Year: 2013
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Although business simulations are widely used in management education, there is no consensus on optimising their application. Our research explores the use of business simulations as a dimension of a blended learning pedagogic approach for management education. Accepting that few best-practice prescriptive models for the design and implementation of simulations in this context have been presented, and that there is little contemporary empirical evidence for the claims made by proponents of such models, we address the lacuna by considering business student perspectives on the use of simulations. Data was gathered from a source of 487 campus-based students, gathered over a three year period. We then intersect the available data with espoused positive outcomes made by the authors of a prescriptive model. We find the model to be essentially robust and offer evidence to support this position. In so doing we provide one of the few empirically based studies to support claims made by proponents of simulations in management education. We follow with suggestions for further research into the employability outcomes of simulation based training, based on the results of our study. The research should prove valuable for those with an academic interest in the use of simulations, either as a blended learning dimension or as a stand-alone business education activity. Further, the findings contribute to the academic debate surrounding the use and efficacy of simulation-based training within business and management education.
Authors: Jason Evans, Clive Kerridge, Mark Loon
Institution: University of Gloucestershire
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2223033933