“K-12 education isn’t using technology effectively and isn’t investing nearly enough in IT infrastructures to enable next-generation learning”

That’s the conclusion of a new report, ‘Unleashing the Potential of Technology in Education’, which called for greater financial commitment to educational technology in our schools.¹ By not focusing more on boosting student outcomes with online technology, traditional educational practices may end up leaving a vast gap in the coming generations’ capabilities.

A 2011 XpertHR learning and development survey announced that using online computer training improves skills at considerably greater rate than traditional methods.² This makes online learning an indispensable educational tool.

The good news is that once students reach College/University, they are being given the opportunity to experience online technologies as business schools across the board have been increasing their use of online learning. The economic downturn is also increasing demand for online courses. As of April 2011, 60% of private sector colleges and universities reported that online education is critical to their long-term strategies.³ This can be attributed to online student enrollments continuing to be the most rapidly growing sector in higher education.

This transition to online learning has opened new teaching methods previously unavailable to Instructors. Experiential learning, like that of simulations, allows students to translate theory into practice. Simulations help students retain far more information than traditional teaching methodologies, as they become immersed in the experience of the concepts being taught, rather than only reading or hearing about them.

From an Instructor’s perspective, using a business simulation allows them to come alongside their students to direct their learning, rather than simply talking at their students. This also gives students a sense of ownership over what they learn, and the experience itself will remain in their memories long-term. In fact, we have past-students contact us on a regular basis to request our simulations be used in their new workplace, or even at the school they now teach at, as it was the highlight of their degree and something they now want their colleagues or students to experience.

Smartsims have a reputation for high quality simulations and world-class customer service; something we’ve developed over our 20 years of industry experience. Students are taught the fundamental concepts of business and strategy directly through business simulation. Students also learn important real-world skills such as working within a team, situational analysis, how to read real financial and market reports, and the formulation of strategy based on their findings. Our business simulations are extremely flexible and can be integrated into a wide variety of on-campus and online courses.

– Danny Master and Ian McPherson

[1] The Journal. (2011, August 9), Closing the Loop in Education Technology, http://thejournal.com/Articles/2011/08/09/Closing-the-Loop-in-Education-Technology.aspx?Page=2.

[2] Computeach, (2011, May 10), Computer Training: Learning Online ‘Rising’, http://www.computeach.co.uk/IT-news/IT-Computer-Technology-News/Computer-training-Learning-online-rising/800523443.

[3] The Examiner (2011, April 18), Economy Sparks Rising Demand for Online College Courses, http://www.examiner.com/online-learning-in-washington-dc/new-study-asserts-bad-economy-means-more-demand-for-online-courses.

Smartsims Business Simulations have been used within Corporate Training, Business Seminars and Team Building exercises globally for many years.

Today, close to 70% of corporations are using Business Simulations as part of their repertoire of training methodologies to educate their management and staff at all levels. One of the many reasons for this is that experiential learning programs have very high information retention rates amongst participants. A study in the Training and Development Journal, stated: ” People retain about 25% of what they hear, 45% of what they see and hear, and 70% of what they see, hear and do.

The following are just a few organisations that have taken their Corporate Training to the next level using our state of the art Business Simulations.

MAHLE Industries, have been using our MikesBikes-Advanced Strategic Management Simulation in recent years as part of their Management Development program. Ralf Roeske, Senior Director of Finance, chose the MikesBikes-Advanced Business Simulation as it tied in all of the functional areas of a business, and encouraged a better understanding of how these functions are important in the efficient running of a company as a whole. Through experiential learning, MikesBikes-Advanced provides participants with the unique opportunity to evaluate, plan, and implement strategy as they manage their own company.

MAHLE are the worldwide leader in automotive parts. They supply an extensive range of high quality components and systems to the best known manufacturers of internal combustion engines throughout the world. In North America, MAHLE has 22 locations with more than 5,500 employees.

Illovo Sugar have been using MikesBikes-Advanced for several years, alongside The University of Kwazulu Natal as part of their Leadership Development Program. Participants gain a broader understanding of strategy formulation and team dynamics , as well as polishing their skills in cross-functional management. Participants are required to present a report to Illovo Executives at the completion of the program, detailing their learning, experiences and team dynamics.

Illovo Sugar is a leading, global, low-cost sugar producer and a significant manufacturer of high-value downstream products. The group is Africa’s biggest sugar producer and has extensive agricultural and manufacturing operations in six African countries.

Queensland Rail have used MikesBikes-Advanced in their Emerging Leaders course since 2007 in association with Griffith University with great success. The program is designed to hone participants skills in Leadership for Business, and develop the foundations for understanding the cross-functional nature of modern business. The program begins with a 3 day Strategic Planning Seminar where the participants develop their skills in strategy formulation, while using MikesBikes-Advanced Single-Player. The participants then move on to the Multi-Player where they form Management Teams and compete against one another for the highest Shareholder Value.

With over six and a half thousand staff, six billion dollars in assets and eight thousand kilometres of track, Queensland Rail is a strong and powerful integrated customer and rail infrastructure business.

Repco New Zealand have recently integrated MikesBikes-Intro into their annual National Conference. The conference runs over two days, and MikesBikes-Intro was chosen to assist in training managers to understand the impact of decisions – good and bad – on businesses. MikesBikes-Intro allowed the 150 participants to fully participate in all aspects of running a business. Feedback concluded that the use of MikesBikes-Intro was an engaging and successful way of up-skilling managers in the company.

With sales in excess of $900 million and employing over 4,000 staff across New Zealand and Australia, Repco is the largest reseller and supplier in the automotive parts aftermarket in Australiasia.

Smartsims has worked with dozens of other organisations, including DB Breweries, New Zealand Post, Microsoft and HP for cross-functional training and middle-management up-skilling over the years. We continue to receive consistent feedback praising the effectiveness of our Business simulations  from participants and administrators alike for training purposes.

If you are interested in adding value to your next Corporate Training day, Seminar, or Team Building Exercise, please contact our friendly sales team who can provide you with detailed information on fitting one of our Simulations to your needs.

MikesBikes-Advanced

MikesBikes-Intro

Music2Go Marketing

AdSim Advertising

 

The University of Auckland’s Management Consulting Club (MCC) is holding their 5th Annual MikesBikes Competition over May 2012.

MCC is one of the University of Auckland’s largest on-campus clubs, with its sights set on bridging the gap between the classroom and business. MCC offers workshops and case competitions in the aim of developing member’s presentation, analysis, time management, event management and leadership skills, as well as providing invaluable networking opportunities.

MCC boasts an impressive range of past members, with alumni now working in some of the leading firms in New Zealand and Worldwide, including Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte, KPMG, Deutsche Bank, BCG Consulting, Russell McVeagh, and the New Zealand Treasury to name a few.

Any member of the MCC can enter the competition, with most choosing to form Management teams to compete for the highest Shareholder Value using our MikesBikes-Advanced Strategic Management Simulation. MikesBikes-Advanced gives competitors the unique opportunity of running their own company, while competing against other entrants, within a realistic and dynamic environment.

Each team will be required to make all the key functional decisions of a large manufacturing firm. They will analyse real Market and Financial reports, and collaborate with each other to formulate, implement, and review their own cross-functional strategic plan.

With cash prizes and bragging rights up for grabs, Smartsims expects the competition to be as fierce as ever in this year’s Annual Event. The competition will run over three weeks and conclude on May 20, 2012.

More information on the Management Consulting Club can be found through the links below:

Management Consulting Club Website

2011 MCC Promotional Video

Do you want to make the move toward a course based exclusively around MikesBikes-Advanced? You’re not the first, and for good reason.

MikesBikes has been used in a variety of courses and can be customized to suit the specific requirements of your course. However, designing a course which features a simulation as the core component is becoming the most common implementation for Professors and Course Designers. This is experiential learning at its best.

We’ve received great feedback on this approach, with students letting us know that MikesBikes was the highlight of their qualification.

Setting the Stage

MikesBikes-Advanced provides Instructors with a dynamic and realistic learning environment, allowing their students to put theory into practice, and to develop the knowledge and skills they will require to succeed in the corporate world.

Students take on the role of a management team within MikesBikes-Advanced, and for this reason we suggest treating your students as Managers, with instructors being the Shareholders or Board of Directors who they are responsible to. The team environment and role-playing gives students a sense of purpose, as well as developing their skill set to be held responsible for targets and being held accountable to these.

Students will be assigned to manage a functional area in their team; usually:

1. CEO: Monitors corporate strategy, facilitating the achievement of the key performance indicator (usually Shareholder Value), and the coordination of the management team.
2. Marketing Manager: Responsible for decisions within the Products, Distribution, Branding screens.
3. Factory Manager: Responsible for Manufacturing decisions.
4. Finance Manager: Responsible for Finance decisions.
5. Development Manager: Responsible for Design and Development decisions.

As a team they will be responsible for developing corporate strategy, but each functional manager will be responsible for the decisions falling under their area, and are accountable to the CEO. Team members will be responsible for the following within their own functional area:

• Formulating functional strategy, setting strategic objectives, and monitoring performance within their functional area;
• Annually reporting key information to the CEO and other managers;
• Coordinating with other managers to achieve cross-functional objectives (e.g. a new Development Project will require funding from the Finance Manager).

Course Structure

Single-Player Practice:

The first class will introduce them to the simulation and how the course will run. Students will then practice by using the Single-Player version over the first two to three weeks (for a 10 to 12 week semester) where they will compete individually against a computer opponent, aiming to achieve the highest Shareholder Value in 8 rollovers (decision periods).

Applying for a “Management Position”:

Students will submit their highest Single-Player results, along with a CV/Resume to the Instructor (which could be assessed if you wish), detailing the position they wish to apply for, and the skills/experience they will bring to their team. The Instructor can then form teams and assign positions for the Multi-Player (competitive) version. The teams should be assigned based on an even spread of performance and skills/experience.

Rollovers/Decision Deadlines:

The Multi-Player portion of the course can have anywhere between 6 to 12 rollovers (decision deadlines), depending on the length of your course. One rollover per week is ideal, however this is flexible and can be increased/decreased.

Decision Making:

Managers should be encouraged to formulate the decisions for their area of expertise, and present them to their team for discussion and approval. Once decisions have been finalized, they should be entered ready for the decision deadline.

Once their decisions have been processed at the rollover, each manager will be responsible for using the market and financial reports to track strategy/goals to bring this to their team meeting for discussion. Students are encouraged to meet as often as possible, though this could be virtually, to discuss their decisions and intentions as a team.

Note: Corporate Takeovers can be enabled in courses as the simulation progresses. The students can interact with other teams in their class in the event of a Takeover/Merger.

Board Meetings:

Students can engage in a range of realistic managerial activities, including attending mock “Board Meetings” to provide their Board of Directors or Shareholders with a summary of their strategy, goals, actual performance, and future direction of the company.

Board meetings can be held once during the course, or as regular as you wish. These will give Instructors an opportunity to evaluate and assess student performance (as a team and individually), as well as give students an interactive and realistic simulation of a Board Meeting or Performance Review. Students should attend Board Meetings in full business attire.

The “Board Of Directors” will be made up of the Instructor(s), Teaching Assistants, and can also include guests from time to time (e.g. Other faculty members, past students, business professionals etc).

The CEO should open the meeting by introducing their team and issuing agendas, and also giving a short summary of performance and strategy changes in the recent weeks.

Each Functional Manager will then report on their area for the recent trading years, as well as outline their future plans.

We encourage Instructors to assist students in their decision making as they see fit, while keeping the “Board Meeting” role-play as realistic as possible. Students may request equity injections, or present Corporate Takeover plans to their Instructors in this forum also.

A percentage of student’s final grades can be allocated to performance in Board Meetings.

Corporate Presentations:

Teams are required to present a full Corporate Presentation on their company at the end of the course (usually in front of the class), which details their structure, experiences, high and low points and of course their strategy. This is an excellent reflection exercise, and an interesting end to the course as other Management Teams view the inner workings of their competitors.

Managers in each team should present a summary of their functional area, with their strengths, weaknesses and lessons learned included. A Q&A session will conclude each presentation to give the other companies an opportunity to enquire and critique each other.

A percentage of student’s final grades can be allocated to performance in Corporate Presentations.

Final Team Rankings;

Teams should be ranked at the end of the simulation on Shareholder Value, which represents the wealth obtained by a shareholder in the firm. This is our recommended performance indicator.

Bonus marks can be offered to the top performing teams as an incentive for hard work, which has been found to be very effective in improving performance and determination in courses running a similar structure.

Guest Speakers:

To add an interesting twist for the students, Instructors are encouraged to arrange a series of guest speakers to appear throughout the course.

Speakers can be from any industry or field, and we encourage inviting speakers from differing roles to give the students a broad insight into the functional areas of business.

How do I get started?

The Smartsims Team can assist you in fitting your Course around the MikesBikes-Advanced software from Start to Finish.

Get in touch with us sales@smartsims.com to take the next step toward an exciting and value-added course.

– By Ian McPherson, and credit to Dr. Darl Kolb for his contribution towards the above structure.

Cisco/WebEx have featured three interesting on-demand webinars from leaders in the education field talking about emerging trends in education including social media and

mobile learning. Each contains specific advice and case studies. We hope you find these

sessions helpful and thought provoking.

Simply click on the title that interests you and you’ll be taken to a landing page where you can begin listening.

Blending Traditional and Online Learning: 101 Best Practices for Getting Started

This webinar details the shift in classroom environments toward hybrid learning, blending both traditional brick-and-mortar learning environments with online learning.

Hybrid models offer a powerful mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning styles, enabling students to master core content online while deepening critical thinking, problem solving and application of content mastery in a face-to-face setting.

This presentation, presented by Aventa Learning/K12, Inc. in partnership with the Santa Clara County of Education, will offer real-world examples of how schools can successfully incorporate a hybrid model

Watch Now

Launching a Mobile Learning Program: What You Need to Know

Today’s students are connected, and now it’s time to connect them to the classroom. Embracing of new learning programs using devices like Netbooks and iPads can increase student engagement, enthusiasm, and reduce textbook costs.

This webinar features Lake Tahoe Unified School District’s journey to capitalize on low cost Netbooks, and introduce them to the learning environment.

Watch Now

Beyond the Classroom; Making Moble and Social Learning Work in Schools

This webinar is targeted toward Technology and Curriculum staff interested in rolling out new online tools, and embracing collaborative learning safely.

Education-tech visionary Kevin Honeycutt and the Atlanta Independent School District give you real-world suggestions and cautions from a district that serves as a technology integration demonstration site for Texas. There are also technical tips for ensuring that your network is prepared for new learning opportunities, and ideas for engaging students, involving teachers, and getting buy-in from administrators and boards

Watch Now

Source: http://blogs.cisco.com, with editing by Ian McPherson

The National Business Olympiad (NBO) is being conducted once again by Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) Confluence in association with Smartsims India (iInteract Learning Solutions) across India this year.

After the success of NBO 2010 which was conducted in 17 cities, NBO 2011 is being planned for 70+ cities across India using MikesBikes-Advanced, with a total prize pool of for a grand prize of Rs 1,025,000.

NBO is a Business Simulation Competition for Corporate Executives and Students, conducted to test their Knowledge, Skills, Decision Making and Business Acumen in areas of Finance, Marketing, Operations and R&D.

Structure

Stage I: Competitions

Competitions will be held across the country in the months of January – November 2011. The winners will move onto the Grand–Final Prelims that will be held in November, 2011 at IIM Ahmedabad.

Stage II: Grand–Final Prelims

300+ winning teams from city competitions will compete for a place in the Grand Final.

Stage III: Grand-Final

The Top 8 performers from the Grand-Final Prelims will compete for the winning title, earning bragging rights, and generous prize money!

1st Prize : INR 100,000
2nd Prize : INR 25,000

The Grand Final will be held at IIM Ahmedabad Campus during Confluence 2011, their Flagship Business Summit conducted annually since 1998.

Confluence hosts events from all the standard arenas of Management – Finance, Marketing, Strategy, Entrepreneurship and IT and Operations. Many distinguished speakers and industry leaders share their knowledge, and the event provides a platform to budding managers to apply their skills in various games and events organized during the meet, including the MikesBikes competition.

MikesBikes-Advanced is a Strategic Management Simulation by Smartsims Business Simulations. MikesBikes gives students the unique opportunity of running their own company, while competing against other students, within a realistic and dynamic environment.

Students form the management team of their own Bicycle Manufacturing Company, making all the key functional decisions. They will analyze real Market and Financial reports, and collaborate with each other to formulate, implement, and review their own cross-functional strategic plan.

– Ian McPherson

Smartsims has expanded its Online presence, and you can now find us on Facebook!

Click the above “Find us on Facebook” Link and make sure you hit “Like” to receive updates, useful links and also hints and tips!

Students:

• Benefit from our Facebook discussion board. Share your experiences and tips with students using our Simulations from around the world.
• Have an idea? Share your comments and ideas and on our Wall. You may just get what you wish for!
• Participate in our monthly opinion Polls.

Instructors:

• Connect with other Instructors using our Simulations from around the world to share experiences and teaching techniques.
• Connect with your students and join in on discussions.
• Share our page with Colleagues who want more info on Simulation-based learning.

Bill Clinton once said, “in today’s knowledge-based economy, what you earn depends on what you learn”[1]. Educational institutions today face the problem of finding alternatives to teaching pure theory or having to use generic business case studies. The established fact is that “students learn more effectively if they are actively involved in the learning process; are given feedback on their performance; and are allowed to repeat and practice so that they can ‘discover’ concepts for themselves”[2].

The use of business simulations brings the real-world closer to students by allowing students to experience management and strategy in-action;experiential learning at it’s best.

Simulation Interaction

Simulations provide students with the opportunity to interact with the different business functions, access real market and financial reports, and use these to make informed decisions with immediate feedback.

Note: Smartsims are the only simulations to offer both a Single-Player (practice) version and an Offline Mode within our Multi-Player (competitive) version. These allow students to trial different strategies, being able to move back and forth through decision periods to view the affect of their decisions on specific functions, and the company as a whole.

Group Interaction

The team element of a simulation allows students to develop the skills required to work effectively in a small management team. They will develop the skills required to formulate strategy, set goals and come to agreement on decisions.

“One must learn by doing the thing, for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try” (Sophocles 406 BC)

– Danny Master

References:
1.    Clinton, B. Level 11 Mentoring.
2.    Edmonds, D (1994). Weighing the Pros & Cons of Simulator Training, Computer-Based Training & Computer Testing & Assessment (PC Maritime Ltd).