Adoption of business game under the perspective of an excellence model in an MBA course: multicriteria peer evaluation analysis

Abstract

This article describes a business game, one of the last courses in an MBA syllabus. The database analyzed consists of outcomes from 47 classes and 1410 students. The aim of the game is to integrate the skills and abilities acquired during the program. The game considerers an evaluation system with 39 items based on an Excellence Model that covers important aspects of the management process. Only six evaluation items are financial goals; the remaining 33 go through a peer evaluation. These items deal with consumer-supplier aspects and management issues. A reduction in dimensionality was attained through a Factor Analysis that yielded 14 factors. Is it possible to identify the relevant factors for winning the game? Two distinct tests (significance of a logit model parameters and t-test for equality of means) are performed to answer this question. A generalized linear model using a logit link function and a Bernoulli distribution was fitted to the data, confirming that most factors with statistically significant differences in the mean between winners and other participants were also significant in the model. Participants’ feedback confirmed that the game was well received by the students: it boosted students’ morale and interest in the subject, fostered entrepreneurship and less absenteeism, increased the degree of class participation, awareness of teamwork, and planning, and created an environment that favored a discussion on business ethics.

Keywords:
MBA; Business game; Business excellence model; Factor analysis; Logit model