CORPORATE MEMBER PROFILE

Sustaining Partner – eNEWSLINE Interview

Name: Capsim® Management Simulations, Inc.
Location: Northfield, IL
Services: Business simulations (Capstone®, Foundation®) and simulation-based examinations to support assurance of learning (Comp-XM®)
Year Founded: 1985
Website: www.capsim.com

Why is your company/organization a member of AACSB International?

Capsim shares with AACSB International a strong interest in assurance of learning and competency evaluation.

Consider simulations drawn from diverse disciplines – business, aviation, medicine, etc. Simulations offer a means to evaluate competency in a low-risk environment. Pilots can fly simulated airplanes through simulated storms. Managers can direct companies through simulated storms of different sort.

It is important to recognize that this is brand new. Computers and networks are only now becoming powerful enough to explore the potential. We predict that simulation-based assessment and training will become important over the next decade, not just to business schools, but to external stakeholders that include parents, recruiters, corporate trainers, business media and even government.

What better organization to work with than the AACSB?

What values drive your company/organization?

We are an independent organization with a pioneering spirit. We pride ourselves on our customer service and excellence in delivery. To accomplish this, we have built a team of dedicated professionals, each providing support, program enhancements and service to make every simulation experience a valued one.

How do your services/products benefit AACSB members?

Viewed from an assurance of learning perspective:

The Foundation simulation is aimed at the front of the curriculum. It groups students into teams, gives each team a company to run, and places the teams into competition with each other. As the students run their companies, the instructor introduces the overarching learning goals of the institution. For example, a communications goal might be explained in the context of Foundation, then extended to a road map that explores how the goal will be explored in, say, ACC202, MGT301, MKT302, MGT401. The student leaves Foundation® with an understanding of what they will learn during their coursework and why these topics are important.

The Capstone simulation is aimed at the end of the curriculum. It picks up the Foundation scenario years later in a more complex business environment. Capstone refreshes skills and knowledge from across the curriculum, and then integrates this into a working whole. From an assurance of learning standpoint, it presents opportunities to collect both individual and group work for evaluation by faculty against overarching learning goals.

The Comp-XM simulation/exam is offered at the end of Capstone. Students get a memo announcing their promotion to CEO in a similar business. As an individual, each student runs his/her company while their board of directors asks questions about what they are doing and why. The result is two metrics – how well did the student manage their company, and how well could they answer questions posed by their boards.

Capsim also plans to introduce a new simulation platform in Fall 2008 titled Blazing Trails. The platform is actually a family of simulations. Each variation will be aimed at a core course in the curriculum, with a special emphasis on the overarching learning objective that might be attached to the course.

What AACSB events will you be visible at for interested members to learn more?

AACSB International Conference and Annual Meeting

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