Business Simulation Re-Revisited

Abstract

" “Soon we’ll be out, amid the cold world’s strife. Soon we’ll be sliding down the razor blade of life”. Dr. Tom Lehrer circa 1953 Over the past few years, the use of business simulation games has been subjected to increasing criticism. It has been alleged, and perhaps demonstrated in research studies, that simulation games make no greater contribution to the student’s mastery of business knowledge and technique than does the lecture of a competent professor and/or case analysis [3][4]. Despite such criticism,1 some recent research has indicated that games do have a positive influence on acquired knowledge [9]. The research reported in this paper suggests that the heavy focus on using business simulation games to teach business principles may have obscured the potential value of the business game as a behavioral learning vehicle. This paper reports the peripheral behavioral/emotional findings from an earlier business simulation research project that was designed primarily to investigate the effect of the personalities of the team members on their success in a decision-making environment [10]. "