Practicing Marketing as Part of Enterprise Strategy

Context

In marketing courses, the Green Business Lab allows participants to examine how marketing decisions about brand, value propositions, and reputation interact with broader business strategy, operations, and performance.

What participants do

Participants work as an executive team responsible for running the company as a whole. While making enterprise-level decisions across functions, teams place particular emphasis on marketing choices, including positioning, messaging, and customer value and observe how those choices affect financial results, operational priorities, stakeholder response, and long-term brand performance.

What participants practice

Through iterative decision cycles, participants practice:

  • Integrating marketing strategy with enterprise and functional decisions
  • Developing customer-focused value propositions informed by sustainability considerations
  • Aligning brand messaging with operational and strategic actions
  • Managing reputation and trust under stakeholder and market scrutiny
  • Evaluating trade-offs between growth, differentiation, and credibility

Closing

The experience reinforces how marketing functions as a strategic lens on the business, shaping customer relationships while remaining tightly coupled to how the company is run.

The experiential simulation teaches marketing concepts.

Working together, participants practice skills by integrating perspectives, aligning priorities, and discussing decisions within a shared strategic context.

  • Executives plan their marketing business strategy.
    Evaluate the market, competitors, and opportunities to implement a marketing strategy to achieve company performance targets.
  • Teams use the marketing business simulation game.
    Identify significant stakeholder interests and opportunities for engagement.
  • Participants plan marketing during the simulation game.
    Realize how decisions at every stage of the product life cycle affect marketing.
  • Marketing and supply chain are taught in the sustainability simulation game.
    Recognize how marketing decisions affect other functional areas of the company and vice versa.
Diagram of the sustainability simulation game work process.
View the "Process" graphic
Description of the sustainability simulation game work flow.
Download the "Process" PDF

The following table describes in detail 3 Lab formats: Event, Short-format Module, and Multi-Week Integration.
The longer participants are active in the simulation, the more features, content, and interactivity.

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Team Activity
Formats for Marketing
Event Short-Format Module Multi-Week Integration
Design and manufacture a product and make operational decisions. 1.Select a design and make operational decisions for a product using data about component cost, pollution and energy impact, and customer preferences.

1.Select a design and make operational decisions for a product using data about component cost, pollution and energy impact, and customer preferences.

2. Make sure that operational decisions are consistent with the desired brand image.

 

1.Select a design and make operational decisions for a product using data about component cost, pollution and energy impact, and customer preferences.

2. Make sure that operational decisions are consistent with the desired brand image.

3. Make sure that supply chain decisions are consistent with the company brand image.
Market the product. 1. Create either a storyboard or 30-second video commercial.

1. Develop a marketing strategy to achieve company performance targets, including price, promotion, and channel decisions.

2. Create either a storyboard or 30-second video commercial.

1. Develop a marketing strategy to achieve company performance targets, including price, promotion, and channel decisions.

2. Create either a storyboard or 30-second video commercial.

3. Qualify for green labels based on footprint and energy standards.
Promote the company and product through Social Media. Not Available. This is an optional activity described in the In-Depth format. 1. Post comments about the company and product to the Lab’s internal Social Media feed, and comment on the other posts.
Engage with stakeholders designed into the Lab. This is an optional activity described in the Intermediate format. 1. Consider scripted stakeholder perspectives related to company activities.

1. Consider scripted stakeholder perspectives related to company activities.

2. Engage interactively with stakeholders played by the instructor via the Lab’s internal email app (optional).

Make leadership decisions for your company.

(The instructor selects the topics. For the In-Depth format, we can also create custom topics based on instructor input.)

 1. Make decisions for 1 leadership topic described in the Intermediate format.

1. Make decisions for up to 3 leadership topics from the following list:

  • Life Cycle Innovation.
  • Water Stewardship.
  • Supply Chain Disruption and Ecosystem Services.
  • Product Take-back.
  • Remanufacturing and Circularity.
  • Supply Chain Safety.
  • Corporate Social Responsibility.
  • Product as a Service.

1. Make decisions for up to 8 leadership topics from the following list:

  • Life Cycle Innovation.
  • Water Stewardship.
  • Supply Chain Disruption and Ecosystem Services.
  • Product Take-back.
  • Remanufacturing and Circularity.
  • Supply Chain Safety.
  • Corporate Social Responsibility.
  • Product as a Service.

2. Make decisions for custom topics (optional).

Propose a solution to a business opportunity related to marketing.

 

(The instructor selects the topics. For the In-Depth format, we can also create custom topics based on instructor input.)

 Not Available. This is an optional activity described in the In-Depth format.

1. Propose a solution to a business opportunity that relates to course content. Here are some examples:

  • Create a sales contest or sales incentive program.
  • Work with external stakeholders to create shared value.
  • Implement a process to improve customer service.
  • Plan a design sprint.
  • Promote company values.

2. Propose a solution to custom topics (optional).

 

Complete Debrief Questions & Surveys about company, team, and peer performance.

(For the In-Depth format, we can create custom surveys based on instructor input.)

Answer questions and surveys:

1. Marketing Debrief Questions.

Answer questions and surveys:

1. Marketing Debrief Questions.

2. Peer Evaluation Survey.

Answer questions and surveys:

1. Marketing Capstone Debrief Questions.

2. Peer Evaluation Survey.

3. Team Evaluation Survey.

4. Answer custom Debrief Questions or Surveys that we create for the instructor, based on their input (optional).
Make a final presentation to the Board of Directors. Not Available. This is an optional activity described in the In-Depth format. 1. Present company strategy, progress-to-date, and future direction to a volunteer Board of Directors.
Use the simulation to teach business sustainability.
The simulation game teaches business acumen engineering lessons.
Use simulation to teach business strategy.
Use the simulation to teach about leadership.
Use the simulation to teach about marketing.
Use the simulation to teach about sustainable supply chains.

Participants explore topics in greater detail and interactively as time allows.

View this page as a PDF
Data that describes the sustainability simulation game.

Focus Areas

Use the simulation to teach business sustainability.
The simulation game teaches business acumen engineering lessons.
Use simulation to teach business strategy.
Use the simulation to teach about leadership.
Use the simulation to teach about marketing.
Use the simulation to teach about sustainable supply chains.

Use in virtual, in-person, or blended classes.

Use in virtual, in-person, or blended classes.

The Green Business Lab logo for the simulation.

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