The AM Challenge is an immersive and competitive role-play game, designed to bring all the asset management concepts together within a realistic, multi-dimensional scenario.
Teams are provided with pre-reading materials two weeks prior to the exercise, and also given a detailed briefing on the evening before the (residential) Challenge commences. The prior reading materials introduce organizational roles for team members, along with context, goals, current performance, and a range of real and perceived risks and opportunities for the asset management scenario. Further information is progressively revealed at stages during the program and additional data can be ‘purchased’ at the teams’ discretion.
The Challenge requires the teams to understand the issues and opportunities, sort out priorities, develop strategies and plans, evaluate and justify the chosen strategic plans, and present these to a ‘board of directors’ (the Masterclass assessors and guest judges). As the game progresses, decisions are reflected in financial and other outcomes, including business performance and a variety of stakeholder impacts. Templates and tools are provided to record and quantify risks, perform cost/benefit evaluation of ideas and options and explore and present different scenarios, with clear identification of the team’s proposed way forward.
Each team is scored on a combination of the hard numbers underpinning their proposals, and the credible, understandable explanation (presentation) of these to a ‘Board of Directors’, plus assessors’ observations and feedback from the working sessions of individual and team performance.
The Asset Management Challenge teaches, tests, and evaluates the ability of each delegate, both as an individual and as a team member. Good teamwork and leadership are essential, and such role-play learning links fundamental Asset Management concepts and principles into real-life contexts, time pressures, conflicting priorities, and confusing information. Developed over 10 years of delivery and refinement at Master’s degree level, the Asset Management Challenge is a unique, very popular, and memorable experience!