"A New Model for Business Courses (Getting the Student Connected)" Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 “A NEW MODEL FOR BUSINESS COURSES (GETTING THE STUDENT CONNECTED)” Carole Lissy – William Rainey Harper College Mary Lou Lockerby – College of DuPage Lillian Roy – McHenry County College Business Simulation General Description: In this simulation, students participate in an integrated business simulation by enrolling in specific sections of accounting or finance, management, marketing, or human resource classes. These classes model a business organization teaming their personnel to effectively organize, plan, and function as a startup company. Each student participates within the organization based on the course they are taking. Students may register for only one course within this Business Simulation in a specific semester but are welcome to take other courses in the Business Simulation in subsequent semesters. Enrollment: Approximately 6 students per course. Students may be enrolled in only one of the simulation sections in a given semester but are invited to register for one of the other Business Simulation courses in a future semester. Dependent on the business concepts used, the courses in the simulation may vary from semester to semester Typically there are 6 courses that include Marketing, Accounting or Finance, Management, Human Relations, Advertising and other courses dependent on the type of start-up business (i.e. direct marketing, international marketing, multimedia, professional selling, business communications, etc.) Objectives of the Business Simulation:  Developing team building skills  Integrating the business curriculum consistent with current business organizations  Development of written and verbal skills  Application of course materials with a focus on evaluation and selection of strategies consistent with the company  Meeting the objectives of the specified courses within the Business Simulation  Application based learning Benefits of the Business Simulation: Students work as a startup company applying their course material. Each member of the company use their course text, other departments, outside resources, and faculty assistance to fulfill the company and department responsibilities. The simulation assignments will parallel the job functions of the specific departments within the company. For example: The Marketing Department and Direct Marketing Department prepare segments of a Marketing Plan doing market research, product specification and pricing. The Accounting-Finance Department prepare the Financial Prospectus, The Advertising Department prepare the promotion plan and budget for the Business Plan, Management students coordinate, and integrate the responsibilities of the departments by managing their assigned department, The Customer Service Department prepares a customer service plan. The text and other resources identify the issues and the variety of methods which could be used to resolve a task. The team in conjunction with information from other departments within the organization will make decisions most appropriate for the company. Included in the many benefits of taking a course in the simulation environments are the following:  Team work - the number one characteristic firms are looking for in today’s employment marketplace  Decision making - opportunities to 184 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 evaluate the wide variety of techniques in making an effective, profitable organization and reaching consensus on the technique that will be most applicable to this company  Communication - hands on opportunities to apply written and verbal communication skills in the formulation and presentation of the plans  Interactivity - experience in the development of plans that are company- wide based and integrated with plans of other departments “No department is an island”  Application - using the text material, resources and other departments to prepare a company proposal  No written exams - just quizzes and application based exercises and projects Assignments: The Business Simulation departments formulate specific components of a Business Plan for a start-up distributor, service business, restaurant etc. based on the type of business. Each course within the simulation is a designated department within the organization except for Management students who act as the management personnel coordinating the efforts of the individual departments. The individual course content is covered through reading assignments, projects, and business simulation assignments. There are individual and group assignments for each department team. Evaluation on course content is based on quizzes, projects, and team decisions and presentations. Class Periods: Lectures in the course are minimal. Instructors are facilitators and resource persons. They answer questions on material and help to clarify any projects the departments and personnel (students) have. All text material and individual assignments are completed prior to class time. Class time is designed to maximize the team problem solving, discussions, schedule meetings with instructors and or other departments, investigate outside learning resources in the library or the internet, and use the computers for report generation. The departments, in most cases, are responsible for their department schedule. The class periods begin with a department meeting and manager meetings. The instructors (facilitators) occasionally plan guests to be present at a specific class to share their expertise with the departments, and all departments are notified in advance so that they can plan accordingly. Managers assist departments in areas such as departmental goals and structure. Instructors are always available to discuss assignments, course material etc. and if extended time is needed by a department, meetings are scheduled in advance to insure availability. Routine meetings last no longer than 20 minutes to maximize team discussion, decision, and collaboration time. Project and Assignment Completion: There is a syllabus for each class and students are expected to remain current on their course material and honor due dates. Students must submit all projects and quizzes on time. The department teams are responsible for their department schedule under the direction of their manager. The class periods begin with instructor briefings, and then with department and manager meetings. Conclusion: As faculty who also teach businesses classes using a more traditional model, we have enjoyed teaching these subjects in this new format. While the time commitment has been great, the rewards are also great. The enthusiasm displayed by our students has been refreshing. We have witnessed first hand how students have applied critical thinking skills for problem solving as well as taking responsibilities for their learning and course outcome. For those of you who decide to give this a try, keep in touch. We would enjoy hearing your experience. 185 Table of Contents Volume 26, 1999 ABSEL's Historical Research Interests Back From the Future: An ABSEL Merlin Exercise for the Year 2005 The Contributions of ABSEL During the 1980's ABSEL's Contributions to Experiential Exercises in the 90's ABSEL's Contributions to Experiential learning/Experiential Exercises: The Decade of the 1970's Business Simulations - Algorithms and Model Enhancements: A 25 year Review A Study of the ETS General Field Test as an AACSB Assessment Tool and the Impact of Experiential Exercises and Simulation on Learning A Framework for Assessing the Competencies Reflected in Simulation Performance Developing A Learning Culture: Assessing Changes in Student Performance and Perception Financial Simulation Using Distributed Computing Technology Analyzing Managers' Judgements and Decisions with an Educational Business Simulation Understanding Your Business through Home-Made Simulator Development An Examination of a Reanalysis of the Impact of a Market Leader on Simulation Competitors' Strategies Applying Shocks to TE Simulations: A Demonstration Increasing Efficiency of Management Skill Assessment A Testbank for Measuring Total Enterprise Simulation Learning Developing Leadership Skills - Video Live! LEADSIMM: Collaborative Leadership Development for the Knowledge Society A Team Approach to Producing Multi-Media Laptop and Video Formatted Presentation Tinkertoys Revisited: Exploring Trust Based Relationships Overall Dominance in Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Success or Bankruptcy: The Relationship between Personal and Goal Orientation and Simulation Performance Assessing the Effects of Feedback: Muti-method and Muti-directions in Multi-pedagogical Courses The Missing Ingredients in Experiential Learning Purpose and Learning Benefits of Business Simulations: A Design and Development Perspective Building Capabilities for Change through Laboratory Simulations Modeling Innovation as a Process of Design in Educational Business Simulation The Need to Measurer variance in Experiential Learning and a New Statistic to do so Assessing Effectiveness of an Experiential Oriented Course Over Time Developing Participant Satisfaction Models of Experiential Exercises in Business Education Perceptions of Learning in TE Simulations Students' View on the Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Management Gaming's Lost Opportunity: Meditations about the Russian Experience and Prospects for the Future Unanticipated Enhancements in the Business Strategy and Policy Game when Running in Windows 95 Using a Business Game to Demonstrate Broad Business Concepts A New Model for Business Courses (Getting the Student Connected) Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Integrating Knowledge Using Large Scale Simulations in Capstone Business Strategy Classes Is It Here To Stay? A Roundtable Discussion of the Inter-Group Interaction Interactive Tools Used in Applying Financial Concepts Strengthening Essential Skills through a Finance Exercise: Calculation of Beta A Model of Currency Exchange Rates Understanding Currency Exchange Rates: A three-part Exercise Student Experiences in the World Intercollegiate Business Game Competition Student Experiences in the International-Collegiate Business Policy Game Competition Using Boards of Directors in Simulation Environments: Comments From Board Members Sharing Best Practices: Teaching Smarter, Not Harder Star Power: A Simulation for Understanding Power and Empowerment The Marketing Game: A Marketing Principles Simulation Alexander Islands: GSSM Tiny Business Simulator on the WWW Putting Strategy into Strategic Business Games Industry Analysis, Porter's Five Forces Model and Strategic Group Maps in the Business Strategy Game Simulation The Use of Concept Mapping to Improve Student Performance and Understanding of Strategic Management Concepts: A Comparison of Techniques Transformational thinking in the Organizational Behavior Course: The Use of Metaphor as an Assessment Tool Creation of a Virtual Learning Community for the Global Virtual Enterprise Project Inter Institutional use of Educational Resources: Joint Use of Management Simulation Games Business Insights: Theory and Practice with the Aid of a Business Simulation Progress: An Experiential Exercise in Development Marketing The ABC's of teaching the Theory of Constraints to Undergraduate Business Students Demonstrating Principles of Organizational Purchasing Behavior through an Experiential Exercise The Virtual Manager: A Different Simulation for Managing Complexity When the Rules are changing and Chaos Breeds Innovation: Recapturing the Value of Constructive Thinking and Play in Simulation Training The Pitfalls, and Potential, of Actual Events as Problem Drivers Using Business Games to teach Environmental Awareness and Green Management: The International Experience with the ENSIM Game A Review of my ABSEL-Related Work Simulation of Government: A Workshop Using GEO Creating Internet-Based Games Using Perl and JavaScript Who's on First? Exploring the Concepts of Problem-Based Learning, Experiential Learning, and Lifelong Learning Students Learn Customer Service and Selling while Conducting Research So You Want to Run an NFL Football Team–An Honors Interdisciplinary Project Supervised Internship: The Employer's Perspective Using Computer Assisted Simulation to Teach International Business Strategy: A Case of the Multinational Management Game (MMG) Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in China An Appreciative Stance on Diversity as We Move into the 21st Century: A Timeline Exercise to Identify Key Experiences in Good Work Relationships between Black and White Peers A Day in the Life of an Interactive, Real Time, and Internet Delivered Course: A Demonstration Comparing Internet Search Engines: An Experiential Learning Exercise Total Enterprise Simulations and the Internet: Assessing Student Perceptions and Preferences Teaching Accounting Information Systems in a Practicum Format Providing Experiential Learning in Accounting through a Field Study Payroll Project A Spreadsheet Based Business Simulation Game Computer-Behavioral Simulations Training for Project Managers Simulation Scenarios - Rationale and Illustration