TECHNOLOGICAL FRONTIERS IN COMPUTER SIMULATIONS FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 72 TECHNOLOGICAL FRONTIERS IN COMPUTER SIMULATIONS FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION Francisco J. James, Simtek Recent advances in micro-processor, memory-manufacturing, and telecommunication technologies have released a number of previously exotic computer capabilities into the real of practical business simulation. The overwhelming array of technologies can be stratified into non-orthogonal categories determined by the nature of their impact on each type of organization playing a role in the business simulation " industry.” This matrix analysis of the trends can simplify interpretation of the technological trends to facilitate the decision-making process of those individuals and organizations playing a role in the business simulation industry. The most important conclusion from this analysis will be that against this background of exponentially-growing trends and ramifications, the non-technical (non-’ computer-jock’) business faculties will be catapulted into the center stage of what has historically been classified as computer-based education. EMEGING TECHNOLOGIES The most recent entries into the realm of practical business simulations include the following technologies: third- and fourth- dimension computer graphics, home computers/micro-computers distributed-processing minicomputers, national and international telecommunication networks compatible with micro-computers and terminals, Computer-Output Microfilm (Cc}1), computer- generated speech, specialized simulation languages, specialized simulation networks real-time processing, Braille computers and Braille compute output, and a proliferating array of innovative technologies that promise to leverage the effectiveness of computer simulations in education while simultaneously threatening to substitute the judgment of reputable pedagogical leaders with the influence of promotional ‘whiz kids.’ Authors, publishers, university computing centers, professors, and students have already started feeling, if not reacting to, the impact of those technologies. Quite often, the monetary impact of decisions in this field overshadow the monetary impact of most other decisions made at the professor level; all those coinciding with the forthcoming severe budgetary strains left by the wake of the po8t-war baby boon. ANALYSIS The ability to cope with those trends will determine whether any individual or organization will be affected negatively (through advanced obsolescence) or will be able to capitalize on the opportunities (via added flexibility and effectiveness). With the intention of facilitating analysis, the overwhelming array of technologies were stratified into non-orthogonal categories determined by the nature of their impact. The principal seven categories against which each technology was rated are: realism, cost, portability, compatibility, simplicity of creation, and simplicity of utilization. Realism Each technology can be rated according to the degree of realism it can add to a simulation. Real-time processing, computer-generated speech, and, under some circumstances, Computer-Output Microfilm (CQ4), represented the technologies that could contribute most towards increasing the realism of simulations. Cost Although a diminishing-cost trend can be detected in most new technologies related to computer5, it is useful to rank the technologies according to their tendency to reduce the cost of running simulations below their current level. By this criterion. Specialized Simulation Networks, Telecommunications Networks, and Micro-computers ranked highly. Portability The capacity to use business games for seminars, or at least without the need for large computer centers, suggests that this criteria be used to rank technologies Distributed-processing Minicomputers, Telecommunications Networks, Specialized Simulation Networks were all rated highly by- This criterion. Pocket calculators were rated highest, but can only be used as supplements and complements to other simulations. Compatibility From the standpoint of the authors, publishers, and distributors, this criterion gains particular significance as the software development costs skyrocket. Specialized Simulation Languages, Telecommunications Networks, and Specialized Simulation Networks rated highly compatible. Simplicity of Creation Indisputably, Specialized Simulation Languages and Specialized Simulation Networks will be contributing most to the objective of compressing the design and developing phases so that software development may keep abreast of hardware development. Simplicity of Utilization When this criterion is applied, both Real-time Processing and Specialized Simulation Networks emerged as the dominant emerging technologies. After the technologies under consideration have been ranked under each of the above criteria, the analysis proceeds by identifying which criteria are most important to the analyst. The importance of each will depend on whether the analyst is an author, a publisher, a university computing center, the university administration, a professor, or a student. The order of importance may also vary seasonally for any analyst. Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 73 APPLICATION This analysis must be exercised by present and future simulation authors to monitor characteristics in existing simulations and integrate them with the emerging technologies to extend the longevity of their simulations. University computing centers, also, must evaluate these trends to avoid expensive hardware obsolescence that can limit curriculum flexibility, prevent successful adaptations neglect the practicality of new technologies, miss substantial savings opportunities, and stagnate its curriculum development, Among other implications derived from the above, we should note that as second-generation business simulations have been standardized into manageably simple curriculum exercises, non- technical faculty will gain the dominant majority position in the application of computerized business simulations. As a result, while the majority of business school professors are facing increasing simplicity in the application of business games, those professors with a long-standing interest in business simulations (e.g. ABSEL members, et. al..) will be facing the increasingly complex task of managing the introduction of future computer technologies into the field of education. Table of Contents Volume 7, 1980 Symbol Recognition and Correlation for Evaluating Decision Making in Computer Aided Business Simulations Polanal: An Experiential Approach to Decision Support The Use of Time Contracts in Formal Education Indexing Simulation Model Response for Gaming Flexibility Moving Toward A Theory of the Use of Simulation Games and Experiential Exercises Use of Simulation Administration to Achieve Pedagogical Objectives Experiential Learning on the Job - A Business Internship Program Toward the Ultimate Experiential Exercise A Learning Through Managing Program Workshop Using Experiential Materials in Industry Training Sponsored Experiential Learning - An Opportunity Problems and Pitfalls of Externally Sponsored Field Research Projects Viewed form an Experiential Learning Perspective A Modular Approach to Experiential Learning: Classroom & Consulting Using Simulation & Experiential Learning In Industrial Settings Terminations: An Experiential Review Agenda Items -- Board of Supervisors' Meeting - Town of Jori The Objective-Setting Interview in MBO: An Experiential Approach The All-Star World Series Team Exercise: an Experiential Learning Exercise Dealing with Various Organizational Behavior Issues Progress Report on global, A Rich Multinational Gaming Environment Computer Simulation: A Tool to Teach Queuing Theory New Technology for Business Games Technological Frontiers in Computer Simulations for Business Education Simulating the Product Life Cycle on Interactive Terminals On Compensatory Demand Functions in Marketing Simulations The Use of Games at Different Levels in a Single Marketing Course to Increase Game Participation Sun Airlines: A Heterogeneous Consumer demand exercise Incorporating a Group Selection Test An Organization Development Approach to Teaching Organization Behavior CBID: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Interpersonal Development - A Skill Development/Social Learning Approach to Management Development Using a Live Case Via Video Tape A Town and gown Approach Development of Student Generated Cases Using Computerized Text Editing and Database Technology Interdisciplinary Approached to Problems in Utilizing Experiential Techniques To Use or Not To Use Experiential Techniques, That's is the Question Forming Participant Teams in Simulation Gaming The Problems of Motivating Students and Clients in Live-Case Projects Problems of Teaching Leadership Skills Through Experiential Techniques Conflict Style Measurement: Antecedent to Change - A Proposal for an Experiential Exercise Demonstration Fundamentals of Simulation for Newcomers An M.B.A. Orientation Simulation for Managing Time and the Areas of One's Life SimNet Workshop: The International Simulation Network Demonstrates Three New Business Games The Use of a Simulation Model in the Planning and Evaluation of Commercial Bank Operations Probability Assessment and Performance in Business Game Simulations WageSim: A Wage and Salary Administration Simulation Grading as a Teaching and Feedback Mechanism: Modifying Student's Self-Perceptions of Performance Can Business Games Effectively Teach Business Concepts? Development of Multiple Value Orientations in Conflict Resolution Behavior: An Experiential Teaching Paradigm in Labor-Management Relations Course Designing a Competency-Based Peer Assessment Scale for the Evaluation fo Teaching in Higher Education A Method for Evaluating Information for the Equipment Replacement Decision: An Application of Monte Carlo Simulation Simulation: A Method of Appraising Communication Networks in Managerial Decision Making An Evaluation of In-Class Student Involvement Evaluation of the SBI Program from an Experiential Viewpoint: Focus on the Student Differential Predictors of Academic Performance for White and Non-White Samples The Manager's Dilemma: An Unobtrusive Measure of the managerial Sex-Role Stereotype Are Computer Simulations Sexist? The Effect of Group Size on Attitudes Toward the Simulation Associations Between Individual Cognitive Processing Variables and Business Game Performance and Play Students' Perceptions on Managerial Functions After Exposure to Either the Case Method or a Simulation What Business Students Learn from Finance Simulations Attitude Toward Experiential Exercises, The Student-Teacher Relationship, Student Psychological Types, and Performance An Example of How to Design a Research-Based and Classroom-Effective Organizational behavior Exercise Some Issues in Game Design Untested Hypotheses: An Approach to Experiential Learning Evaluation of Simulation Games: A Critical Look at Past Efforts and Future Needs Is Self-Perception Predictable? - Some Laboratory Results An Exercise in Conflict-Handling Behavior The Relationship Between Group Size and the Learning Curve Effect in a Gaming Environment Learning About Organizational Management Through Organizational Management: Closing the Gap Strategies, Managerial Approaches, and Decision Making in a General Management Simulation A Comparison and Evaluation of Similar and Dissimilar Group Scenarios Generated Using Manual Simulation Games Weaknesses of Research Methods in Experiential and Simulation Studies