How to use business simulations on business courses?

How to solve the problem of almost every business studies teacher? How to let their students apply knowledge in practice? Business simulations might become useful here.

how to use simulation on business courses

Young people have the wrong idea of business

Starting a business is not for everyone. School can help in evaluating which student is predisposed to act as an entrepreneur. It should also use all possible tools for practical teaching how to set up and run a business. Revas Business Simulations Games are one such tools that can be used during the lessons of introduction to entrepreneurship.

A lot of students, asked what they think when they see the word “business”, try listing at once: a cool car, office, business meetings, business trips, holidays on a yacht etc. However, it is actually completely different – in the initial stage of running a business there is a lot of work, little free time, unstable revenues and often no profit. And those who were not prepared for it, most often give up and close their dream business.

Meanwhile, business curriculum in the majority of schools focuses only on theory. Practicing business at school usually comes down analyzing several case studies. However, there are very few learning by doing tools that teachers can use.

That is where Revas Business Simulations Games, a computer software for learning business and economics, can be useful.

How does it work?

The general idea is that students are divided into teams in which they make decisions in a competitive environment. All teams compete directly with one another. Their task is to win the customers by adjusting their strategy in terms of, for example, price and quality.

All decisions are divided into 12 rounds (months). This cycle represents the first, full year of company’s operation on the market (they see how difficult it is for the company to survive!). After every round, teams are ranked based on a scorecard and receive feedback on all their decisions. What is important is that students learn the business consequences of their actions shortly after decisions are made.

The scorecard presents various aspects of business activity – financial result, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, company development and debt ratio. Thanks to this, students start to realize that running a business is not only about maximizing profits but taking care of all business aspects.

Simulations give students the opportunity to have a holistic view of business, thanks to which they better understand the principles of the company and market mechanisms, and can experiment with business strategies in a secure, virtual environment. When students use the simulation during a business course, they play the role of company managers and go through a decision-making process.

What do teachers and students think?

“We loved the opportunity to apply our business knowledge in a real world context. By analyzing our results from previous rounds, we have learned to maximize our profits as well as how to take care of customer and employee satisfaction. It was great how realistic the simulation was and how many variables were taken into account.” says Bernhard Zihla, student at Frankfurt International School

“I think Revas Business Simulation Games gives a fantastic opportunity for youngsters to apply all the concepts that they are learning or have learnt in their classrooms. We as teachers talk about real life situations and try to give students a feel through case studies. This, however, is way beyond any of that! My students’ understanding of the concepts has improved so much” says Dhanya Seshan, an IBDP Business Management Facilitator at International School of Budapest

Check out the business simulations.

Feel free to click the button below to discover more about our business simulations, or reach out to us. We will be delighted to answer all of your questions.

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Data publikacji

04/05/2023

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