Originally Published MX March/April 2006

TOPSPIN

Russell Jones, senior training and development manager at Tyco Healthcare (Mansfield, MA), oversees training for the company's nuclear medicine arm, Tyco Healthcare/Mallinckrodt. According to Jones, the lessons picked up by his division's management in the Finance for Nonfinancial Professionals simulation have translated into business benefits on the job.

"While our managers are highly technical professionals with advanced academic degrees, they often have little managerial experience," Jones says. "This simulation demonstrates clearly how excess inventory and decreased turns tie up free cash flow, which has a negative effect on business performance.