PERSPECTIVES ON A NEW GENERATION OF BUSINESS GAMES Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 23, 1996 PERSPECTIVES ON A NEW GENERATION OF BUSINESS GAMES Joseph Wolfe, University of Tulsa Rapid advances in the technologies available to business game designers have been made. The business gaming movement, from a technological standpoint, has moved through a number of logical transitions from its mainframe origins in the late-1950s to relatively administrator-friendly personal computers (PCs) in the mid-1980s (Wolfe and Teach, 1987). In their most recent incarnations various PC- based games have also attempted to capitalize on the computer’s interactive qualities through the creation of “what--if” scenarios, “electronic spread-sheets” and sales and demand forecasting routines. While these efforts are admirable it is believed they fall far short of what can be accomplished through what has become the new standard in personal computing power. In creating the next generation’s business game, or the game of the future, a number of realms must be considered- the computer technology available but also practical given academic-level budgetary constraints, the populations involved from both faculty and student perspectives, and the reward structures existing within higher education and commercial publishing circles. The symposium presents the observations of three business gaming experts who have been deeply involved in the movement for a number of years. The first speaker, Irwin Rausch from Didactic Systems, critiques four management games, which purportedly teach management. These games can serve as base lines from which future management games may be launched with the belief the virtues of those games should be retained while their vices should be corrected. The second speaker, David Fritzsche, will deal with the potential offered by the new technologies that are available as well as assessments of the degree the field’s current structure and practices may or may not capitalize on this great potential. Alvin Burns, the session’s last speaker, presents his view of the major trends evolving in the institutional education environment. In presenting the trends he feels are important Dr. Burns will couple those trends with their implications for those creating and teaching with games in this new environment of the early 21st century. The session ends with a summary presented by the moderator and the fielding of audience questions and responses by the panelists. REFERENCE Wolfe, J. & Teach, R. (1987) Three downloaded mainframe business games: A review. Academy of Management Review, 12, 181-192. 95 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?