Refitting existing simulations to meet with new learning objectives: From supply chain management to virtual collaboration

This paper discusses the application possibilities of business simulation games in teaching. By application possibilities we mean the different ways of arranging the learning sessions using the one and same simulation game. Thus, we are not discussing what kind of games should be built for certain educational purposes, or how a game should be built to facilitate certain kind of learning experiences. Our assumption is that a certain game can be applied in different manners to produce very different kinds of learning experiences, serving very diverse learning goals. We are interested in how the learning potential of existing games can be expanded without making any changes in the actual game algorithms, but by rethinking the activities around the game. In this paper we discuss the shift from intra-team learning to inter-team learning, and especially further to learning which is based on dispersed inter-team collaboration in a virtual environment. We will illustrate our message with a specific, existing business simulation game.