A comparison of student outcomes from an internet-based inventory

The increasing globalization and global integration of national economies suggests the necessity of developing pedagogy that infuses global content throughout the business school curriculum. Business school graduates need experience and familiarity with other cultures to function effectively in todays global economy. Aside from actually travellling to other countries other economical alternatives are needed to connect students to other cultures. The internet provides a reasonably priced medium for connecting students from around the world. This paper reports the preliminary results of an internet-based trial in which undergraduate business students from a state univeristy in the USA competed in a retail inventory simulation against undergraduate industrial engineering students from Ireland. These results suggest that the technical issues associated with internet-based simulation are real, but can be worked out. Successful multi-cultural enrichment however, requires clearly defined objectives, and specific instructor training.