How AGC Automotive Europe Trained 100 Managers to Think Strategically About Cash Flow

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Everyone talks about cash flow. In meetings, in quarterly reviews, in emails from finance. But how many managers truly understand how their strategic decisions — pricing, capacity, investment, product positioning — ripple through to the cash flow statement?

That was the question Quentin Fraselle, CEO and member of the Senior Leadership Team at AGC Automotive Europe, wanted to answer. Not with another presentation. Not with a spreadsheet exercise. With an experience that would make it stick.

The Company

AGC Automotive Europe is the European automotive glass division of AGC Group, the world's largest glass manufacturer. Based in Belgium and part of the AGC Inc. group (formerly Asahi Glass, headquartered in Tokyo), AGC Automotive Europe supplies windscreens, side windows, roofs, and rear windows to nearly every major car manufacturer in the world. One car in four has AGC glass.

With thousands of employees across multiple production sites in Europe, AGC Automotive Europe operates in a highly competitive manufacturing environment where margins matter, capacity planning is critical, and cash flow discipline is not optional — it's survival.

The Challenge

AGC Automotive Europe had been talking about cash flow for a long time. It was a strategic priority. The leadership team understood its importance. But Quentin wanted to go further: he wanted every manager in the organization to understand not just what cash flow is, but how their decisions influence it.

The goal was clear: give 100 managers from the management team the tools and the mindset to connect their day-to-day strategic choices — product positioning, pricing, investments, capacity — to the company's financial health. Move the conversation from abstract to concrete. From finance's problem to everyone's responsibility.

The Solution

In February 2026, AGC Automotive Europe brought its full management team together for a workshop at a Châteauform venue in Germany. The format: MEGA Learning's Strategy Execution simulation — a fast-paced, team-based experience where participants take over a company managing two product lines (low-cost and premium) and compete to optimize profitability while integrating sustainability considerations.

Over the course of a full day, teams of managers made strategic decisions across marketing, engineering, pricing, production capacity, cost management, and investments — experiencing firsthand how each choice affects revenue, margins, and ultimately, cash flow.

All teams started from identical conditions. The market evolved dynamically based on competitor decisions and customer reactions. There was no "right answer" to copy from a textbook — only the consequences of their own strategic choices.

One hundred participants. Multiple competing teams. Real-time results. And a CEO watching it all unfold.

What Happened

The engagement was immediate and deep. From the first decision round, teams were debating strategy, challenging assumptions, and discovering — sometimes the hard way — how interconnected business decisions really are.

The competitive format created strong mental anchors. Participants didn't just learn about the link between strategy and cash flow — they felt it. When a pricing decision eroded margins, they saw it in their P&L. When a capacity investment didn't pay off, they felt the cash flow pressure. These are not lessons you forget after a PowerPoint.

What was perhaps most telling: after the simulation, many participants wanted to go back and understand exactly where things went wrong. Not out of frustration, but out of genuine curiosity. They wanted to understand the mechanics — the cause and effect between their strategic choices and their financial results.

That appetite to debrief, to dig deeper, to understand the "why" behind the numbers — that's the sign of learning that lasts.

What the CEO Said

Quentin Fraselle didn't hold back:

« Cela fait longtemps que l'on parle de cash-flow chez AGC, il était très intéressant de remonter la chaîne de valeur et les choix stratégiques pour comprendre comment influencer celui-ci, nous aurions dû faire cette simulation depuis longtemps… »

Translation: "We've been talking about cash flow at AGC for a long time. It was very interesting to go back up the value chain and the strategic choices to understand how to influence it. We should have done this simulation a long time ago…"

When a CEO of a company that supplies one in four cars in the world says "we should have done this a long time ago," you know the experience delivered.

About the Strategy Execution Simulation

The Strategy Execution simulation is designed for corporate training (new to middle managers) and university programs focused on strategy and marketing. Participants manage a company with two product lines across 3–4 decision rounds, making choices on:

• Marketing and product positioning
• Engineering and product features
• Pricing strategy
• Production capacity planning
• Cost management and investments
• Human and environmental impact

Duration: 4 to 12 hours. Available online, face-to-face, or blended. From 6 to 500+ participants.