There are teachers for whom the sound of the bell, more than the lesson, marks the beginning of a mission. Teachers who roll up their sleeves and make a difference, because they look beyond the program. Teachers who believe in the power of education as a means of growth and change. Therefore, they constantly update themselves and experiment with new methods, determined to best prepare their students for the future.

In fact, at school, young people acquire knowledge regarding the various subjects of study but also the skills necessary to face life. The system, therefore, should also help them develop a mindset that will be useful when they begin their work chapter. For these teachers, always looking for new solutions and innovative methods, business games represent the next frontier of learning.

Games have always been a powerful learning tool. We all remember the lessons we learned through playing games. Games teach us how to think critically, solve problems, and work in teams. That's why business games are increasingly popular at all levels of education.

But what is a business game? It is a virtual but realistic simulation of how a company works. Students, divided into teams but also individually, manage a virtual company, facing challenges and making decisions with the aim of learning the main business dynamics and understanding how they are connected to each other. This approach is based on psychological principles such as experiential learning and gamification, and can be applied in all sectors. The competitive element adds an additional level of involvement and stimulation.

The benefits are obvious both for students, who are offered a safe environment to develop and enhance technical skills (analysis, strategy, marketing, economics, etc.) and transversal skills (communication, teamwork, decision making, etc.), and for teachers, who can teach complex subjects in a more engaging and interactive way. “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn,” said Benjamin Franklin.

Imagine a class of students running a startup in the mobile application market. Every decision, from budget management to the valorization of intellectual capital, affects the success of the company and, in turn, offers the kids the opportunity to understand well how sustainability works in business. The benefit is that, when their time actually comes, those kids will have a valuable experience on which to base their first, important decisions.

In summary, business games are divided into 4 steps:

  1. Team building: Where students are divided into small groups.
  2. Industry Selection: Where each team identifies the area to focus on.
  3. Management and strategy: during which groups make decisions of various kinds.
  4. Evaluation and feedback: choices and their effects are analyzed to draw valuable lessons.

At this point the doubt is legitimate: does this approach work with the very young as much as it has proven effective with the adults? Certainly. This is confirmed by the largely positive feedback we collect from thousands of students who participate in the business games designed by Artémat and distributed in schools by Ligra srl. Most of the students report an increase in their understanding of business dynamics and improved soft skills.

This shows that this is not just a trend, but the future of education. Companies are adopting this approach to recruit and train their employees, universities have introduced it to improve both the input and output of teaching and even schools are slowly converting. In a rapidly changing world, business games represent the fastest and most effective transition between theory and practice. Because as Plato said: “The direction in which education begins a man will determine his future life”.