So You Want to Run an NFL Football Team …An Honors Interdisciplinary Project Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 SO YOU WANT TO RUN AN NFL FOOTBALL TEAM … An Honors Interdisciplinary Project Ira Yermish, E. Gil Boyer, Jill L. Dougherty, Heather L. Halterman, Patrick W. McGrory Caroline P. Owens, Mark V. Yuzuk, Bridget M. Zachweija, St. Joseph’s University INTRODUCTION “How does one challenge bright young minds to explore mundane business topics?” A difficult question at best. Once every few years two of us (Boyer and Yermish) are faced with this chal- lenge as we prepare for our two semester course, “The Business Entity: A Systems Ap- proach”, taught within the St. Joseph’s Univer- sity undergraduate honors program. The course is intended for non-business majors looking for some insights into business concepts. This se- quence is part of the honors distribution re- quirements for these select students. It is not enough to teach them business fundamentals; we must make these concepts vibrant with expe- riential exercises. We must also be sure they have mastered those critical basic concepts without the boredom of incessant lecture. With these challenges in mind we have formulated a course sequence that mixes self-directed text- book study, experiential exercises and a major semester-long project. It is this semester project that is the focus of this paper. While the students study basic entrepreneurial and small business management concepts through reading, short lectures and self- diagnostic examinations in small-business con- cepts (e.g. with a text like Longenecker, Moore and Petty 1997) they are also learning to func- tion as a team. This is in preparation for the sec- ond semester project. In the past this project in- volved the creation of small business teams. These teams would identify a business opportu- nity, develop a business plan and actually start the business. Sometimes unexpected events happen with these projects. For example, there was a still notorious incident several years back with the “Bo Must Go!” T-shirt Company, a reference to a losing coach on a campus very much devoted to its basketball teams. This year, as we have mellowed in our years, we planned a different approach – the creation of a student constructed business simulation. The second semester began with the announce- ment of the project. These students, nurtured on computer games were to create one of their own. The stipulation, however, was that the game be based on some sort of business deci- sion making process. The team of four students (three women and one man) selected the man- agement of an NFL Football team as their pro- ject. We were also able to enlist the support of two information systems (IS) majors who were looking for advanced work in software devel- opment to aid in this game creation project. This created a serendipitous opportunity to ex- plore the issues of interdisciplinary project man- agement. The regular honors students would do the basic game research and, using Microsoft Excel, would prototype the game. In the mean- time, the IS students would be studying Visual Basic programming concepts in preparation for the actual game implementation. The semester started without a clear idea of where the game would go or whether the project could be im- plemented within the fifteen-week semester. PROJECT STRATEGY It was immediately obvious that the students faced a daunting task. They had no idea of the complexity of the situation when they selected their project. The goal of the project was to pro- vide a platform for players to make business de- cisions and see how these decisions would af- fect their profitability but the students were hard-pressed to identify the kinds of decisions that were actually made. Even if they could 317 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 identify some of the decisions they could not model the results of these decisions. As instruc- tors, our first step was to introduce project man- agement concepts: scope was the key. We agreed to organize the game around a typical year for the general manager of a team. This year would be broken down into significant pe- riods instead of calendar periods. A decision would have to be made before each period and then the model would track the financial results of that decision into the next period. The follow- ing are the stages of the game: Startup: Selection of team and pa- rameters Post-Superbowl: First decisions after close of previous season Preseason: Decisions before the start of preseason games First Half: Decisions before the start of first half of regular season Second Half: Decisions before the start of second half of regular season Final Results: End of season team and fi- nancial results This structure simplified the modeling decisions and the control of the game. Next, we introduced the concepts of project management planning though the use of formal planning techniques (Moder, Phillips and Davis, 1983). We identified those tasks that each of the sub-teams (Honors and IS) would be responsible for and the sequencing and timing necessary to accomplish the overall project goals. The four Honors team members would be responsible for researching the decisions and the mathematics, the IS team would translate their models into an attractive and functional computer program. Figure 1 is an approximation of the GANTT chart developed to organize the control the pro- ject progress. From Figure 1 we see that there were two major phases of the project. During the first phase the sub-teams would be doing work on an inde- pendent basis. The Honors sub-team would conduct research on the business decisions while the IS sub-team would be learning some of the Visual Basic tools needed to implement the project. During the second phase, the Hon- ors sub-team would prototype the game stages in Excel and hand them off to the IS sub-team to implement. It was clear to all of the participants that coordination and communication were the key to making this happen by the end-of- semester deadline. The client (i.e. the instruc- tors) would reward the vendor (i.e. the students) based on the quality and timeliness of their product. GAME STRUCTURE The first major component of the game was identifying an underlying NFL team database from which the first decision (select team) would be made. From the student research (e.g., Carol 1997 and Staudohar 1991) an ACCESS database was constructed. Figure 2 shows an example of the kinds of data recorded in this table. For example, the stadium size would af- fect the maximum ticket and concession reve- nues possible. The Visual Basic routine to select the teams and the starting parameters for the game operation would use this database. Next, the Honors sub-team constructed a stan- dard financial statement to be used to display the results of each period’s play. Simplifying decisions were made to keep the project man- ageable. Figure 3 shows a typical Excel spread- sheet for the Balance Sheet and Income State- ment. This structure was then incorporated by the IS sub-team into a display as shown in Fig- ure 4. In the program game structure, this finan- cial profile could be displayed at any time, the values dependent upon the decisions and the game stage. Before each game period play, the player is re- quired to make a strategic decision for that pe- riod. For example, at the beginning of the sea- son, the player must establish a ticket pricing policy. Using modeling techniques (e.g. from Bodily, 1985) the students developed random- 318 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 ized results so that each play of the game would be different even though student decisions would be the same. The financial profile for the beginning of the next phase of the game would reflect these results. In Figure 5 we see a typical set of decisions for one of the periods of play as prototyped in Excel. Figure 6 shows this same set of decisions as implemented in the Visual Basic program. After the various decisions are made for the year the final results are computed and shown in Figure 7. CONCLUSION Could this game actually be used to train future NFL general managers? Probably not. Of course that was not the intention. Have the designers and implementers of the game profited by the experience? Certainly. The process of creating the game was the simulation exercise, not the game itself. As instructors we seek unusual op- portunities to put life into droll academic topics. As students we seek ways to explore content in interesting and challenging ways and to gain skills that will translate into future success. The interdisciplinary approach was key to the suc- cess of this endeavor. The Honors students could not have implemented the code of the live game while the IS students may not have had the interest in constructing the mathematical re- lationships and underlying business models. Together, they succeeded admirably. Note: A demonstration of the game and models will be available for demonstration. REFERENCES Bodily, Samuel E. (1985). Modern Decision Making, A Guide to Modeling with Decision Support Systems, McGraw-Hill, New York. Business Week/Business Advantage, Business simulation software, Reality Technologies and McGraw-Hill. Carol, Bob (1997). Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League, HarperCollins, New York. Longenecker, Justin G., Carlos W. Moore and J. William Petty (1997). Small Business Man- agement, An Entrepreneurial Emphasis, Tenth Edition, South-Western, Cincinnati, Ohio. Staudohar, Paul, editor (1991). The Business of Professional Sports, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, 1991. Moder, Joseph J., Cecil R. Phillips and Edward W. Davis, (1983). Project Management with CPM, PERT and Precedence Diagramming, Third Edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York. Rye, David E. (1994). The Corporate Game, McGraw-Hill, New York. Simkin, Mark G. (1998). Applications Pro- gramming in Visual Basic 5, Second Edi- tion, Scott/Jones, Inc., El Granada, CA. 319 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 FIGURE 1 Project GANTT Chart 320 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 FIGURE 2 ACCESS Team Database FIGURE 3 Typical Prototype Excel Financial Statement 321 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 FIGURE 4 Typical Financial Profile from Game Program FIGURE 5 Typical Excel Prototype Decision Sheet 322 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 FIGURE 6 Typical Game Decision Input Form FIGURE 7 Game Final Results Screen 323 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