose a particular course of action. They will connect their practical experience with management concepts and tools.

The aim is to strengthen students’ engagement and their ability to apply management approaches in situations that call for independent judgement and a reasoned explanation of their choices. In leadership, these are essential skills for graduates’ professional lives.