Communicating with management about the benefits of business process simulation

While good simulation methodology is a necessary condition for the success of simulation projects, such projects cannot even begin unless the modelers successfully communicate benefits to management in advance of starting the work. Managers are reluctant to commit resources, especially the precious time of their own staff, unless they have hard evidence that they will see clear improvements to their business performance. This paper describes the challenges and strategies that can be helpful in communicating with managers. We report on a specific situation in which we used the strategies and succeeded in that communication process.