AN ANALYSIS OF IMPROVEMENT IN BUSINESS DECISION OUTCOME WITH SEQUENTIAL USE OF TWO SIMULATION GAMES Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 200 AN ANALYSIS OF IMPROVEMENT IN BUSINESS DECISION OUTCOME WITH SEQUENTIAL USE OF TWO SIMULATION GAMES Ronald D. Klein, Abbott turner School of Business, Columbus College William C. Hamilton, Abbott Turner School of Business, Columbus College ABSTRACT This study attempts to assess whether or not residual management learning occurs when two simple business simulation games are sequentially played. If players (students) learn something about management while playing one game, a measurable residual effect should accrue when playing the other game. Conversely, if no performance improvement occurs, players apparently have learned to play a game but fail to inculcate the management theory and principles represented in the simulation. RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AND METHODOLOGY To study residual or carry-over learning from one simulation game to another required selection of two games that utilized similar decisions, objectives, and complexities; however, the games cannot be too similar. If the games are too similar, the task would be like playing the same game twice. If the games are too different in decisions, objectives, and complexities, any concepts or principles learned in one game might not be applicable in a different decision environment, hence no measurable learning. In this study, two quite different games were selected in the belief that management theory; and practice are universal in nature and, once learned, can be applied in a variety of decision environments. The games selected. Lemonade Stand and Hamurabi, are both elementary business games requiring three business decisions each: product price, quantity produced, and advertising for Lemonade Stand; and buying or selling acreage acres of grain to plant, and amount of grain to feed the population for Hamurabi. The objective in Lemonade is to increase net worth; in Hamurabi the objective is to increase production to nurture an increasing population. One hundred twenty-three undergraduate students, about equally divided by sex and age/maturity, from several sections of a senior level management science class, were divided randomly into two groups. After trial periods to familiarize the player with game structures, each game was played for twenty periods. Group A played the Lemonade Stand simulation game first and then played Hamurabi. Group B followed a reverse sequence. The performance of the group that played Lemonade Stand first was compared to the group that played Lemonade Stand after playing Hamurabi and conversely, the assumption here is that if any "learning” occurred other than simply learning to play a game, it should result in improved performance of the group who had some direct and related prior experience. If the groups show no improvement, then it can be assumed that learning to make ‘business decisions" under one set of circumstances does not carry over to another decision situation. RESULTS A two-way ANOVA was used to analyze the results. Total assets after 20 periods of play were compared between groups (main effects), by age/maturity of students, and by sex. Total assets for Lemonade Stand were measured in dollars; for Hamurabi the measure is in total bushels of grain. The figure compares the performance of the two groups: those playing Lemonade Stand for the first time, without prior management/gaming experience (control group), and those playing the same game for the first time but with prior experience (experimental group). The experimental group performed significantly (P.05) better than the control group indicating that some management skills were acquired in the previous game, which carried over to the second simulation. Using the Hamurabi game, the result is stilt in favor of the experimental group but is not statistically significant (P.26). No significant differences were detected between levels of student maturity (age) or sex. However, the older students performed better in both games (P.31). Two comments are in order. First, the trend toward a sizable difference seems to be underway, but the number of play periods is not sufficient to allow the difference to materialize statistically. Second, Hamurabi is a more difficult game to play. Playing Hamurabi first seems to prepare the participants for the more simple simulation, but playing the easier game first did not produce a statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION As with similar studies, the results support the contention that students learn management concepts in an experiential learning environment. Also, as with most studies, the results are not irrefutable. However, one can conclude that experience is an asset in decision-making and that relevant experience can be gained in a more complex business environment and that experience can be applied to problems associated with a less complex environment. A single paper of this scope cannot prove or disprove that generalized decision-making skills are enhanced or that learning occurs in all games. Rather, this research should encourage others to replicate the approach and utilize these and other simulation games in the assessment of games as a learning medium for business decisions. 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