This programme allows participants to experience the full simulation but is more limited in scope than the two day finance for non-financial managers course. It is an ideal solution for those who are unable to release their managers for two days but who nevertheless want to develop their financial and commercial acumen. Because there is no conventional classroom-style training with this format, the group sizes can be larger than for the full programme.

The teams complete seven rounds of the Virtual Village Pub simulation, generally having half an hour in which to analyse the available information and enter their decisions into a computer. Although the decisions they need to take will be the same each round, the nature and volume of information at their disposal gradually increases. Before each round, the facilitator provides 10 to 20 minutes of input, explaining new reports, ratios and graphs as they become available for the first time. In this way, the participants are gradually introduced to the full range of management tools at their disposal. The facilitator also provides a review of the simulation at the half way stage and a more thorough round-up after the final round of decisions.

This is how the reports and ratios are introduced:

• Round One – Introduction to the village, the P&L
• Round Two – Balance Sheet, marketing reports, a few graphs (focus on revenues)
• Round Three – Cash flow, constraints report, a few more graphs (focus on costs)
• Round Four – Review of Year 1, margins, yet more graphs (focus on cash)
• Round Five – Cash ratios
• Round Six – Asset utilisation, return on capital

The simulation lives on state-of-the-art servers situated in the UK and can be accessed by any machine in the world that has an internet connection. No software needs to be loaded. Once the final team has submitted its decisions, the simulation produces fresh accounts and reports within seconds, ready for the facilitator to release the new data to the group.

Each participant receives a spiral bound booklet which introduces the simulation and the village. This also provides extra information on the decisions that the team need to take and reference material on how to understand the accounts, the reports and the key ratios. All of this information is also available on the computer screen but it is helpful if everyone has their own copy, especially if they want to refer back to the contents when they are back in the office.

This option allows an appropriate in-house trainer to facilitate the programme at a reduced cost.