MINIMIZING STARTUP ANXIETY: CASE STUDIES OF NO SIMULATION EXPERIENCES Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 15, 1988 246 MINIMIZING STARTUP ANXIETY: CASE STUDIES OF NO SIMULATION EXPERIENCES Jerald R. Smith, University of Louisville ABSTRACT Many simulation administrators have observed that student teams exhibit a high degree of anxiety prior to the startup of the game experience. Although some anxiety (or stress) is probably productive for the startup situation (Benson and Allen, 1980), excessive tension can distract student teams from their real mission (running their company successfully) and impedes their ability to do any proactive planning. The symptoms range from incomplete plans prior to the startup to excessive difficulty in making decisions. In addition, simulation anxiety probably is one factor that inhibits more universal use of simulation games since many professors have difficulty in handling this aspect of student behavior. This paper reports two approaches to simulation startup that appear to reduce startup anxiety use of o case- simulation package, and integration of a simulation into the total body of knowledge being presented. USING A CASE-SIMULATION PACKAGE Airline (Smith and Goden, 1987) is a strategic management simulation/case study of the commuter regional airline business. The case study portion of the players manual presents a real airline including the history o the industry and the history of the company; o’ particular importance is that the company that is presented in the case is in the takeover condition of the simulation scenario. Students are asked to present a solution to the case in individual written reports to the instructor. This exercise occurs early in the semester and prior to team format i on. Thus, individual students enter the simulation process with some important startup activities already completed: 1. They have a vocabulary for the industry. (in this cane they understand the unique language of productivity and profitability in the airline industry). 2. They have developed some idea of current issues facing the industry. 3, They understand the critical events that have lead to changes in the past. 4, They have already formulated (individually) a turnaround strategy. The transition to the simulation environment is made when teams are formed. At the initial briefing, this movement from individual to group decision-making needs to he explicitly addressed since individual team members may have developed different strategies while solving the case. For example, students may he instructed to spend some time discussing their Individual case results so that the decision premises are shared and group evaluation can begin to take place. The briefing then focuses on the specifics of the decisions (e.g. what numbers to enter on the decision form, how to check for errors, when cash Is credited, how loans are issued stock sales take place and so on). In addition, students are instructed on the determination of maximum utilization of their aircraft (capacity utilization) so they can make asset lease or purchase decisions. This briefing is shorter than traditional strategy game introductions since students already have a vocabulary for the simulation, some understanding of how to interpret the sample reports, and a tentative solution to the management problem being presented by the simulation. The lessened classroom tension ie reflected in a general absence of questions, shorter first quarter decision time, more complete and workable plans, and fewer startup errors. The latter three issues deserve some extra attention. The startup decision time for most strategy simulation is disproportionately longer than subsequent decision periods due to the decision-making under uncertainty factor. Although many business policy classes anticipate this lengthy startup and reduce other workloads during this period of time, some of the startup time is non-productive and anxiety-induced. The case- simulation experience reduces some of the productivity loss by increasing the certainty of the decision environment through familiarity with the industry. A second issue mentioned above is the completeness and workability of the strategic plans. An informal review of the strategic plans of five classes representing 46 teams suggests that most students were able to articulate missions, generate measurable goals and objectives with strategies for achieving them with little revision necessary during the audit period. Many students articulated diversification strategies: this phenomenon may he due to the greater understanding of the industry or the possibility that students were able to understand the implications of the incidents as they read the players manual. . Either alternative would suggest that there was less uncertainty shout the play of the game. Finally, there appear to he fewer startup errors. Historically, the first decision period of a simulation (regardless of the class level) is fraught with incidences of missing decision forms, failure to order raw materials (in Airline, failure to put aircraft in service). These mistakes are generally acts of omission rather than commission and are probably die to information overload that increases the anxiety level of team members. The reduced error rate is not directly attributable to the content of the case-simulation experience but may reflect the calmer ambience being reported here, The case-simulation package appears to have some desirable attributes that assist in simulation startups by reducing the classroom anxiety level . One cap simulate the characteristics of this methodology by assigning am industry/product class to a genetic simulation and have the students conduct an industry study. Although they lack the experiential exercise Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 15, 1988 247 of solving a case in the simulation takeover condition, they still develop a vocabulary and a sense of the industry relationships. For example, the authors have used Micromatic (Scott and Strickland, 1985) sod directed the students to compete in an industry of countertop appliances. Another attempt to reduce classroom anxiety for simulation startup has been the total integration into the classroom vocabulary. The case below reports this approach. INTRODUCING THE SIMULATION AS PART OF THE CLASS GESTALT A second approach to reducing startup anxiety is to make the simulation a familiar part of the classroom activity by referring to the scenario and the play of the simulation as illustrations of various management topics. This approach wee used in a Principles of Management class with Entrepreneur as the simulation. Continual reference war made to the simulation scenario by comments such as “When Von open your retail operation in the simulation, you will need to . The better students read the manual before it was assigned so that they could participate in the class examples. The lectures save a constant, general message to keep the simulation in mind. When a prebriefing simulation quiz was administered as part of a regular exam, students indicated their familiarity with the game by: 1. Performing very well on that portion of the exam. 2. Referring to their (Entrepreneur simulation) store as if they were already operating it. Briefing the simulation was smooth and consisted of reviewing the eleven decisions that were required for each decision period. Many students had clearly been thinking about the simulation as evidenced by individual attempts to name the business or select a product line (two decisions in the startup of the simulation). The initial decision periods in two sections went smoothly with students asking few questions of the administrator except a recapitulation of materials to he submitted. There were no student errors made (e.g. failure to order inventory, price goods). This example is not specific to one simulation hut can be used as a format in any simulation classroom. The features are the continued salience of the impending simulation in a non-threatening manner and the internalization of the simulation scenario prior to the startup period. IMPLICATIONS One weakness of reporting observations in a non- experimental manner is that they may not be generalizeable to other instructors or all simulations. However. startup anxiety is significant issue that keeps some instructors from repented use of a simulation and causes simulation users to have their own set of anxieties during the startup period. The experiences reported here need to he observed in a controlled, experimental design to see if there is a significant difference in classroom behavior based on differences to pretreatment. A unique feature of such an experiment is that the laboratory is the field. A second issue of concern is the determination of a productive level of anxiety. The literature suggests that some stress and anxiety is beneficial for productivity and decision- making Thus, one would not want to create a completely benevolent simulation environment. Thus, a second experiment might be developed that manipulated anxiety level and its association with dysfunctional behaviors. Such experimentation may lead to some additions to the guidelines that current simulation administrators use in presenting and briefing simulation games. REFERENCES Renson, H. and Allen, R. “How Much Stress Ta Too Much?” Harvard Business Review September- October, 1980 pp. 86-92 Scott, T and Strickland, A.J. Micromatic: A Simulation Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1985 Smith, J.R. and Golden, P.A. Entrepreneur: A Business Simulation Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987 _____________________ Airline: A Strategic Management Simulation Englewood Cliffs, NY: Prentice-Pall, 1987 Table of Contents Volume 15, 1988 The Role of Experiential Knowledge and Human Information Processing in Decision Making A Semantic Differential Instrument to Evaluate Experiential Teaching Methods A Comparison of Two Approaches to Management Skill-Building in an Organizational Behavior Course: A Replication Integrating Simulations: A Model for Business Policy Success Capstone Renaissance = Simulation + Interaction + DSS A Hybrid Method of Executing a Management Simulation: Combining the Best of Mainframes and Microcomputers Providing an Experiential Dimension to Cost/Managerial Accounting Courses Utilization of Computerized Tax Research Services in the Tax Research Curriculum Using and Expert System Based Decision Aid in Accounting Information Systems Event-Extended Entity-Relationship Diagrams for Understanding Simulation Model Structure and Function Multiple Objectives in the Development of the Gordon Macro Game A Comparative Study of Strategic Performance Factors in Actual and Simulated Business Environments An Empirical Investigation of Integrated Spatial-Proximity MCDM-Behavioral Problem Solving Technology Group Decision models Computer Simulation of Human Interaction The Role of Experiential Learning and Simulation in Teaching Management Skills Expert Systems - The New Business Simulation Tool Integrating Prolog into and Undergraduate Logistics Course Simulating Material Requirements Planning on Lotus 1-2-3 Innovation in Management Education: The Impact of the AACSB Experiential Learning in the International Environment Educational Testing with the Microcomputer A Simulation of Investment Analysis, Portfolio Management and Reporting Using Lotus 1-2-3 The Use of an Expert System to Develop Strategic Scenarios Two Exercises for Teaching about Motivation Sex Roles and the Good Manager A Form and Process for Nonconfidential Peer Evaluations Simulation and the Recalcitrant Student Employee Rights-Student Rights: A Classroom Exercise Computer Simulated Competition: An Alternative to Team Play Management Simulation The Relationship of Locus of Control and Vividness of Imagination Measures to Simulation Performance Formal Planning, Simulation Team Performance, and Satisfaction: A Replication Experimental Analysis of Magnitude and Source of Students' Inequitable Classroom Perceptions in Three Reward Conditions Strategy Design, Process and Implementation in a Stable/Complex Environment: An Exploratory Study Matching a Strategy Simulation to the Business Policy Literature: A Black Box Approach to Simulation Development An Evolutionary Classroom Experiential and Computer Simulation Model of a Corporate Strategic Planning System Collective Bargaining in the City of Elson: A Public Sector Experience Should Students Play Games in Labor Relations? Applying Cognitive Educational Objectives to Business Management Cases Grading as a Teaching and Feedback Mechanism: Involving Students in the Grading Process Teaching Controversies: A New Approach to Computer-Assisted Instruction and Simulation Packages Simulating Demand in and Independent-Across-Firm Management Game Advertising Response in the Gold and Pray Algorithm: A Critical Assessment A Model for Pricing Decisions in First Period Marketing Simulation Games Jog Your Right Brain: An Exercise for the Classroom and for Research Six Thinking Hats: An Exercise to Combat Confusion and Develop Thinking Skills Communicating in Context: A Simulation for Learning Business Communication A Simulated Consulting Service for the Compete Marketing Simulation Game Action Exams in the Consumer Behavior Class Using Focus Groups to Teach Problem Definition in Basic Marketing Research The Use of Journals in Management Simulations: A Literature Review and an ABSEL Response An Initial Step Towards Developing and Using an Expert System with a Business Simulation Self-Managed Learning: An Experiential Course Design Using the QWL Paradigm A Review of Current Developments in Experiential Learning Bring the Real World into the Classroom Assessing Student Performance on a Business Simulation Experience Minimizing Startup Anxiety: Case Studies of Simulation Experiences A Tale of Two Shepards Or Using Simulation in a Class Without Walls Enhancing Business Simulations Through the Utilization of Experiential Activities Involving Local Community Executives Simulation with Integrated Spreadsheets: The Design and Development of a Conversational Marketing Concepts Decision Game Introducing INMART: An International Marketing Simulation Using a Computer-Based Business Plan Assistant in Conjunction with a Marketing Simulation Game Overview of the ABSEL Guide to Experiential Learning and Simulation Learning