Simulations (Business)

Cultural dimensions theory provides a framework for cross-cultural understanding and communication. Geert Hofstede's work in this area offers a foundational appreciation of how a society's culture can shape values and behaviors encountered in an international business setting. This paper presents an experiential learning project, based on Kolb's model, designed to introduce cultural dimensions theory, as well as engage students in a first-hand international experience. This model places students in the position of exploring cultural differences by being a member of an international working team so they experience the challenges of working remotely. Students encounter what it is like to work in a global team and face both cultural differences and communication difficulties. This experiential learning design creates an environment that challenges students to apply and test the theory, discover practical applications and reflect on their own culture to bring greater meaning...

This  paper  examines  the  development  of  a  business  simulation  game
for training and education in the area of supply chain management. The paper be-
gins  by identifying  the need  for  an  apparatus  that  could  be  used  in  many disci-
plines, minimising the learning time with regard to the simulator with reasonable
parameterisation, followed by a brief conclusion about the available games. Fidel-
ity and embodied experiences are needs that are effectively detected in the design
process, demonstrating the relevance of these aspects. One topic of interest is that
the effects of the main functions of management (marketing, finance, and produc-
tion) were minimised in this game to make decisions on logistics with higher rele-
vance. This paper describes the process that was used to design the simulator and
draws the first  conclusions about  interface,  usability,  technical  functionality and
potential adoption in an educational context.

A business simulation game is a practical way to teach economics for
university students. This paper discusses why these simulations are useful
in education and what positive learning outcomes they provide. A research
was taken at the University of Pécs, Faculty of Business and Economics
which compared three business simulations. The black-box and
transparent-box theories are also compared. Other aspects as engagement
and feedback are also discussed.

This research seeks to determine the relationship between students' critical thinking disposition and their learning while engaging in a business simulation at a UK higher education institution (HEI). The research informs educators making decisions about the use of simulations as to the value of considering critical thinking dispositions. Previous research has found that simulations are an effective way for students to engage actively in learning, bridging the gap between theory and practice. It has also been found that such simulations can develop students' critical thinking skills. However, hitherto no research has been undertaken into the role that existing critical thinking disposition has on the learning of students, as measured by the degree to which students perceived that they met the module's intended learning outcomes. This research offers insights into the role and importance of critical thinking disposition and its component dimensions and how this impacts student learning. The results indicate that the level of critical thinking disposition is positively related to the students' learning. The implications of the research suggest educators should target business simulations at specific cohorts of students. The relative importance of the critical thinking disposition constructs and the practical educational implications of these findings are discussed.

Abstract—This research paper aims at exploring the views of Thai adult learners enrolling in the one-year Graduate Diploma Program in English for Business and Management (EBM), Thammasat University, on the use of business simulations in terms of their realistic nature, level of engagement, and usefulness. In addition to the learners’ views, outcomes of four different simulated meeting tasks conducted by a group of four learners were analyzed to explore how realistic patterns of interaction used in those simulations were. The hypothesis of this study is that if the learners find the simulated tasks engaging and representative of the real-world contexts, they are likely to focus on using specific and work-related language to fulfill the task purposes. In-depth interviews with a total of eight EBM students and audio-recordings of simulated meetings were the main data collection methods of this qualitative study. Discussion of the findings led to the conclusion that simulations strived to elicit the use of language which was similar to the authentic generic patterns found in the real world’ business meetings. It further pointed out that the participants believed simulations were likely to assist them in improving their use of specific language to achieve their real-world business operations.

La creciente demanda en las áreas económico-administrativas en
México, las dependencias de educación superior tienen presente la necesidad de capacitar a sus estudiantes de acuerdo a las necesidades de los empleadores, para ello, se realizó el análisis, diseño y desarrollo de un simulador de negocios para que pueda ser utilizado por los estudiantes como herramienta de aprendizaje para desarrollar estrategias que les auxilien en la toma de decisiones. El simulador fue
creado orientado a la web haciendo uso de tecnologías con licencia GNU y que forman parte de estándares internacionales propuestos por la w3c como son PHP, HTML y CSS. Se realizó una prueba del simulador para medir usabilidad del mismo haciendo uso de la escala SUS a 8 docentes del área y se documentaron los resultados.

exploring the dialogue of role play simulations as a vehicle for learning clinical communication skills. Abstract: Clinical simulations in a skills laboratory setting are used to explore roleplay as a context for experiential and reflective learning. The impact on the quality of learning by using simulated patients who are skilled in both acting and facilitating is explored. A sample of dialogue provides rich data for analysing this environment as a context for situated learning. Furthermore, we use reflective dialogue between tutor and simulated patient to debate evidence of scaffolding the integration of new knowledge and skills for effective practice. Although clinical communication skills are the focus of learning in this example, the benefits may be generalised to a range of contexts where the learning outcomes include the development of more effective behaviours.

Cultural dimensions theory provides a framework for cross-cultural understanding and communication.  Geert Hofstede’s work in this area offers a foundational appreciation of how a society’s culture can shape values and behaviors encountered in an international business setting.  This paper presents an experiential learning project designed to introduce cultural dimensions theory as well as engage students in a first-hand international experience.  This model places students in the position of exploring cultural differences by being a member of an international working team so they experience the challenges of working remotely.  Students encounter what it is like to work in a global team and face both cultural differences and communication challenge. This experiential learning design creates an environment that challenges students to apply and test the theory, discover practical applications and reflect on their own culture to bring greater meaning and learning to cultural dimensions...

In one classic simulation named Barnga (1990), which focuses on cultural clashes that develop quickly amongst peoples of all cultures, participants are asked to experience the shock of realizing that despite their good intentions and despite the many similarities among them, people interpret things differently from one another in profound ways, especially people from differing cultures. Participants have observed and learnt through simulations, such as Barnga, that they both can-and-must understand  as well as reconcile--these differences if they want to function effectively in a cross-cultural groups. (Pittenger & Heimann 1998;  Suematsu, Takadama, Shimohara, Katai & Arai 2003/2004, Thiagarajan & Thiagarajan 2006).

Recently, a variety of modeling agents, including agent based models (Axelrod, 1997; Fortino,  Garro, Russo, 2005; Hughes, Clegg, Robinson,  & Crowder, 2012)  have been combined with classic game-simulations in order to studying a variety of topics, such as in studying the impact of publication venues by researchers in the computer science domain or how behaviors can be taught and learned among newcomers in any new global work community, i.e. as performed regularly in the BARNGA simulation. 

The purpose of this theoretical and educational-change-oriented paper is (a) to encourage the wider usage of simulations, such as Barnga, in our schools and in educational & administrative training environments, (b) understand the cross-curricular nature of such simulations and the requisite learning made possible through debriefing and repeated participation in such activities, and (c) to provide a framework for evaluating which sorts of simulation and group-work activities & learning projects work best in the Middle Eastern context.  Finally, this paper also provides an overview (and checklists) of simulation employment and utilization intended for interested educators. This focus on procedure is very pertinant in the Omani context because new procedures for course delivery and for certificates and diplomas are strongly advised by the Omani Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA, 2009a,b).

The paper relates the experience gathered in the area of intercultural awareness raising with respect to methods and approaches used in the classroom and in terms of students response. The developments related were an integral part of an EU - Leonardo da Vinci Programme sponsored project in which learning of Business English has been carried out through an integrated skills approach in a series of virtual workshops. Within the CCBC project the teacher had to assume the role of a facilitator helping students to deal with cross-cultural issues while carrying out a simulated transaction in English. Virtual environment formed the backdrop for an international network of simulated companies, thus motivating the exchange of business messages and intercultural encounters. In the academic year 2003/04 almost 500 students, 18 teachers, 16 institutions from 10 different countries participated in the CCBC network (www.2cbc.net).

In the first part, the article provides information on our approaches to intercultural issues, how the topic was tackled at earlier stages of the project and what lessons have been drawn from those attempts to teach ICC (Intercultural Communication Competence). The second part gives an account of improvements introduced at later stages of the project, listing specific tasks, approaches and teaching materials developed to facilitate certain aspects of ICC in an era of the Internet. The third part is concerned mainly with results of students work and their perception of own identity. Students benefit from the project since it gives them the opportunity to establish contacts with a number of peer groups from different countries and learn about different cultural communication patterns and possible misunderstandings.

Keywords: Business English, Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC), teaching / learning approaches, raising intercultural awareness, developing understanding, respect, empathy, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) based international network