New training tool for your classroom: Microsimulations for Business Education
What are the Microsimulations?
Microsimulations are optional skill-and-drill exercises that students can use within a Marketplace® Live Simulation. Each exercise takes between 10 to 25 minutes to complete.
What is the purpose of the Microsimulations?
Over the years, our simulations have been able to provide us with valuable insight regarding the difficulties that students are having in mastering critical business skills such as customer value creation, resource management, evidence-based decision-making, operations management, strategic thinking, and financial accounting. To address these difficult business issues, we are creating a series of Microsimulations that will allow your students to explore these difficult business concepts at a more fundamental level.
The first three Microsimulations focus on value creation in brand design, profitability analysis to improve resource allocation, and production capacity planning in running the factory. And the fourth Microsimulation focuses on the principles of accounting.
How are the Microsimulations structured?
The Microsimulations have a highly visual and interactive format. They begin with an animated lecture that explains the principles. Students are then given an interactive challenge that allows them to practice the lessons to be learned.
The exercises are designed to be short, game-like, and fun. They take a complicated part of the simulation—a challenging business concept— and break it down into the basics of what the student needs to understand and do.
The skill and drill exercises can be played multiple times until the student gets a 100% on the score. The scores are not currently designed for assessment or grading, but rather to motivate students to keep trying until they understand the concept and can get it right.
Students can do these exercises on their own or within their team.
We have seen positive results in student thinking and decision-making in early classroom tests of the Microsimulations.
How do I preview the Microsimulations?
To access the samples, click the link below, sign in as an instructor and then pick a Microsimulation you’d like to preview.
How do I include Microsimulations in my Marketplace Live game?
You will need to check a check box labeled as “Add Microsimulations” in the first screen when you are designing your game. The check box will appear right below the option to add chapters from our online textbook.
How will my students access the Microsimulations?
Students will see hyperlinks to the Microsimulations when they reach a quarter of the game that is relevant to the microsimulation.
Timing and availability:
If you decide to include the Microsimulations in your game (by clicking the check box during game design), each Microsimulation will become available to your students in the quarter where it is most relevant for the particular simulation you are using.
For instance, the Product Design Microsimulation will appear in the quarter in which students can first design brands. The Production Scheduling Microsimulation will appear in the quarter in which they can start scheduling production. The Profitability Analysis Microsimulation will be available in Quarter 4 for 4-quarter games, in Quarter 5 for 6-quarter games, and in Quarter 6 for all other games.
The Production scheduling Microsimulation will not appear for games that do not contain the manufacturing module (marketing simulations).
| Product Design | Production Scheduling | Profitability Analysis | Fundamentals of Accounting | |
| Introduction to Marketing | Q2 | N/A | Q5 | N/A |
| Strategic Marketing | Q2 | N/A | Q6 | N/A |
| Advanced Strategic Marketing | Q2 | N/A | Q6 | N/A |
| Business Fundamentals | Q1 | Q2 | Q4 | Q3 |
| Introduction to Business and Strategy | Q1 | Q2 | Q5 | Q3 |
| Venture Strategy | Q1 | Q2 | Q5 | Q3 |
| Strategic Management | Q1 | Q2 | Q5 | Q3 |
| Conscious Capitalism | Q1 | Q2 | Q5 | Q3 |
| Strategic E-Commerce | Q1 | Q2 | Q5 | Q3 |
| Strategy and Business Policy | Q1 | Q2 | Q5 | Q3 |
| Business Management | Q2 | Q3 | Q6 | Q4 |
| Integrated Business Management | Q2 | Q3 | Q6 | Q4 |
| Extended Integrated Business Management | Q2 | Q3 | Q6 | Q4 |
| Strategic Corporate Management | Q2 | Q3 | Q6 | Q4 |
| Extended Strategic Corporate Management | Q2 | Q3 | Q6 | Q4 |
| International Corporate Management | Q2 | Q3 | Q6 | Q4 |
| Advanced Strategic Corporate Management | Q2 | Q3 | Q6 | Q4 |
| Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management | Q1 | Q1 | Q4 | Q2 |
| Supply Chain and Channel Management | Q1 | Q2 | Q5 | Q2 |
Other things you may need to know:
– Each Microsimulation stores student decisions as (s)he progresses through the exercise. Decisions are saved automatically anytime a student submits an answer. If a student exits the Microsimulation and returns to it later, (s)he will resume where (s)he left off.
– Students progress through the Microsimulation in sequence – they can’t skip forward without viewing all previous slides. However, they can come back to revise their answers as many times as they wish. The Microsimulations are designed to help anyone (who is willing to invest the effort) to work through the assignment until they provide all the answers correctly.
– Your students can start over and complete each Microsimulation as many times as they wish.
We have two new Microsimulations on Internet Marketing
For more information, please contact the support team at [email protected].