SUMMARY COMMENTS GROWING EMPHASIS ON IMPLEMENTATION Simulations, Games and Experiential Learning Techniques:, Volume 1, 1974 314 SUMMARY COMMENTS GROWING EMPHASIS ON IMPLEMENTATION Ralph L. Day, Indiana University One of the most notable aspects of this conference was the degree of involvement of the participants. At almost every session there was a lot of discussion by people who were not only interested in the subject matter of the presentations but were knowledgeable about the topics being presented as the result of similar activities of their own. The result was an extremely valuable professional interchange on the development and use of business simulations and other approaches to experiential learning. The discussions which interested me the most were the ones devoted to the implementation of simulations and related teaching methods. Most of these discussions indicated that even among designers of business games emphasis is shifting from the problems of design to the problems of implementation. The following topics received considerable attention in the sessions I attended: (1) the need to generate and maintain student involvement; (2) the need for instructor involvement; (3) the desire- ability of augmenting the business game with related projects; (4) the problem of evaluation; and (5) strategies for handling increased complexity in simulation games. Discussions of each of these will be very briefly summarized. Much of the discussion on student involvement focused on the need to establish for the student the role of the simulation in the course and to phase in play gradually to avoid the possibility that students might be overwhelmed by the complexity of the game. The requirement of written rationales, the use of related projects, and the provision of consulting services (at a fee) were among the methods suggested. A warning note was suggested by Geoffrey Churchill and others that over-involvement might be a problem, possibly leading to “throwing the course out of the course.” It was also pointed out by several participants that student involvement is unlikely to achieve a desirable level unless the instructor is highly involved in the game. It was agreed that the best game in the world is very likely to flop unless the instructor is highly knowledgeable about the game and is excited by it himself. The lack of involvement on the part of the instructor is more likely in the absence of a supportive environment and the need for internal public relations by game enthusiasts was noted. Many users reported improved results when they augment the game by projects which are closely related to the game. One example was the requirement that each team prepare and produce a videotaped commercial for their product. It was noted that augmentation is especially important when the entire course is built around a game. Simulations, Games and Experiential Learning Techniques:, Volume 1, 1974 315 The problem of evaluating the performance of teams in business games was discussed at considerable length. Most users appeared to feel that achievement in the game as measured by cumulative earnings should be the most important criterion but that other factors such as the development of rational procedures and careful record keeping and analysis should also be given substantial weight. A number of different views were expressed about specific ways to measure performance but most participants felt that careful and fair evaluation is essential to maintain student motivation. There was a considerable amount of discussion on appropriate ways to achieve the desired level of complexity in the student’s business game experience. This was considered both from the point of view of the individual course and the perspective of the business school curriculum. It was pointed out that flexibility with respect to the degree of complexity is built into many games. The 3rd edition of Marketing in Action, for example, can be played with one, two, or three products and the game is usually started with only a single product. After the teams have gained experience, they are allowed to add one or both of the additional products if they wish. Also, it is possible to begin the MIA game and some others with only one or two decision variables operative and phase in additional ones as experience is gained. At the curriculum level, it was suggested that the use of relatively simple functional area games in the basic courses would improve the effectiveness of more complex games in advanced functional area courses which in turn would prepare students for play of highly complex total firm games in the capstone course of the business program. To me the concern expressed at this conference with the need to improve the ways in which we use business games is an indication of the growing maturity of the business simulation game as a pedagogical device. The period in which the business game was a fad has passed. Table of Contents Volume 1, 1974 Long Live Your Business Game Marketing In Action In Collegiate Education How to Create Your Own Business Game with Imaginit The Design, Conduct and Evaluation of a Computerized Management Game as a Form of Experiential Learning Experiential Learning: Conceptualization and Definition The Teaching Potential of a Structured Experience The Lecture versus the Game Tracking the Elective: Student-Goal Oriented Education The Use of Internal and External Assignments with a Marketing Simulation Game Constructing Mini-Courses to Supplement Business Simulations A Video-Tape/Computer Learning Experience A Collective Bargaining Negotiation Simulation: Settle or Strike Simulation in Personnel Administration Introduction to Pablum: A public Administration Game Enrichment of a Multi-Functional Game through Dynamic Overlays and Intensive Decision Analysis An Orientation to the Oklahoma Farm Management Game A Description of INTSTRAT: A Game of Investment Strategy DØG: A Decision Mathematics Game The Use of Production Scheduling Simulation in a Production Planning and Control Course Interactive Gaming: A Production Example Marketing Interaction: A Marketing Management Game ADMAG I: An Advertising Management Game Meeting the Decline in College Enrollments Using the Money Game in the Classroom Training Salesmen with The Sales Management Game Smith Management Game (BUSOP) The Business Game: A New Approach to Managerial Accounting Administration: The Key to a Successful Gaming Experience Simulation: A Frustration, A ‘Game’, or a Meaningful Experience Using Complex Simulations in Policy Courses in Institutions with Limited Resources Flexibility in Simulation Design for Continual Student Motivation A Terminal Keyboard Experience in Executive Gaming Application of Theory and of Computerized Grading in Management Simulation The Executive Education Experience Using the Toronto Management Game Experiences with the Harvard Management Game Managing the Dynamic Small Business Via Simulation The Use of Business Game and a Simulated Stock Exchange in a Business Policy Course Managerial Strategy and Systems - An integrative M.B.A. Course SIMQ, A Business Simulation Game for Decision Science Students: Towards a Total Gaming and Teaching Package The Use of Simulation in a Financial Planning Course Simulation as a Supplementary Learning Experience in Marketing Principles Intercollegiate Business Gaming: The State of the Art Intercollegiate Business Gaming from a Participant's Viewpoint Correlates of Satisfaction, Learning and Success in Business Gaming A Student' s View of Leadership Training with a Two-Level Hierarchy, Two Course Simulation Autocratic versus Democratic Decision Making: The Executive Game as an Experiment Identifying Potential Game Participants Assessment Centers Selection Based on Simulation Business Games in the Process of Management Training in Israel and the United States Evolution and Flexibility in Business Gaming Quantitative Applications of Games Growing Emphasis on Implementation Debits and Credits: First National ABSEL Conference