Interview with Alejandro Flores, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management, Vice Dean of Management at the Faculty of Business Administration, and member of the Research Center at Universidad del Pacífico (Lima, Peru) on the use of Cesim Simulations and Cesim AI, our generative AI assistant, in his courses.
Subtitles available (CC)
Access a demo version
Get to know the Cesim AI assistant
Interview transcription
What is your experience using Cesim Business Simulations?
For the past 8 years, I've been using Cesim simulation games, primarily as a complement to teaching activities. We use Cesim as a very powerful support tool to develop students' decision-making skills. But obviously, that decision-making capacity must be accompanied by theory and conceptual frameworks that we develop. So, once the student understands that conceptual sea, we invite them to participate in the simulation. The simulation has actually provided us with a very significant contribution in understanding the concept of strategy, the concept of competitive advantage, the concept of how to achieve an advantageous position in a sector. Because obviously the groups that are formed, they have a very strong, competitive dynamic. It's something that Cesim does very well, bringing to the table elements that, possibly, can't be observed in a written case. So, what have we found in this simulated reality? We've found the space so that the student knows how to react, understands the concept that they are not alone in the market but that there are others competing and are looking for the same thing as us. Therefore, that concept of a zero-sum game becomes a reality. Because what I lose, someone else has won. Because they're doing something better than us. In that sense, the dynamic that occurs in the course, in the classroom, is very competitive. Fundamentally, it's about giving the student the opportunity to know that their proposals, their hypotheses about how the market will respond, can be true or false. And this is in a context where, if there are four or five groups working and pursuing the same market, we're going to realize that it's going to demand more of us. And then, when it demands more of us, we have to turn to theory. So, there's nothing more practical than a good theory, ultimately. If I don't know the theory, I can plug in any data and obviously everything will go wrong. So, what do we do? We monitor and track the progress of their decisions, so that we can monitor with the student how their decisions are improving or how the market is changing as well.
How do simulations affect your teaching methods and student engagement?
I've always wanted the student to develop their skills. An undergraduate student in Peru, for example, has a 5-year curriculum, and can only go on an internship in the fourth year. So, the question I asked myself was: “How does a student learn theory in 4 years and not do anything practical?” So, we made some effort to play games. So, we used cases, we used participation in role-playing, but never facing how the environment, the competition, the conditions can affect. So, we didn't have that dynamic until we got into simulations and found in Cesim that space and that support, that partner, we would say, that helped us a lot to cover that part. Moving from a static model, of a case, to a dynamic model, first, required a lot of understanding of the simulation. And the main idea from the point of view of what changes: It changes the student's mindset. In particular, I think it allows you to integrate many of the concepts that you've seen throughout your degree. The course I'm teaching is a mid-degree course. We're starting year three, or the second part of year three, in a 5-year degree. We're starting year three, or the second part of year three. We're talking about a sixth or seventh cycle of 10 cycles. So, at that level, the student has already taken many isolated, related subjects, but hasn't been able to integrate them. At no point have they had the opportunity to say: "Hey, let's put all these pieces together. I'm halfway through my degree. Let's see if what I'm studying is correct or not." So, students end up falling even more in love with their career, because they realize they are capable of outperforming the competition, or they realize that their environment is affecting them too much.
How do you integrate simulations into your course content?
Based on the basic structure of the 14-week course, we use 12 weeks for decision-making, and we incorporate the theoretical topics first, and then we move forward with the simulation. Yes, we align much of the course content with what the simulation gives me. That is, the simulation doesn't define the course for me. What defines the course is the curriculum, the subject matter, and then from there, as I say, we go, incorporating elements for the student to reflect on.
What's been your experience using Cesim's artificial intelligence assistant?
We've been using it because, when there are situations where students don't know what to do, we ask it: "for such a company, for such a group, for such a color, on such a date, what mistakes have they made?" And the artificial intelligence assistant identifies where the error areas are. And you can also tell it: "What could be a possible solution for the group?" This is something that isn't told to the student, but that, as a teacher, I know. So, I guide them so that they recognize the mistake and they can get back on track, let's say, of growth, of expansion. I think artificial intelligence in the simulation is interesting as a support for educators so that they have the freedom to know where to guide the student in their learning process. I have asked, for example, to the artificial intelligence assistant what are the basic concepts that the student should have to address at this stage. That is, if you want to grow, if you want to enter another technology, that's when I ask artificial intelligence to enlighten me, fundamentally as a complement.
In which tasks does Cesim's AI assistant excel?
Some students are enthusiastic, other students take it well, and others are afraid of it. So, because they are afraid, they don't go in, and by not going in, they are left behind. And since they have to make decisions on many issues, not just set the price, not just estimate demand, not just look at installed capacity, but how do you analyze the competition's data? These students may not enter the simulation system, and then they fall behind. And that's where AI has helped me say: "If this is what's happening, what can you recommend to encourage students to start improving?" I personally find Cesim stimulating. The student may have a certain aversion to fear, to risk, or they have a lot of data and don't know where to start, or when they took the basic courses, for example, finance or accounting, they didn't learn them well. Then you realize what might be going wrong. I think it can, as I mentioned, help establish what knowledge the student should have, at least refresh a subject area. After three simulation rounds, there's already a trend, we can already see a trend. And if by the fifth run the same trend continues, I can ask the artificial intelligence: "What is this company suffering from?" It might be, for example, for a company, let’s say: "you don't have enough talent." So, you have to go out and find someone, like for example, I have to go out and find an operations manager because production is bad. Or because I have a very high employee turnover, and therefore I have to look for someone in human resources. Or because all the products I've launched aren't selling, then I need a strategist, someone in marketing. So, that's where I've used Cesim AI, especially to say: "What recommendations could you give in terms of knowledge for the student who will be making decisions in the next period that are important?" So, yes, I do think it helps me to talk about such topics, and this is where the student should strengthen their learning, their review of topics.
What would you recommend to educators interested in using Cesim Simulations?
Well, first of all, let them lose their apprehension. There's online support, there's support that helps you with a real-time video conference, synchronous, we would say, telling you how to do it, how to act, how to program the simulation. So, that's where I say you have to lose your apprehensions. Invite teachers to overcome that concern. Once you more or less understand how the simulation works, I would recommend that teachers first think about the course in which they want to use it, and how they want to use it. Maybe, since the simulation is so flexible, I can consider, I'm only going to play three rounds of testing and three rounds of decision for just one specific topic. How, for example, the competition reacts to price. So you could be talking about microeconomics, elasticity, price, and I want to strengthen that topic alone. That's viable. I can strengthen the human resources topic because of the turnover issue and if I raise the price, too. But perhaps the simulation, because of its comprehensive nature, that is, the person who runs a Cesim simulation is running a company in all its dimensions. Personally, I use it as a support topic for an entire strategy curriculum. So, it does help me a lot. And thirdly, I would say that they should give the student a lot of feedback. The point is this: that the student isn't afraid of the simulation, that they aren't afraid of their decisions. That is, "I don't know which key I'm going to press." Don't worry, that's not a problem. The problem is that you think about how you want to beat the competition. So, that's why we use these practice rounds to lower the tension level, so the student can practice, get in and start mastering the simulation. I would say that feedback is essential. so that the teacher is close to the student. It's not just about connecting the simulation and letting the students play and then finally seeing the results. Personally, I think it's possible to gain more from the student when you give feedback and the student says: "But why?" and you explain, and then the student comes to their senses and understands what's happening.
