Towards an Evaluation Concept for Business Simulation Games: Preliminary Work and Piloting in SAP ERP Teaching

Abstract

Business Simulation Games (BSGs) aim to simulate reality and impart knowledge as well as skills in a playful way. To be able to verify the goal attainment, the first steps towards an evaluation concept were taken in this paper. With the exemplary evaluation of Global Bike Go, a series of mini BSGs for SAP ERP teaching, initial indications could be generated about what they (can) achieve. One certain finding is that the games are suitable for beginners whereas the participants' knowledge gain only shows tendencies. From the overall results, development potentials for the BSGs as well as for the evaluation concept used could be identified. However, due to the small sample and the limiting circumstances, further investigations have to be conducted. In this context, the self-performed actions as well as interactions with other players as significant game elements should be focused more, and especially the interdependency between the BSGs and other teaching materials seems promising. Therefore, an interdisciplinary approach is desirable.