鈥淵ou are playing the role of Yahoo鈥檚 Board,鈥� reads a note directed to a group of first-year Corporate Residency MBA students. 鈥淚t has obviously been an eventful week with the change in the Alibaba strategy, losing yet another key executive just this morning, and with all of the rumours circulating鈥︹�� The note is short, a simple description of the situation in which the students 鈥� now Yahoo Board members 鈥� find themselves. It ends: 鈥淵our breakout room is 5053.鈥�
The note was the only direction this group of students received during an activity that took place one busy weekend in December. Seven other student groups received notes informing them of their roles as consulting groups and senior personnel in Verizon. The MBA students had to act quickly on the information they were given.
Rick Nason, a finance professor in the Rowe School of Business, began running this event, which he calls 鈥渦nstructured simulation,鈥� in 2009, the first year of the CRMBA program. Each year, students participate enthusiastically despite the fact that is an extracurricular activity with no credit attached that takes place just before exams 鈥� a very busy time of year for students.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit hard to explain what it is,鈥� says Dr. Nason, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 intentionally so loose and unstructured.鈥� Each year he bases the simulation on a real-time, real-world situation in business. The students form groups and are randomly given a role. This year, most groups were consulting firms vying for contracts with the Yahoo and Verizon groups. The few details given in that one short note mirrored the actual situation faced by Yahoo in December: the loss of a key executive, the possibility of being acquired by another company and the maternity leave at a tense time of the president and CEO.
鈥淭he key point is that there is no structure,鈥� says Dr. Nason. 鈥淭he situation literally evolves over the period of the exercise. I have no idea myself how it鈥檚 going to play out.鈥�
Real-time engagement
In this case, students in the consulting groups quickly began creating pitches, hoping to be engaged as advisors to the Yahoo group. David Stuewe, a faculty member who helped run the simulation, explains a bit of the process: 鈥淢ajor merger acquisitions are about how you come up with the money to buy something and what you do with what鈥檚 left over in the company. You pitch the acquisition and sell it in the marketplace. So the students, over the day and a half of this simulation, were doing these analyses and going to the companies and making these pitches.鈥�
Dr. Stuewe recounts the actions of a particularly enterprising group: 鈥淚 was walking into the building and a bunch of students surrounded me and said, 鈥榳e want to retain you as our advisor. You have to sign this document saying you鈥檙e not going to help anyone else.鈥� It鈥檚 real-time, it鈥檚 real acquisitions. That鈥檚 the stuff they鈥檙e dealing with.鈥�
This year also held a special surprise: Dalhousie Provost and Vice-President, Academic Carolyn Watters made a cameo appearance as David Filo, co-founder and a major shareholder of Yahoo. 鈥淪he presented to the board of Yahoo that she (David Filo) was resigning and initiating a hostile takeover of the company,鈥� says Dr. Nason. 鈥淭his of course threw a monkey wrench into everything and the students had to scramble to account for this unforeseen event.鈥�
Dr. Watters was impressed with how the students dealt with her unexpected appearance. 鈥淭hey were in character, reacting to shifting conditions in a complex and high-value situation with an incredible intensity that was infectious,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was only there for an hour and then spent the rest of the weekend combing through my web sources to get more information about Yahoo鈥檚 situation.鈥�
Learning valuable skills
While the simulation may give Dalhousie鈥檚 provost a new career path 鈥� Dr. Stuewe says that Watters 鈥渃ould get an Oscar鈥� for her role as Filo 鈥� it is even more important to the careers of the CRMBA students who participate. As Dr. Nason points out, 鈥淚t is an outrageously effective way to teach business students the difference between text book knowledge and real-world knowledge.鈥�
Through this simulation, he says, students learn valuable skills such as how to lead effectively, how to handle volatility, ambiguity and unforeseen circumstances, and 鈥渉ow to manage themselves and others in a tense competitive environment.鈥� Dr. Nason and his colleagues are now using this experiential learning methodology in research on the effectiveness of business schools.
Dr. Watters agrees: 鈥淩eally, why can鈥檛 every student have learning experiences like this, where data is messy and decisions are in real-time?鈥� she says. 鈥淕aining confidence in coping under these conditions is something every student, no matter the discipline, can use.鈥�
The students themselves certainly recognize the effectiveness of this simulation as they move into their work lives 鈥� after a gruelling day and a half of work, they were exhausted but happy with the simulation. Says Dr. Nason, 鈥淢any alumni tell me that it was the highlight of their CRMBA.鈥�