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The purpose of this paper is to investigate and gain insights into the use of computer simulations and games in business schools in Thailand. In addition, it aims to compare the findings in Thailand with the study carried out in the UK.

A total of 700 questionnaires were sent to the 35 universities in Thailand that offer MBA degrees. This survey achieved a response rate of 23 percent.

The usage of simulation games in business schools in Thailand is still at an early stage of development. The primary reason to use such tools in both Thailand and the UK is that they help to increase students' interaction and teamwork. Meanwhile, lack of information on simulation games is major obstacle of using simulation games in their classroom teaching. However, the demand for computer simulations and games in the classroom is likely to increase in the future.

The study provides good platform for further in‐depth study on this topic in Thailand. As for practical implication, it suggests a need for more collaboration between industry and academia so that simulation games will be developed to fit with the teaching courses.

This study highlights the key factors underpinning the usage of these new tools in classroom teaching in the Thai context.

The growth and usage of business games in management training programmes and university business courses are examined. It is concluded that usage is quite high in both, and those unfamiliar with this instructional method are encouraged to find out what simulation gaming is about.

During the current global epidemic, e-learning and mobile learning have been rapidly developed in the field of entrepreneurship education. The effect of these learning methods remains to be confirmed. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of mobile business simulation games in entrepreneurship education.

From May 2020 to July 2020, the authors adopted a quasi-experimental design to explore the effect of mobile business simulation games in entrepreneurship education. The authors set up an experimental group to participate in mobile business simulation games, with a total of 105 students, and set up a control group of 100 students. At the beginning and end of the experiment, data on entrepreneurial attitude, self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intention and other related variables were collected. Paired sample T-test and regression analysis were used to analyze the results.

The authors found that mobile business simulation games can improve entrepreneurial attitudes and self-efficacy, but cannot change entrepreneurial intentions. The paired sample T-test in the experimental group showed that the entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial self-efficacy of the participants were significantly improved, but the entrepreneurial intention did not change significantly. The above three variables did not change significantly in the control group. The research results also show that flow experience is very important in mobile business simulation games, which can improve entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

The authors’ findings confirm the positive effects of mobile business simulation games in entrepreneurship education, which can improve entrepreneurial attitudes and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. But the disadvantage of mobile business simulation games is that they cannot increase entrepreneurial intention. In addition, the flow experience needs to be valued in mobile business simulation games. The research in this paper has implications for how mobile learning can be used in entrepreneurship education during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, research is of great value on how mobile business simulation games can be improved.

This paper investigates how individuals' decision-making approach and perceptions of a game's cognitive realism affect the performance of virtual businesses in a web-based simulation game.

Survey data are collected from 274 business simulation game users and is analysed using the fsQCA technique.

The study identifies three alternative pathways to high and low performance in a business simulation game. Results indicate that a flexible decision-making approach exists in all high performance pathway solutions. Where a game is perceived to be realistic, a more focused decision-making approach is associated with high performance. However, where perceived cognitive realism is absent, a less focused experimental decision-making approach is employed, which increases the chances to achieve low performance. Finally, perceived cognitive realism and an experimental decision-making approach are found to be mutually exclusive for achieving high performance.

Whilst the learning benefits of web-based simulation games are widely acknowledged, the complex interplay amongst factors affecting performance in games is under-researched. Limited research exists on how perceptions of a game's cognitive realism interact with user decision-making approaches to affect performance.

This study aims to investigate an integrated approach that stimulates engagement and interaction in the online learning environment. A simulation game was developed to support the specific learning objectives (LOs) of the lecture and give students the opportunity to apply relevant practical skills (management and group decision-making). The simulation is designed to engage students, facilitate group work in teams and actively apply the knowledge from the lectures.

Qualitative research methods and a pilot version of the simulation game in an actual classroom setting were used. The primary LO was to apply decision-making in groups and experience the consequences of decisions on business success. The students were assigned randomly to five groups representing different competing companies.

This study revealed that a simulation game with a reduced scope can facilitate interaction and participation in online lectures. It demonstrated that it is possible to obtain the main benefits of simulation-based learning with a simple game that consists of few decision variables and requires minimal training.

There are limitations to this pilot study, some of which need to be address in future research. One limitation is the small number of participants (21). Another limitation is that all participants were from a class at an Asian university. While adding to existing research that focused primarily on Anglo-America and Europe, this study’s approach should be evaluated with more subjects from varying cultural backgrounds to validate the findings. The evaluation could be improved with more participants but also additional questions to measure how and why this study’s approach benefits learning success. E.g. it should be explored what component of decision-making or group learning was most significant. With this, it would also be interesting to explore incremental learning and learning across groups along the study duration.

The simulation game can be used in business education. Students enjoyed the interaction with their peers and the instructor. The students stated that it was a good learning experience for them and they made good learning progress.

The prototype demonstrated the general feasibility and the smooth handling of the practical application and integration in online lectures. The aim to develop a serious simulation game for online classes was achieved. It was possible to obtain the main benefits of simulation-based learning with a simple game that consists of few decision variables and therefore requires minimal training and time.

VIBu – Virtual Teams in International Business – is the name of a training concept, which is aimed at familiarizing participants with collaborating in a virtual environment. Based on the online business simulation RealGame™, participants are assigned to multicultural virtual teams that represent different companies. These companies are either competing with or depending on each other in typical business processes of an internationally operating manufacturing company. Interaction and negotiation are required throughout the whole simulation. All communication takes place via information and communication technology, mainly Skype and Skype chat. The main challenge in the environment is that participants are located in different countries and time zones all over the world. The book chapter first outlines some of the challenges of global teamwork that organizations face. We argue that students need to learn how to navigate in global teams before they leave university as they are bound to become involved in organizational global teamwork sooner rather than later. We draw on frameworks for experiential learning (e.g., Kolb's learning model, Kolb, 1984) and the constructivist learning paradigm (Lainema, 2009) to outline the learning experiences that students need to gather in order to become effective global team members. In addition, we highlight the potential for learner engagement that this approach offers. The chapter concludes by highlighting the key learning and teaching outcomes from incorporating this cutting-edge simulation technology. Furthermore, we direct the reader's attention to ways in which the simulation can be used for research purposes, international inter-university collaborations, and multidisciplinary research on teaching practices and engaged learning.

Compared with other methods of instruction, whether in management training programmes or in university courses, simulation gaming is relatively new. Readings, lectures, cases, role playing and other instructional techniques were in use long before the appearance of business games. Though recent in comparative terms, however, simulation games have been in existence for nearly 40 years. Examines the use of simulation games for sales management training, describes a newly developed sales management simulation and illustrates its use in a sales‐training programme.

Business simulations are increasingly used to facilitate knowledge transfer in management education. Although such simulations have already been widely applied in other disciplines, this method of facilitating learning has not yet been used much in financial education. This article reports on three studies that examine the value added by this experiential learning method in a financial management course, as perceived by students. The reasons for students’ experiencing this teaching method as positive are investigated. It would seem that financial education has much to gain from a wider application of business simulations.

The purpose of this research paper is to explore the interrelations between success in the Business Games course and other MSc courses, and the parameters that influence success in managing firms in business games.

The research sample was comprised of graduate students from the Management of Technology faculty at Holon Institute of Technology. They study courses in the program, including the Business Games course. Special business game software, named Decision Makers, was used for the analyses. Statistical analyses of the interrelations among different program courses cover the main purpose. After defining five success criteria, statistical analyses of success and failure are presented.

In this course, success was generally uncorrelated with other courses. The reason for this was probably due to its project‐based learning (PBL) environment. The study shows that students tend to reduce their efforts across time and improve their performance, due to the “learning curve”. Analysis of the results shows that when teams overused the simulation runs, they do not analyze their situation, but rather prefer the “trial and error” method.

The present study provides results about the importance of training managers through using the business game simulator.

Using PBL is very exiting for those students who have difficulties in classroom studies. By using PBL, these students rapidly improve their management skills.

The study emanated from initial attempts to determine whether two computer simulations used in teaching a college business course delivered a meaningful learning experience. This paper aims to investigate whether students' level of performance in the simulation game was due to the application of skill or largely a matter of “luck”.

Applying a method similar to that of Wellington et al., the study evaluated the consistency of performance across two different rounds of each simulation game. It also compared performance levels across both simulations, and examined the relationship between game performance and academic achievement.

The significant consistency between performance levels suggests that with respect to the simulations used in this study, the game score reflected the player's application of skill rather than reliance on “luck”. However, there is no significant relationship between game performance and academic achievement.

While this study is based on two specific games, other simulation users can use it as a yardstick to ascertain the educational value of the simulations that they use.