OB Simulation: A Hands-On Demonstration Page 201 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 40, 2013 ABSTRACT This demonstration will provide the participants with an opportunity to experience a simulation in the area of Organizational Behavior (OB). Participants, either individually or in teams, will play the role of a retail store manager who faces a series of managerial issues based on the main topics in an OB course. The demonstration will provide a complete picture of the simulation from both the perspective of a student perspective and from the perspective of an instructor. BACKGROUND Organizational Behavior is generally taught as a survey course at the undergraduate level. Most OB textbooks have between 15-22 chapters with each chapter covering some OB topic, like leadership, motivation, communications, corporate culture, etc. Instructors often note that students finish the course without getting a comprehensive picture of how the various topics are integrated and interrelated. Some instructors have commented that the treatment of the topics is sometimes abstract and removed from the actual experience of most undergraduates. To deal with this, many textbooks provide one or more 'integrated' cases at the end of the textbook. However, as one publisher's representative put it, "the cases are not used and the instructors bemoan that something better needs to be developed for the course." Based on comments such as these, as well as our own experience in teaching OB, the authors believe that a "hands-on" simulation is necessary in order to deal with the issues raised above. As far as the authors know, this is the first comprehensive simulation in the OB area directed toward undergraduates. The simulation has a series of interconnected situations, each covering an OB topic and each having a decision focus. Each situation presents the student, in the role of the manager, with a series of choices (called decision options) related to the OB topic at hand. During the demonstration, you will make a series of OB decisions within the context of a small organization. When the students use the actual simulation, they must make a choice and justify it, usually by doing some additional research. The justification by students can take several forms (i.e., in the classroom as formal or informal presentations or as homework assignments in the form of submitted journals). If the latter is utilized, the journal is sent to the instructor, who then grades it. LEARNING OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES From the perspective of a student, the participants will learn to: 1. Make decisions; 2. Rationalize the decisions made; 3. Understand the impact of the decisions made; 4. Appreciate how the major topics in OB are covered; 5. Be exposed to a realistic setting; 6. Understand the nature and issues of managing an organization; 7. Interact with colleagues, employees and corporate staff. From the perspective of an instructor, the participants will learn: 1. How the simulation works; 2. How to grade the student’s work; 3. How to manipulate and use the simulation grading rubric; 4. How to incorporate the OB dependent variables into the simulation; 5. How to use the simulation as the main andragogy in the classroom; 6. How to use the simulation as a supplement to the classroom format; 7. How to use MOODLE, the platform for the simulation. OB Simulation: A Hands-On Demonstration Kirk M. Anne SUNY-Geneseo KMA@Geneseo.edu Peter Markulis SUNY-Geneseo Markulis@Geneseo.edu Daniel Strang SUNY-Geneseo Strang@Geneseo.edu Page 202 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 40, 2013 TIME 1 ½ to 2 hours MATERIALS 1. Laptop computer per participant 2. Overhead projector TARGET AUDIENCE FOR SIMULATION Undergraduate majors or minors in Business Administration Table of Contents Volume 40, 2013 Leo Investor SERIOUS PLAY: ON-LINE PEPULATOR SERIOUS PLAY:ON-LINE GAME "MANAGE-ART" The Game Within the Simulation Game the Research Method Concept and Project With Game Design Implementation Managing Human Resources Simulation Rising Stars: A Study of Creativity as Experiental Learning in County Government Why do Gen Y Students Study Abroad? The Relationship Between Individual Growth and the Intent to Study Abroad Our Favorite Assignment: The In-Basket Activity Mirror-Mirror: How Can We Better Understand Our Consumption Behavior? Reflective Thinking, Writing and Imagery as Tools to Better Understand Abstract Marketing Concepts Increasing Intuitive Decision Making Speed and Accuracy by Further Understanding Intuitive Decision Making Using Emotional Means Group Exams: Are they Relevant and Reliable as a learning Tool? Integrative Learning: Exploring Opportunities in Business Simulations Simulated Tabletop Exercise for Risk Management - Anti Bio-Terrorism Multi Scenario Simulated Tabletop Exercise Simulated Tabletop Exercise for Electric Power Saving Management in a Small Organization Merging the Case Method and Simulation in Management Education: Is it Possible? Experiential Learning in Accelerated Human Resource Management Courses Digital Game Building as Assessment: A Study of Secondary Students' Experience Using an Investment Fund Simulation Integrated with a Business Game Creating Simulation Conditions Based On Real World Data Simulation Games in Training New Management Methods A Summary Overview of Cultural Differences in Higher Education Innovations And Future Directions In Education: Case Review For Best Online Teaching Practices An Implicit Measure of Forecasting Accuracy Immediate Feedback and Assessment Technique (IF-AT) testing forms: An overview of the tool and uses Teaching Secondary Mathematics: Pre-service Teachers' Digital Game Design, Pedagogy and 21st Century Skills Follow The Leader II Business Simulations: From Punch Cards to Web-Based University Engagement: Good Neighbors Budget Allocation Exercise Customizing Business Simulations: An Exploration and a Hierarchy A Review of the Simulation Research in the Academy of Management Journal: Suggestions for Strengthening the Research Conducted by ABSEL Members ABSEL Reflections: 40 Years Of Excellence, Now Going Forward How Many Options do Multiple-Choice Questions Really Have? The Management/Accounting Simulation Now 100% Web-based Design, Server Side Programming, and Implementation A Large-Scale Game Test of Early-Determined Game Finishes Large-Scale Business Games for Assurance of Learning Purposes The Gamification Of Education OB Simulation: A Hands-On Demonstration Converting Simulations for the Online Environment: The New Ginseng Game Repositioning Brands with the Web-Based Product Positioning Map Graphics Package Implications of Regulatory Focus Theory for Simulation and Experiential Learning Riskware: A Game for Teaching Software Project Risk Management Teamwork for Decision-Making Through Games: The Case of On-Line "Manage-Art" Virtual Pepulator, a Model for Teaching Negotiation Small-Scale Business Games for Assurance of Learning Purposes Incorporating Intellectual Property Issues into a Business Simulation© Nationalization and Privatization in a Computer-Assisted Business Game An Investigation of the Relationship of Plan Quality, Forecast Accuracy and Earnings Performance Under Equal and Unequal Starting Positions in Marketing Positions in Marketing Simulations Measuring the Performance Ranking Curve in Marketing Simulation Games The Effectiveness of SDM Method in Business Simulation Game 40 years of Brazilian S&G - Analysis and Perspectives Accounting For Externalities: Harnessing The "Face-In-The-Mirror" Phenomenon The Role Of Simulations In Organizational Learning: Building Individual Absorptive Capacity Assessing Project Management as an Academic Learning Outcome (ALO) At the Inflection Point: Designing Army Assessments "Economics in Practice" A Simulation Game for High School Students Teaching the Basics of Economics and Entrepreneurship Fueling the Force: Exploring Leader Priorities Implementing Mental Models: Extending Insight and Whole Person Learning Using Business Simulations To Introduce Business Concepts