STRATEGY
Creating the Business Simulation Hub While developing the first simulation, I realised there were no good channels for publishing business simulations. Consequently, even if a professor spent time, and their institution invested money in creating an interactive learning experience, there was no easy way to market it to the target audience of professors around the world. During the summer of 2021, I began to wonder how one might create a web portal that provided access to business simulations. Not long thereafter, I came across the e-commerce platform Shopify, which presented a solution to my technical problem. By the evening of the same day, I had a first version of the website up and running. The portal I created, the Business Simulation Hub (https://bsimhub.com) is a simple directory of business simulations that seeks to bridge the gap between the developers of online learning tools and the teachers at business schools who want to implement them in the classroom. The website now lists more than 150 different business simulations in topics from strategy and marketing to leadership and negotiation. As a result of the features available with Shopify, I was able to equip the site with search and filtering tools which enable teachers to identify suitable products for any course or training module. Gathering all the information regarding various simulations turned out to be the greatest challenge in creating the portal. I started by determining the companies to include and accumulated the product details over the autumn. The website has a link to an online form where any company or professor can request their simulations be added to the website. My hope is that building more comprehensive coverage of simulations on specific topics, such as sustainability and strategy, will develop the portal into a valuable resource for teachers. My goal is for as many business schools as possible to include links to Business Simulation Hub in their pedagogical resources.
I finalised the simulation shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic, but it soon felt as if it had been made for Zoom-based teaching. The ease of creating a browser- based business simulation, and the positive feedback from students across the board, convinced me that these kinds of tools might eventually become as central to delivering a comprehensive MBA education as case studies are today. I am currently in the process of launching my second simulation game, The Agile Quest. This has a strong story component, akin to role-playing games. The simulation stands in for a traditional case study with a set of 10 sequential scenarios. Each scenario relates to a specific business problem or decision and prompts the participant to choose what they consider to be the most appropriate response from three to five alternatives. The game focuses on the process of agile transformation, and the challenges that established companies face in adapting their culture and structure to the digital age. It is free to engage with and would take students around 15-25 minutes to complete in the classroom. I have run the simulation with several students in both an online and physical learning environment, and it seems to work well in both as a more engaging alternative to the traditional case study approach to teaching.
There are now at least 150 different virtual exercises available for use in business school teaching
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Ambition | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
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