Total Enterprise Simulation Learning Compared To Traditional Learning in the Business Policy Course

Abstract

This paper reports a study that examined the relationship between total enterprise simulation learning and learning developed in traditional components of the undergraduate business policy course. Also examined were the relation-ships between learning and simulation performance, be-tween learning and forecast accuracy, and between simula-tion performance and forecast accuracy. Learning was measured using researcher-developed tests administered at the beginning, after the completion of traditional compo-nents (theory and cases), and after the simulation-only components of the courses. Significant learning was found for both the traditional and the simulation components of the sections studied. There was no relationship found be-tween simulation learning and simulation performance or for simulation learning and forecast accuracy. Inconsistent results were found regarding simulation performance and forecast accuracy. These results suggest that the simulation effectively complements traditional approaches to the policy course and that forecast accuracy may be a proxy for simu-lation performance.