Simulation as virtual reality in international-business education

The premise is that simulation is a dynamic model of reality systems. This chapter proceeds with an operational definition of a simulation embodying a virtual world representing the real world of international business (IB) operations. The inference is made that participating “Company teams” of students get a pilot experience of running a multinational enterprise (MNE) and, what is more, an understanding of the problems and challenges faced by the MNEs as well as their regulators and customers. The dynamics inherent in simulation puts actual implementation of strategy in focus, setting it apart from traditional case discussion. Features beyond the inherent dynamics of IB simulations are discussed in some detail. The conclusion is drawn that such simulations should have a prominent role in IB curricula. Ideally, they bring to bear experiential learning from practice.