The Research
A study conducted at HEC Montréal analysed the performance of 100 student teams using business simulation games in operations management courses. The researchers measured three categories of critical errors: raw material purchasing, sub-assembly calculations, and plant capacity management.
The results were striking.
42% Fewer Mistakes
Students using simulation-based learning tools made 42% fewer mistakes related to managing sub-assembly materials compared to control groups using traditional instruction methods.
The improvement was not limited to one area. Teams using simulations showed dramatic improvements across all three error categories:
- Raw material purchasing errors — significant reduction as students experienced the consequences of over-ordering and under-ordering in real time
- Sub-assembly calculation mistakes — the most pronounced improvement at 42%, driven by immediate feedback on production planning decisions
- Plant capacity overruns — notable decreases as students learned to balance demand forecasting with operational constraints
Why Simulations Work for Operations Management
Operations management is inherently complex. Students must hold multiple variables in mind simultaneously — demand forecasts, lead times, capacity constraints, inventory costs, and supplier reliability. Traditional instruction can explain these concepts, but it cannot replicate the experience of managing them under pressure.
Simulation environments change this dynamic in three ways:
Immediate feedback loops. When a student over-orders raw materials, they see the cost impact on their next financial statement. When they under-staff a shift, they watch service quality decline and customers leave. The feedback is not a grade received weeks later — it is a consequence experienced in the moment.
Rapid learning cycles. In a simulation, students can run through multiple business cycles in a single session. Each cycle reinforces concepts and builds pattern recognition. A semester's worth of operational decisions can be compressed into hours of simulation play.
Safe failure. Students can make aggressive decisions, watch them fail, and try again without real-world consequences. This freedom to experiment accelerates learning in ways that case studies and problem sets cannot match.
Implications for Business Education
The HEC Montréal research adds to a growing body of evidence that simulation-based learning produces measurable improvements in student performance. For operations management specifically, where the complexity of interconnected systems makes traditional instruction challenging, simulations offer a practical solution.
Business Heroes covers operations management as one of its 10 strategic domains, alongside supply chain, finance, marketing, and six others. Students experience operations decisions not in isolation but as part of an integrated business system — exactly how operations work in the real world.
Interested in bringing simulation-based operations education to your classroom? Book a demo and see the workflow with your own course in mind.
