Search

In response to the adoption of Agile practices and processes by businesses, IT/IS educators are working to add Agile content to their courses. Teaching students about Agile involves teaching them about the history, mindset, and values of Agile, along with an introduction to the practices and processes used in an Agile product. Along with this, it is essential that students gain experience using Agile in a project setting. This paper discusses an Agile practice project where students use all aspects of Agile to address a problem and build a solution using Legos. The use of Legos, along with a project that students can easily see themselves using, the practice project allows students to focus on developing their Agile skills and mindset. The project serves as a useful transition from traditional classroom instruction about Agile to a project for a real-world client.

This paper presents the results of a multi-year effort to redesign the introduction to business course at Western Michigan University. ScrimmageSIM, a business simulation that emulates commercial ERP systems, provides the core experience in the course and is a mechanism for students to develop their understanding of business with a focus on quantitative analysis. The design and implementation of the simulation experience follows the experiential learning spiral, as students run the simulation five times with increasingly complex scenarios. The overall design of the course is competency-based, as students have the opportunity to redo many of the course assignments to earn a better grade. The simulation experience, combined with the competency-based design of the course, has resulted in a more rigorous course with students earning grades that are better than they were with the previous curriculum.

Business simulation games (BSG) offer a unique opportunity to provide students with hands-on experience in a simulated business environment. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of BSG in promoting entrepreneurial intentions and competencies among undergraduate students. The study was conducted with 48 students, who participated in BSG as part of their entrepreneurship education (EE). The study used a quasi-experiment to measure changes in students' cognitive and non-cognitive entrepreneurial competencies, as well as their entrepreneurial intentions. The results show that participation in the BSG significantly improved students' cognitive and non-cognitive entrepreneurial competencies, as well as their intention to start a new business. The study concludes that BSG can be an effective teaching strategy for promoting EE and developing entrepreneurial competencies among undergraduate students. However, further research with larger sample sizes and diverse populations is needed to confirm these findings and explore how combining BSG with other teaching methods or interventions can enhance the development of entrepreneurial competencies and intentions.

This paper extends the use of the Monopoly® board game as an economic simulation exercise designed to reinforce an understanding of how the accounting cycle impacts the financial statements used to evaluate management performance. This extension adds elements of debt not previously utilized to allow for an introduction of the fundamentals of ratio analysis at a foundation level in financial accounting instruction. This extended approach uses the rules and strategies of a familiar board game to create a simulation of business and economic realities, which then becomes an effective, interactive, in-class financial accounting practice set. The unique combination of each player's skill and luck provides for unlimited outcome possibilities, delivering an interpretive result that students can neither predict nor easily manipulate. This pedagogical approach serves to provide students with a sense of proprietorship in the activities of the instruction and fosters a competitive spirit to succeed in class activities that will ultimately be presented to the entire class. While the instructor surrenders a significant level of control in the class exercise, the uniqueness of each Monopoly® team's game results requires active engagement in-class and additional individual effort on the follow-up assignments outside the classroom. In the previous use of the Monopoly® board game, the class activity provided a valuable parallel for reality in practicing the financial accounting cycle and emphasizing its use by external parties. Because of the dynamic sense of capturing the "real-time" aspect of the game into finished financial statements for analysis, students start to sense a greater appreciation for the role that accounting cycle activities play in business reporting and the assessment of operating results. Using the Monopoly® board game in the first course in financial accounting tends to generate a higher level of competitive energy in the classroom experience, with more actively engaged students grasping the nature and purpose of the financial accounting system more quickly and actively than with other pedagogical approaches previously used. More recently, using Microsoft Excel to reflect the game results and present the financial statements has added to the robust learning experience achieved by incorporating the Monopoly® board game.

This paper presents a hands-on simulation that is conducted in an introductory integrated supply chain management course using enterprise resource planning concepts associated with the Cash-to-Cash Manufacturing Operating Cycle. More specifically, this activity simulates the activities in the procure-to-pay, plan-to-produce, and order-to-cash business processes to provide participants the opportunity to learn integration of key business processes in a purchasing, operations, and supply chain management context. The hands-on simulation is called Business Process Integration Simulation, or BPIsim. Participants collaborate on a five-member supply chain team comprised of an end-user, a distributor/dealer, a manufacturer (OEM), and two suppliers. While partaking in the simulation, participants actively experience the exchange of tangible resources (e.g., preprinted documents; prop cash money; packaging; and component, raw, semi-finished, finished, and trading goods inventories, etc.) and construct tangible products for the benefit of the customer. When the simulation is complete, the participants will have learned major ERP concepts and the five major activities associated with plan, source, make, deliver, and return management processes that are prominently highlighted in the seminal Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) Model. Quantitative and qualitative data indicate that the hands-on simulation is not only intuitive, engaging, and fun, but also a highly-effective experiential learning activity to improve understanding of key business processes that span across five key supply chain members.

Fundraising traditionally involves selling. This paper explores the merits of selling technology services provided by a technology oriented student club to members of a campus community. This club activity puts into practice learning theories presented in the literature. Beyond fundraising, this activity yields many additional benefits to the students and the institution. Student benefits include an active learning experience, intellectual synthesis joining theory and applications, and practical work experience. Institution benefits include student retention, technology repair services for the campus community and increased learning by the students involved. This fundraising activity gives participating students real-world experience that merits inclusion on their resumes and practice applying recently learned classroom knowledge in a realistic business setting.

This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students' learning and their understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students' perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students' understandings of research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his enthusiasm and his expertise and mentoring in doing research. However many students developed only limited understandings of research in the subject area, despite their direct experience of the lecturers' research. The implications for the design of research-led education approaches are explored.

Although the paradox perspective is gaining increasing attention among management scholars, most of us continue to struggle with addressing this challenging topic in the classroom, as it seems out of reach for many students. In this article, we describe a potentially beneficial way to approach paradoxical thinking in management education: teaching the cooperative business model. Cooperatives are user-owned, user-controlled, and user-benefitting enterprises that operate in the world's most competitive economies and sectors of activity, demonstrating strong resilience in periods of turbulence and crisis. We argue that, despite the absence of the cooperative business model in mainstream management textbooks and curricula, this model can offer a high pedagogical value for management education in that it can foster paradoxical thinking. To support this claim, we first demonstrate how the cooperative business model is characterized by inherent paradoxes that are more salient and inescapable than they might be in conventional corporations, thus generating tension-filled material for student engagement. Second, we share experiential pedagogical tools and suggest potential learning outcomes. Finally, we discuss some practical implications for integrating cooperatives and other alternative organizations in mainstream management education curricula to help develop paradoxical thinking.

Introduction: With a definition that is evolving, a serious component of the contract cheating issue involves individuals paying a third-party to complete assessment items for them and then submitting this work as if it were their own. The issue of contract cheating poses a significant problem for tertiary institutions. The research literature conducted to date has addressed contract cheating, yet few papers discuss theory-based prevention strategies, and even fewer still evaluate the impact of theory-based prevention strategies. Case description: This paper discusses a case study of contract cheating that was identified in a business simulation operating in a capstone unit at a large Australian university. The problem is outlined, the theory-based intervention is explained, and the impact on the contract cheating problem is quantified. Discussion and evaluation: Building on a platform provided by criminological theory and crime prevention practice, the Unit Coordinator systematically adjusted a large number of assessment elements to ensure contract cheating was less likely. Importantly, this intervention was effective but also did not disadvantage students who were not engaging in contract cheating. Conclusions: Overall, this paper connects criminological theory and crime/problem prevention practice with academic misconduct issues with the intent of demonstrating there is potential to minimise the opportunity for contract cheating by altering the opportunity structures for assessment items. Crucially, this can be done without impeding genuine student efforts and does not depend on apprehension and conviction.

The aim of this paper is to provide sufficient detail that other members of the IS community can incorporate the business game "Flowers for the World" (or FFTW for short) into their IS teaching portfolio. The game promotes experiential (active) learning and has been used to support discussions or project work in such diverse subjects as analysis and design, database development, and advanced programming, as well as Masters-level courses on the strategic use of information systems. Examples of how experiences from the game can be used to support later learning and discussion is provided.

Developing Business Intelligence (BI) has been a top priority for enterprise executives in recent years. To meet these demands, universities need to prepare students to work with BI in enterprise settings. In this study, we considered a business simulator that offers students opportunities to apply BI and make top-management decisions in a system used by real-world professionals. The simulation-based instruction can be effective only if students are not discouraged by the difficulty of using the BI computer system and comprehending the complex BI subjects. Constructivist practices embedded in the business simulation are investigated to understand their potentials for helping the students to overcome the perceived difficulty. Consequently, it would enable instructors to more efficiently use the simulator by providing insights on its pedagogical practices. Our findings showed that the constructivist practices such as collaboration and subject integration positively influence active learning and meaningful learning respectively. In turn, both active learning and meaningful learning positively influence business intelligence motivational behavior. These findings can be further used to develop a robust learning environment in BI classes.

This article explores existing attempts to design a comprehensive and complex taxonomy framework for an educational business game intended to categorize and evaluate various properties. The identified missing elements in the current proposed taxonomies were used as a starting point for the design of a new category that addresses the game's educational properties. The content of the proposed taxonomy category is presented and the properties selected are explained with regard to their merit in achieving the learning outcomes. The usability of the new category is illustrated with an assessment of two use cases, that is, simulation games taken from the area of project management. The results obtained with a survey and a teacher's and student's evaluation are presented and discussed.

"Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Constitution" is an engaged-learning activity that has been conducted in 26 classes over the past four years. The activity teaches multiple themes commonly included in a variety of courses on American politics such as federalism, congressional powers, the role of the federal courts, and the relevance of the commerce clause. There are no complicated roles for students to adopt, and the activity can be completed in less than a full class session even if little preactivity preparation time is provided. This article (1) describes the simulation to allow immediate adoption by instructors teaching a variety of American politics courses, (2) explains the process of devising an engaged-learning activity, thus providing a narrative to help instructors devise their own, and (3) reports on student survey data that indicates a dramatic increase in student knowledge and understanding from participation in this activity.

Business simulation games (BSGs) enable students to practice making decisions in a virtual environment, accumulate experience in application of strategies, and train themselves in modes of decision-making. This study examines the value sought by players of BSG. In this study, a means-end chain (MEC) model was adopted as the basis, and ladder method soft laddering was used to conduct in-depth interviews with students who had experience in using BSGs. The chain concept of "attribute-consequence-value" was used to understand students' value cognition structures. Content analysis was used to analyze the attributes-consequences-values for BSGs players, then converted into a Hierarchical Value Map (HVM). The results showed that students consider "teamwork" and "market diversity" as the most important attributes, and the consequences of a cooperative approach and market diversity are "emotional exchange" and "multi-thinking," with the ultimate value brought to users by exchanges between teams and constant thinking being "interpersonal relationships" and a "sense of accomplishment". (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

The most common question the author's students ask is, "When will I ever use this in real life?" To address this question in her geometry classes, the author sought to create a project that would incorporate a real-world business situation with their lesson series on the surface area and volume of three-dimensional objects--specifically, prisms, cylinders, pyramids, and cones. For this project, students are asked to design two versions of packaging for a product of their choice. Simulating a real-world marketing situation, students need to look at the various mathematical calculations that play an integral part in the design decisions that affect product packaging. In assessing the success of this project as a teaching tool, the author found that the use of real-world objects aided in developing conceptual understanding. Students not only used these resources to complete calculations but also were able to see how these calculations are used in real-world business decisions. (Contains 3 figures.)

This study tested the effects of two instructional aids in a complex, dynamic environment, specifically, a business simulation. Participants studied (1) a "causal map," which depicted key variables in an interconnected network, (2) a textual outline of the same relationships, or (3) no-aid. With the relevant aid still available, the participants ran the simulation three times. Then, the aid was removed, and the participants ran another three simulations. Both when the aid was available and later when removed, the group receiving the causal map gained a greater market share than the other two groups, which failed to differ. With respect to profits, however, a cross-over interaction appeared. When the aid was available, the causal map group showed lower profits than the other two groups, but, without the aid, the causal map group showed greater profits. The results are discussed in the context of information processing theories of instructional design. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

To gain insight in the social processes that underlie knowledge sharing in teams, this article questions which team learning behaviors lead to the construction of a shared mental model. Additionally, it explores how the development of shared mental models mediates the relation between team learning behaviors and team effectiveness. Analyses were performed on student-teams engaged in a business simulation game. The measurement of shared mental models was based on cognitive mapping techniques. The results indicate that a team learning perspective provides insight in how people share knowledge. Particularly the team learning behaviors identified as co-construction and constructive conflict are related to the development of shared mental models. In addition, a shared mental model of the task environment in a team leads to improved performance. This underscores the importance of developing shared cognition in teamwork. (Contains 2 footnotes, 3 tables, and 1 figure.)

The author describes how investment research workshops were used to prepare students at Texas A&M University (TAMU) to compete in the 2008 Equitrader Collegiate Challenge. The Equitrader Collegiate Challenge is a simulated equity trading competition that enables students to match wits against the market and other contestants. This paper describes an interactive approach to investment literacy, which guided students through a logical process of utilizing professional-level investment resources, such as Morningstar and Thomson One Banker, to conduct investment research and analysis for stock selection. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Web 2.0 is not only for kids anymore, businesses are using it, too. Businesses are adopting Web 2.0 technology for a variety of purposes. In this article, the author discusses how he incorporates Web 2.0 into his business communications course. He describes a project that has both individual and collaborative elements and requires extensive analysis presented in written and oral modes. Adding a blog to the project resulted in significant outcomes. (Contains 1 figure.)

Curley and Formica's (2008, 2010) studies of high-expectation entrepreneurship focus on the role of "experimental laboratories" in promoting the start-up and successful development of high-expectation firms. Although it is not difficult to understand the potential usefulness of these experimental labs--business simulators in which skilled partners test high-expectation business ideas proposed by prospective entrepreneurs--some aspects of their implementation need to be clarified. There is a need for such a facility because the demand for knowledge from high-expectation entrepreneurs is currently not being met by the supply of available knowledge from experts. The "experimental lab" process is regarded as coming to an end when the idea has been thoroughly tested and is ready for launch into the marketplace. However, some uncertainties remain about the nature of the proposed process, especially with regard to the precise means adopted to achieve the final aim. This article extends the authors' previous commentaries (Matricano, 2009; Pietrobon, 2009) on Curley and Formica's proposal. It considers the key role of the "venture-sitter" in an experimental business laboratory. Venture-sitters are experts who, mirroring the approach of the baby-sitter, aim to obtain the trust of other experts (the "relatives") and aspiring entrepreneurs (the "parents") while looking after the new entrepreneurial idea (the "child") to ensure that it is nurtured and developed in the best way possible. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

The international business community relies heavily on English Lingua Franca (ELF) as a shared means of communication, and English business language programmes thus feature prominently within the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Business ESP programmes, however, have little focus on active listening, which previous research has pinpointed as an important negotiating skill. One aspect of listener behaviour is the use of backchannelling, for example, to signal understanding, which is central in ELF interaction. While previous corpus-based research has focused on verbal backchannelling, my analysis sees the verbal and non-verbal aspects in context, based on 13 video recordings of simulated negotiations involving 51 students from 16 nationalities (total negotiating time 3 h 46 min). Seven negotiations were carried out in an exam situation and six as coursework. The proficiency level of those participating in the former is advanced, the latter upper intermediate/advanced. Non-verbal backchannelling in the form of head nods was found to be the most frequent form, while verbal backchannelling was mainly restricted to "yes/yeah" and to items not exclusive to English, such as "mhm" and "okay." Backchannelling behaviour was also found to vary according to conflict level, as giving or withholding support may be used as a negotiation strategy. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper articulates the opportunity of using an experimental business laboratory approach as a means of accelerating the creation, incubation and testing of new venture ideas. Such a strategy leads to the establishment of a micro-ecosystem of aspiring entrepreneurs and others in a business laboratory environment. The goal is to create a mini idea-supercollider, in which a microscopic "De Medici Effect" (Johansson, 2004) can be achieved, with aspiring entrepreneurs with different ideas, experiences and disciplines meeting in a spirit of open innovation--the sum of the whole being much greater than the sum of the individual parts. The development of an ecosystem for idea generation and rapid testing using business simulation tools can accelerate the creation, mobilization and diffusion stages of the knowledge lifecycle (Birkinshaw and Sheehan, 2002) in a knowledge- driven entrepreneurship venture, while de-risking potential ventures before significant capital is applied. (Contains 2 notes.)

Simulations have long been used in business schools to give students experience making real-world decisions in a relatively low risk environment. The OAKLAND A'S BASEBALL BUSINESS SIMULATOR takes a traditional business simulation and applies it to the sport industry, in which sales of tangible products are replaced by sales of experiences provided to fans. The simulator asks students to make decisions about prices for concessions, parking, and merchandise; player payroll expenses; funding for a new stadium; and more. On the basis of these inputs, the program provides detailed information about the state of the franchise after each simulated year, including attendance, winning percentage, revenues versus expenses, revenue sharing, and stadium financing. The use of simulations such as this one enhances students' organizational skills and students' ability to think critically and imaginatively about the data while applying relevant knowledge and an appropriate strategy to achieve the best possible results. This is particularly important in the field of sport management, in which few, if any, other simulators exist that are specific to the field.

In recent years, there has been some dispute over the appropriate way to model decision making in professional sports leagues. In particular, Szymanski and Kesenne (2004) argue that formulating the decision-making problem in a noncooperative game leads to radically different conclusions about the nature of competition in sports leagues. The author describes a simulation model that can be used in a classroom to demonstrate how competition works in a noncooperative context. More generally, in simulation exercises, students typically gravitate quickly toward the Nash equilibrium, making this a simple and powerful way to introduce them to the concept. The supporting Excel spreadsheet used to conduct the game can be downloaded from the author's personal Web page, http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/faculty/s.szymanski/sports-league-simulation-blank.xls. (Contains 7 tables, 1 figure, and 13 notes.)

This study is part of an ongoing attempt to develop a usable and valid scale for assessing the flow experience in educational games. The purpose of the paper is to operationalize the dimensions of flow experience in an educational game context and to test a constructed GameFlow questionnaire. Furthermore, the study strives to validate flow antecedents, the factors contributing to flow experience, proposed in game design models such as the experiential gaming model. The flow antecedents and the GameFlow questionnaire were studied through a business simulation game, which was used in a university level course (N = 92). Results indicate that the flow antecedents studied contributed to the flow experience and should be considered in educational game design. Furthermore, the results provided some baseline evidence for the assumption that flow experience has a positive impact on learning. Overall, these results indicate that the experiential gaming model and the GameFlow questionnaire are useful tools for studying gaming experience and can be used in educational game design. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

With the ongoing global pressure to cut costs and focus on quality, many companies have been implementing "lean manufacturing" concepts to survive in the competitive marketplace. Thus it is imperative that engineering and business graduates are equipped with the lean principles, and are ready to take ownership of lean initiatives as they enter the industry. This paper presents a lean supply chain case study that was initiated and completed through university-industry collaboration in an effort to expose students and professionals to a real-life lean implementation experience. Implementation and feedback indicate that this case study can be an effective means of training engineering management professionals in lean systems/manufacturing concepts. (Contains 4 tables and 11 figures.)

The author introduces a simulation of counter-cyclical interventions that highlights important issues surrounding the practice of government intervention. The simulation provides experiential insight as to why economists have long debated the degree of persistence exhibited by disequilibrating shocks and connects this debate to discussions about policy lags. In addition, the author explores the related issues such as unintended procyclical stimuli created by the political business cycle, the importance of central bank independence, the role of automatic stabilizers, and the value of forecasting. The simulation reminds students of the real-life complexities behind curve-shifting textbook problems and cautions that even optimal strategies may fail over short time horizons. (Contains 10 figures, 4 tables, and 7 notes.)

In this study a business game is used as a vehicle for implementing decision support systems (DSS). Eighteen companies, consisting of ninety graduating M.B.A. students, participating in a business game were required to develop DSS and to report on the systems developed. Each of the eighteen companies developed a system of their own choosing, without external guidance. Individual questionnaires were later used to evaluate a number of relevant variables: use of systems, contribution of systems, association with systems and user satisfaction. Findings, compared with reported results of previous empirical study, exhibit differentiations in success of DSS between companies. This indicates the potential of using business games as an educational tool for teaching management information systems (MIS) and DSS. (Contains 7 tables and 2 figures.)

In managing business process flows, safety stock can be used to protect against stockouts due to demand variability. When more than one location is involved, the concept of aggregation enables the pooling of demands and associated inventories, resulting in improved service levels without increasing the total level of safety stock. This pooling of safety stock can be done physically by consolidating inventory in one location, or by using virtual centralization, where inventories are kept at decentralized locations, but information is centralized. In teaching the concept of pooling safety stock, a simple in-class simulation can be helpful in demonstrating why the approach works. The approach presented here involves operations for a company where total product demand is constant, but there are two products and product mix can vary. The simulation can also be implemented using an electronic spreadsheet for classes that are taught on the Internet. A quiz was given to two sections, one that experienced the simulation and one that did not. A comparison of the results from the quiz provided evidence of the effectiveness of the simulation in helping students understand the impact of pooling safety stock. In addition, a brief anonymous survey that was administered in the section that had the simulation provided further support for the effectiveness of the simulation.

The TAKEOVER TRIO is a business game about a takeover. Three stakeholders (mother company, ailing daughter company, and potential buying company) must agree on a plan to prevent compulsory liquidation of the daughter. The primary learning objective is to make participants aware of the effect of negotiation process parameters on its outcome. Depending on the facilitator's aims, he or she could highlight either or all of the following process parameters: logical thinking, creativity, dominance, or process management. The game scenario is not based on a real-life case (all data are fictional) but has been devised to balance three stakeholders to prevent an obvious outcome. It takes at least 12 people to play and 3 hours, plus about an hour of preparations for each participant.

This article focuses on the research and scholarship dealing with the assessment of the experiential approach in both its computer-based and human-based forms. It covers two forms of assessment. First it covers explicit attempts to assess the validity of experiential learning, and second it focuses on measuring the effectiveness of the experiential approach. The authors classify the literature on both validity and measurement into critiques and prescriptions for ideal research on one hand and empirical research studies on the other. The empirical research reviewed supports the notion that experiential learning is effective. However, the studies showing these results reflect a long-standing trend of not meeting the highest of research design and measurement standards. Thus, the authors believe any conclusion about the effectiveness of these teaching approaches must be tentative. (Contains 2 tables.)

Challenges in reconciling trade liberalization policies and efforts to protect the natural environment provide useful illustrations to underscore important concepts in management education. In particular, the three-way interactions among government, business, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) over economic and environmental trade-offs serve to reinforce the managerial complexities of resolving disputes between parties over differences in economic and social priorities. This article describes a simulation on trade-environment interactions in which student groups prepare and present arguments before a global trade (GATT/WTO) panel. The article provides instructions for conducting the simulation, actual simulation materials, and an appendix containing supplementary information on trade-environment tensions. (Contains 1 table.)

Effective teaching arises when each class accommodates all types of learners. Individual students have different learning styles, and an effective classroom presentation should mix different teaching methods in order to accommodate these individual differences. In order to help Maori students improve their academic performance, cooperative and active learning activities were used to match the learning style preferences of the students. The supply/demand simulation permits students to become actively involved in a market scenario. The simulation gives students a real experience and makes economic theory more meaningful. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)