Performance on a TE Simulation: What Does it Represent?

Analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between financial performance of an individually managed company in a business simulation exercise and various measures of (a) student mastery of business skills and subject matter, (b) global measures of ability, and (c) time spent on the exercise. No significant relationship was found between the financial performance and global measures of ability. Only a weak association was found between financial performance and measures of business mastery. There was also an absence of any significant relationship between the variables measured and performance on the group-based simulation, including a lack of a significant relationship with performance on the individual simulation. While the validity of the measures of mastery of the business discipline is debatable, the results suggest that group performance scores on a simulation may reflect neither mastery of any of the measures of the business discipline nor of the individual’s mastery of the game. The results highlight the need to develop and validate instruments assessing mastery of the skills and subject matter of the business discipline and to determine the relationship between performance on a business simulation and those instruments. Until a relationship is established, dependence on financial’ performance in a group simulation as an indicator of an individual’s mastery of either the simulation or the business discipline should be minimized