Power and Influence

Change Management Simulation

Forio Overview


The Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence challenges learners to lead a complex organizational transformation by influencing key stakeholders across varying levels of power and urgency. Acting as a change agent, learners must diagnose the situation, build credibility, and deploy a mix of strategic, political, and cultural levers to move individuals and the organization through stages of change—from awareness to adoption.


Grounded in established theories and research, the simulation illustrates how successful change requires more than formal authority—it depends on timing, relationships, and adaptability. Learners experience first-hand that there is no universal formula for change; effectiveness lies in reading context, understanding human behavior, and sequencing interventions deliberately


Players

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Multiplayer

Single Player


Languages

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English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese


Simulation Time

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Total Time: 3-4 hours

Intro 20 minutes, Gameplay (per scenario) 45 - 60 minutes, Debrief 45 - 60 minutes


Accessibility

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WCAG 2.0 Compliance


Price

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$165 per person

The Story

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You’ve been tasked with leading a bold sustainability transformation at Spectrum Sunglass Company. The challenge? Inspire change across a comfortable, profitable organization that sees little need to act. As the change agent, you must build alliances, overcome skepticism, and create momentum—without alienating key players. Every choice you make—from securing executive sponsorship to communicating wins—shapes whether your vision for sustainable growth becomes reality or fades as another failed initiative.


In the Harvard Business Change Management Simulation, there are four scenarios available. The participants play one of two “change agents” - either the CEO or Director of Product Innovation in the company. In each round of play, learners choose any one of 18 change levers while attempting to move the organization’s management team along a four-step pathway of change awareness, interest, trial, and adoption. Participants are assessed on their ability to establish and maintain credibility and achieve the greatest percentage of adopters within the organization.

Core Competencies

Organizational Transformation

Ethical Leadership and Responsibility

Motivating Others

Clear Communication

Learning Objectives

Practice diagnostic and action-planning skills with regard to leading organization-wide strategic change.
Understand the drivers of resistance to change and how to overcome that resistance, including using social network information.
Recognize how context shapes change outcomes, particularly the impact of a leader’s power and the urgency for results.
Identify common pitfalls in leading change and learn practical ways to avoid them.

Resources to Power Your Simulation

Each simulation comes with a Teaching Guidebook for the facilitator along with 1:1 facilitator training and free trials.

Available with this simulation

Facilitation Guide

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Debrief Slides

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Author Video

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Free Trial & Demo

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