The Informatist: A Fun Way to Learn Business

How does one learn to solve business problems? Modern business is so complex, mixing multinational competition, difficult-to-discern personal interactions, and complicated organizational structures, that it is difficult to imagine how a mere online game can simulate modern business.

High school and college students now have an online tool that allows them to learn important business principles and have fun at the same time. The Informatist—at www.informatist.net allow students to sign on and participate for free. It is an interactive game that gives players their own business, including resources such as land, buildings, a profession and workers, to be able to clamber up the economic ladder and establish a valuable franchise online. Unlike other simulations online, such as stock-buying or simple business games, the student learns important business tools which bring him or her success in situations that are similar to what they would encounter in the real business world in the future.

Simulations: the New Way to Learn.

We learn things through interaction and playing. While there is a good deal of book-learning we have all been subjected to, we put it to practice in real-world simulations that teach us not only the tools, but how to employ them in the real world.

Recent simulation games, online and offline, are much more sophisticated in teaching students how to act in the real world. Personal interactions can be learned using The Sims, game interactions can be learned through shoot-‘em-ups like Doom online, and story-based simulations, like the early Dungeons and Dragons, provide ways for people who don’t know one another to interact online and learn things about solving problems, interacting on a personal basis, and dealing with tough competition.

Business Simulation for Executives…Expensive and Hard to Find.

It used to be that high-level business executives honed their skills through elaborate in-person business gaming. The rules would be set up, a problem given to a number of ad-hoc teams, and the executives would work together to understand the business environment. They would typically be given a problem to solve, in competition against other teams who were given a similar background and resources and told to achieve the same result.

These high-level executive gaming ‘shoot-outs’ generally cost several thousand dollars, a trip to a remote gathering site, and several days from executives’ busy schedules to learn important lessons. These courses are still being given today by independent training consultants and by many of the most famous business schools in the nation: Harvard, Standard, Michigan and the Kellogg School (Northwestern) provide such programs, calling them “PMD”—Professional Management Development for middle managers, or “AMP”—Advanced Management Program for managers whose next step is to the C-level (CEO, COO, CFO) or the Board of Directors. A typical PMD course at one of the top universities costs well over $40,000 for two to six weeks of course time.

Business Simulation for Students—Now Widely Available through the Informatist.

The same lessons of learning the business environment, working with others on a business problem, dealing with competition and solving problems, has been incorporated in new business gaming sites online. The Informatist website is one of the pioneers in business gaming online, providing real-world lessons through a massively online gaming tool.