INTRODUCING EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAMS WITH MANAGEMENT GAMES Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 199 INTRODUCING EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAMS WITH MANAGEMENT GAMES Bernard Keys and Carl. Gooding Georgia Southern College The Executive MBA is the fastest growing segment of the executive education market. From fewer than 10 EMBA programs in the 1960’s beginning with the University of Chicago, over 200 masters programs now claim to serve executives (Phillips-Madson & Sloan, 1987). These programs differ from traditional MEA programs by enrolling more experienced participants, by meeting on alternate weekends or alternate Fridays and Saturdays, and by moving the class through the program in a lock-step procedure (Van Doren, Smith & Biglin, 1986). Most students in EMBA programs are practicing managers of 5-10 years experience. One of the most valuable elements of the program is the development of peer groups moving through the program in lockstep who matriculate together, exchange ideas and most of whom graduate together. Consequently anything that strengthens peer group development strengthens the overall program. Since students enroll from such varied academic programs, course leveling has proven to be one of the greatest hurdles for instructors. Most EMBA programs begin with very little prerequisite work and are often initiated by a summer live-in week at some training center or resort. These programs attempt to do several things in the first live in week: introduce students to the functions of management; introduce participants to the major functions of business; build teams and camaraderie; teach an approach to case method analysis; provide the high motivation necessary to retain students in an expensive and demanding program. In the first year of Regional University’s (RU’s) EMBA program, the course was built around cases and lectures, videos and other traditional training methods. However, the EMBA faculty who taught later in the program felt the need for more orientation to the functions of business. The course professor in turn wished to avoid a cafeteria style program in which five or six professors would visit the program and present an introductory lecture without an integrative focus. The solution which the EMBA committee chose was the use of a management game. The management game choice is supported by numerous review articles comparing games with other instructional methods (Greenlaw & Wyman, 1973, Keys. 1977, Wolfe, 1985, Miles. Biggs & Schubert, 1986). The course title of the first course in the EMBA program at RU is “The Managerial Environment (ME). The course consists of 22 one and one-half hour sessions, plus a three- hour final exam held approximately two weeks later. The integration of the Management Game into the Managerial’. Environment course required some careful planning and choices. The week is crowded with activities and students had already been suffering from data overload. Because of the heavy workweek and lack of accounting, finance, marketing or production management background, the game chosen for the course had of necessity to be a simple or moderately complex game. The Executive Simulation by Keys and Leftwich was the management game selected for the program. This is a thirteen-decision game per simulated quarter with reasonably good balance in marketing, production and finance. The game also includes well written planning sheets that carry participants step-by-step through the horizontal planning process of sales forecasting, production scheduling, pro forma budgeting (income statement), and cash flow budgeting. By following the step-by-step directions, participants can manage to make rational decisions from the beginning of the game, even though many of them do not completely understand the data. A final reason for choosing The Executive Simulation was its inclusion of short applied chapters on each functional area, Organizing and Planning’, “Marketing”, “Manufacturing”, and “Finance”. Furthermore, the week is designed with alternating sessions of content dissemination (lecture, video tapes, etc.), game decision experiences, and feedback on performance, as suggested by Keys’ “Management of Learning Grid,” (1977, 1989). In the first year of management game usage, the management game proved useful in several ways, but posed several problems as well. First, a noticeable difference was seen in the speed with which team cohesiveness formed. Teams in the previous year without the management game had been organized so that they incorporated a balance in team member employment experience in manufacturing, marketing and financial/accounting. However, in spite of the varied backgrounds there were few tasks that required interdependent activity, a major criterion for team building (Merry & Allerhand, 1977). Now the teams had a task that required all of their cooperation and ingenuity. The most difficult problem with the game seemed to be the frustration caused for team members with little or no accounting and finance background, who were unable to move rapidly to a level of understanding of the financial statements returned each decision round. In Year 2 of the Management Game implementation in the EMBA program, the problem of lack of accounting and financial skills was resolved by devoting a morning’s session entirely to basic financial statements. The second year introductory week of the EMBA at RU using the management game developed much more smoothly. As is usually the case, there is no opportunity to conduct controlled studies with an EMBA class. However, some feedback has been obtained from students. Generally comments gleaned largely from students using the game one year ago in their introductory week suggest the following. Teams form cohesive units more quickly because of the intergroup competition and because of the interdependent work required in the game, the game provides a framework of simulated experiences in areas in which managers have no experience and allows them to better appreciate many of the skills courses. In short, the game creates teachable moments. The game provides an integrative (experiential) framework on which students can hang many concepts and models. Many students in the EMBA have never worked at the general management level and numerous ones come from the non-corporate sector. The game is enjoyable and adds interest and excitement to the program. The game provides some direction and understanding for the very demanding capstone course, the strategic management course at RU in which students participate in the Business Management Laboratory, a very complex simulation (Jensen & Cherrington, 1984). Table of Contents Volume 17, 1990 The Impact of Decision Support Systems on the Effectiveness of Small Group Decisions - Revisited The Relationship Between Financial Performance and Other Measures of Learning on a Simulation Exercise Use and Effectiveness of an Analogy-Based Expert System Suggestions for Computerized Business Authors Dealing with Power: An Experiential Exercise Using Movie and Personal Diary Analysis Techniques A Model for Developing Student Skills and Assessing Outcomes Through Outdoor Training Computer-Aided Exercises Versus Workbook Exercises as Learning Facilitator in the Principles of Marketing Course An Exposition of Guilford's Si Model as a Means of Diagnosing and Generating Pedagogical Strategies in Collegiate Business Education Formal Planning and Simulation Team Performance: A Cross Sectional Approach Cases: Real Organizations in Real Time in the Classroom An Empirical Investigation of the Internal Validity of Marketing Simulation Game An Empirical Evaluation of the Pedagogical Value of Playing a Simulation Game in a Principles of Marketing Course Factors Affecting Effective Teaching of Strategic Planning: Some Preliminary Evidence An Experiential Exercise for Learning About the Relationship Between Organizational Form & the Project Management Process Accounting Communication Skills can be Taught in the Auditing Course Modeling Cost Functions in Computerized Business Simulation: An Application of Duality Theory and Sheppard's Lemma A Life Cycle Analysis of Decision Making for a Strategic Management Team What's the Problem? A Dynamic Model for Teaching Problem Solving Skills Experientially International Currency Fluctuations: Money$im, A Simulation Superstores: A Specialized Retailing Simulation Within a Specialized Marketing Curriculum Factors Affecting Student Perceptions of Learning in a Business Policy Game VC + EL = VL The Name Game: An Experiential Exercise in Intergroup Relations The Effects of Experiential Accounting Work Experience on Student Performance in Intermediate Accounting Courses The Results of Using the Experiential Activity Group Performance Evaluation in a Business Policy Setting Using a Legal Database to Describe the Legal Environment of Marketing (and Business) Matching Environmental Uncertainty and Organizational Configuration An Instructional Computer Simulation of Tampering in QC Executive Evaluation of Student Learning in the Looking Glass Simulation Group Personality Composition and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance An Expert System for Selecting Analytical Techniques for Analyzing Marketing Research Data Effects of Cognitive Styles on Responses in an In-Basket Simulation A Psychometric Analysis of Kolb's Revised Learning Style-Inventory Selecting and Developing Experiential Exercises Using Movies Application of a Real-World Strategic Management Model in the Classroom Demand Equations which Include Product Attributes Consumption as the Objective in Computer-Scored Total Enterprise Simulations The Effects of Decision Format and Evaluation on Simulation Performance, Decision Time, and Team Cohesion The Effects of Computer Related Assignments on Student Performance in Business Administration The Money Game: A Dynamic Simulation Including Random Shocks for Money and Banking Courses Methods for Evaluating Performance on Business Simulations: A Survey The Effects of Synergogy on the Policy Course: Significant Improvements in Student Learning and Teacher Evaluation Conditions and Outcomes of Trust in a Two-Person Bargaining Exercise Bankgame Enhancing Computer Business Simulation with the Use of VGA Graphics An Experiential Approach to Entrepreneurship An Advanced Simulation Method (ASM) for Multiple Objective Problems The Influence of Experiential learning Techniques on Student Recognition of Non-Primary Learning Styles Negotiating Mergers and Acquisitions: A Cocktail Napkin Approach Identification of Unintended Effects in Experiential Laboratory Exercises An Experimental Comparison of Paper and Pencil and Computer Aided Decision Support Tools Porting a Simulation from the IBM World to the Macintosh World A Transaction Cost Analysis of Experiential Learning The Development of Experiential Exercises for Courses in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management The Assessment Center as and Experiential Classroom Exercise Pricing Strategy Algorithms for Playing Business Simulations Organizational Structures for International Operations: An Experiential Activity Simulation Emphasis in the Business School Capstone Course An Integrated Approach to Computerizing the Business Curriculum Cross-Cultural Business Negotiations Exercise Organizational Socialization and Gender Differences in Students at Work Understanding Student Work Experience: A Content-Analytic Approach Introducing Executive MBA Programs with Management Games An Analysis of Improvement in Business Decision Outcome with Sequential Use of Two Simulation Games Teaching Business Policy Utilizing Mass Lecture and Individual Case Labs Potholes Along the Road to Evaluating Learning Outcomes: The Case of Outdoor Management Training Experiential Learning for Interior Design Students: Using CADD, Lotus 1-2-3, and Wordperfect Cognitive Learning Using a Computer-Based, Qualitative Interactive Business Simulation Sex Discrimination: Does the Woman get the Job or Does the Best Man Win? A Search for Visual Aids to Support Experiential Learning Through the 1990's An Experimental Analysis fo the Effectiveness of Student Role-Playing in Sales Training How to Have Students Learn from their Term Projects Self-Evaluation Exercise (SEE): An Assessment of Class Contribution A Study of the Influence of Team Formation on Attitudes and Performance in Management Games A Hardware Based CIM Simulation Laboratory Model Test Substance Abuse in Organizations Micro Computer Training Models Teaching Forecasting, Cash Budgeting and Inventory Model Building Using SBTools A Comparison of the Effects of Experiential Learning Activities and Traditional Lecture Classes An Adjunct Writing Instruction Assistant, The Computer; With an Illustration Classroom Software for ABC Analysis Utilizing Information Processing Technology to Enhance the Business Policy Simulation Experience Progressive Cases Realistic Job Previews Vs. Traditional Job Previews: Experiencing the Differences and Understanding the Consequences Investment Analysis Using the Pragmatic Multiplier Approach A Computer Simulation Interface for Competitive and Firm Analysis Self-Assessment of Ethical Decision Making Predispositions Preparing Managers for Overseas Assignments An Inquiry into Japanese Marketing: Workshop on Teaching Japanese Marketing The Performance Appraisal Feedback Interview: A Role Play for Human Resources Management Teaching Counselor Selling techniques Using Experiential Techniques to Teach International Topics International Management Simulation Gaming: Current Status and Future Developments A Realism Comparison of Simulation Technologies/Methodologies A Time-Efficient Game to Illustrate Concepts Taught in Management Courses and Management Development Programs Teaching the Management of Technology The Concept of Face and the Applicability of Experiential Exercises in an Oriental Culture's