The Zodiak workshop: an innovative model for teaching financial management through partnership with industry.

Abstract

The National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI) is working to enhance the non-technical skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes (SKAs) of veterinarians. This report describes the development of an innovative model for teaching the principles of financial management as they apply to the veterinary practice. Zodiak: The Game of Business Finance and Strategy is a "business literacy" game in which players work together in small teams (generally four people) to run a fictional multi-million-dollar company called Zodiak Industries for three "years" in order to learn principles of business finance and strategy. After finishing the 4.5-hour game, participants spend the rest of the workshop making the right "Connections"-exercises designed to connect what they have learned to business strategies, financial statements, and operational tactics drawn from veterinary practice. Issues addressed for the veterinary practice, with parallels drawn to Zodiak, included return on owner investment in a veterinary practice (vs. salary drawn by owner veterinarians); pricing (setting prices, price elasticity of demand, and relationships between volume, quality, and price); human resources and operations management as they relate to profitability and efficiency; cash flow and management of accounts receivable; and commonly used financial benchmarks. Workshop venues have included Michigan State University, The Ohio State University, the University of Illinois, and Purdue University. Financial and in-kind support were provided through partnership with Pharmacia Animal Health (now Pfizer Animal Health) and Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. Through course evaluations, participants generally rated the workshop high as an educational experience and indicated that the most important things learned were related to financial management (principles, terminology, and methods). The most enjoyable aspects of the workshop tended to be group discussions, teamwork, the dynamic/interactive environment, and the "game" atmosphere. Based on these experiences, the Zodiak workshop provides a useful model for teaching career development and practice management topics to veterinary students. The business simulation in a workshop format was especially useful for teaching these "non-mainstream" topics, as traditional classroom lecture approaches might not have engaged students sufficiently to achieve effective learning. In addition, the partnership developed between academia and industry offered substantial benefits to both parties. Similar educational approaches should be considered for additional aspects of the non-technical SKAs.