Venture launch: use of simulation to support strategic operational decisions

This paper describes how discrete-event simulation enhanced a traditional process design effort for a new media company in pre-launch mode. Because the company´s business model is new, and thus its critical operational processes are new, a need existed to not only design the new processes but also to determine at a high level the “goodness” of the proposed design. This high-level approach to simulation modeling can open new doors to simulation professionals accustomed to performing detailed simulation analyses. Benefits derived from use of the high-level simulation along with considerations for using high-level models in this rapidly changing environment are discussed