Probably now more than ever, companies require their new recruits to have experience in business decision making. As this prerequisite might prove difficult to comply for higher-education recent graduates, business simulations can come in handy to provide students with experience in the complexities, uncertainties, and ambiguities of decision making in an intricate business world even before entering the working life.
It is only natural that educators would want their students to be able to apply what they learned in class to real-life business scenarios. Business simulations take this burden off the shoulders of prospect employers, letting students use their theoretical knowledge and analytical skills and learn and practice decision-making skills in a realistic, dynamic and competitive, yet risk-free environment.
Another benefit of incorporating business simulations in the classroom is providing the students with a safe space to experiment with solving complex problems. This skill, which is in high demand by employers, is most likely to develop by continuous practice and simulations games are the logical way of doing so.
By using simulation games, participants also experience another core element of real life: the dynamics of teamwork and human interaction in a business framework. Cesim business simulations allow participants within the same team to collaborate towards a common objective, and to respond to the actions of competing teams conformed by their class peers. A Cesim simulation is a game after all, and the competition element is an essential part of the experience that students get by using our simulations.
Cesim business simulation games also work in tandem with traditional business case studies. Even if the conventional way of introducing business students to the real world has been the use of case studies, these offer only a static snapshot that cannot react to any input provided by the students. Nonetheless, case studies are used by Cesim simulations as a starting-point that describes the scenario that participants will be facing.
Moreover, business simulations can provide participants with benefits even after they have left the classrooms and joined the business world. In fact, as an experiential learning exercise, simulations greatly enhance student knowledge learning and retention. Simulation participants integrate key concepts into their cognitive structure, and this interiorization translates in students being more likely to apply what they learned in the classroom and have practiced in a business simulation once they are faced with a real-life business situation.
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* This blog post is based on a study by Prof. Raghava R. Gundala (University of Wisconsin-Stout, Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business). You can read the full paper here.