In this video, Professor Darl Kolb discusses the unique way he has designed his course and complementary simulation-based activities to achieve amazing learning outcomes for his students.
Kolb is the Professor of Connectivity at the University of Auckland. His courses have always received high student ratings, praise from his faculty and have earned him multiple teaching awards. At the core of his courses for over 15 years has been the MikesBikes Business Simulation. Kolb has used this Strategic Management Simulation for over 15 years, in both his Undergraduate Course and his Masters of Business (MBA) Course.
MikesBikes is a means of introducing students to business concepts; such as strategy formulation, decision-making and teamwork. When used in a Capstone Course the simulation enables students to bring together all the theory from their business degree into a single experiential learning activity. To not only understand the individual functions of business, but to also see the connectedness and interaction of these functions. Over the years Kolb continues to receive feedback from students that their MikesBikes experience has not only provided them with workforce readiness, but gives them the leading edge in job interviews.
Kolb has designed his courses to create the most a realistic business environment he can for his students. Students are first tasked with writing their MikesBikes Résumé to apply for a position in their management team. This is done using a combination of their Single-Player (practice version) performance and their personal skills, experience and abilities. Based on their résumés, students are put into teams and assigned roles; Marketing Manager, Operations Manager, Finance Manager, R&D Manager and CEO.
The student teams then work together to conduct a market and company analysis, formulate strategy and implement their decisions prior to the first decision deadline (Multi-Player rollover). After each rollover, the results are displayed and discussed in class, giving students time to meet and reflect on their decisions.
Over the length of the course students participate in mock board meetings and management team presentations. These complementary activities aim to not only help add reality to this experience, but to also give students genuine confidence and real-world skills to take into the workplace.
For Kolb, and hundreds of other instructors, the MikesBikes Business Simulation has proven to be a great foundation for students at all course levels.
Credit: Drexel University, LeBow School of Business
Associate Clinical Professor Jodi Cataline uses MikesBikes simulations to teach her freshmen students the foundations of business. Teaching at Drexel University, she found that business simulations improved the quality teaching through its unique hands-on approach.
Jodi describes how the simulations allow her to move beyond purely academic forms of business education. She extracts terminology and concepts from her teaching material and challenges her students to use it in the MikesBikes simulation.
Jodi and her freshmen cohort demonstrate how Drexel’s business faculty benefit from MikesBikes. Drexel students are prepared and confident to enter the workforce after completing the MikesBikes simulation.
High Schools, Community Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania are being pressured to prove that their school curriculum is improving overall student knowledge, retention rate and employability.
Studies show that business simulations provide students with experiential, reflective, action-oriented and discursive learning (Hoover et al., 2001), and Drexel University is a fantastic example of a school that has seen outstanding results after integrating a Smartsims business simulation game into their curriculum.
The world is continually becoming smaller, and today’s students face the very real challenge of competing for jobs in a global marketplace where languages, culture and hands-on experience are critical to a successful job application. Many business students in Boston and other business school hubs across the United States find it difficult to secure a job after obtaining their degree. So what is the best way to bridge the gap between college and the global workplace? Business simulations can help.
Business simulation games encourage active learning, which entails any type of learning where participants are behaviorally and cognitively active and involved. Simulations fill a very deep void that is faced by educational institutions globally, namely being able to provide real experience to prepare students to enter the workforce. They fill this void by complementing theoretical education with a dynamic, reactive, risk-free learning environment for students to engage in and gain confidence in practical business problem solving skills.
Several studies show that experiential learning can significantly improve student outcomes, including not only employability, but also interaction between students (and faculty), cooperation between educational institutions and grades. A 2014 meta analysis in Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning found strong support for the relationship between experiential learning exercises and learning outcomes. Simulations also create more enjoyable and engaging course content.
All professors are naturally concerned about the career prospects of their graduating class. One of the key predictors of success in the workplace is confidence. A 2012 study by the University of Melbourne drawing upon more than 100 interviews with professional staff in large corporates based in Melbourne, New York and Toronto found a strong correlation between confidence and occupational success. Confidence is not something that can be taught, but can only be gained through experience. Professor Darl Kolb of the University of Auckland has been using the MikesBikes Advanced simulation for over 15 years and reports that the confidence acquired by students through using the simulation consistently translates into job interview and workplace success. Hear more about his experience in the video below.
There are many reasons why Smartsims Business Simulations help set students up for post-graduation success. Below are seven of them.
1. Risk-Free Learning
Business strategy games are an excellent way to practice real-world business decision-making skills in a risk-free simulated learning environment. In a simulation, students are encouraged to try out different strategies, observe the results, monitor market fluctuations and then pivot their direction, all without real-life repercussions. They are thus able to navigate the landscape of a real company (which could be based anywhere in the world) in a safe environment.
2. Multiplayer Environment
In online business simulation games, students form the management team of a virtual company that competes against other student-run companies in the same market for a slice of the consumer pie. These teams could potentially be formed anywhere in the world to improve cross-campus cooperation, create exciting competitions between partner universities and get students ready to compete in any market, anywhere.
3. Interactive Gameplay
Another appeal of business simulations is the real-time feedback they offer on any decision. This not only makes the learning experience far more involved, but also helps students practice a range of different strategies in a short period of time and discover what works best.
4. Accelerated Performance Through Experiential Learning
Experiential learning has been shown to be more effective than other kinds of training, as shown in the meta analysis cited above. Partly this is because simulations allow students to learn by experiencing the consequences of their actions and repeating different strategies to determine different outcomes.
5. Full Immersion
In business management games, students go one step further towards full immersion since their decisions truly determine the fate of the company and they get to experience real loss or gain. Not only does this give students a greater sense of purpose, but it also encourages them to think far more carefully about their actions when they don’t only exist in theory.
6. Rewards!
With business simulation games, students experience rewards in multiple ways (e.g. through amazing rankings on the leaderboard or a market leader position for shareholder value). The most valuable rewards, however, are improved decision making skills, teamwork and proactive responsiveness – all within the context of the economy of their choosing.
7. Employability Focus
Simulations are designed with an employability focus that aims to develop career skills, including how to develop proposals, work in teams, solve problems and resolve conflicts. The ultimate objective is equipping students with the skills to achieve workplace success and obtain a job placement in the country of their choosing. That’s an outcome we can all get on board with!
Designing a course requires professionals, topic experts, and a deep understanding of students’ needs. The long and short of it – course design takes time. Therefore, we are creating a series of articles on how select Smartsims clients employ business simulations to engage their students.
This article follows Professor Darl Kolb of the University of Auckland. Having utilized MikesBikes Advanced in both his undergraduate and post-graduate courses, Professor Kolb’s students often exclaim this is the highlight of their degree.
Professor Kolb truly embraces the concept of experiential learning by utilizing course activities which reflect real-world situations managers of a company may experience. Through role-play students adopt roles within a ‘management team’. Instructors will take up the role of ‘shareholders’ or ‘board of directors’ who the students are responsible to. Deeply ingrained within the course content, the simulation is entirely relevant to the student’s and their futures. This relevance inherent within the simulation is key to keeping the students engaged. Professor Kolb finds this metaphore also provides students a sense of purpose and develops their skills for real-life business situations.
How is the simulation structured in the course?
“We have put it right at the centre of the design so it begins early on and runs on throughout the course so there is no seperation, it is intertwined … Students are getting used to the simulation just as they are getting used to the course.”
– Professor Darl Kolb
Generally MikesBikes Advanced features two key phases; Single-Player and Multi-Player. The Single-Player practice round has students competing against a computer opponent where they can control moving back and forth between decision periods (which we term “rollovers”). This usually occurs over a two to three week period. Students then move onto the Multi-Player competition where student teams will be competing against each other for highest Shareholder Value.
Professor Kolb’s course is structured according to the following key events:
Single-Player practice phase
Resume Activity
Multi-Player competition phase
Reflections
Board Meetings
Group presentations
Final Shareholder Value
Single-Player Phase
“Students play the Single-Player to get orientated [with the simulation] just as if they were getting work experience to get this executive role we are going to give them.”
– Professor Darl Kolb
Professor Kolb introduces the course and the simulation together, ingraining into students that theory goes hand-in-hand with real-life business situations. Providing students with access to the Single-Player allows students to experience the simulation before they begin their simulation associated assignments.
Professor Kolb introduces the simulation to students in the first class and covers how the course will run. Outside of class time students will use the Single-Player for the first week aiming to gain the highest Shareholder Value they possibly can within a set number of rollovers (six to eight). Student’s best result in the Single-Player is included with their resume.
Resume Activity
Each student must submit a brief resume which includes past qualifications and/or experience which may be relevant to a position in the Management Team of their MikesBikes company, as well as their best Single-Player result. Professor Kolb then uses this information to assign students into teams of five, with an objective of splitting up those who performed well in the simulation and/or who bring previous business experience/qualifications. As part of this, Professor Kolb also assigns each student the role of either: CEO, Marketing Manager, Operations Manager, Finance Manager or Innovation Manager for their team (or ‘firm’). This application process helps students to develop the skills required to construct a resume and apply for a specific role they desire, often students will apply to particular roles they envisage for themselves after having completed their course.
Multi-Player Phase
“When their company begins performing we give them three practice rounds so they get to see the full MikeBikes-Advanced experience but they also get to restart and have another go in a different market. We have this stage to help students to come to grips with the complexity and the depth of the simulation.”
– Professor Darl Kolb
For the duration of the course, Professor Darl Kolb will continue with tying the simulation into the content he teaches. As a live case study, MikesBikes-Advanced provides him with a lot of opportunities to address specific events in the simulation by applying theory he chooses to present in class. With the simulation being applicable to each and every student, students find this content engaging and relevant.
Multi-Player Practice Round
The Multi-Player begins with four practice rollovers which occur weekly. This gives students an opportunity to familiarize themselves with their role and the team’s dynamics. It also enables students to, this course design starts students with a few practice rounds of the simulation. Letting students test strategies, make mistakes and learn from these. Students are bound to make mistakes and that is the nature of learning. This lets students make mistakes without affecting their grades later on. After the practice rollovers have been completed, the simulation then resets ready for students to begin with the real competition.
Multi-Player Competitive Round
The simulation is then reset ready for students to begin the real competition. Further rollovers are processed weekly. Over this phase Professor Kolb uses the activities below to facilitate real-world learning outcomes.
Reflections
At certain points throughout the course Professor Kolb assigns reflective exercises for students to complete. The most intense exercise for the individual students are the reflective essays; they require a combination of theory, personal experiences, introspection, and self-evaluation. Students are then graded upon their ability to describe their situations, their insight, and their ability to combine this with theory.
Board Meetings
Mid-simulation students engage in mock board meetings, where the Management Team (students in each group) must present to their board of directors (two or three faculty members). Students summarize their strategy, goals, and performance. Board members challenge students on the reasoning behind their decisions and remind them of their responsibilities to shareholders in future decision periods. This is potentially an activity which students can be graded on.
Group Presentations
After the final rollover each Management Team presents their simulation journey to the class. This is an opportunity to reflect on what went well, what mistakes were made, what they would they have done differently and what their learning outcomes have been.
Final Shareholder Value
Teams are ranked at the end of the simulation based on their Shareholder value. This is Smartsims’ recommended key performance indicator.
How does Professor Kolb grade the simulation?
Professor Kolb’s course content focuses on managing people and organizations. As such, although students are graded on final shareholder value, the majority of their course grade is assigned to reflections, board meetings and group presentations as mentioned above.
Is this the only way to design a course with MikesBikes Advanced?
Far from it! This is only one article in a series which explains various different ways other instructors are including the simulation within their business courses. There are multiple ways on how to incorporate a simulation beyond this too! The options are limitless.
Want to get started incorporating the simulation into your course design? Want to learn more? The Smartsims Team have years of experience and are here to help. Click here to talk to them about your course and how you would like to implement MikesBikes.
As a professor well-versed in experiential learning and business simulations, Dr Darl Kolb has used MikesBikes in both his undergraduate and post-graduate management courses. Continue reading Experiential Learning with Dr Darl Kolb→