The Influence of Decision Time on Performance in Use of a Business Simulator”, in R. Y. Cavana et al (Eds.), Systems Thinking for the Next

Most business simulators in use today are event-driven. That means, the natural proceeding of time cannot be experienced with these simulation tools. A time-driven business simulator is presented. An experiment is described which should clarify the influence of time pressure on users ’ performance. With the help of business simulators, users should be able to gain insights into the dynamic behavior of real world problems. Although their validity has not been proven yet, there is some evidence that these tools promote learning. One precondition for a learning transfer to take place is a homomorphic relation between the real world domain and the formal model underlying these simulation tools. A characteristic of reality which has no correspondence in the artificial world of most business simulators, however, is the proceeding of time. For some purposes a self-proceeding business simulator can be a better choice than a regular simulator. After a certain time such a self-proceeding simulator finalizes the current simulation period by calculating its results and switches to th