Joseph Wolfe

Developing a Scientific Knowledge of Simulation/Gaming.

This article first speculates on why such little progress has been made regarding the effective application of educational simulation/games. It suggests that the fields eclectic foundation has been a virtue for its development but a vice regarding its rigorous assessment. The article then outlines the antecedents for generating a practical and cumulative body of literature, concluding with a number of recommendations as to how the field might accelerate the rate at which its literature accumulates.

The effectiveness of business games in strategic management course work

The variety and user-friendliness of computer-based games available to the strategic management instructor has increased, although the number of commercially available games has fallen due to a number of factors. Based on the criterion of objectively measured learning outcomes, the various games studied over the years produce genuine results and results that are superior to those obtained via the case approach, which is the major alternative teaching strategy. Far less research has been conducted on game-facilitating factors that lead to effective learning outcomes in a business game environment.

A history of business teaching games in English-speaking and post-socialist countries: the origination and diffusion of a management education and development technology

The modem business gaming movement came about through the fusion of developments in war games, operations research, computer technology, and education theory. Beginning with first applications in the late 1950s, the use of business games in the United States has now reached a mature stage. Within other English-speaking countries, many additional adoptions and applications are possible. Europes post-Socialist nations possess a rich history of industrial gaming dating back to the early 1930s. The movement of these countries to market-based economies presents new opportunities for applying simulations and games for management education and development.

A further study of the external validity of business games: five-year peer group indicators

Relatively few studies have attempted to assess the external validity of business games. A S-year longitudinal study examined interpersonal, career-success-related factors not previously considered Within-team peer assessments of various playing/behavioral factors displayed by players were compared to their later career mobility, satisfaction, and salary levels. Significant relationships existed between a players influence on the teams decision-making process, leadership, esteem and value to the team, and the persons later income levels and salary increases. All interpersonal group factors were significantly related to the persons current position or job title. These results, when combined with the results of an earlier study relating a players economic performance to career success, led to the conclusion that external validity may exist for business games.

Teaching Business Ethics with Management and Marketing Games

Because of an apparent decrease in the business worlds sense of ethics and an increase in illegal activities by many executives, Americas business schools have taken steps to correct the situation through the education process. Management games, which are played in many schools and simulate the types of competitive conditions faced by real-world executives, may be useful devices for teaching ethics and helping managers to deal with the moral and ethical dilemmas they will face in their careers. A review of the games available, however, reveals that few directly deal with ethical issues or punish firms for engaging in illegal activities within their simulation models. Because of this general deficiency, this article describes how vignettes created by the game administrator can correct these inadequacies.

Computerized general management games as strategic management learning environments

The strategic management course continues to experience the greatest use of general, top management business games, and a number of games are available to the strategic management instructor Many are classical in their design, whereas others are of more recent vintage. Because the field of strategic management has changed dramatically from its beginnings in the late 1950s, a representative sample of games was examined based on their ability to service both the fields current knowledge domain and its unique analytical tools and devices. Depending on the instructors desired learning outcomes, some games are more capable than others in accomplishing those results. No game provided perfect coverage of the strategic management field, thereby requiring the use of compensatory activities on the instructors part.

The integration of functional and strategic management skills in a business game learning environment

The need for expressing both functional and strategic management skills was examined in a game-based strategic management learning environment. Those possessing high skill levels outperformed those possessing low skill levels. Players possessing intermediate levels or diverse combinations of the two skills obtained intermediate economic results. All groups, regardless of their initial skill levels, improved their knowledge.

A Comparative Evaluation of the Experiential Approach as a Business Policy Learning Environment

In a test of two teaching methods, the experiential group showed no improvement in overall knowledge or in fact or principle mastery. The traditional group increased its level of overall knowledge ...

Putting Theory-Oriented Evaluation Into Practice

Evaluations of gaming simulations and business games as teaching devices are typically end-state driven. This emphasis fails to detect how the simulation being evaluated does or does not bring about its desired consequences. This paper advances the use of a logic model approach, which possesses a holistic perspective that aims at including all elements associated with the situation created by a game. The use of the logic model approach is illustrated as applied to SIMGAME, a board game created for secondary school level business education in six European Union countries.

On the use of computerized simulations for entrepreneurship education

The potential for business games to teach entrepreneurship was investigated. Relatively few simulations are available for this purpose, and those available are very limited in their ability to cover topics typically taught at the collegiate level. Several compensatory exercises are suggested as methods for covering the topic areas that are insufficiently covered.