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A widespread interest in organizational learning has been precipitated by the need for radical change and strategic renewal in many institutions. “Learning laboratories” or “microworlds” have been proposed as powerful tools for enhancing learning through experience. As costs of technology decline, and software becomes more accessible, the use of customized computer simulations in microworlds will become a feasible option for many management development programmes. Describes a leadership development programme in the telecommunications industry in which a customized microworld computer simulation was used to promote managerial learning, teamwork and co‐operation. Goals of the programme include development of a new paradigm for competition in the industry and a new vision for the organization. A unique feature of the programme was that success of the microworld was measured and systematically evaluated. A significant impact on improved co‐operation, individual and group learning was observed. Discusses characteristics of microworlds and challenges to simulation designers. Finally, presents some guidelines for successful microworld design, together with suggestions for future microworld application.

The purpose of this paper is to provide description and an analysis of two worlds colliding where real‐world roles or ideas play out in a virtual dimension. Inhabited by digital natives, the virtual world in a learning organization is a journey back to the future of microworlds where the only limitation is one's imagination.

In 1990, when computer technology flexs its range of useful possibilities, Senge envisions its practical application in a learning organization. He purports the use of computer simulations which he calls microworlds, as a virtual sandbox for learning. His vision, is expanded today, means virtual worlds that co‐exist with the real world. Second life is an example of that virtual world. The possibilities for learning inherent in this virtual world seem limitless in a knowledge‐driven, global society hungry for the next creative and innovative way of transforming the world, real or virtual.

Digital natives are the drivers of change who will explore the brave new world of computer simulations. As simulations become more technologically infuse with artificial intelligence, its application for education and learning will broaden and expand. Unlike the static interface of a textbook, which shows limitations in content scope and delivery, this virtual world knows no limits in knowledge expansion. Validated course content, formal and informal knowledge contributions from peers and experts alike, networked knowledge coming from Web resources and the internet enrich the learner's ability beyond measure to experience the world and know it better and more intimately.

The emergent technology of virtual worlds utilizing simulations of real life work situations is a throwback to the microworlds of yesterday. They are ideal for conducting thought experiments that deepen with experiential understanding. This technology‐mediated form of learning affords the opportunity to experience the results of an action which may take a lifetime to learn in real time. This virtual world allows decision‐making but eliminates the risks of serious, unintended consequences. It is a wonderful resource for living vicariously experiences which are unavailable or unlikely in the real world.

Virtual simulations are useful for learning concepts, ideas, and assumptions that are difficult to perform or test in the physical dimension. Digital natives, people who were born in the 1980s, explore Second Life, and the paper discusses the value of this virtual world.

For a practice field to be of greatest value in developing global leadership capability, it needs to be constructed so as to combine meaningful cultural and national issues with realistic interpersonal dynamics. Examines how two practice fields designed to facilitate systems thinking and organizational learning – Foodcorp International and Globalcorp – accomplish this task. Both are behavioural simulations (not computer simulations) and each creates a realistic context, a microworld, for people to interact on business and global issues. Both can be used to: (1) bring to the surface cultural assumptions in a social‐business context where they can be observed, tracked and discussed relative to various effectiveness criteria; (2) create a team capable of performing with a shared vision and common mental models; and (3) develop leaders who can create as well as accommodate microcultural norms. Preliminary results using this practice field approach are supportive of these objectives. A growing number of organizations (e.g. Apple Computer, Citicorp, American Express, AT&T, Northern Telecom, Glaxo) and educational institutions (e.g. University of Michigan, Dartmouth College, Indiana University, New York University, the University of Tampa) use such tools in their educational efforts. This permits a rigorous examination of the utility of these tools in management development. Describes the approach, provides two examples of how microworld practice fields are used, and shares the results of the research under way.

Examines the global organization and its particular management development needs. It proposes that implicit in the idea of global stategy is a model of management based on efficiency. Efficiency is created by a uniformity of approach across national and cultural boundaries. Global managers must also be able to create effective microcultures of unified action worldwide. Describes a management development programme which uses simulation to provide managers with a practice field for creating a unifying cultural framework which can cohere diverse interests around organizational strategy.

This article sets out to describe the benefits of systems thinking in overcoming short‐sighted decision making in business and industrial marketing.

The article illustrates specific tools and recent applications of systems thinking research.

The basic building‐blocks for creating microworlds are the claims made by stakeholders running and affected by real‐life systems.

Suggestions for future research includes transforming research designs from linear one‐way models to models expressly recognizing time delays, feedback loops among variables, and seemingly hidden, unimportant relationships.

All business exchanges involve systems and there is more complexity than is readily apparent; systems thinking helps decision makers to deeply understand what is really happening.

This article advises replacing the one‐direction thinking and research paradigm that dominates business and industrial marketing with systems thinking and system dynamics modeling; the article identifies examples and the literature necessary to embrace this alternative paradigm.

In contrast to the behavioural paradigm of IS research, design science seeks to develop a body of practically‐oriented knowledge which will directly aid the design, implementation, and use of information technologies and systems. Design science, however, remains a minority practice. The purpose of this paper is to argue the case for its more widespread adoption, especially so in research on innovation.

To this end, the authors report an example of design science in action. Two experiments are reported, both concerning the design of the user interface for domestic heating systems. Of note is the use of a medium‐fidelity laboratory simulation (“microworld”) in this work.

Two specific substantive findings results. First that ecologically designed feedback, embodying a strong mapping between task goals and system status, produces superior task performance. Second, that predictive decision aids provide clear benefits over other forms of user support, such as advisory systems.

Whilst arguing the general case for design science, the study shows that there are formidable barriers to its wider promulgation. These include the challenges of constructing realistic meta‐artefacts, compounded by the complex, modal and uncertain nature of design theory itself. The practical value of the microworld paradigm is also confirmed.

Although research in this field has largely addressed the workplace, here the paper addresses the domestic realm. Further novelty derives from the use of the microworld approach. The argument that design science should draw more on the proven methods of “good design” (e.g. prototyping, user participation) in terms of its own praxis is also noteworthy.

Social environments can be presented as complex systems that are continually changing their structures in a nonlinear fashion. However, this notion of complexity is commonly disregarded in the study of strategic interactions between competing actors. One of the major reasons for this is the inability to collect sufficient empirical data in order to adequately study decision making under dynamic circumstances. In order to cope with this problem an online simulator module is being developed. This module allows researchers to create interactive simulators that confront human subjects with virtual social environments designed by the researcher. Unlike previous simulator modules, this one provides a high degree of flexibility and imposes fewer restrictions on the simulated environment and the manner in which decisions can be made. Thus, the subjects operating this simulator can pursue multiple policies simultaneously rather than choosing between alternatives. They can make decisions in real time and receive feedbacks also at anytime, including delayed feedbacks. Decisions that are made can alter the environment, resulting in changing payoffs and the policies that are available. It is also possible to provide subjects operating the simulator with different formats for presenting information. Another significant feature is the capability to monitor when choices are made and what information is being analyzed and when it is being observed. In comparison to other simulator modules that have been developed in the past, this one is not based on an old simulation language but is completely newly programmed in a language designed for online interactions.

This study aims to investigate the evolving concept of the metaverse and its implications for service innovation. It seeks to understand how integrating technologies such as extended reality, blockchain, artificial intelligence and non-fungible tokens enables companies to experiment and innovate.

Adopting a qualitative methodology, this investigation conducts an immersive netnography across more than 25 case studies spanning diverse industries such as gaming, retail, health care and education. The thematic analysis method is used to distill critical insights, providing a deep dive into the technological enablers, innovation processes and market adaptations within the metaverse.

The study addresses four main building blocks through which companies experiment with the metaverse to foster innovation: enabling virtual identities’ agency, developing non-fungible tokens, designing immersive paths and crafting phygital microworlds. They shape the metaverse by enacting actors, resources, processes and phygital ecosystems. Companies obtain learning outcomes from such experimentation and identify learning challenges.

This research contributes to the nascent body of knowledge on the metaverse and service innovation by providing a comprehensive framework that encapsulates the multifaceted ways companies experiment within the metaverse. It extends the understanding of digital-physical convergence in service research, offering theoretical and practical insights into the development of phygital service ecosystems.

Este estudio tiene como objetivo investigar el concepto en evolución del Metaverso y sus implicaciones para la innovación en servicios. Busca comprender cómo la integración de tecnologías como la realidad extendida, la cadena de bloques, la inteligencia artificial y los tokens no fungibles permite a las empresas experimentar e innovar.

Adoptando una metodología cualitativa, esta investigación realiza una netnografía inmersiva a través de más de 25 estudios de casos que abarcan diversas industrias como los juegos, el comercio minorista, la atención médica y la educación. Se emplea el método de análisis temático para destilar conocimientos críticos, brindando un profundo análisis de los habilitadores tecnológicos, los procesos de innovación y las adaptaciones al mercado dentro del Metaverso.

El estudio aborda cuatro bloques principales a través de los cuales las empresas experimentan con el Metaverso para fomentar la innovación: habilitar la agencia de identidades virtuales, desarrollar tokens no fungibles, diseñar senderos inmersivos y crear micromundos físico-digitales. Estos dan forma al Metaverso mediante la actuación de actores, recursos, procesos y ecosistemas físico-digitales. Las empresas obtienen resultados de aprendizaje de dicha experimentación e identifican desafíos de aprendizaje.

Esta investigación contribuye al cuerpo de conocimiento incipiente sobre el Metaverso y la innovación en servicios al proporcionar un marco integral que encapsula las diversas formas en que las empresas experimentan dentro del Metaverso. Amplía la comprensión de la convergencia digital-física en la investigación de servicios, ofreciendo ideas teóricas y prácticas sobre el desarrollo de ecosistemas de servicios físico-digitales.

这项研究旨在探讨元宇宙概念的演变以及其对服务创新的影响。其目标在于深入理解通过整合增强现实、区块链、人工智能以及非同质化代币等技术, 如何使企业得以进行实验和创新。

本研究利用定性研究方法, 进行了一项沉浸式网络民族志调查, 涵盖了跨越游戏、零售、医疗保健和教育等多个行业的25多个案例。通过主题分析方法, 提炼出关键见解, 深入探讨了元宇宙内的技术驱动因素、创新过程和市场适应性。

这项研究以四个主要方面为切入点, 探讨了企业在元宇宙中促进创新的方法：启用虚拟身份的代理、开发非同质化代币、设计沉浸式路径以及打造物理-数字微观世界。通过这些措施, 企业塑造了元宇宙, 涉及行动者、资源、过程和物理-数字生态系统的执行。在此类实验中, 企业积累了丰富的学习经验, 并面临了

本研究旨在建立一个全面的框架, 以拓展关于元宇宙和服务创新的新知识, 揭示企业在元宇宙中进行实验的多方面方式。它不仅扩展了服务研究领域中数字与物理融合的理解, 还提供了有关发展物理-数字服务生态系统的理论和实践见解。

Business realities include delays, unintended downstream consequences, exponential versus linear relationships, “hidden demons,” and virtuous and viscous feedback cycles. Executives often respond to these realities by applying nearsighted short-term solutions that contribute to long-run business failure. We provide core propositions and a framework for causal mapping and testing “micro-worlds” of real-life marketing-buying realities. A microworld is a set of explicit assumptions about how things get done, that is, how each variable in a marketing-buying system relates to other variables in the system. The framework suggests applying eight steps linking systems-thinking cause mapping, policy mapping, and systems dynamics modeling. The chapter reviews case research studies that apply the eight steps. Modeling system dynamics of business relationships aims to run simulations of the resulting microworld model of a specific reality; the main aim goes beyond description and explanation to offer prescriptions that reduce the occurrence of viscous cycles and encourage decisions leading to virtuous cycles. Hopefully, this chapter serves to awareness and use of system dynamics tools among case study researchers and executives in business and industrial marketing.

Purpose – This chapter aims to construct a scientific microworld to explain the management strategy of yang-ru yin-fa (Confucianism in public and Legalism in private) in Chinese organizations by an emic approach of indigenous psychology.

Design/Methodology/Approach – In consideration of the difficulties faced by either an imposed etic approach or a derived etic approach, this chapter advocates for an emic approach that argues that, in order to understand the specific features of organizational dynamics in China, it is necessary for us to construct an objective system of knowledge (epistemology) on the basis of Chinese cultural values (ontology), which can be examined by methods of social sciences (methodology).

Findings – Based on the theoretical model of Face and Favor, a conceptual scheme was proposed to highlight the contrast between Confucianism and Legalism in traditional as well as contemporary Chinese society. Findings of pervious empirical researches on two types of guanxi, along with two types of official and ethical leadership in Chinese organizations were reviewed to demonstrate the usage of yin/yang balance in strategic management.

Originality/Value – Taking the discourse of this chapter as an example, it is expected that the author's approach may initiate a scientific revolution against the Western paradigms of psychology that had been constructed on the presumption of individualism (Evenden & Sandstrom, 2011; Hwang, 2012).