GOAL SETTING OVER TIME IN SIMULATIONS Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 23, 1996 GOAL SETTING OVER TIME IN SIMULATIONS Jerry Gosenpud and John Washbush University of Wisconsin-Whitewater ABSTRACT This paper concerns how player goals change over time during simulation play. The players were college seniors, and goals were obtained via questionnaire given during the third, seventh, and last quarters of an eleven quarter simulation. The results show that profit, competence, and ambition related goals did not change over time, that competitive and survival goals increased with time, and that learning and business growth related goals decreased with time. INTRODUCTION This paper concerns how the goals of simulation players change over the course of play. Unfortunately, there is relatively little research on goal-setting processes in simulations. Pray and Gold (1991) have suggested a reason for a lack of concern with goals in simulation play. They found that, in almost all simulations, players start with identical operating and financial characteristics. This discourages goal setting. They also found that very few simulations integrate goal setting as part of the simulation algorithm. There are a few studies that concern goal setting. Wheatley, Hornaday and Hunt (1986) found that simulations enhanced goal-setting abilities in college students. In a series of studies, Hornaday and Curran (1988) and Curran and Hornaday (1990) found that, under expanding market conditions, firms that formally planned outperformed those that did not, and formal planning included Identifying the goals to be accomplished during play. However Gosenpud, Miesing and Milton (1984) found that formal planning, which also included goal setting, did not help performance. In another series of studies, Gosenpud and Wolfe (1990) focused on the life cycle of simulation teams and found that more goal setting takes place early in the simulation than later and that goals change as the simulation proceeds (especially if a team is not competing successfully). The present study presumes that goals change over the course of the simulation play. To a greater degree than in the studies referenced above, the present effort explores the personal goals of players (e.g., earn a high simulation grade, get the game over with) as well as business goals (e.g., attain a high market share). This study is useful in that its results will help instructors better understand what students are thinking as they play a simulation. METHOD Subjects, Research Design and Procedure The subjects of this study were 46 students enrolled in two sections of the required undergraduate Administrative Policy course at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater during the Fall 1994 semester. Each section comprised a Micromatic (Scott et al., 1992) industry and were taught by the senior author of this paper. The simulation ran 11 quarters (rounds) in one industry and 13 in the other. Both industries were identical with respect to decision factor and grading weights. Simulation performance was worth 20% of the course grade, and 5% of the course grade was based on peer ratings of team contribution. Goals Descriptions of students’ goals for the simulation were obtained via questionnaire. Students were asked, “What are your goals for the simulation. The questionnaire was completed after the third, seventh and last quarter of simulation play. One author of this paper interpreted the content of the responses. These Interpretations were checked by a graduate student, but independent estimates by more than one rater were not made. The data is an aggregate of the sample. No effort was made to follow changes in goal statements for any individual. RESULTS Table 1 contains a list of the goals expressed by the students along with the frequencies of expression for the third, seventh and last quarters of the simulation. Data from this table show that: 1. The number of goats expressed did not vary over time. 2. The following kinds of goals did not vary considerably over time: *Profit-related (profit, maximize returns, reduce expenses) 90 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 23, 1996 *competence related (make correct decisions, earn an A, get a decent grade, improve) *ambition-related(win, finish in the top 2, earn an A grade) 3. The frequency of the following kinds of goals increased with time especially from the middle to the end: *competitive (do well relative to others, not finish last, win, finish in the top 2, move up in the rankings, stay at or near the top, improve) *survival (get through it without mistakes, get it over with) 4. The frequency of the following kinds of goals decreased with time: *learning and competence-related (expand knowledge and understanding, learn about decision making, make correct decisions, do well, gain experience in groups, integrate the different business functions) *business growth-related (expand, increase volume) DISCUSSION These results are important for instructors who use simulations. In this study, students were more concerned with learning and therefore probably more responsive to instruction early in the simulation. The results suggest that, later in play, students are more interested in grades and competition. Thus, during the later stages of simulation play, students will likely be more concerned with how what they have learned will help them gain competitively or earn a higher grade before they will be receptive to instruction. Although these results are likely not profound, they confirm the intuitive hypotheses of many of us. It may be that these results are not generalizable. In this study both industries followed a certain competitive pattern. Both were relatively stable in that the winners led from the beginning and few teams (only 2) gained or lost more than one or two competitive places over the last 80% of the simulation. In this study the expression of some goals increased over time (e.g., competitive goals), others decreased over time (e.g., learning goals), still others stayed the same (e.g., profit goals). It is possible that in industries with different competitive patterns, the pattern of goal expression will also be different. The expression of certain goals will increase over time, the expression of another set of goals will decrease over time, and the expression of yet another set of goals will stay the same. TABLE 1: FREQUENCY OF GOALS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE GAME Qtr 3 Qtr 7 End of Game PROFIT RELATED 12 8 10 Make Profits 0 1 0 Maximize ROS 5 6 6 Reduce Expenses 17 15 16 EXPANSION RELATED Expand 7 2 0 Increase Sales Volume 5 2 3 12 4 3 COMPETENCE RELATED Make Good Decisions 4 0 2 Improve 1 7 3 Get an A 1 3 2 Get a Decent Grade 0 0 3 6 10 10 LEARNING Expand Understanding 7 3 1 Learn Decision Making 1 5 2 Learn from Mistakes 1 0 0 Gain Exp. In Groups 1 1 1 Integrate Bus. Fnctns 3 2 1 13 11 5 COMPETITIVE Do Well Relative to Others 5 4 9 Not Finish Last 2 0 1 Win 6 7 7 Place in Top 2 4 5 1 Move up 3 5 11 Stay in or Near Top 2 2 8 22 22 37 References on request from the senior author. 91 Table of Contents Volume 23, 1996 Modeling Advertising Effectiveness Simulation as an Aid to Learning: How Does Participation Influence the Process? Administering Business Simulations in Transitioning Economies: The Introduction of Simulation Gaming to Estonia Business Simulation Games: Current Usage Levels. A Ten Year Update The Relationship Between Interpersonal and Task Cohesiveness and Performance in a Business Simulation Game The Design of an ITS-Based Simulation: A New Epistemology for Learning Correlates of Learning in Simulations How Do We Know where we're going if we don't know where we have been: A Review of Business Simulation Research Making Cash Flow Come Alive and Sensible in the Classroom Enhancing Simulation Learning through Objectives and Decision Support Systems An Analysis of Deliberate and Emergent Strategies Relative to Porter's Generic Differentiator and Cost Leader: A Bias and Variance Modeling Approach Introducing Ethical Dilemmas into Computer-Based Simulation Exercises to Teach Business Ethics CEO Strategic Locus of Control Effects on Game Performance and Playing Behavior The Relational Database As a Link between Operations and Cost Accounting Goal Setting over Time in Simulations Computerized Business Simulations: A Workshop Exploring the Tutor's Role, Task & Needs Strategic Analysis of the Product Portfolio with the COMPLETE PPA Package: A Strategic Market Planning Tool Draft Standards and Registration Procedure for Assessment Instruments Perspectives on a New Generation of Business Games An Economic Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changing Institutional Norms and Behavior, Not Culture: Experiential Learning Comes to Myanmar Strategic Management and the Case Method: Survey and Evaluation Individual Differences in Internet Attitude and Use Long Live the Plan - or Should It? Examining the Impact of Detailed Strategic Plans on Organizational Performance Do Your Students Really Read the Manual? A Computerized Contextual Tool As A Surrogate for the Traditional Student Manual Pilot Analyses of Self-Peer Evaluations in an Experiential-Exercise Human Resources Management Course Leader Behavior Feedback: A Learning Exercise Dilemma-Dilemma: An Exercise for Teaching Significance Of Communication Computer Mediated Conferencing: Technology and Classroom Learning Multimedia in the Workplace: Who is really using it and where is it Headed? Using Experiential Exercises for Collecting Research Data: Integrating Teaching and Research Interactive Distance Learning as a Tool in a College's Theory and Practice The President's Decision: An Experiential Exercise in Decision Making Integrating Computer Literacy Skills in the Undergraduate Curriculum: The Advanced Accounting Experiment Imperatives for the Transfer of Experience-Based Training Deciding How to Decide The Internet as a Pedagogical Tool Internet Scavenger Hunt Two Management Exercises Based on Committee Work Multimedia in the Year 2000: How Will It Affect Our Lives? Bootstrap Benefit Segmentation: Finally A Way to Teach Benefit Segmentation without Primary Data or Those Fancy Statistical Methods Multimedia and Learning: Is There A Connection? A Changing Business Policy Collaborative Learning Through Real-Life Assignments in Accounting Classes The Necessity Of Incorporating Local Cultural Aspects Into International Business Experiential Exercises Utilizing Cultural and International Landmark Constructs to Assess Business Student's International Awareness Legal Issues related to the Use of Application Blanks: An Experiential Exercise The Family in the Classroom: An Experiential Exercise for Teaching Issues Related To Expatriate Assignments Using Internet Resources to Enhance Teaching of Information Systems Courses: A Demonstration Proposal Chalkboards to Chipboards for Teachers and Consultants How Do We Measure The Learning In Experiential Learning and How Do We Best Simulate It?