STUDENT’S PERCEPTIONS OF MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS AFTER EXPOSURE TO EITHER THE CASE METHOD OR A SIMULATION Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 177 STUDENT’S PERCEPTIONS OF MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS AFTER EXPOSURE TO EITHER THE CASE METHOD OR A SIMULATION Ronald L. Decker, University of Wisconsin, Eau-Claire ABSTRACT This study represents an attempt to measure the effects of participating in a business simulation on the attitudes of the participants relative to a number of managerial functions. Comparisons were made between two groups of student subjects, those subjected to the simulation in two sections of the senior business policy course and those with the case method instead. Findings for these two groups were that the simulation group found organizing definitely more important than any other single activity. The other variables considered failed to show any significant difference between the groups. INTRODUCTION Users of simulations and other experiential learning techniques do so under the assumptions that they contribute more to students’ learning than alternative teaching methods. Researchers have continually tried to find measurable differences either justifying the use of experiential methods or proving they don’t work.” [ 2 ] This study represents another step in the process of determining the applicability of simulations in the business policy course. OBJECTIVE The primary objective of the study is to measure the effect of participation in a comprehensive business simulation on attitudes toward the relative importance of a variety of management functions. As an exploratory study, other considerations include the development of measurement instruments and an appropriate research design. PROCEDURE Because of a sudden increase in demand for the capstone business policy course, spring semester, 1979, use of a general business simulation for all students in the course was deemed unfeasible. Therefore, students in two sections were offered the alternatives of participating in the simulation or opting for case study. This part of the course would constitute about 60% of class time and about 75% of the final grade. The balance of the course is devoted to lecture and current readings. The classes divided themselves precisely in half with 34 students in each group-case and simulation. After the semester’s work was completed, both groups were given the questionnaire contained in Appendix A to measure their perceptions of the importance of a number of business topics. Students were instructed to circle the point on the 61-point scale that reflected their rating of the importance of that particular business factor ranging from extremely unimportant to extremely important. FINDINGS As the table below shows, only one variable (organizing), showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups. One other, data processing, was also significant at the .1 level. The higher the mean value the more important that factor is considered by the respondent. The range of the scale is from O to 61, with 0 as extremely unimportant and 61 as extremely important. Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 178 DISCUSSION The situation [1] used on the simulation group is heavily product-ton oriented and may partially explain the failure of the marketing variables to rate higher with the simulation group. On the other hand, the case group discussed a variety of different cases, most of which demonstrated the need to do effective corporate planning in all of the functional areas. The foundry simulation was designed to be too complex for a single individual to handle alone. Participants were forced to work together effectively if they were to survive. This was clearly shown by the response to the questionnaire question on organizing (t = -2.48, p< .02) This simulation also requires students to interact directly with the computer through the use of Decwriters. Far this reason they may become blasé about the use of computers and data processing in business. At any rate, those students without the “hands on experience” ranked data processing much more important. CONCLUSIONS On most variables the two groups differed very little in their measures of the relative importance of the different variables. The failure to show significant differences may be attributed to several reasons. First, there may be no real difference as a result of either experiencing this simulation or the group of cases assigned. Perhaps a simulation with greater emphasis on marketing decisions would result in a heightened appreciation of marketing functions. (This possibility is being tested this semester with a simulation named BUSIM which is much more conventional in operation.) Second, there may well be other factors that over-ride the effect of the simulation. Students may forget about these classroom activities in lieu of their own majors, be. accounting majors in both groups may rate financial matters more important and forget about or wash-out the effect of a single class. Third, no pre-measurement was taken so the absolute effectiveness of the two methods (case and simulation) could not be determined. Also, these groups were self- selected, not randomly assigned. While this does not necessarily make the groups different, it does increase this possibility. Post- measures do not show any significant differences in the two groups; grades, majors, and grade-point averages were similar for both groups. SUMMARY This exploratory study found the simulation group definitely felt organizing was more important than any other single activity. A data collection instrument has been developed that with refinements may be used to compare different teaching techniques. Much more research is needed to determine the most effective uses of cases, simulations, lectures and other learning methods, and to identify those areas where each is most appropriate. Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 179 REFERENCES [1] Decker, Ronald L., Waedt, Fred A., Allen, Stuart J., Headington, Mark R., “Foundry: A Foundry Simulation,” Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, April 1979, pp. 305-309. [2] Wolfe, Joseph, “The Effects and Effectiveness of Simulations in Business Policy Teaching Applications,” Academy of Management Review, April, 1976, pp. 47-56. 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