Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The reported empirical research results support the subjective opinions of practioneers and educators that both computer simulation gaming and case analysis pedagogies can be used successfully in the development of skills in business policy formulation.

Groups of policy trained business administration college seniors participated in an interactive, incident-style exercise which determined the emphasis they placed on key considerations in the process of policy formulation.

The results indicate that the game-trained students' emphasis on the considerations was significantly greater than that of a control group, which stressed relatively trivial factors, and not significantly different from that of students trained by the more widely appreciated case analysis method.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ansoff

H. I.

, Corporate Strategy, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1965.

Katz

R. L.

, Cases and Concepts in Corporate Strategy, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1970.

Gilmore

F. F.

and Brandenburg

R. G.

, Anatomy of Corporate Planning, Harvard Business Review, 40: 6, pp. 61–69, November-December, 1962.

Andrews

K. R.

, The Concept of Corporate Strategy, Dow Jones-Irwin, Inc., Homewood, Illinois, 1971.

Ackoff

R. L.

, A Concept of Corporate Planning, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1970.

Kelley

E. J.

, Marketing Planning and Competitive Strategy, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1972.

Hall

R. H.

, Organization—Structure and Process, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, 1972.

Bender

, The “Organizational Shrink,” New York Times, Business and Finance Section, p. 3, March 5, 1972.

Harrison

, Understanding Your Organization's Character, Harvard Business Review, pp. 119–128, May-June, 1972.

10.

Kahn

R. L.

Wolfe

D. M.

Quinn

R. P.

Snock

J. D.

and Rosenthal

R. A.

, Organizational Stress, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1964.

11.

Rogers

C. R.

, Client-Centered Therapy, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1965.

12.

Paine

F. T.

and Naumes

, Organizational Strategy and Policy, W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1975.

13.

Pearce

J. A.

, II, Simulation Gaming versus Case Analysis—A Comparison of Pedagogical Approaches Used to Facilitate the Acquisition of Skill in Corporate Strategy Formulation, Doctoral Dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1976.

14.

Pearce

J. A.

, II, Consolidated Movie Theatres, An interactive case on file with the Intercollegiate Case Clearinghouse, Case No. 9-176-615; Teacher's Guide No. 8-176-616, Boston, Massachusetts, 1975.

15.

Uyterhoeven

H. E. R.

Ackerman

R. W.

and Rosenblum

J. W.

, Strategy and Organization, Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Homewood, Illinois, 1973.

Developing Business Policy Skills: A Report on Alternatives

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References