learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Ideas for Using Critical Incidents in Oral Debriefing From a
Business Strategy Simulation Game
Jonathan Moizer and Jonathan Lean
University of Plymouth, UK
jmoizer@plymouth.ac.uk
jlean@plymouth.ac.uk
Abstract: Reflecting on events or experiences can be an important means by which learning is achieved.
Specifically, a critical incident is some kind of significant occurrence that can stimulate learning through
questioning what has happened and why. Essentially, critical incident analysis is concerned with reflecting on
causes and impacts. An incident can be regarded as critical when the action taken has contributed to an
outcome, either positive or negative. A series of incidents can be reflected upon in a debriefing setting using a
structured approach to help to challenge people’s assumptions and promote personal and professional learning.
Critical incidents are a good medium for achieving reflective learning on the nature of situational events.
However, there are a number of reasons why it can be difficult to learn from incidents in the real world, and why
therefore, simulation games may facilitate effective learning through the application of a critical incident method.
This working paper seeks to present ideas on how critical incidents can be used by instructors in oral debriefing
to stimulate learning in a business simulation gaming setting. This is based on a case study of using a total
enterprise game named the Business Strategy Game to teach part-time, post-graduate / post-experience
students. The students, in teams, took on the roles of Directors of a global corporation and played out strategies
and decisions over a simulated period in the life of the company. Following this, students were orally debriefed
and assessed on what they had learnt about strategy making from the critical incidents that surfaced in course of
playing the game. Three sources of critical incidents were introduced during the debriefing, upon which the
students could comment, namely: macro-environment, competitive environment and internal environment of each
simulated company. Preliminary findings from the debriefings has indicated that using a critical incident method
did provide significant opportunity for students to think causally and better reflect on the connections between
actions and consequences under circumstances of gaming complexity. An agenda for a fuller qualitative analysis
of the student debriefings is proposed.
Keywords: critical incident, event, reflection, learning simulation game, business strategy game, oral debriefing
1. Introduction
Reflecting on events or experiences can promote learning to be achieved. A critical incident is a
significant occurrence that can stimulate learning through questioning what has happened and why.
Critical incident analysis is concerned with reflecting on causes of events and their impacts. A series
of incidents can be reflected upon in a debriefing setting using a structured approach to help to
challenge people’s assumptions and encourage learning. Although critical incidents can provide
understanding about the nature and repercussions of discontinuities and events, there are a number
of reasons why it can be difficult to learn from incidents in the real world, and why therefore,
simulation games may facilitate effective learning through the application of a critical incident method.
The aim of this working paper is to describe how critical incidents can be used within a business
simulation gaming exercise to benefit student learning. The objectives are to:
Explain how critical incidents can be harnessed to generate higher order learning.
Describe a learning and assessment approach using a critical incident method.
2. Background to study
The critical incident technique (method) was originated by Flanagan (1954). It was developed as a set
of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behaviour to assess an individuals’
performance in problem solving situations. It was developed to help assess and classify US air force
flying personnel’s behavioural competence. Since that time, the approach has evolved, and has been
applied to a range of different situations to help develop learning and understanding. These include,
amongst other applications, customer service encounters (Kemppainen, 2000; Edvardsson and Roos,
2001; Roos, 2002), strategic innovation decisions (Moenaert et al, 2010), and entrepreneurial learning
processes (Cope and Watts, 2000; Cope, 2003; Taylor and Thorpe, 2004). Critical incidents have also
been used for teaching and learning in higher education, often to help students to reflect on real
workplace incident vignettes (Macfarlane, 2001; 2003) or business case studies (Gulezian, 1981).
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