OVERVIEW OF COMPUTER BASED BUSINESS GAMES IN BUSINESS POLICY CLASSES Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 8, 1981 149 OVERVIEW OF COMPUTER BASED BUSINESS GAMES IN BUSINESS POLICY CLASSES Irvin Summers, Southwest Missouri State University ABSTRACT The following paper provides an overview of the content of a workshop presented at the 1981 ABSEL conference. The purpose of the workshop is to assist those who desire to use computer based business simulations and have been hesitant to implement their use. The workshop provides practical implementation detail beyond the scope of the following overview. WHY SIMULATIONS IN BUSINESS POLICY CLASSES An often stated purpose of the Policy course is to provide a synthesis for the graduate or undergraduate course of study. It is the writer’s opinion that the hands-on experience of trying to manage a simulated firm is one of the excellent ways for many students to accomplish the desired synthesis and integration course work. The student has the opportunity to use accounting, finance, marketing and quantitative techniques, and make management applications when managing their simulated firm. SELECTING A SIMULATION The writer suspects we often select a simulation with which we had experienced as a student; certainly there are good reasons for selecting a simulation already well known to the instructor. However, there are several excellent simulations of varying complexity and each of which may be especially useful for specific learning goals. For use in a Policy class the simulation selected should dear with many variables within an organization and not, for instance, overly emphasize marketing decisions to the exclusion of cost control or asset planning. The student and instructor manuals that are available for the simulation are very important to the simulation experience. The instructor’s manual should provide information the instructor will need for comprehension and processing knowledge, this is very important if the instructor will have little computer data processing support within the institution. The clarity and completeness of the students manual is important to the overall success of the learning experience. BRINGING THE PROGRAM ON-LINE Probably the most important step in obtaining a program that is ready to run is to provide the publisher with detailed information pertaining to the computer hardware on which you will be processing the simulation. If one has successfully run standard statistical packages such as SPSS one will probably have little difficulty running the simulation; if your data processing skill is less than this level you probably need help. If the help is not available within ones own institution, it is not impossible to run the simulation. Faculty members elsewhere will help. The author of the simulation will, in the writer’s experience, be most helpful in responding to questions. GETTING THE CLASS STARTED The writer's experience is to provide the class with a verbal over-view of the simulation with which they will be working, e.g., the nature of the industry, the decisions they will be making, the useful tools in the manual; then give them about one week to study the manual and make the first decision. In the writer’s opinion, the administrator must know completely the students’, and instructor’s manuals. The students must become completely familiar with the students’ manual, the instructor Cannot read it for or to them. One must insist that the students read and re-read the student manual. The student must be charged with learning the manual, if the manual has work-sheets, forecasting sheets, and decision tools, insist that they be used. Depending on class size and the number of firms permitted in the simulation, student group (firm) sizes of three to four numbers seem to be best and a group of two is acceptable. Because of privacy of information roommates almost must be in the same group, otherwise, counting-off seems to be preferred to friendship groupings. INSTRUCTOR OR COACH-CONSULTANT Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks is to shift from a lecturer-discussion leader role to a Coach-Consultant role. (The writer acknowledges that this is stated as a necessary shift.) If the student, not the instructor, is to manage the firm they require the freedom to make mistakes and make decisions. Only when the firm is making a fatal error or making repeated major errors does the writer become more active with a firm, and then becomes less active as soon as possible. Early in the simulation it seems wise to visit all groups to see if they need help, then move more toward a role of waiting for questions and working with those needing or seeking help. Also, as their understanding increases badger them a bit to use the tools from other courses, e.g., break-even analysis, graphing and record-keeping, testing various variables, and accurate cash-flow and balance sheet data. EVALUATION OR GRADING The writer asks for an end of term analysis on which the grade primarily depends; the firms are furnished with a list of the minimum content of the analysis. Further, student evaluations of their group members are obtained; their value seems to be only in identifying the strongest and weakest contributors to the group. Table of Contents Volume 8, 1981 The Promotion: Human Sexuality in Organization The Simulation of Chaos Leadership Development in a Simulated Urban/Suburban (U/S) Environment Tomed: A Computer Game Emphasizing Social Responsibility/or/why the Pop-Top Can? Integrated Brain Activity and the Manager's Job: Utilizing the Troika Model What does R2 Have to do with a Product Management Course? An Analysis of the Effects of Jungian Problem-Solving Style Dimensions on Marketing Decisions Bargaining Behavior in Personal Selling and Buying Exchanges Extending the Simulation Product Life Cycle A Generalized Algorithm for Designing and Developing Business Simulations Operationalizing a Test of a Model of the Use of Simulation Games and Experiential Exercises Pygmalion and Perception: An Experiential Exercise Behavioral Consequences of Reward Regarding Employee Absenteeism in an Industrial Setting: An Operant Conditioning Approach The Simlab Program: The Use of Experimental Simulation and Process Analysis for the Development of Management and Organizations Designs for Research on Simulation-Games, Cases, and Other Experiential Exercises The Role of Students in The Case Method Weaknesses in Research Design Critical Variables in Research on the Educational Value of Management Games Research Questions for Cases Research on the Learning Effectiveness of Business Simulation Games - A Review of the State of the Science The Effects of Valuation Techniques on Holding Cost During Inflationary Periods: A Simulation Exercise The Operations Simulation - A Study in Game Development Applying Guided Design to the Production/Operations Management Course: A Progress Report and Evaluation Terminal Data Entry and Retrieval Systems Simulations and Microprocessors Microcomputers and Related Technology for Simulation Gaming Microcomputers - A New Technology for Innovations in Business Simulations Microprocessor Controlled Interactive Video Simulation Business Game Design: From Theory to Practice The Success of a Computerized Simulation in Microeconomic Pedagogy The Test Preview Game: Applying the Game Show Format Providing a Real World View of the Personal Function: A Simulation Finding an Effective Means of Teaching Managerial Behavioral Skills: Two Different Experiential Teaching Methods Compared A Management Development Program Based on the Experiential Learning Model Participant Type Differences in Response to Experiential Methods: An Informal Look Preparing Student Groups to Participate in Experiential Group Projects: An Organizational Development Approach An Instrument for the Assessment of Learning Dimensions: A Progress Report of the Learning Dimension Scale (LDS) An Empirical Analysis Relating the Learning Style Inventory to Memory and Logical Ability Teaching Styles in Simulation Experiential Learning Versus Traditional Teaching Styles Student Perceptions of Effective Teaching Behaviors Problems in Evaluation of Experiential Learning in Management Education Students' Perceptions of Learning by Simulation A Relative Evaluation of Experiential and Simulation Learning in Terms of Perceptions of Effected Changes in Students Overview of Computer Based Business Games in Business Policy Classes Behavioral Decision Theory and Business Policy Giving Accounting Students Writing Experience as Job Preparation Getting to First Base with MBO: An exercise for Writing and Evaluating Objectives Dimensions of Conflict in Experiential Learning Consumer Alienation and Perceived Relevance of the Business Simulation Using the Self-Reference Criterion to Simulate Culture in Internationalized Business Course Experiential Learning in a Cross Cultural Setting- The Practice of Simulation Approach to Business Education in Japanese Universities Student' Perceptions of the Use of a Computerized Simulation in Teaching Management Information Systems Using the Case Study Approach to Develop a Microcomputer Bases, Fully Integrated, Data Base Driven, Management Information System The Case Study as a Tool for Organizational Change: Applying the Steel Ax to the Designers of Management Information Systems Toward a Theory of Teaching Business Policy A Case Study in the Use of Experiential Learning (A Management Game Simulation) to Enhance Student Understanding of Strategy Evaluation and Policy Formulation Suggestions for Integration of the Business Administration Core Publishing Opportunities and Requirements for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning Materials How do we Apply Experiential Learning Intercollegiate Case Competitions for M.B.A. Students: Initiation and Implementation Teaching Business Policy and Strategy Using the Incident Process The Learning Co-Op Approach to the Core Policy Course Meeting the Managerial Skill Shortage - Is Academia Up to It? An Empirical Analysis of Experiential Learning Reinforcement International Experiential Learning: Experience is the Best Teacher Encouraging Student Participation During International Academic Programs European Summer Study Program: Can you, Should you, What Does it Take? Travel Seminars in Europe: How can I Direct One? International Experiential Learning: Student Evaluation ABSEL: Empirical Findings on the State of the Association Sensitivity of Performance Scores in Business Simulations Improving the Learning of a Business Simulation Game by Increasing the Process Content Student Participation in Deciding Performance Criteria for Grading in an OB Course: An Exercise and a Case Study Markup for Profit: A Simulated Self-Administered Experience in Retail Pricing The Investment Decision Game: An Experiential Learning Approach to Stock Market Decisions Through Gaming CHIPS: A Marketing Channels management Game External Validation: An Experimental Approach to Determining the Worth of Simulation Games Teaching Performance Appraisal Skills: An Experiential Approach In Support of Experiential learning: Results of a Follow-Up Survey The Introductory Management Course: Taking Theory Application One Step Further Decision Efficiency and Effectiveness in a Business Simulation The Implications of Cognitive Processing Variables and the Complex Decision Simulating the Simulation for Enhanced Player Rationality Simulation/Experiential Learning Audit