Problem Discovery And Problem Solving In Unstructured Situations: Using The Pan-Pacific Enterprises Simulation With University Students

Abstract

Simulations and games provide students with real-world experiences in a safe, controlled environment.  Properly designed exercises can increase the effectiveness of classroom instruction and promote higher-order learning.  Pan-Pacific Enterprises: Strategic Decision Making (2003) is a problem solving and communications simulation suitable for undergraduate and graduate students.  Students are given a resource allocation problem and told to solve the problem in small groups outside of class.  In class, each group has the opportunity to integrate its small group solution into a company-wide strategic plan.  The core problem of the simulation is that the various groups are given different goals so they arrive at different solutions.  These differences provide the entire class with an ambiguous problem with no obvious solution.  The class as a whole has to develop a method to integrate the sometimes conflicting solutions.