Management Education in a Globalizing World: The Use of Simulations

Globalization impacts all firms and institutions operating in a marketplace, where cross-border and cross continental interactions are increasingly commonplace. Through their continuous expansion into various countries around the world, multinational companies play an important role in shaping our increasingly global market. In response to these rapid changes and universal trends, many universities undertook the challenge of initiating attempts aiming to internationalize their curricula. In the current paper, we investigate operational steps to progress through this complex path and suggest a set of specific elements, with particular emphasis on simulations; business tools with the potential to provide invaluable support for the purposes of adequate market need preparation, through participant exposure to global and cross-cultural issues within a classroom setting. Our conclusions illustrate that institutions should plan these steps carefully, taking into account available staff, resources, and faculty expertise. Furthermore, we emphasize the need for experiential elements in order to achieve a more realistic and concrete understanding of the global world. Finally, we present evidence in support of the overall value and validity associated with business simulations. Using a price war example, we illustrate the embedded characteristics of simulations to produce outcomes similar to those expected and documented in real market settings.