platform allowing students to play the game onsite or
remotely at their convenience. Students are excited
about playing the simulation game, where students
immerse themselves in interactive scenarios that
mimic real-world business operations. This hands-on
experience allows students to apply theoretical
knowledge to practical situations, enhancing their
action-planning and strategic thinking abilities.
This compulsory course for all undergraduate
business students aims to provide a comprehensive
understanding of core business functions and their
interrelationships within an organization. Through a
combination of experiential learning techniques—
such as business simulation games, industry-driven
case studies, and spreadsheet-based analysis—
students will develop critical skills in problem
identification, decision-making, and business
modeling.
3.1 Learning Objectives
The course is designed with six learning outcomes in
mind:
• Formulate business problems using Spreadsheet
techniques
• Apply data analysis skills for better decision-
making
• Identify business strategies to deal with changes.
• Provide students with a holistic understanding of
business operations and decision-making.
• Encourage collaboration and teamwork through
group-based tasks.
• Foster critical thinking and problem-solving
skills through simulation.
3.2 Experiential Learning Approach
The framework emphasizes experiential learning,
where students “learn by doing” in the MonsoonSIM
simulation game. At the outset of the course, each
lecturer will randomly assign all the students to a
team of at most five at the beginning of the first
seminar. Each team will manage a business selling
products at retail, e-commerce, and wholesale to be
financially substantial, with the highest revenues and
profit at the end of the game. In a regular class, about
40 students forming eight teams will compete and be
ranked based on some key financial indicators.
Students are encouraged to watch the video on how
to play the game before the lesson. During the
session, the instructor dedicates approximately one
hour to explaining the key functions of the virtual
business environment. The lecturer will also show a
demo of running the simulation game live, briefly
touching most of the functions. Before we started the
game, lecturers gave students fifteen minutes for
discussion. During the discussion, students identify
their tasks and job roles in the game based on their
prior knowledge of departments and experiences.
Most students felt lost as it differed from most of the
mobile phone games they had played. The setting for
the actual game lasts for an hour, at least 75 simulated
days, and each day will last about 45 seconds to
minutes. It is an extensive, competitive, and
interactive session where students actively manage a
virtual business entity, navigating and coordinating
the operations of various interdependent departments.
The departments in the simulations are B2B or
Wholesale, Customer Service, E-commerce, Finance
and Accounting, Human Resources, Logistics and
Warehouse, Maintenance, Marketing, MRP,
Forecasting and Planning, Procurement, Production,
and Retail.
During the simulation activities, detailed records
of learner activities are maintained, providing
valuable data for the authors to develop a predictive
model. The simulation generates extensive
transactional, operational, and financial data, which
students can analyze after the game, using their data
analysis and problem-solving skills. By interpreting
these data, students formulate new business strategies
to improve key performance indicators such as profit
and loss, production efficiency, and inventory
turnover ratios in the subsequent games.
Over the twelve-week semester, students engage
in multiple offsite simulation games, learning through
hands-on experience. Experiential learning allows
students to explore many business functions under
various scenarios and diverse business strategies.
Through iterative gameplay, they refine their
approaches, leveraging the insights gained from data
analysis to optimize outcomes. While students may
initially possess limited knowledge of business
operations, the experiential learning process enables
them to develop a deep understanding of the roles and
interdependencies of various business departments.
3.3 Self-Directed Learning Approach
More than 70% of our university's students are
working adults. Thus, their time at the university is
limited. They want more emphasis on autonomy and
independence. We upload all the teaching materials,
including the study guide and e-textbook, which are
available to all enrolled students six weeks before the
start of the course. Attendance is strongly
encouraged, but if the students cannot attend the class
physically due to overseas work travel or