Simulation of Government: A Workshop Using Geo Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 SIMULATION OF GOVERNMENT: A WORKSHOP USING GEO Precha Thavikulwat, Towson University Jimmy M. T. Chang, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ABSTRACT This workshop is intended for those who teach international business, or are involved with vali- dation and assessment. It centers on GEO, a computer-assisted international business gaming simulation that captures the essence of govern- ment in an international context. The ideal appli- cation is in courses with three or four parallel multiple sections, wherein each section consti- tutes a simulated nation with its own govern- ment. The ideal run length is for an entire term. THE GAMING SIMULATION GEO is a local-area-network based continuously running computer-assisted international business gaming simulation that allows individual partici- pants to cast votes that can change governmental fiscal, monetary, industrial, and trade policies. The gaming simulation can be dynamically con- figured to give any participant or group of par- ticipants any number of votes, from 0 to 255, for any combination of 24 policy parameters. Be- cause of this flexibility, governments can be set up as pure democracies, with each participant having one vote; as pure totalitarianisms, with only one participant able to vote; or as some- thing in between, with some participants having more votes than other participants. Moreover, the proportion of votes required to change a pol- icy, and the extent to which policies can be changed in any one period, also are dynamically configurable. Unlike most other computerized gaming simula- tions, the buying and selling of products and shares as well as the employment of executives in GEO are real activities executed through the computer program. Product, stock, and employ- ment markets are all gamed, not modeled. The program maintains lists of ask and bid offers for both products and shares, and executes trades whenever asking prices are equal to or below bidding prices. Companies needing executives hire them from among the participants. The pro- gram forestalls dishonest dealings, and accounts for taxes, tariffs, subsidies, and the exchange of currency. Participant scores are objective, and based on consumption of products made by companies created by the participants themselves. No “dirty work” of manufacturing the products is required. The computer program automatically manufac- tures products when a company is formed, ex- ecutives are hired, and required resources have been purchased. Because scores are based on consumption rather than production, participants associated with a successful company will score well only if they place themselves in the position to be rewarded for their company’s success, ei- ther by having bought the company’s stock or negotiated high salaries for their services. CONCLUSION The gaming simulation supports teaching, gives data for research, and supplies scores that may be used for assessment. It does require good computer support, and time sufficient for the long-run consequences of government policies to become evident. The workshop will cover the installation of soft- ware, registration of participants, formation of political parties, election of governments, and retirement of participants demonstrating excep- tional performance. Teaching points that may be incorporated into the exercise will be presented. 300 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