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NAIRTL Report
Title: Dr Surname: Kelliher Name: Felicity
Tel: 051- 845602 Email: fkelliher@wit.ie HEI: Waterford Institute of Technology
Project / Activity Title: ‘Real world’ in a classroom: a simulated approach to management education
Goals / what you set out to do:
Having reflected on the elusiveness of intuitive development in management education in discussion
with fellow academics and in my own research, I sought to develop a program for pre-experience
Masters in Business (MBS) students to cultivate professional intuition, using a combination of applied
learning tools and reflective practice techniques. The underlying pedagogy is based on actionable skill
development, wherein students are encouraged to challenge presented academic ‘wisdom’, apply theory
to reflective practice and seek to link concepts in a simulated business environment. My core objective
was to hone professional intuition in order to prepare students for the interpersonal aspects of
management roles.
Description of the action/event/project (Who, what, when, where, how, …):
After much deliberation over the benefits and limitations of traditional pedagogical approaches and
significant research into participatory modes of knowledge dissemination, the Business Simulation suite
was introduced into WIT’s MBS in 2005. Two interlinked modules are spread over two semesters, and
are built around the principles of academic and experiential integration, each seeking actionable skill
development. Module one addresses creativity, analytical skills and decision prowess in business plan
formulation, and affords students the opportunity to produce/present an authentic business plan; while
module two facilitates plan implementation and in so doing helps to develop leadership and negotiation
skills, change management strategies and conflict handling techniques. The program is aided by a
computer generated business simulation package, wrapped in management theory so that the theory-
practice link is prevalent in the class environment. Students are placed in teams, competing in a newly
established micro-computer industry. Each enters the market with the same resources and equal funds,
and over six decision cycles, teams establish their business, assign each other senior management
roles, compete for market share, present to venture capitalists, plan and implement an international
growth strategy, potentially go bankrupt and truly experience interpersonal and inter-team dynamics
along the way.
One of our key concerns when developing these modules was to incorporate active learning in the
student experience in order to promote tacit knowledge transfer. We did not wish for these individuals to
merely gain technical expertise in the computer package, but rather to be ‘wiser’ about themselves as
potential managers. As the game alone would not induce ‘deep’ learning, a number of complementary
pedagogical approaches have been incorporated across the MBS program as catalysts for learning in
this environment. Within the module itself, students produce a log relating to each decision cycle, in
which they critically reflect on their experiences and identify relevant theories that relate to these events.
Students also have the opportunity to reflect on actions taken within the simulation exercises in the
context of their exposure to practitioner experiences in the seminar series which runs as a concurrent
module, and through interaction with the Business School’s CEO-in-Residence, a leading indigenous
business owner who can help teams apply 'lived experiences' to the simulated business environment. At
the end of module 1, each team pitch for €3-4 million venture capital from a panel made up of industry
experts and other academics, enabling practical negotiation exposure. Finally, on completion of the
game, each team facilitates a different workshop under the tutelage of their lecturer, reflecting on key
learning relating to team dynamics, change management, conflict resolution strategies, ethics, the
resource based view and the power of reflective practice.
NAIRTL Report
Word count: 988
Impact /outcomes/results/what you have achieved so far:
In the first two cycles of the program, students have shown strong evidence of intuitive development
over the academic year. Specifically, there is progressive development of applied thinking in their
reflective logs and feedback loops as confirmed by the program’s external examiner and the Venture
Capital Panel have all commented on the student learning, particularly when teams are in negotiation for
funds. When facilitating the managed workshops, each team has shown a heretofore unseen willingness
to critique academic ‘wisdom’, and each workshop’s content and format, which is solely directed by the
facilitating team, evidenced the dissemination of applied learning outcomes. Feedback from students,
the VC panel, seminar presenters and the CEO-in-Residence has been invaluable in refining this
program, and ensuring it remains loyal to its intuitive development objectives.
Plans for further work/development:
We in the Department of Graduate Business would relish the opportunity to run a tutor workshop on
intuitive development in management education to induce a pedagogical debate on applied learning
teaching tools and alternative forms of program delivery. This workshop would encompass a capsule
‘simulation’ package and reflective practice tasks in order to allow participants to emulate the student
experience and debate on this type of learning intervention within our own Institution. We believe this
approach offers a catalyst to engage with other academics nationally and internationally and allow for a
showcasing of contributions and initiatives in this space. In time we hope to use these learning events to
promote this form of engagement with thought leaders within and outside our region, and foresee scope
for collaboration with industry and international network clusters, considering intuitive development is a
major theme in both management education circles and in the national development plan’s education
policy.
Your own observations/comments:
Having studied learning in depth in my own research, I believe we need to address tacit knowledge
transfer in 3rd level management education, particularly at post-graduate level. As explicit knowledge is
only one aspect of intellect, we are doing these students an injustice if we continue to send them out into
the workplace with objective perspectives of management approaches and concepts without having
them exist in an applied environment where theory and practice interact to form a deeper learning
experience. It is on this foundation that the ethos of this program was born - to challenge the setting in
which student knowledge is produced and the forms of knowledge traffic between the lecturer and
student and in doing so pursue the 6th sense.