An Assessment of Simulation Usage in Management Accounting Courses

Studies of simulation usage normally involve respondents who use different simulations. This paper presents the results of a survey of the users of the same simulation, The Management/Accounting Simulation. One objective of the study wag to determine the degree of variation in the administration of the simulation among the various users. The findings regarding variation in various aspects of administration and performance evaluation are presented in this paper

Increasing Simulation Realism Through the Modeling of Step Costs Cost Behavior in Business Simulations

This paper addresses some of the theoretical problems involved in the modeling of fixed costs in business simulations. The theoretical nature of fixed costs as a special case of step costs is clarified. In addition, a mathematical technique is presented for the effective modeling of step costs within a computerized simulation model. Also, some of the consequences of significant amounts of step costs are illustrated

Guidelines for the Future Development of Business Games

The purpose of this paper is to present a set of guidelines for the future development of business games. These guidelines are based on an analysis and evaluation of past research and articles describing business game usage. A review of business game literature reveals (1) that the use of business games is solidly entrenched in the business curriculum, (2) that the nature of the educational value of business games is not well defined, and (3) that those who use games believe they represent a significant pedagogical tool

An Analysis of ABSEL Conference Papers (1974-1985)

This paper analyzes and classifies the nearly 700 ABSEL papers presented since the founding of ABSEL in 1974. Based on the analysis some recommendations are made for possible action by ABSEL in planning future meetings and research activities

An Analytical Advertising Model Approach to the Determination of Market Demand

The dynamic nature of decision-making in business enterprise simulations depends on the computation of aggregate market demand. The aggregate demand models in simulations are essentially based on the economic model of an oligopoly industry. Despite the mathematical rigor in which the models of market demand are incorporated in business simulations, these models in many aspects are gross over simplifications of the real world. The major weakness of the aggregate market demand model in business enterprise simulations is the simplistic treatment of the advertising decision. This paper presents a proposed demand model, which places primary importance on marketing concepts

An Interpolation Approach to Developing Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations

Simulation designers are often required to define the precise nature of functional relationships with only vague guidelines from theory or practice. This paper presents a methodology for the easy implementation of self-designed functional relationships. The approach presented does not require any special parameters or exponents; yet it is capable of generating results almost identical to sophisticated curvilinear functions. The method described in this paper relies on interpolation as the means of obtaining dependent variable values from a graphical representation of a functional relationship

The Search for Optimum Business Simulation Decisions: Can They Be Found?

The approach to evaluating business simulation decisionmaking and profit performance is almost always done through review and analysis of financial statements. Common measures of performance are net income, sales, ROI, market value, and earnings per share. The bottom line, of the income statement, net income, is often the primary measure of performance. It is generally believed and advocated that preparing a profit plan (budgeted financial statements) will greatly enhance performance. Comparison of actual profit against planned profit seems logical. However, this paper is primarily concerned with a suggested alternative method of evaluating performance that minimizes the need to use financial statements for performance evaluation. The use of optimum decisions and optimum profit as a potential means for evaluating performance is the primary concern

The Potential of Programmable Calculators for Processing Small Business Simulations

In the last 18 months Texas Instruments and Hewlett Packard have marketed programmable calculators which have tremendous programming capability. These calculators have the capability of storing programs on magnetic cards, thus eliminating the need to key-in programs each time an application is desired. The SR 52 and HP 97 both have 20 memory registers and 10 user-definable keys. Each calculator has 224 program storage locations. In addition to the standard CRT display for digital information, output may be obtained on a print unit. Each calculator contains programming features, such as conditional and unconditional branching; logical decision functions; subroutines, etc. Except for the limitations on amount of memory and printing capability these calculators have the capability to process scientific problems such as those processed on larger computers. Since the bases of all computerized business games are mathematical models, these calculators have the potential to process business simulations

The Meaning of Firm Demand in Business Simulations

This traditional approach in business simulations to computing firm demand is to first compute a set of weights and then use these weights to compute market share percent-ages. Demand for each firm then is computed by multiplying market share percentages times industry demand. This approach is analyzed in this paper and the methodology is analyzed and criticized in terms of whether the approach has been logically explained. A new approach to computing firm demand is presented. The new approach does not require that market share percentages be computed. Also, the new approach introduces the concept of potential customers and also introduces average purchases per potential customer as an important value in determining firm demand

Is the Gold /Pray Simulation Demand Model Valid and is it Really Robust?

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the Gold/Model presented at ABSEL in 1983 to determine whether the model is really valid and “Robust” as claimed by the authors. The model was subjected to rigorous sensitivity analysis and examined in light of different theories of advertising. The assumption that a multiplicative model is superior to non multiplicative models was also examined. The rigorous analysis of this paper found a number of problems inherent in the Gold/Pray model