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18th March 2008

Tata Interactive Systems and Dave Vance design a simulation for CLOs and Senior Learning Professionals

Tata Interactive Systems and Dave Vance design 'TOPSIMŽ - Learning Manager', the first ever one-day training simulation for effective and efficient management of the learning.

Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) and Caterpillar University's former President, Dave Vance, have collaborated to design and create a simulation - TOPSIMŽ - Learning Manager - for decision makers in the learning function of an organization. The simulation allows participants to run their organisation's learning function like a business, making strategic and tactical decisions, affecting the organisation's training and learning strategies as well as their deployment.

According to TIS's President, Simulations, Manoj Kutty: "Learning Manager creates a simulated environment where users can make learning decisions and see the benefits and/or repercussions in real time. Participants can map their strategy to the key challenges faced by their organisation, develop a business plan for learning and use decision-making and cost-benefit analysis tools to maximise the impact of learning."

This day-long Learning Manager workshop, conducted by Dave Vance, is intended mainly for CLOs, training directors, and senior learning professionals. It also helps consultants and HR managers who want to provide better guidance to learning professionals.

Vance said: "The partnership has created a highly engaging simulation. The participants were enthusiastic about refining their business plan to achieve the greatest impact on their organisation and did not want the simulation to end.

"It is a unique simulation which gives professionals an opportunity to practise the key concepts of strategic alignment, programme selection and prioritisation. It even allows cost-benefit analysis.

"The key benefit of instruction combined with simulation is the immediate practise of new skills, providing both the knowledge and the confidence to apply these concepts back in the office."

"I have received extremely positive feedback from the participants," Vance added. "Some of them even commented that this was the most intuitive and easy-to-comprehend simulation they had ever played."

TIS's Kutty commented, "Managing a corporate university budget is often a challenging assignment and, in today's difficult business environment with limited resources, it can be even more demanding. We built our simulation to enable training function managers to test out different strategies in a risk free environment to understand and maximise the return on investment of their training budget.

"The multi-player, game-based approach within the simulation will keep the audience engaged. Our partner and facilitator, Dave Vance, is an industry veteran who has run one of the largest corporate universities in the USA with distinction."

TIS' business acumen simulations are highly acclaimed and proven solutions for management challenges. These simulations have delivered tangible results at leading organisations and educational institutions around the globe.

TIS's simulations have improved financial results and return on investment (ROI) by teaching participants to make better investment decisions and then to apply that knowledge in relevant situations. The workshops offer an enhanced understanding of the enterprise-wide consequences of business and learning decisions.

Dave Vance also took part in the Tata Interactive Learning Forum (TLF) towards the end of 2007. At that event, Vance shared his knowledge on making the right training decisions in organisations and conducted the Learning Manager workshop for the attendees.

End

Notes for editors

About TOPSIMŽ

Tata Interactive Systems designs and develops a range of management simulations.

TOPSIMŽ is a top-ranked simulation product used by more than 150 leading global corporations. TOPSIMŽ has been successfully implemented in business education and professional training for more than twenty years. TOPSIMŽ Simulations are modular programs usually deployed in instructor-led workshops.

For geographically dispersed participants, TOPSIMŽ can also be played over the web as an online workshop. Furthermore, TOPSIMŽ Simulations are available as off-the-shelf products and in customised formats.

About Dave Vance

Dave is founding and former President of Caterpillar University (2001-2006). He also served as the Chief Economist and Manager of the Business Intelligence Group at Caterpillar (1995-2000). Dave has been honoured with a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Notre Dame, a Masters degree in Business from Indiana University, a Bachelors in Political Science from MIT and also been acknowledged as 2006 CLO of the Year. He just finished a three year term on the ASTD Board of Directors, two as Treasurer.

About Tata Interactive Systems (TIS)

Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), a global leader in e-learning, is a part of the $22bn Tata Group. Truly international, TIS has a presence across the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Japan, India, and mainland Europe. TIS offers corporations, universities, schools, publishers, and government institutions a diversified and innovative bouquet of learning and training solutions including Simulation-based Learning Objects (SimBLs), Story-based Learning Objects (StoBLs), courseware and curriculum design, special needs education, assessments, electronic performance support systems (EPSS), mobile learning, along with other corporate training and consultancy services. Our multi-disciplinary expertise and 16 years' experience across domains helps us design e-learning programmes that are unique to clients' requirements and specifically crafted to boost knowledge retention and application.

Apart from holding ISO 9001 certification, TIS is the only e-learning organisation in the world to be assessed at Level 5 in both the SEI-CMM and P-CMM frameworks. TIS's quest for excellence is reflected in numerous prestigious industry awards, including a Silver Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Award 2005 and 2004, APEX Award of Excellence in 2005 and 2006, BETT Awards in 2004 and 2006, and two Business World-NID Design Excellence awards.

For more information log on to http://www.tatainteractive.com

Further information from:

Alan Samuel, Tata Interactive Systems, 020 7905 0156, www.tatainteractive.com

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 01727 860405, www.boblittlepr.com