The INDUSTRAT simulation is designed with various levels of audience in mind. Its sophistication challenges the highly trained, but is also applicable to those with little experience. The instructor is able to adapt the mix of decisions and their sequence to the desired level. By restricting certain decisions and thus simplifying the competitive scenario, the focus may rest on a chosen group of decisions or issues. The instructor may then release the constraints on decisions in a sequence he or she sees fit, according to the design of the seminar.

INDUSTRAT has been used in seminars for junior managers, middle, senior and top level managers, always with a great degree of success. Some corporations have used it in-house, by first moving top management through the simulation in a specially designed seminar and followed with seminars for seniors, middle and even junior management. Others started with seminars for senior middle managers then moved top management through the process. When the latter group was too small for the seminar, several companies formed a consortium, where their respective top management's joined in forming the seminar audience.

The INDUSTRAT simulation is usually the centerpiece of an MBA elective course or an intensive executive seminar lasting from four to six days. A typical program outline is enclosed for MBA, Academic Executive Education and Specific Company Programs. These seminar includes teamwork, plenary class discussions and presentations, with the content of the class session normally revolving around the concepts embodied in the simulation. Instructors may use straight lectures or case discussions in plenary sessions and adapt them to the level of analytical sophistication of the participants and their industrial context.

The optimal size of an INDUSTRAT based seminar is between 20 to 30 participants, divided into five teams of four to six members. Where the audience is under twenty, the instructors run one firm and the participants are divided into four teams. For critical mass reasons the INDUSTRAT simulation should be restricted to groups of at least sixteen participants. However, there have been successful simulations of three, two or even one firm competing with "simulated" firms using data from a previous simulation. Naturally, the personal supervision and interaction of the instructor must make up for the "fun" the participants will miss due to lack of human interaction with members of the "phantom teams".