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  • 1.  Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Posted 04-11-2007 16:50

    Colleagues:

     

    We are examining a proposal that would make it mandatory that the entire MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation package. It is a proposal for making the entire course simulation-based (and not that simulation be used as part of the capstone strategy course).

     

    I imagine this issue has already been discussed and debated in several other schools...I would very much like to hear about the pros and cons of teaching the entire capstone strategy course using simulation only.

     

    Many thanks in advance.

     

    Cheers

     

    Anshu Prasad

     

    _______________________

    _______________________

     

    Anshuman Prasad, Ph.D.

    Professor of Management

    University Research Scholar

    Department of Management

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Business</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">New Haven</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">300 Boston Post Road</st1:address></st1:street>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">West Haven</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">CT</st1:state> <st1:postalcode w:st="on">06516</st1:postalcode></st1:place>

    <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.A.</st1:place></st1:country-region>

     

    Phone: 203-932-7124

    Email: aprasad@newhaven.edu

     

     



  • 2.  Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Posted 04-11-2007 18:58
    Hi - I use a very different approach to the capstone strategic thinking course I teach in Australia. I would welcome your comments. I figure that the core competency of a strategy graduate should be the ability to critique using multiple perspectives. So I wrote a thin 'study guide' which contains 13 very short chapters, each a different stance that can be used to critique almost anything. I tried not to use the usual stances of power, gender, history, efficiency etc. Rather, I used stances that many of you would recognise from the work of pragmatic management theorists eg argument, systems, contradiction, reflection, visualisation, metaphor...

    So for example, I start by giving the students a detailed 'real' publicly available strategic plan, and the study guide. After their having read and discussed the strategic plan document briefly in week one, in each subsequent week, the students are asked to read a chapter from the study guide (which explains a different stance eg using concern solving theory to critique) and write a short critique (re-view) of the strategy using that week's stance. Issues that arise from that critique (eg stakeholder theory, or concept-led strategy) I elaborate on by referencing relevant articles from our electronic articles database. Of course, HBR often comes in handy here.

    The students learn strategy issues, multiple perspective critique and handle a real strategic plan, interactively. It also encourages a 'concept-led' approach to strategic planning rather than excessive focus on planning detail.

    The study guide is called 'Reading Critically at University' at the publisher's insistence. They are Sage (UK) :-).
    Please forgive the covert advert but I was hoping some of you might prefer the critique approach to learning strategic thinking, rather than the simulation approach.

    Regards,
     
    mike
     
    ------
    Mike Metcalfe, School Of Management, University of South Australia (City West). Website: Ideas Research Group http://www.unisa.edu.au/irg/default.asp


     
    ________________________________________
    From: Business Policy and Strategy List [mailto:BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Prasad, Anshuman
    Sent: Thursday, 12 April 2007 6:20 AM
    To: BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Colleagues:

    We are examining a proposal that would make it mandatory that the entire MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation package. It is a proposal for making the entire course simulation-based (and not that simulation be used as part of the capstone strategy course).

    I imagine this issue has already been discussed and debated in several other schools...I would very much like to hear about the pros and cons of teaching the entire capstone strategy course using simulation only.

    Many thanks in advance.

    Cheers

    Anshu Prasad

    _______________________
    _______________________
     
    Anshuman Prasad, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    University Research Scholar
    Department of Management
    College of Business
    University of New Haven
    300 Boston Post Road
    West Haven, CT 06516
    U.S.A.
     
    Phone: 203-932-7124
    Email: aprasad@newhaven.edu


  • 3.  Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Posted 04-16-2007 06:30
    We use a simulation package as part of our MBA strategy module - student feedback indicates that it is highly valued - and base part of the assessment on it. Although this is not what Anshu is proposing, I think some of the lessons we have learned at Westminster may be relevant - and I would also be intrigued to see if they strike a chord with colleagues elsewhere.
     
    The key challenge we confront, not just during the simulation but also during the subsequent assessment, is getting the students to extrapolate from the simulated context to a real one. This is despite the fact that, with the help of the collaborator that runs our event, we base our simulated firms on identifiable, well-known ones, in a real industry.
     
    We make it clear at inception that, through human intervention, it is possible to simulate more or less the full range of possible strategic actions, both inter- and intra-organizational. Nonetheless, the students are, for a couple of rounds at least, cognitively constrained by the game software and manuals. They contemplate only those actions - typically product/market variations and changes to production volumes and costs - that are specifically available to them within the simulation software, and tend to bias their reports towards that same subset of the strategic repertoire. This means that they miss out on the 'softer' actions that build motivation, resources and relationships - crucial elements, in my view, of contemporary strategy. I have not found a simulation package that has built these into the software.
     
    We have come round to using the exercise, in part, as an illustration of how managerial cognitive barriers and preconceptions can affect strategy development. If you decide to base your entire module around a simulation, you will need to manage the risk that your students, while deepenng their understanding of the effects of certain types of strategic action, become blind to those that are not directly simulated by your chosen software.
     
    Regards
    Adrian Haberberg
    Westminster Business School, London
    ----- Original Message -----
    Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 9:49 PM
    Subject: Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Colleagues:

     

    We are examining a proposal that would make it mandatory that the entire MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation package. It is a proposal for making the entire course simulation-based (and not that simulation be used as part of the capstone strategy course).

     

    I imagine this issue has already been discussed and debated in several other schools…I would very much like to hear about the pros and cons of teaching the entire capstone strategy course using simulation only.

     

    Many thanks in advance.

     

    Cheers

     

    Anshu Prasad

     

    _______________________

    _______________________

     

    Anshuman Prasad, Ph.D.

    Professor of Management

    University Research Scholar

    Department of Management

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Business</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">New Haven</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">300 Boston Post Road</st1:address></st1:street>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">West Haven</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">CT</st1:state> <st1:postalcode w:st="on">06516</st1:postalcode></st1:place>

    <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.A.</st1:place></st1:country-region>

     

    Phone: 203-932-7124

    Email: aprasad@newhaven.edu

     

     



  • 4.  Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Posted 04-18-2007 16:48
    I would urge those interested in this topic to join the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning (ABSEL: http://www.absel.org). Our next annual conference will be in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A., in March 2008. From ABSEL's Web site, check out the link to the Bernie Keys Library. You'll find 34 years of conference proceedings and other good literature upon which to base a paper that you can submit to next year's conference.
     
    One thing to consider is that the term "real" is ambiguous. Is a case about say the Coca-Cola Company real if it went to press 5 years ago? Or even if it went to press today? Surely, no student taking the course will work in the Coca-Cola Company at the time the written case went to press. To be completely honest, we should say that the written case about Coca-Cola is a simulation of a company the student might be employed with upon graduation. If that's so, is the business game they play a better simulation or a worse simulation than the written case?
     
    Some studies have concluded that the game is a better simulation than the written case, but you can make up your own mind after going through the literature. However you conclude, you might be cautious about trying to impress upon the students that anything done in the classroom is real, or more real than anything else you might do.
     
    Best,
     
    Precha
    --

    Precha Thavikulwat, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    +---------------------------------------+
    | Department of Management              |
    | Towson University                     |
    | 8000 York Road                        |
    | Towson, MD 21252-0001                 |
    | U.S.A.                                |
    | t. 410-704-3230                       |
    | f. 410-704-3236                       |
    | pthavikulwat@towson.edu               |
    | Skype: pthavikulwat                   |
    | AIM: prechathav                       |
    | http://pages.towson.edu/precha        |
    +---------------------------------------+

    From: Business Policy and Strategy List [mailto:BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Adrian Haberberg
    Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 6:30 AM
    To: BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    We use a simulation package as part of our MBA strategy module - student feedback indicates that it is highly valued - and base part of the assessment on it. Although this is not what Anshu is proposing, I think some of the lessons we have learned at Westminster may be relevant - and I would also be intrigued to see if they strike a chord with colleagues elsewhere.
     
    The key challenge we confront, not just during the simulation but also during the subsequent assessment, is getting the students to extrapolate from the simulated context to a real one. This is despite the fact that, with the help of the collaborator that runs our event, we base our simulated firms on identifiable, well-known ones, in a real industry.
     
    We make it clear at inception that, through human intervention, it is possible to simulate more or less the full range of possible strategic actions, both inter- and intra-organizational. Nonetheless, the students are, for a couple of rounds at least, cognitively constrained by the game software and manuals. They contemplate only those actions - typically product/market variations and changes to production volumes and costs - that are specifically available to them within the simulation software, and tend to bias their reports towards that same subset of the strategic repertoire. This means that they miss out on the 'softer' actions that build motivation, resources and relationships - crucial elements, in my view, of contemporary strategy. I have not found a simulation package that has built these into the software.
     
    We have come round to using the exercise, in part, as an illustration of how managerial cognitive barriers and preconceptions can affect strategy development. If you decide to base your entire module around a simulation, you will need to manage the risk that your students, while deepenng their understanding of the effects of certain types of strategic action, become blind to those that are not directly simulated by your chosen software.
     
    Regards
    Adrian Haberberg
    Westminster Business School, London
    ----- Original Message -----
    Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 9:49 PM
    Subject: Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Colleagues:

     

    We are examining a proposal that would make it mandatory that the entire MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation package. It is a proposal for making the entire course simulation-based (and not that simulation be used as part of the capstone strategy course).

     

    I imagine this issue has already been discussed and debated in several other schools...I would very much like to hear about the pros and cons of teaching the entire capstone strategy course using simulation only.

     

    Many thanks in advance.

     

    Cheers

     

    Anshu Prasad

     

    _______________________

    _______________________

     

    Anshuman Prasad, Ph.D.

    Professor of Management

    University Research Scholar

    Department of Management

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Business</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">New Haven</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">300 Boston Post Road</st1:address></st1:street>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">West Haven</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">CT</st1:state> <st1:postalcode w:st="on">06516</st1:postalcode></st1:place>

    <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.A.</st1:place></st1:country-region>

     

    Phone: 203-932-7124

    Email: aprasad@newhaven.edu

     

     



  • 5.  Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Posted 04-27-2007 10:47
    Dear Colleagues:

    At the University of Tennessee, we employ a comprehensive, full-enterprise
    simulation as the capstone course in all of our MBA programs (Full-time MBA,
    Professional MBA, Executive MBA, Physicians MBA and Aerospace MBA) and in our
    Master of Accountancy program. We use the International Corporate Management
    with Outsourcing game by Marketplace.

    According to Glen Schuler, Director of the MBA Programs, “the simulation meets
    a critical need that Tennessee has which is to make sure that we integrate all
    of the different aspects that the students are learning throughout the
    program. It is the only project or activity that truly does that and it does
    that extremely well.

    The syllabus for the course also includes the following learning objectives:

    • Develop strategic planning and execution skills within a rapidly changing
    environment.
    • Crystallize the linkages between business decisions and financial
    performance.
    • Instill a bottom line focus and the simultaneous need to deliver customer
    value.
    • Internalize how important it is to use market data and competitive signals
    to adjust the strategic plan and more tightly focus business tactics.
    • Promote better decision making by helping students see how their decisions
    can affect the performance of others and the organization as a whole.
    • Facilitate learning of important business concepts, principles and ways of
    thinking
    • Experience the challenges and rewards of the entrepreneur by starting up and
    running a new business venture
    • Build confidence through knowledge and experience.

    In the past, the simulation was administered over an entire semester, and it
    still is in the Master of Accountancy. However, in all other programs, we have
    gone to a week-long, intensive course at the end of the MBA program. This
    setup helps us to accomplish our integration objective and insures that there
    are no other distractions or conflicts.

    The simulation has become a high point of the program. It also provides
    feedback in terms of assessing the curriculum and how well the students are
    prepared for their business careers.

    Ernie Cadotte
    Professor of Marketing
    Author of Marketplace


    >===== Original Message From Business Policy and Strategy List
    <BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU> =====
    >Colleagues:
    >
    >
    >
    >We are examining a proposal that would make it mandatory that the entire
    >MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation
    >package. It is a proposal for making the entire course simulation-based
    >(and not that simulation be used as part of the capstone strategy
    >course).
    >
    >
    >
    >I imagine this issue has already been discussed and debated in several
    >other schools...I would very much like to hear about the pros and cons
    >of teaching the entire capstone strategy course using simulation only.
    >
    >
    >
    >Many thanks in advance.
    >
    >
    >
    >Cheers
    >
    >
    >
    >Anshu Prasad
    >
    >
    >
    >_______________________
    >
    >_______________________
    >
    >
    >
    >Anshuman Prasad, Ph.D.
    >
    >Professor of Management
    >
    >University Research Scholar
    >
    >Department of Management
    >
    >College of Business
    >
    >University of New Haven
    >
    >300 Boston Post Road
    >
    >West Haven, CT 06516
    >
    >U.S.A.
    >
    >
    >
    >Phone: 203-932-7124
    >
    >Email: aprasad@newhaven.edu


  • 6.  Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Posted 05-01-2007 16:30

    Colleagues:

     

    I would like to address Anshu's question of the pros and cons to teaching an entire strategy course around a simulation. As publisher of Capstone®, Foundation®, and Comp-XM® I cannot pretend to being unbiased. However, I have the opportunity to discuss these issues with many stakeholders and schools, and I may be able to shed insight into this trend.

     

    Stakeholders extend beyond the school to include parents, recruiters, accrediting bodies, the business community, and the business press. When the question is, "Should the entire MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation package?", these stakeholders are probably a factor in the decision.

     

    Consider a graduating student in conversation with a recruiter. The recruiter asks, "What can you tell me to demonstrate you actually learned something in school?"

     

    If the student says, "I earned a 3.6 grade point average", the recruiter will add that data point to his or her notes. But if the student says, "Just before I graduated, I ran a simulated company", the recruiter will become genuinely interested and engage the student in a conversation.

     

    Similarly, parents, executives, even the business press are interested in business simulations. We routinely issue press releases to local newspapers when students do well in our bi-annual Capstone® Challenge, and they are nearly always published. I can offer examples where business leaders have congregated at a school to listen to presentations made by simulation teams, or where funds have been raised to sponsor an intramural competition.

     

    For whatever reason, external stakeholders view business simulations as evidence of successful completion of study. Because of this, when considering whether the entire course should become simulation based, the discussion should include both an internal focus on teaching and an external focus on the bridging opportunities.

     

    PROS include opportunities to:

     

    1. Collect data for accreditation purposes to satisfy Assurance of Learning goals
    2. Involve business leaders in the school's activities
    3. Create public relations stories
    4. Recruit students to the school (parents are interested in simulations)
    5. Attract students to a field of study

     

    CONS include problems such as:

    1. Training faculty to use the simulation
    2. Relying upon external vendors to collect and maintain data
    3. Extending the mission of the course beyond pure education

     

    For example, consider your reliance upon an external vendor. You should consider questions like, "Does the vendor have a disaster recovery plan that keeps them up and running in the event an earthquake or another Katrina?" "Does the vendor offer methods to support accreditation procedures?" "Can the vendor assist you with public relations stories?" "How does the vendor train faculty?" "Can the vendor interact directly with students?"

     

    Or consider the issues when the mission of the course extends beyond pure education. This could involve people from the dean's office, admissions, placement, technology, and public relations in the activities related to the course.

     

    We would encourage you to discuss these issues with the simulation vendors. They are intimately familiar with them. As a shameless plug for our company, Management Simulations Inc., we are familiar with all of these issues and more. Last year we served over 400 business schools and registered over 61,000 students. We are delighted to discuss issues like these with schools either in person or over the phone.

     

    Daniel C. Smith

    President, Management Simulations, Inc.

    Adjunct Professor, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">DePaul</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>

    Leader's Circle, AACSB

     

     

     

     

     

     

    From: <st1:personname w:st="on">Business Policy and Strategy List</st1:personname> [mailto:BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Prasad, Anshuman
    Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 3:50 PM
    To: BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

     

    Colleagues:

     

    We are examining a proposal that would make it mandatory that the entire MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation package. It is a proposal for making the entire course simulation-based (and not that simulation be used as part of the capstone strategy course).

     

    I imagine this issue has already been discussed and debated in several other schools...I would very much like to hear about the pros and cons of teaching the entire capstone strategy course using simulation only.

     

    Many thanks in advance.

     

    Cheers

     

    Anshu Prasad

     

    _______________________

    _______________________

     

    Anshuman Prasad, Ph.D.

    Professor of Management

    University Research Scholar

    Department of Management

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Business</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">New Haven</st1:placename></st1:place>

    <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">300 Boston Post Road</st1:address></st1:street>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">West Haven</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">CT</st1:state> <st1:postalcode w:st="on">06516</st1:postalcode></st1:place>

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.A.</st1:country-region></st1:place>

     

    Phone: 203-932-7124

    Email: aprasad@newhaven.edu

     

     



  • 7.  Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course

    Posted 05-02-2007 17:30

    For a number of years we (Henry P. Sims, Herbert Hand, Thomas Pray, Dan Strang, Peter Marquilis, Dick Butler) taught several studies using a simulation as the theme, and hanging exercises that required using and evaluating various quantiative and behavioral tools. My experience began as an undergraduate at Clarkson University, pre-computer.   At Indiana University I tuaght, using INTOP.  At Rochester Institute of Technolgy, and SUNY Geneseo we used a simulate written by Dan Strang and Tom Pray, ADSIM.  Clarkson University was one of the first simulation gaming schools in the Country, introducing this methodology shortly after the American Mangement Association pioneered the use of simulation in training executives.  

    We experimented with having students doing forecasting using data from the simulation results, and using linear regression, policy analysis (i.e., determining where to apply additional funds) through interpreting standardized coefficients in linear regression, using linear programming for production analysis; and other economic methods.  Part of the task was to evaluate which tools "worked" and were useful.  This analysis was as important as the results.  We used  a wide range of behavioral exercises related to the simulation,such as leadership style, to assess leadership ... after teams had been formed and operating. And we integreted minilectures following the exercises to ensure the lessons learned were related to the best theoretical concepts in the area.   And we learned to deal with some tricky issues related to student teams and feelings of equity, when some members don't participate fully.  

    We learned that simulation pedagogy impacted the role of  faculty member, moving the faculty from expert to collaborator/resource person.  The involvement level in studies I conducted was very high, measured by observables such as teams in close proximity and animated discussion; and noise level in the room during team meetings.
     
    In my judgement, the simulation as "longitudinal case study" was a great tool - we and others reported extensively on a variety of  investigations into the use of simulation gaming, and many of the aspects of interest to faculty using simulation gaming.  Much of this writing appeared in ABSEL (see the Bernie Keys Library (a CD collection)  for 20 + years of research on simulations as teaching tools, studies that are easily searched. This is available from http://www.ABSEL.org.  The Bernie Keys Library, 2nd ed., Hugh M. Cannon (ed.).
     
    Two reports reported on the state of research --one with ABSEL,and a derivative article appearing as the lead article in Simularion and Games..  

    Butler, Richard J., Peter Marqulis, and Daniel Strang.  "Where are We? An Analysis of the Methods and Focus of the Research on Simulation Gaming"
     Simulation and Games, (Lead article) Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 3-26, March 1988.

    Butler, Richard J., Peter M. Markulis, and Daniel R. Strang, "Learning Theory and Research Design:  How has ABSEL Fared?" Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Vol 12, 1985.  Reprinted in The Bernie Keys Library, 2nd ed., Hugh M. Cannon (ed.).  [Available from http://www.ABSEL.org]

    Hope this explanation is helpful in sending at least one or two readers to the rich and informative literature on this promising pedagogy.\

    Dick Butler
    Mentor/Associate Professor
    SUNY Empire State College



    Dan Smith <Dan@CAPSIM.COM>
    Sent by: Business Policy and Strategy List <BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU>

    05/01/2007 04:29 PM

    Please respond to
    Business Policy and Strategy List <BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU>
    To
    		BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    cc
    Subject
    		Re: Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course





    Colleagues:
     
    I would like to address Anshu's question of the pros and cons to teaching an entire strategy course around a simulation. As publisher of Capstone®, Foundation®, and Comp-XM® I cannot pretend to being unbiased. However, I have the opportunity to discuss these issues with many stakeholders and schools, and I may be able to shed insight into this trend.
     
    Stakeholders extend beyond the school to include parents, recruiters, accrediting bodies, the business community, and the business press. When the question is, "Should the entire MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation package?", these stakeholders are probably a factor in the decision.
     
    Consider a graduating student in conversation with a recruiter. The recruiter asks, "What can you tell me to demonstrate you actually learned something in school?"
     
    If the student says, "I earned a 3.6 grade point average", the recruiter will add that data point to his or her notes. But if the student says, "Just before I graduated, I ran a simulated company", the recruiter will become genuinely interested and engage the student in a conversation.
     
    Similarly, parents, executives, even the business press are interested in business simulations. We routinely issue press releases to local newspapers when students do well in our bi-annual Capstone® Challenge, and they are nearly always published. I can offer examples where business leaders have congregated at a school to listen to presentations made by simulation teams, or where funds have been raised to sponsor an intramural competition.
     
    For whatever reason, external stakeholders view business simulations as evidence of successful completion of study. Because of this, when considering whether the entire course should become simulation based, the discussion should include both an internal focus on teaching and an external focus on the bridging opportunities.
     
    PROS include opportunities to:
     
    1.        Collect data for accreditation purposes to satisfy Assurance of Learning goals
    2.        Involve business leaders in the school's activities
    3.        Create public relations stories
    4.        Recruit students to the school (parents are interested in simulations)
    5.        Attract students to a field of study
     
    CONS include problems such as:
    1.        Training faculty to use the simulation
    2.        Relying upon external vendors to collect and maintain data
    3.        Extending the mission of the course beyond pure education
     
    For example, consider your reliance upon an external vendor. You should consider questions like, "Does the vendor have a disaster recovery plan that keeps them up and running in the event an earthquake or another Katrina?" "Does the vendor offer methods to support accreditation procedures?" "Can the vendor assist you with public relations stories?" "How does the vendor train faculty?" "Can the vendor interact directly with students?"
     
    Or consider the issues when the mission of the course extends beyond pure education. This could involve people from the dean's office, admissions, placement, technology, and public relations in the activities related to the course.
     
    We would encourage you to discuss these issues with the simulation vendors. They are intimately familiar with them. As a shameless plug for our company, Management Simulations Inc., we are familiar with all of these issues and more. Last year we served over 400 business schools and registered over 61,000 students. We are delighted to discuss issues like these with schools either in person or over the phone.
     
    Daniel C. Smith
    President, Management Simulations, Inc.
    Adjunct Professor, DePaul University
    Leader's Circle, AACSB
     
     
     
     
     
     


    From: Business Policy and Strategy List [mailto:BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Prasad, Anshuman
    Sent:     Wednesday, April 11, 2007 3:50 PM
    To:     BPS-NET@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject:     Simulation-Based Capstone Strategy Course
     
    Colleagues:
     
    We are examining a proposal that would make it mandatory that the entire MBA Capstone Strategic Management Course be taught using a simulation package. It is a proposal for making the entire course simulation-based (and not that simulation be used as part of the capstone strategy course).
     
    I imagine this issue has already been discussed and debated in several other schools...I would very much like to hear about the pros and cons of teaching the entire capstone strategy course using simulation only.
     
    Many thanks in advance.
     
    Cheers
     
    Anshu Prasad
     
    _______________________
    _______________________
     
    Anshuman Prasad, Ph.D.
    Professor of Management
    University Research Scholar
    Department of Management
    College of Business
    University of New Haven
    300 Boston Post Road
    West Haven, CT 06516
    U.S.A.
     
    Phone: 203-932-7124
    Email: aprasad@newhaven.edu