COMPARING PERFORMANCE DURING THREE MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING SIMULATION SCHEDULES Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, Volume 6, 1979 153 COMPARING PERFORMANCE DURING THREE MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING SIMULATION SCHEDULES Clayton H. Walker Winona State University ABSTRACT This study extends a previous study which show ed that simulation administrators and the academic preparation of participants had no significant effect on simulation performance. This research shows that the scheduling, time intervals, or intervening education had no significant effect on simulation performance. Seventy undergraduate students of cost accounting performed the V.K. Gadget Company Managerial Accounting simulation during three different class schedules and did not perform significantly different. The scheduling problem was extended to planning an optimal schedule for an Industrial training setting which may be reported at the ABSEL conference in April, 1979. INTRODUCTION Objective The purpose of this study is to determine quantitatively whether it is more beneficial to begin simulation at the beginning of a course and provide lectures and discussions to improve decision-making during the simulation or to have lectures and discussions before beginning to manage a simulated business with shorter decision intervals. The Problem There are two manifestations of the same problem. The problem is in the optimal scheduling of managerial accounting simulations. The two manifestations are: (1) training problem in an organization, and (2) scheduling the use of managerial accounting simulations in a university. THE CORPORATE TRAINING PROBLEM A corporation with many geographically dispersed facilities which has a strict internal promotion policy wants to train technically successful managers in “accounting Insights.’ Basically, they are concerned with the effect of their transactions on the financial statements. The corporation has tried using guest speakers, course books, and both video and audio tapes. Managerial training has been tried both with correspondence materials mailed to each of the facilities and with centralized classes conducted at the home office. All of these attempts have fallen short of the goal because of the undesirability of the detail necessary to “work through all of the computations to see the financial statement impact of decisions. The opportunity cost of training a large number of managers requires a maximum of efficiency and effectiveness in instilling the insights which can be gained only by the performance of a managerial accounting simulation. A computer business simulation would perform the calculations and prepare mathematically correct statements with a minimum of student effort. The problem is that we do not know whether it would be better to conduct the simulations before, during, or after the lectures or classes. Alternative One Simulation instruction books could be mailed to each branch manager trainee, ample time could be allowed for study, and then the trainees could be transported to a common computer facility for a series of simulations to be conducted during one training day. Alternative Two Simulation instruction books could be mailed to each branch manager trainee, and the trainees could mail their decisions back to the central computer facility. Alternative Three Any combination of the first two alternatives could be implemented since they represent opposite poles of a continuum. That is, some of the decisions could be mailed in and the results mailed back to the trainees to allow learning time for the rules and administrative procedures and experimentation with various interaction effects. Discussion Thirteen annual computer simulation management competitions have been conducted by the St. Paul, Minnesota chapter of the National Accounting Association at the St. Paul headquarters of 3M corporation. Instruction booklets are mailed to the thirteen competing business colleges in Minnesota and Wisconsin two weeks before the teams assemble for competition day. (Incidentally, Winona State University won both first and second place in 1978 which adds objective credibility to the use of progressively complex simulations for accounting education as indicated in last year’s research. ) The marketing simulation competitors perform five decisions by mail before gathering in Madison, Wisconsin for their final competition which seems to allow more time for game familiarity prior to competition. Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, Volume 6, 1979 154 Since many alternatives have been used by academia, it should be possible to determine the most effective schedule for corporate training by experimenting with alternative academic schedules. THE ACADEMIC SCHEDULING PROBLEM Students have complained that insufficient time was allowed to learn how to manage their company simulation when the first decision was due two weeks after the course began. Therefore, the schedule was changed to require the first decision concurrent with the mid-term exam five weeks into the quarter. With a ten- week quarter, that only allows one week for the second decision and half of a week thereafter as shown below: The numbers within the table represent the decision number and their horizontal position along the time line indicates their due date. REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE The president of a training, consulting, and publishing firm for nonschool education who is also research associate to the Dean at the University of Michigan’s School of Education [3] wrote authoritatively from his experience, “The rules and procedures for gaming simulation are often complex. Thus game users often feel compelled to give a long, comprehensive Introduction to users before the start of play. This is usually a mistake. Generally, players should be given only enough information to start playing; then, in the process of playing, asking questions, making mistakes, and reading the player’s manual, they will find out how the game works. In that the rules and processes of the game are its ‘content,’ to present everything verbally is to negate one of the basic reasons for playing the game. Obviously, enough information should be given so that the level of player confusion does not hinder learning.’ No mention is made of performance differences with alternative schedules but it seems reasonable to presume that alternatives have been tried before determining this optimal implementation strategy. In 1978, Walker [7] showed that the administrator of a simulation and the number and content of managerial accounting courses prior to the simulation did not significantly effect the performance on a simulation unless there was a simulation in a prior course. In other words, simulation performance could be improved only by simulation participation. At the same convention, (ABSEL Denver 1978) a study by Badgett, Brenenstuhl and Marshall El] analyzed: (1) Maturity, (2) Motivation, (3) Social background, (4) performance on ability tests, and (5) performance on tests from the class material. They found no significant influence on the performance of participants in a business simulation. The appropriateness of a simulation for solving the current problem is affirmed with Churchill’s experience in Georgia [2]. The Georgia State University Executive Management Seminar is a one-week course for middle managers that has been operating since the 1950’s and using a simulation game for the basic fabric since 1971. Simulations are used to reduce the amount of routine work the player is faced with and enable the development of managerial thought. The fact that the course which had many years to try and then implement optimal methods has used simulations for training for over eight years provides evidence of their perceived appropriateness and effectiveness DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH Scope This study uses both the V.K. Gadget Company t4] and the Executive Simulation C5] and compares the class mean and standard deviation in the final period of simulation. All of the students are undergraduate cost accounting students at Winona State University and the results are for the 1977 and 1978 academic years. Methodology The data are collected from the last period of simulation after the course grades have been turned in and therefore they are unbiased and objective. The data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) C6) and many tests were performed. Only the most significant data are summarized in this report. Limitations The objective for measurement is the stock price in the final period of play. Even though the stock price may not be the optimal goal for a corporation, it was the stated objective for each of the students who participated. Therefore, the ability of the student to manage a simulated firm i9 appropriately measured. Findings The findings are presented on a cluster chart to show the percentage of confidence in the differences between the means and the standard deviations of the different classes. Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, Volume 6, 1979 155 Comments While a trend of growth appears with improved scheduling, none of the differences are significant at the 14% level and statistical inference would reject any hypothesis that there is any difference between the results from varying the schedules. An accounting analysis in dollars would show a gain of $1689-1321 or 28% improvement of $368 due to rescheduling while financial analysis would say the risk increased $909-876 or 4% which is $33. Account analysis would prefer studying before making decisions. The subjective factors of student satisfaction were higher when students had a chance to become accustomed to the idea of a simulation over a longer period of time. It may be that some behavioral factors of acceptance are playing a larger role In distorting the findings. It is also possible that the accounting professor is improving In his ability to prepare students for simulation. And finally, students may be acquiring skills via the grapevine from earlier students that cause improved performance. CONCLUSION There is no significant statistical difference in performance on accounting simulations whether they are begun immediately and continued throughout a course or begun after essential material is covered. REFERENCES [1] Badgett, Tom F., Daniel C. Brenenstuhl and William J. Marshall, "An Analysts of Performance in Simulation Games Compared to performance on Structured Course Criteria: A Case Study,’ reported in Exploring Experiential Learning: Simulations and Experiential Exercises, Proceedings of the 1978 Annual Conference of the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning (ABSEL), published by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, College of Business Administration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 85281. Page 32. [2] Churchill, Geoffrey, “Some Game Information Systems Experience, (See ref. 1, p157) [3] Coppard, Larry C., "Gaming Simulation and the Training Process,’ Training and Development Handbook: A Guide to Human Resource Development, (Sponsored by the American Society for Training and Development and Edited by Robert L. Craig.) (Second Edition) McGraw-Hill Book Co .1976 page 40-12. Insights into Experiential Pedagogy, Volume 6, 1979 156 [4] Goosen, Kenneth R., Introduction to Managerial Accounting: A Business same, General Learning Corporation, Morristown, New Jersey 07960. (1973) [5] Keys, Bernard and Howard Leftwich, The Executive Simulation (Second Edition), Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2460 Kerper Boulevard, Dubuque, Iowa 52001 (1977) [6] Nie, Norman, C. Hadlai Hull, Jean G. Jen Jenkins, Karin Steinbrenner, and Dale H. Bent, SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Second Edition), McGraw Hill Book Company. (1975) £7] Walker, Clayton H., “The Effectiveness of Progressively Complex Accounting Simulations in Increasing Decision- Making Performance,(See ref. 1, p. 60). Table of Contents Volume 6, 1979 The Use of Cases with Role Plays in a Research Methods Course Debugging and Implementing the Live-Case Approach to Marketing Research in the Australian Environment Using a Case as the Basis for a Modified Debate Using Cases in Business Communication Classes A Structured Approach to Case Analysis and Reporting Intercollegiate Case Analysis Competition as an Experiential Learning Experience Attributes Germane to Student/Live Case Situations Understanding Dispute Resolution Through Experiential learning Personality Development and Conflict Dynamics: An Experimental Design to Study the Effects of Teaching Methodologies on Conflict Resolution Interpersonal Competence and the Digital PDP-11:40 The process of Writing a Collective Bargaining Simulation: A Case Study in Practical Pedagogy Simulating Negotiations in an Educational Context Simulations as a Technique for Teaching Collective Bargaining Experiential Processing of Differing Managerial Perspectives: The Use of a Game Show Format Individual Self Report vs. Group consensus in Small Decision-Making Groups Effects of Sex-Role Stereotypes on Promotion Decisions: An Exercise Computer Aids to Planning: The Budget and Forecasting Module Use of a Microcomputer in a Decision Analysis for Investment Portfolio Selection A Game of Investment Strategy: Description, Use, Criticism and Modification Coping with Future Uncertainties Through Probabilistic Budgeting Administration and Design of Simulation Materials for a Specialized Management Training Program Managing Stress in Organizational Life Banksim: The Bank Management Simulation Issues in the Organizational Application of Simulation and Experiential material Games Within Games: The Role of the Glitch Experiential Learning from Classroom to Business An Evaluation of the Small Business Institute Program as an Experiential learning Exercise Conversations with Top Management (Simulated) Experience in the Use and Assessment of Simulation in Management Education A Statistical Analysis of Simulation Users: Relationships between Stress and Human Subject guidelines Group Decision Making in a Computer Game Analysis of Demographic and Psychosocial Variables Comparing Performance During Three Managerial Accounting Simulation Schedules Business Policy Simulation and the Intense Course Structure The Use of Intensive Simulation in Executive Development and Academic Settings The Use of Experiential Exercises in the Undergraduate Consumer Behavior Course A Personal Marketing Strategy Approach: Framework and Application Teaching PERT Experientially in Marketing Research Discovering the Majority Fallacy An Experiential Approach to Studying International Business A Demonstration of the Business Simulation Game as a Curriculum Assessment Device Relating Teaching Methods with Educational Objectives in the Business Curriculum The Junior Achievement Applied Management Program as a Compromise Situation Between the Simulation and the Internship Who is Using Computerized Business Games?: A View from Publishers' Adoption Lists Trials and Tribulations in Testing Educational Innovations An Examination of the Perceived Effectiveness of Computer Simulation in a Classroom Setting as Affected by Game, Environmental and Respondent Characteristics Game Administration: A Life Cycle Analysis Research on the Effectiveness of Using a Computerized Simulation in the Basic Management Course Gaming and Attitudinal Change The Teacher-Student Relationship in Experiential Classes and the Student's Perception of Course Effectiveness An Exploratory Study of Student Characteristics and Educational Processes in Programmatic Experiential learning General Incongruity Adaption Level (GIAL) as a Predictor of Risk Preferences in a Simulated Management Game The Cap-Stone Opportunity: Combining Business Simulation and Experiential Learning Incorporating MIS/DSS into Policy Courses Via Simulation Who Benefits Most from Participation in Business Policy Simulations: An Empirical Study of Skill Development by Functional Areas The Use of Program NAMEX in Teaching the Accounting for Nonmonetary Assets The Use of Program CVP in Teaching Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis Experiential vs. Traditional Classroom Approach in the Basic Management Course: A Puerto Rican Experience A Guide to the Successful Use of Business Simulation Games The Dynamic Aspects of Interactive Gaming Puts the Realism into Gaming System Representation of SIMORG The Design of a Database System to Support Business Simulation and Experiential Learning A Data Entry and Retrieval System for a Computer Simulation (DERS) Simulation - An Advantage for Accounting Research Computer-Aided Project Performance Control Simulation: An Interactive Experiential Gaming Technique for Managerial Decision Making Utilization of Manual Simulation Games to Develop Scenarios of Future Events - An Exploratory Study Foundry: A Foundry Simulation Customized Debriefing: The Achilles Heel of Experiential learning? Computerized Business Simulations and Experiential Learning Exercises: An Instructional Interface The Baseball Game: A Group Role Observation, Problem Solving Experience A Practical Design for Experiential Learning Exercises: Roles, Technical Equipment and Alternative Debriefing Formats