Using Boards of Directors in Simulation Environments: Comments from Board Members Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Exercises, Volume 26, 1999 USING BOARDS OF DIRECTORS IN SIMULATION ENVIRONMENTS: COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS William D. Biggs, Beaver College George Samson, Moore Pushpin Company Deborah Wind, First Union Bank ABSTRACT This condensed paper provides comments from two business executives concerning their experiences as members of boards of directors in two different general management simulation environments. The full paper, available from the first author, provides the references as well as information about the two simulations and the environments to provide background for the board members comments. INTRODUCTION A number of writers have discussed having business executives serve as board of directors in simulation environments (Biggs, 1993; Biggs, 1997; Knotts and Keys, 1997: Rosenthal and Werner, 1992; Wheatley, Roberts, and Einbecker, 1990). In none of these articles, however, have the business executives provided comments concerning their involvement. The purpose of this paper is to present comments from business executives who have served as board members in two different general management simulation environments. The business competition to which they refer is the International Collegiate Business Policy Game Competition (ICBPGC). THE BOARD MEMBERS’ COMMENTS In the first author’s course, the business executives serve as board members for two of the firms in the simulation. In the ICBPGC the business executives serve as board members for six firms in the simulation. Thus, they are evaluating all the firms in a particular industry. George Samson–President, Moore Pushpin Company "Give Back or Pay Back." Call it what you wish, I have had the feeling to do it for years. In the past, many people have helped me along the way. It seemed very right and natural to participate in the Beaver College program and use it as a "payback" vehicle. Besides all that, it's fun and satisfying. It must be since I've answered the call for more than ten years. For a businessperson, dissecting an Income Statement and Balance Sheet is relatively easy to do. Also we are, in our own minds, all experts, so why not sit on a Board of Directors and try to hand out some constructive and though- provoking questions to the next generation of executives. A lot of funny things have happened on the way. I remember the quizzical look on the face of one company president when in the midst of a board meeting I resigned, and told him that I would come and visit him in jail. Apparently, he did not know that the price collusion that he had just told his board about was illegal. I will never forget a Japanese student in an international competition. As a VP of Sales, he gave a very meek presentation as to the merits of his product. We reminded him that he was the leader of his sales force, and that he needed to show a lot more exuberance to drive home how fantastic his product was. On his next effort, he gave a show that a World Champion Sumo wrestler would have been proud of. 218 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Exercises, Volume 26, 1999 Not all these episodes are funny. One team appeared to be heading to disaster. At the first board meeting, these three ladies, who averaged about 20 years of work experience, and had returned to school for their degrees did not have clue one about what they were doing. With each session, the board members could see significant improvement. By the end of the semester, they were doing a great job and had made their company very competitive. A warm feeling of satisfaction came over me. I was able to play a small part in the progress that they had made. This must be what every faculty member feels at the end of a course, and helps make it all worthwhile. Deborah Wind–Vice President, First Union Bank Participating in Beaver College’s senior level business policy simulation course as well as the international student competition in Las Vegas and San Jose has given me a chance to pay back a little to the educators and business associates who have made a significant impact on my career. I particularly enjoyed the graduate students in the ICBPGC and their superior confidence and challenges to their knowledge. In today’s global economy, the international component of students from France, Mexico, Australia, etc. brought home the reality of it all. The following experiences are among those that stand out in my mind. In Las Vegas, two other judges and I had a group of 3 young men in their mid to late 30’s who had participated in this competition while in graduate school. They thought it would be fun to share a reunion in Vegas and play the game “one more time” so they came back as an alumni team. They were confident that they now knew the secret to success and that the competition would be a slam-dunk. They were so confident that they bet heavily on themselves in the stock market competition while overlooking and failing to analyze some aspects of managing the firm. Specifically, they overspent dollars on Research and Development especially in the early quarters. These expenditures had diminishing returns and did not generate the sales to warrant the expenditures. Their theory on what was necessary to win didn’t pan out as planned and they left with somewhat deflated egos when they lost to “kids”…to say the least! In San Jose, again, I was one of three judges, which had a group from a major West Coast university. This group of students was another bunch of very bright, mature individuals who labeled their product as a medical device. A fellow judge raised the issue of whether or not they had had a good experience with the FDA inspections at their factories. They chose not only to ignore his “hint” but also to outright deny that the FDA would ever have anything to do with their factory. Oh, by the way, the leader was a doctor’s wife who especially felt empowered by her knowledge. Needless to say, they were unhappy campers when they lost the competition. We expect, however, that they went home with a greater knowledge of the FDA than when they came. A third situation demonstrates how bad group relations can get. One young woman in San Jose had her whole team quit on her before she got to the competition so she did it all on her own…now there’s perseverance! She received a special award and the admiration of everyone involved in the competition. CONCLUSION From the above comments it is clear that the executives find the experience to be rewarding. The fact that these individuals have been involved in the author’s course for 12 and 6 years and the ICBPGC for 6 and 3 years respectively indicates they enjoy the experience. They report that they like working with the students. They also report that they learn from the students. 219 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