The International Simulation &
Gaming Yearbook
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Unnecessary ambivalents - a cause for concern
Ken Jones
This chapter develops the concept of an ambivalent event. The term was used by the author (Jones, 1988; 1989; 1991) to cover events in which incompatible methodologies were operating simultaneously and the symptoms were that the facilitator was surprised by the emotions during the event, was unable to produce a plausible explanation for the behaviour, and tended to blame the personalities of the participants. The participants tended to blame each other and a clash of methodologies was considered to be a clash of personalities. The conclusion was that all ambivalents were undesirable and should be avoided by a suitable briefing or by altering faulty design. The present chapter takes a step further, to identify events which are necessary ambivalents, that is to say that if briefed as if they were a single methodology the event would become bland and pointless. Although the class of necessary ambivalents is small, it includes some of the most powerful events used in the field, including STARPOWER, THE COMMONS GAME and (in some cases) PRISONER'S DILEMMA.
Simplicity and realism in business games
Clive Loveluck
The more articles I read about business games - and the more conferences I attend - the more I become depressed by the tendency, aided and abetted by the increasing availability of computers, toward the construction and use of ever more complex models to underpin games. In particular, I am puzzled by the relationship between simplicity and realism and in this chapter I would like to explore some of the fundamental problems of relating these two criteria.
The assessment of competence through simulation
Jon Curwin and John Furnival
This chapter briefly traces the development of management thinking and practice through the current competence-based approach, with the emphasis now being on what managers can demonstrate they can do in the workplace. The ongoing debate concerning task-based generic competences and underlying personal characteristics is used to illustrate some of the problems with assessment of competence at management level. Simulations are discussed as a competence assessment method using the authors' experience with business managers and undergraduate students.
Business games provide an opportunity for managers and others to develop and demonstrate competence. These competences can be task-based at a micro-level or holistic at a macro-level. The context of the simulation and the expectations of participants are major determinants of learning outcomes. There remains a truth in the old saying that 'you get out what you put in'. Business simulations also reinforce a particular view of business by the structuring of the scenario, the framework of decision making and feedback.
Virtuality and gaming: the realization of paradox
R Choueke, M McCarthy, N Hayes and S Aslam
This case study focuses on the development of an undergraduate programme: BSc (Hons) Organization and Management Studies at Edge Hill College. The programme began just three years ago and the first graduates are now completing.
From its inception, the programme has been dedicated to a strong process focus, concentrating primarily upon the personal and professional development of the students with a particular emphasis upon problem-solving, decision-making and group skills. Self-management is seen as particularly important and students are encouraged from the outset to take responsibility within a framework that is progressively more flexible. Thus by the third year, students are meant to be managing their learning effectively within a group learning milieu, with responsibility for time, resources, themselves and reflection. Tutor leadership is concerned with the development of materials, which are supplemented by students' own findings, and the outline of topic area coverage. Increased flexibility over the latter is encouraged to allow for the development of students' interests.
This case study is principally concerned with the development of the third year, the use of games, in particular a computer management game - EXECUTIVE 100 - and the creation of an environment which is analogous to the concept of the virtual organization. The aim is to engender a learning community wherein student groups represent mini-organizations designed to provide:
• Learning sets
• Interactive organisms
• A competitive-collaborative market place
• A political network.
A needs perspective on the induction process
Gordon Ellis
It has long been recognized that major changes in life may be difficult and stressful. Moving to a new organizational environment, in either an educational or a work context, is a major change. Newcomers may feel disoriented and confused. Some may become so worried that they suffer acute anxiety. All are likely to experience a degree of stress. The induction process offered to newcomers is therefore of critical importance in helping to overcome these potentially damaging effects of change. This chapter looks at the induction process by focusing on the needs felt by newcomers during the period of change. It attempts to identify the key needs which may have particular significance in the first few days in a new environment. It also makes practical suggestions by exploring ways in which those needs might most effectively be met. A number of games, exercises and other activities are suggested which may prove helpful.
Forty-eight warm-ups for group work
Jo Malseed
This chapter offers a valuable teaching resource to small-group tutors by providing a step-by-step guide to the use of warm-ups. It takes tutors through the nature, operation and benefits of warm-ups in small-group teaching, and goes on to describe the function and use of a collection of 48 low-, medium- and high-risk warm-ups.
ANIMAL SOUNDS: a simple ice-breaker
Alan Jenkins and Simon Bearder
We outline a simple game in which students with eyes closed make the sounds of animals such as lions or leopards. The game ends with students in groups of three or four lions, leopards, etc, ready for the next activity. This has proved to be an effective ice-breaker to acculturate students to the bizarre behaviours they have to demonstrate in simulations such as BAFA BAFA.
'Personal Development via the Outdoors'
Simon Read
'I now have a more confident and positive approach when faced with new challenges'
'I have learnt that most things are possible'
... reactions from participants on recent outdoor activity courses overcoming personal fear, finding a new self-belief, a renewed self-confidence empowering individuals. The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate how outdoor problem-solving tasks can be used to develop a range of skills of relevance to college or to the workplace. Particular focus will be placed on interpersonal skills such as teamwork and communication. The activities described in this chapter are available in a published form in Personal Development via the Outdoors - the complete course and tutor guide (see page 80). The activities are designed to be managed by staff who have no specialist background in outdoor sports, and can be run in the college grounds within a typical one-hour lesson.
Organizing an outdoor education programme: a guide for lecturers
Danny Saunders
A key feature of team-building programmes which use 'the outdoor classroom' is practical and physical problem solving associated with simulations and role play. Over the last three years the University of Glamorgan has organized numerous residential visits to the Dolygaer Outdoor Education Centre in the Brecon Beacons of Wales. This chapter reviews the many educational benefits of such activity. and acts as a guide for lecturers in other further and higher education institutions who will hopefully use their local outdoor education centres and organize similar events.
Visions of Dutch corporate trainers on role playing
Geralien A Holsbrink-Engels
The purpose of this chapter is to draw together information on the use of role playing in corporate training, in particular interpersonal skill training. From the field of interpersonal skill training not much is known of the use of role playing. Many authors (Joyce and Weil, 1980; Nijkerk, 1988; Shaftel and Shaftel, 1967, 1982; Tistaert, 1987) only give (global) descriptions of this instructional method in an optimistic and positive way without empirical confirmation.
A written questionnaire was constructed from the literature in role playing. The questions refer to (1) background variables of trainers, (2) general characteristics (3) introduction and instruction, (4) running a role play session and (5) debriefing. The questionnaire was mailed to 201 corporate trainers.
This study attained a return of 87 per cent. Of the 175 respondents, only 68 questionnaires (34 per cent) were suitable for data processing. Reviewing the results of the study, we may state that role playing is a complex instructional method within which numerous aspects may vary.
Games on social skills: a cross-cultural course for Russian/English-speakers
Mikhail V Klarin
This chapter describes the author's experience working with English-language games on social skills (some of them designed by a British author) with native Russian speakers belonging to a culture previously isolated from 'live', people-to-people international contact. The social/ communication skills training course, based on a succession of gaming activities, is presented to advanced Russian students of English to go beyond the traditional framework of vocabulary and grammar patterns and develop more in-depth understanding/ feeling/ experience of a 'Western' communication manner.
The chapter presents an approach to combine a structured games repertoire with a design of 'dialogue threads', creating a personally meaningful social skills course for cross-cultural communication situations.
THE SUFFRAGETTES: a political game of civil unrest
Timothy McCoy Price
THE SUFFRAGETTES is a game designed to provoke debate about terrorism and anti-terrorist methods, including the role of the media, within a morally acceptable framework. It deals with the militant struggle for rights for women and the methods and techniques they were to use to further their political ends. It is primarily aimed at 14-16 year-old students as part of their studies.
TRAFFIC IN BARABAKH: an introduction to role play
Claude Bourles
TRAFFIC IN BARABAKH is a role-play game designed to introduce players with no previous experience to outdoor role-playing. The game does not require a high level of training from the facilitator, and can be played with a variable number of players. The game may be played for leisure in a light-hearted frame of mind. It can also be used as a means to start discussions about contemporary civil war problems.
Simulating topical diplomatic negotiations
Paul W Meerts
This chapter deals with the use and usefulness of up-to-date role plays as tools to train people in international negotiations. The chapter explains how to create such role plays and how to apply them. By citing real-life experiences, possible pitfalls are illustrated. The chapter arrives at the conclusion that topical simulations are a very effective tool in teaching content and training skills in conjunction with each other and in a very short period of time.
The simulations are only time-consuming in so far as the trainer will have to follow the developments on which the simulations are based rather closely, because, if the games are not kept up-to-date, they will lose their effectiveness as learning devices.
THE HONEYCOMB PROBLEM: dealing with personal/group conflicts
Alan Cudworth
This chapter deals with the classical problem of personal success versus group gains. In most institutions, companies and industries, departments from time to time work in isolation, not knowing what overall strategy is planned by senior management, and this often leads to failure to maximize opportunities. Yet many companies use project management techniques which require good cooperation and communication between those professionals involved.
THE HONEYCOMB PROBLEM a game written by Clive Loveluck in MATREX illustrates these important principles and shows clearly that by cooperation and a willingness to work for the 'good of all', a greater level of reward can be achieved.
Student response to a competitive scenario: an unexpected finding
Howard Denton
A series of six, week-long, residential events for 17-18 year old pupils were run and observed at Loughborough University. These were based on the simulation of a commercial design scenario. Teams of students acted as design consultancies competing for a contract.
The simulations are described and some of the literature on competition discussed. The student response to the simulation is expanded on and this discussed in relation to the literature. Despite the overtly competitive structure offered, there was consistent evidence that students did not react competitively: there was considerable inter-team cooperation. There appeared to be a sub-cultural ideal of a cooperative management structure rather than more conventional hierarchical management.
THE PARKING GARAGE SIMULATION
John F Lobuts and James Oldson
THE PARKING GARAGE SIMULATION is a one-hour exercise designed to illustrate the complexity of identifying an automobile with the manufacturer. Today's car is truly a global product developed from economic interdependencies. The exercise allows for testing what we know and provides a forum for learning.
Frame games in teaching economics
Clive Loveluck and Peter Nisbet
Economics is often regarded by students as a dry and analytical subject in which they find it difficult to become involved. The purpose of this frame game is to help overcome this potential obstacle to the teaching of economics by presenting a variety of situations in which the controlled introduction of new information generates commitment, discussion and insight.
Using simulation to teach applied economics: 'ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING IN MALUVI' and 'SOCIAL ACCOUNTING MATRICES'
John Nelson, William Bender and Linet Arthur
The Food Studies Group (FSG) has been developing materials to support training activities in economic policy analysis. A key challenge has been to design interactive exercises which deal with complex economic problems, without swamping participants with background information, or making the exercise too long and complicated.
This chapter describes two of the simulation exercises which have been developed, one to introduce some of the issues related to environmental economics, and the other to explain how a social accounting matrix works.
The environmental simulation takes place in an imaginary developing country, Maluvi. The issue focuses around government plans to provide a rough road infrastructure in forested areas. In this exercise, participants work in groups and are allocated the roles of resource extractors, agricultural unions, environmental pressure groups, or government planners. They are asked to choose different development proposals affecting an area of high biodiversity. The different groups then come together to discuss the conflicts that exist between their proposals, and the scope for incorporating economic criteria into their proposals.
The social accounting matrix exercise starts with a simulated economy based on three simple transactions between three volunteers. Participants calculate the GDP of the economy and create a social accounting matrix (SAM) for it. They then take part in a game based on a demand-driven economy. Participants are told the demand requirements and act the roles of manufacturers, service firms, urban households and rural households to produce the goods and services demanded. Once all the demand requirements have been met, the game comes to an end and participants are again asked to calculate the GDP and construct a SAM for this more complex economy. The debrief session draws out the key learning points in calculating a SAM. Finally, participants apply their skills to a real SAM and interpret the data to determine the effect of macroeconomic changes on the level of poverty for particular groups.
How THE POWER STATION GAME was rescued from obsolescence: a case study
Henry Ellington
This is the third of three linked papers that describe how the author tackled the task of adopting existing games to fulfil new functions, or, in the case of the present paper, to enable a game to retain its credibility and relevance. It shows how THE POWER STATION GAME, an extended role playing simulation-game based on the planning of a new power station that was first published in 1975, was effectively rendered obsolete by the privatization of Britain's electricity generation industry that took place during the late 1980s, and how the game was subsequently completely rewritten in order to overcome this problem. The chapter describes the original exercise, explains why it became out of date, and then gives a detailed account of the way in which it was adapted to the modern world, showing how the opportunity was also taken to redesign the game package and make the exercise much more flexible and versatile than had previously been the case.
The use of simulations in physiology teaching
Colin Chandler
Computer simulations provide an additional means of investigating physiological processes. While not replacing physiology experiments, students can explore quite complex phenomena in a structured and repeatable way. This may avoid the technical difficulties and expense involved in some experimentation. The example presented here is of a Squid Axon and is based on the Hodgkin Huxley model. The use of this model in teaching the basic properties of excitable membranes is illustrated. Reference is given to further sources of commercial or self-programmable physiology simulations.
An evaluation study of THE CHEMISTRY GAME as a learning device
Usman Jibrin Muhamed
THE CHEMISTRY GAME mimics a typical chemistry laboratory situation. Players who are senior secondary school science students (SS2) are required to identify, characterize and confirm samples hypothetically submitted by an indigenous mining company for analysis. Submissions are orally defended before other participants. Scientific observations are rewarded with marks and unscientific observers are referred to the 'library'.
Could the use of this game enhance cognitive gain in chemistry learners? Two random groups (32 SS2 Students each) consisting of an experimental group which played the game and a control group which did not were both pre-tested and post-tested with a validated researcher making cognitive tests. The student t-test carried out on the raw scores showed that the experimental group performed better than the control group (P<0.05). The use of THE CHEMISTRY GAME leads to significantly better learning results in qualitative analysis than the traditional approach alone. A full validation study of the content, gaming process and cognitive effectiveness is already in progress.
A computer simulation game for building
N M Bouchlaghem
THE BUILDING GAME is a simulation model introducing students to a real-life situation in building construction. They play the role of a contractor who is organizing the construction of the foundations and shell of a two-storey building.
This chapter presents a computerized version of the game, making it an even more efficient decision-making exercise leaving the tedious work to the computer. New features are introduced in the game giving the opportunity to the students to investigate different aspects which would influence the time and cost of building. The game has been tested on students and proved to be easy to use and attractive even to those with limited computer knowledge.
Planes or bust: an OPT scheduling game
Laurence Legg
The purpose of this game is to introduce the optimized production technology (OPT) principles for scheduling in manufacturing systems. The 'product' is simply two pieces of folded paper stapled together in the general shape of an aeroplane. The process routes are similarly straightforward. The participants can quickly understand the requirements of the game; however, making a profit is not so straightforward. Upon completion of the game the participants can relate well to the drum/ buffer/ rope method and the OPT rules. These ideas and other issues are brought out in the discussion and analysis of the system. The time taken to brief the participants and run the game is about 40 minutes.
Inter-firm relationships and the use of marketing simulations
David Tonks and George Long
This chapter considers the use in marketing education of computer-based simulations to represent and demonstrate the reality of inter-firm relationships.
The underlying theme of the chapter, one which now occurs with some frequency in the literature, concerns the true effectiveness of learning through simulation. More specifically, the chapter questions the suitability of models of competition which are often implicit in marketing simulation software or which are superimposed in curriculum design. The chapter proposes that the use of marketing simulations, an educational device which generates high-involvement amongst both facilitators and participants, can lead to misrepresentation of the complexity of competition.
For illustration, the chapter also provides the results of an exploratory study into the emergence of inter-firm relationships amongst teams participating in one run of a marketing simulation exercise. These teams consisted of marketing major undergraduates at the University of Lancaster.
The chapter concludes by stressing the critical role of the simulation facilitator in providing suitable interventions to ensure that unrealistic models of inter-firm relationships are not inadvertently communicated to participants.
Computerized tutor support systems: the tutor's role, needs and tasks
Jeremy J S B Hall
This chapter identifies areas where software can support the tutor running computerized business simulations and so improve tutoring efficiency, effectiveness and consistency.
Traditionally, computerization has focused on the simulation model and, by eliminating manual calculations, this has improved tutoring efficiency. However, modern microcomputers allow the role of the computer to be extended to provide timely and pertinent information that not only supports the tutor administratively but also facilitates and helps the management of learning.
Taking a 'systems approach', this chapter starts from a discussion of the tutor's role, needs and tasks. This discussion serves to suggest areas where software can support the tutor and based on this an architecture for a Tutor Support System (TSS) is described and discussed.
Simulating the human problems of acquisitions and mergers
David Cain
The author describes how a computer-based business simulation was adapted to provide part-time MBA students with a convincing experience of the human problems associated with mergers and acquisitions. In terms of the psychological discomfort experienced by individuals, the difficulties of managing inter- as well as intra-group relationships and, not least, the problems of establishing a revised business strategy to cope with a major environmental change, the outcomes of the simulation parallel much real-world experience. Through this form of experiential learning the simulation promotes the personal development of students. This is achieved through the integration of theory with experience, and by enabling students to assess their own capacity for diagnosing problems and applying the skills required to handle the psychologically complex situations which can arise even where the scale is small and the technology straightforward.
Multi-criteria business gaming in Poland: MANAGER-93
Witold T Bielecki and Oktawian Koczuba
The game MANAGER-93 can be classified as a computerized simulation business game. It was developed by professors of the University of Warsaw's faculty of management, and is reviewed in this chapter.
EXEC-Management Game System: exploration of software functionality?
Jeremy J S B Hall
This chapter describes and discusses the functionality and facilities provided by computerized simulation-games. These functions are discussed using a specific management game as a case.
After describing the game, its software functions are listed and criticized based on experience running the game on executive short courses over a six-year period. This experience is further generalized, based on experience with other games that address other learning objectives.
| Copyright 2000 SAGSET | Last Updated 26/02/00 |