COLLEGE STUDENTS NEED SIMPLE COMPUTER SIMULATIONS, ESPECIALLY FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COURSES Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 COLLEGE STUDENTS NEED SIMPLE COMPUTER SIMULATIONS, ESPECIALLY FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COURSES Larry Bridwell, Pace University In teaching an undergraduate course entitled, International Management Environments: Europe, I searched for a computer simulation that would assist students in learning about the dynamics of international business, especially exchange rate factors. I selected the excellent Multinational Management Game, but realized too late that the simulation was far too sophisticated for my class, both in terms of my teaching objectives and for the background of too many students. With the benefit of this experience, I now realize that what I needed was a simple simulation that did not require elaborate cash flow calculations or sophisticated accounting knowledge. There is a place for advanced simulations--capstone courses where students are well educated and considerable classroom time is available. For an introductory course in international business, a simple simulation which takes about sixty to ninety minutes of classroom time for each of approximately five sessions would be ideal. Such a simulation would give students an opportunity to practice international strategies and to learn about exchange rate dynamics, but would require little student or teacher preparation Most teachers of international business courses struggle to cover the complexities of their subject within the constraints of a single semester—too much classroom time for a computer simulation could require sacrifices of other material that may not be acceptable. Part of the rationale for the above recommendation comes from my having used three different simulations in corporate settings. One is the sophisticated Strategic Management Game, which I have used for financial managers. The second is an electric utility version of the same game, which did not require an advanced understanding of accounting. The third is the Mega simulation from Europe which requires almost no financial background from participants but which can be a powerful educational tool even though it was designed for maximum student simplicity. My classroom experience with the Multinational Management Game was the wrong simulation in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many of my students were international business majors who had minimal accounting or cash flow understanding and the dynamics of the simulation were frustrating for them. They frequently said this material is covered in Business Policy. What may have happened in the minds of many students, right or wrong, is that they believe that courses other than business policy should not have sophisticated computer simulations. In addition, when they take business policy, they can make use of an extensive network of student commentary about the computer simulation used in the capstone course. What I would advocate is a curriculum that has a series of simulations that gradually become more advanced, culminating in sophisticated business policy simulations. Ideally, in an early business course following Fundamentals of Accounting, an elementary simulation is used which introduces basic business dynamics. In subsequent courses, other variables are introduced, such as marketing factors in marketing courses, or exchange rate factors in international business. Except for the business policy capstone courses, students and faculty should not be unduly hindered by sophisticated financial or accounting analysis. To give an indication of the negative classroom impact of using the sophisticated computer simulation, my overall instructor rating for the course Managing International Environments: Europe was 4.2 on a scale of 5.0. For the three years previous to this course, my rating for this course had averaged 4.7. This was a significant deterioration with many students complaining about poor time management, which I directly attribute to 195 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 student frustration with not enough time spent on explaining or preparing students for the computer simulation and the lack of classroom time for other subjects. The one benefit of the computer simulation which may help the students in other courses is that several students said they did not realize that accounting and cash flow analysis was so important. As a former financial manager in the International Group of General Electric, I agree, but this point can be more efficiently learned by a series of computer simulations with the sophistication gradually increasing until the capstone course. As global understanding becomes more important, all students should be made aware of international business dynamics. A user-friendly quality simulation would take a tremendous contribution and I look forward to using such a simulation in future international business courses. Someone, please develop it. 196 Table of Contents Volume 24, 1997 Incorporating Computer Telephony into the MIS Course A Learner Oriented Infrastructure for videoconferencing Based Distance Education Courses The Identification of Temporally Related Structural Elements of the Experiential Component of Electronic Spreadsheet Tasks Does Involvement Influence Learning from Simulation Participation? Some Relationships with Helpfulness and Performance Outcomes Musings on Business Garne Performance Evaluation Performance on a TE Simulation: What does it represent? The Business Policy Game: An International Simulation - An Assessment Tool Students in Free Enterprise as Experiential Learning The Role of Computer Models in Wargames: A Practitioner's view Using Focus Groups as a Tool to Research Learning: A Demonstration and a Discussion Using Medical Simulations to Teach Multi-Cultural Diversity Using the World Game to Internationalize International Exchange Game Community Services Needs Assessment: An Innovative Approach Introducing Students to Potential Total Quality Management Ethical Dilemmas Privacy in the Workplace: A Situational Analysis Antecedents of Learning in Simulations Demonstrating the Learning Effectiveness of Simulation: Where we are and Where we need to go The Use of Computer Simulations as a Pedagogical Aid in Teaching Management Information Systems Evaluating Simulation Learning in a Distant Learning Instructional Model Financial Engineering of Global Investments The Labor History Game: Playing with the Past Perks Participation Assessing Negotiator's Proficiency with a Negotiation role-play The Art of Negotiating Enhancing Learning and Employee Development through the Assessment of Learning Pedagogy Preferences across selected Dimensions of Culture: A Preliminary Investigation Cooperative Learning: What are we Learning? Effective Use of Mastery Based Experiential learning in a Project Course to improve skills in system analysis and Design Simulations and Learning: Can we prove a relationship? (Seminar) Predicting and Reviewing NYSE Stock Prices by use of Basic Statistical Analysis and Logic Toy Car Depreciation Exercise ABSEL as Home Community: An Interactive Exploration Service Learning: Linking Academic Study to Community Development and Business Enhancement Ability of Efficient Evaluation of Knowledge-Based Management Strategies Corporate Ethics Training Programs Modeling Attributes in Demand Functions of Computerized Business Simulations: An Extension of Teach's Gravity Flow Algorithm Expert Systems Combined with Neutral Networks: Tools to Benefit the Marketing Researcher Computer Game Design: New Directions for Intercultural Simulation Game Designers Consistency in Simulation Performance over Time and Across Simulation Games The Impact of an Artificial Market Leader on Simulation Competitor's Strategies Business Plans, Case Studies, and Total Enterprise Simulations: A Natural Co-existence An Exploration into the Non-Use of Business Simulations The Market Game: Interactive Learning Through Market Simulation Plotting Brand Trajectories with the COMPLETE PPM package: A Market Segmentation Analysis and Positioning Tool Me and Mine Inc: An Exercise in Management Theory Learning to Differentiate Leadership from Managerial Position Business Ethics Survey: A Perspective from the Retail Industry Experiential Learning in Demand Analysis for an Agricultural Commodity Marketing on the Internet: A Pedagogical Exercise College Students Need Simple Computer Simulations, Especially for International Business Courses An Analysis of Student Attitudes, Performance, and Strategies in a Simulation Competition Based on a Controlled Product-Market-Entry Game Structure The Crystal Enterprise: Application of a Non-Computerized Simulation Model in a Process of Organizational Change Threshold: A Windows-Based Behaviorally Oriented Total Enterprise Simulation Coaching Business Game Teams Using a Decision Variable Optimizer Rock and Roll is here to Stay: Enhancing Experiential Pedagogy with Musical Exercises An Example of Business Process Analysis Simulation for Customer Software Support The Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Academic Institutions Using the Integrative International Simulation INTOPIA Mark 2000 in a Concentrated MBA Curriculum A Group Experience as an Integrated Part of the Core Management Course Empowered Learning in the Classroom The Inter-Group Interaction: An Innovative Approach to Cooperative Learning Courses that Utilize Student Team: An Approach to enhancing their Effectiveness Thoughts about the Measurement of Learning: The Case for Guided Learning and Associated Measurement Issues Measuring Student Learning Using Business Simulations: A Theory Based Perspective On the Use of PC Fingame in an Undergraduate Finance Course How Managers get Things Done: A Virtual Soundbite Internet Experiential learning in the Principals of Marketing Classroom: A Pedagogical Approach Current Student Perceptions Relative to Business Simulations Beyond Capitalism: Designing Business Policy and Social Justice The Use of Boards of Directors to Evaluate Reports and Presentations in an Undergraduate Business Policy Course Beacon Lumber: An Experiential Introduction to Financial Accounting The Application of Organizational Motivation Principles: The Experiential Business Simulation Motus Manufacturing Avoiding a Bogey: Grading Case Discussions Scientifically Communicating Consumer Behavior II: A Modified Exercise Using Personal Consumption Journals in Condensed Courses Designing Instruments for Assessing the Effectiveness of Simulations, (Seminar) 360º Performance Feedback: Appraisal vs. Assessment The Cafeteria Approach to Managing an Academic Career: Remaining Non-Perishable while Doing Your Own Thing An Experiential Exercise Related to Person-Organization Fit and it's Consequences For Today's Dynamic and Changing World, Business Simulations need to be expanded to encompass Much Greater Complexity: A Demonstration The Incident Process: A Case in Reverse Contextually-Anchored Business Simulations The Energy Factor: Building Motivation in the Simulation Gaming Environment The Design of an Internet Game