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A scenario‐based role‐playing experiment is well suited for research seeking to understand how and why operations and supply chain managers, when dealing with complex issues, form their judgments and preferences or make the decisions that they do. As a method for data collection, a scenario‐based role‐playing experiment deploys varying versions of a descriptive vignette to convey scripted information about specific levels of factors of interest that are hypothesized, upfront, to influence judgments, preferences or decisions. Human subjects are recruited to assume an a priori defined role and, in this role, to then form their judgments and preferences or make their decisions in response to the scripted information conveyed in at least one version of the vignette. For these judgments, preferences or decisions to be useful for subsequent statistical analyses, the vignette and its varying versions to be deployed in a scenario‐based role‐playing experiment must be appropriately designed (i.e., written and presented) and validated. This commentary speaks to this “vignette design and validation” issue and prescribes a three‐stage process to create a vignette with its derivative versions that is clear, realistic, complete (in that it contains all information necessary for human subjects to assume their role and to consequently provide their reactions and responses), and is effective (in that it cues human subjects to perceive the desired levels of the factors of interest).

Purpose>This study aims to investigate an integrated approach that stimulates engagement and interaction in the online learning environment. A simulation game was developed to support the specific learning objectives (LOs) of the lecture and give students the opportunity to apply relevant practical skills (management and group decision-making). The simulation is designed to engage students, facilitate group work in teams and actively apply the knowledge from the lectures.Design/methodology/approach>Qualitative research methods and a pilot version of the simulation game in an actual classroom setting were used. The primary LO was to apply decision-making in groups and experience the consequences of decisions on business success. The students were assigned randomly to five groups representing different competing companies.Findings>This study revealed that a simulation game with a reduced scope can facilitate interaction and participation in online lectures. It demonstrated that it is possible to obtain the main benefits of simulation-based learning with a simple game that consists of few decision variables and requires minimal training.Research limitations/implications>There are limitations to this pilot study, some of which need to be address in future research. One limitation is the small number of participants (21). Another limitation is that all participants were from a class at an Asian university. While adding to existing research that focused primarily on Anglo-America and Europe, this study’s approach should be evaluated with more subjects from varying cultural backgrounds to validate the findings. The evaluation could be improved with more participants but also additional questions to measure how and why this study’s approach benefits learning success. E.g. it should be explored what component of decision-making or group learning was most significant. With this, it would also be interesting to explore incremental learning and learning across groups along the study duration.Practical implications>The simulation game can be used in business education. Students enjoyed the interaction with their peers and the instructor. The students stated that it was a good learning experience for them and they made good learning progress.Originality/value>The prototype demonstrated the general feasibility and the smooth handling of the practical application and integration in online lectures. The aim to develop a serious simulation game for online classes was achieved. It was possible to obtain the main benefits of simulation-based learning with a simple game that consists of few decision variables and therefore requires minimal training and time.

How can we improve business ethics education for the twenty first century? This study evaluates the effectiveness of a visual case exercise in the form of a 3D immersive game given to undergraduate students at two UK Universities as part of a mandatory business ethics module. We propose that due to evolving learning styles, the immersive nature of interactive games lends itself as a vehicle to make the learning of ethics more 'concrete' and 'personal' and therefore more engaging. To achieve this, we designed and built an immersive 3D simulation game in the style of a visual case. The effectiveness of the game was evaluated using a mixed methods approach measuring recognised and adapted constructs from the technology acceptance model. Results demonstrate that students found the game beneficial to their learning of ethics with the development of knowledge and skills applicable to the real world and that they engaged with the process due to game elements. Findings demonstrate the potential for the development of simulated games to teach ethics at all levels and modes of delivery and the contribution of this type of visual case model as a pedagogic method.

Business games have been widely used as differentiated pedagogical tools to provide experiential learning for business students. However, a critical problem with these tools is the issue of how to give feedback to students during the runtime of the simulation, especially in view of the high number of players involved in the game and the large amount of data generated in the simulations. In this scenario, intelligent mechanisms are desirable to make knowledge-based inferences, providing information which can assist both the players and the instructors facilitating the gaming process. In this work, we present an innovative knowledge-based approach focused on business games. Firstly, we apply data mining techniques to identify the behavioral patterns of players, based on their previous decisions stored in the database of a business game called business management simulator (BMS) that is used as a support tool for teaching concepts of production management, sales and business strategies. Secondly, based on these patterns, we develop a fuzzy inference system (FIS) to predict players’ performance based on their decisions in the game. Experimental results from a comparison of the real performance of players with the performance calculated by the proposed FIS show that this approach is very useful in the business game analyzed here, since it can help students during the simulation runtime, allowing them to improve their decisions. It is also clear that the proposed approach can be easily adapted to other business games, and particularly those with a similar structure to that of BMS.

Das kooperative und partizipative Entwickeln von Konzepten, Prozessen und Räumen gewinnt auch in Bibliotheken zunehmend an Bedeutung. Dabei stellt sich für Bibliotheksteams ebenso wie für veränderungswillige Verwaltungen die Frage, wie ebensolche Partizipationsprozesse möglichst breit und mit Blick auf Zeit und Geld zugleich ohne größeren Aufwand angestoßen werden können. Der Beitrag wendet sich dieser Frage zu und zeigt einerseits, weswegen der Einsatz von spielerischen Ansätzen hierbei grundsätzlich zu konstruktiven Lösungen beitragen kann. Andererseits stellt er mit dem der Kulturstiftung des Bundes ein digitales Werkzeug vor, das ein solches Planspiel explizit für Bibliotheken entwirft.

Purpose - This paper seeks to present a teaching tool (the Innovation Game) which aims to demonstrate the challenges of developing an effective innovation strategy in the context of new product development. The goal of the game is to enable participants to experience how strategic and operational choices made in relation to innovation strategy are interrelated and how these choices can impact on new product development success. Specifically the paper aims to explore the impact of choices made in relation to capability accumulation, capacity management and product-portfolio management.Design methodology approach - After presenting the learning objectives for the game with the support of relevant literature, the paper describes the design of the game and the context in which it was played. The paper reviews feedback (learning outcomes) from formal reflective post-game sessions with participants. This feedback indicates that the learning objectives have been satisfied.Findings - Through experiential learning and reflective practice participants learn, for example, that: capabilities need to match the intended strategy; investing in production capacity can be leveraged to aid negotiations with competitors, or it can be used as a bully tactic; and, it sometimes is better to be an R&D \"follower\" rather than a \"leader\". The participants also learn that the alignment of operational and strategic choices is necessary in order to leverage success in developing new products but that the actions and strategies of competitors have a direct impact also and need to be considered carefully.Research limitations implications - The teaching tool adopts a participative game playing and reflective learning approach to introduce into class some of the real-life competitive dynamics of managing new product development and decision making normally confined to the boardroom. While it is argued that the game demonstrates the challenges of developing successful strategy, the game is set in a static context in which certain external contingencies are not accounted for.Originality value - Demonstration of the importance of strategy to new product development is particularly difficult because of the longitudinal nature of product development and the tacit nature of the decision making process which often transpires long after projects are completed. The paper posits that the value of the Innovation Game is in reflecting on it as a practical, interactive tool that helps participants appreciate the challenges inherent in strategic and operational decision making related to innovation strategy and new product development success.

Nachhaltiges Handeln ist ein bedeutsames Leitziel des 21. Jahrhunderts. Als Bildungsziel wird es in Deutschland meist als übergreifende Bildungsaufgabe definiert, die in die einzelnen Fachdisziplinen zu integrieren ist. Der Beitrag leistet dies für die Ernährungsbildung und konkretisiert die theoretische Konzeption mithilfe eines Planspiels als Beispiel für die didaktisch-methodische Umsetzung. (DIPF/Orig.) Sustainable behaviour is an important key objective of the 21st century. In Germany, it is usually defined as an overarching educational task that must be integrated into the individual disciplines. For nutrition education, the didactic-methodical implementation is illustrated exemplarily using a simulation game. (DIPF/Orig.)

This study explores the mediation effect of transformational leadership in the relationship between leaders’ personality characteristics and effectiveness. Data from 210 students in a managerial role, and from 3,766 students in a subordinate role, were obtained during a four-month-long Management Simulation Game and analysed using multilevel structural equation modelling. Transformational leadership mediated the effect of leaders’ agreeableness and conscientiousness on group performance, perceived leader effectiveness, and leadership emergence. Extraversion, openness to experience and neuroticism were not linked to transformational leadership or any indicator of leader effectiveness. Intelligence predicted neither transformational leadership, nor group performance and leadership emergence. Along with other studies, this study emphasizes conscientiousness as the personality characteristic that influences leadership and leaders' effectiveness in various cultures and situations. Agreeableness may be an important leader trait in specific conditions and its influence may be moderated by context. The results must be interpreted with the knowledge that they were obtained in a simulation game environment on a sample of students.

The current article is based on data from Dynama business games conducted in two Estonian institutions of higher education (Estonian Business School (EBS) and Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applies Sciences) between years 2012 and 2016. The research questions that this paper attempts to explore look at the relationship between the results obtained by different teams in business game Dynama and their teams’ characteristics. The paper also shows how the volume of market research information used affects the results obtained by different teams in the business game. This research of implementational nature primarily helps to develop the teaching methods and basis for team composition in business game Dynama with the purpose of supporting the course and achieving the learning outcomes in a more effective way. The research results may also be of interest to those who use and research business games as a teaching tool. The variables employed in this study enabled us to compare our research with that conducted by A.-E. Lerviks and M. Paltschik at Hanken School of Economics and Business Administration in 1982.