CONCEPT BASED SIMULATIONS Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 10, 1983 23 CONCEPT BASED SIMULATIONS Hugh Leach, Washburn University Laura Jolly, Oklahoma State University J. Ronald Frazer, Clarkson College INTRODUCTION Members of the panel will discuss the development of simulations which are designed to focus student attention on various subject matter concepts. The simulations involve students in sequential business decision-outcome situations as a means of bringing those students to a similar level of experience concerning the concept under study. Students are placed in the position of developing creative analyses of the appropriate environmental factors and of making management decisions. Objective This activity tends to direct their attention toward the concept under study in such a way that their involvement becomes personalized. They take risk while striving for the achievement of goals. Conceptual Models Simulations have been developed to focus attention on stock maintenance, retail apparel purchasing, logistics distribution channel suboptimization, major variable identification for profit maximization, variable interaction and negotiation between firms. The time duration of some exercises is two hours from Start to finish. This permits the instructor to make concentrated points on a very specific concept. Other simulations are designed to run for a semester with different concepts receiving attention at various points. In some exercises the concept under study is identified to students at the beginning of the exercise. Other simulations have the concept disguised until key events are triggered to permit the focusing of dramatic attention on the concept at that time. Control Instructor control of the simulation exercise is generated by the triggering of key events. The occurrence of such key events serves to emphasize particular concepts so that student awareness of the concept and its impact can be reinforced by class discussion and examinations. Triggering events include reports on sales, stock turn, sales comparisons, periodic profit and loss statements, Inventory records, out-of-stock occurrences, changes in demand, changes in competition, a truck drivers strike, assigned chapters in the text and examinations. REFERENCES (1) Byrne, Eugene T. and Douglas E. Wolfe, “The Design, Conduct and Evaluation of A Computerized Management Game as A Form of Experiential Learning,” Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning. The Proceedings of the First National ABSEL Conference, 1974, pp. 2 2-30. (2) Dennis, Terry and Thomas Pray, “Nine Topic Oriented Mini Simulations: Descriptions, Purposes, and Observations,” Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning. Vol. 9, 1982, pp. 28.32. (3) Frazer, 3. Ronald, “Educational Values of Simulation Gaming,” Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning. The Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 1978, pp. 269-275. (4) Johnson, James C. and Donald F. Wood, Contemporary Physical Distribution & Logistics (Tulsa, Ok.: PennWell Books, PennWell Publishing Company, 1982). (5) Kelley, Lane, ‘Weaknesses in Research Design,” Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning. Vol. 8, 1981, pp. 69. Table of Contents Volume 10, 1983 Is the Computerized Business Simulation Relevant? Business Professionals Play a Student Game A Methodology For Assessing the Internal Validity of Business Simulations A Longitudinal Study of the External Validity of a Business Management Game Policy Analysis and Decision: A corporate Relocation Simulation Exercise Effective Listening: An Exercise in Managerial Communication The Symbol Exercise: An Initial Group Activity Concept Based Simulations Institutional Users of Experiential Learning Packages: A Preliminary View from Publishers' Adoption Lists How to Use Business Games in the Business Policy Course: The Students' Perspective Professors' Ratings of Business Policy Learning Methods Moot Trial: An Exercise in Trial Procedure and Evidence The Advertising Agency Game: An Experiential learning Exercise The Use of Videotaped Cases in Teaching Information Acquisition and Decision-Making Skills Experiencing Information Processing Strategies as a Means to Explore Decision Making Importance Ratings and Operations Data as Predictors of Business Game Performance Determinants of Performance in Computer Simulations Predicting Business Game Performance form Perceptions of Manager Information and actions Business Consulting: A Practicum for Undergraduate Internship as a Contingency Based Experiential Learning Program for More Effective Organizational Socialization: A Conceptual Framework MANSYM III Decision Support System Demonstration Learning the Concept of market Value Through Simulation Conflict Management for Economic Developers Development of Data Analysis Units Designed to Enhance Reasoning and Knowledge Transfer in the College Level Course BOSS: A Behavioral-Quantitative, Computer-Supported Game Entrepreneurial Potential: An Experiential Exercise in Self Analysis and Group Assessment Development of Strategists: Simulated Cases BANKRUPT: A Deceptively Simple Business Strategy Game Simulating Market and Firm Level Demand - A Robust Demand System COMPSIM A Computer Center Management Simulation Hiving Model: Assessing Management Skill Awareness The Johari Window, A Reconceptualization Role-Playing Based on Video-Tape Scenarios: An Application of Modeling to Building Supervisory Skills How to Internationalize Your Curriculum A Computerized Model of Human Behavior in a Total-Firm Management Simulation the Worksheet Approach for Simulation Game Strategy Analysis Teaching Competitive Bidding Using a DSS Generator Do We Learn from Experience? The Use of Theory Power for Increased Research Momentum in Business Simulation and Experiential Exercises Research Report on Programmatic Research on Perceived Learning Barriers with Simulation and Experiential learning An Empirical Examination of Conflict - and Nonconflict - Oriented Problem-Solving Technologies Management Curriculum: 1982 Humor as a Management Tool: Use in Formal Game Presentations Student Behavioral Change Through Teacher behavioral Change