SustainabilitySim takes an innovative approach to management education, immersing students in a world-of work setting to convey its experiential reality: the challenges and risks; the use of skills and competencies; and collaborative working.

It combines the best elements of case study and simulation-based learning. In enabling students to apply knowledge and skills in a practical, real-world context, it supports authentic assessment.

The simulation originated out of two products developed for PwC, both used successfully with their managers and partners. The company’s leadership praised the authenticity of the experience, which allowed partners and directors to navigate real-world challenges in a safe and interactive environment, helping them gain valuable skills in tackling complex business problems.

Giving students access to virtual work experiences is an effective way of bringing academic concepts to life in an authentic business context.

Just as they would do on a placement or internship, the students operate independently within the wider project team on a series of defined tasks and challenges as they work to develop an ESG Strategy for a client.

Dealing with deadline pressures, coping with the demands of stakeholders, facing unexpected events – they experience all those workplace ‘pain points’ that are essential for professional and self-development.

Active learning

"By utilizing learning strategies that can include small-group work, role-play and simulations, active learning increases student interest and motivation and builds their critical thinking, problem-solving and social skills.” (Scheyvens, Griffin, Jocoy, Liu, & Bradford, 2008)

Active learning is a student-centred teaching approach that involves them experientially in the learning process through activities like discussions, problem-solving, and creating, rather than passively receiving information. It focuses on student engagement.

Research shows that active learning can help students achieve a far deeper understanding of a topic to enrich and extend the knowledge they have acquired from lectures and their reading.

By becoming active participants in the classroom, students build knowledge through their own experiences. Being more involved and engaged in their learning deepens their understanding.

SustainabilitySim presents students with the challenges faced by companies in real life. They gain valuable insights into the importance of foresight, collaboration and the multi-faceted nature of business decisions, whether in sustainability, ethics or HRM.

This realistic, work-place context helps students understand how Business and Management concepts are applied in a real commercial environment. Students act in an evolving, multi-faceted scenario, providing a dynamic and immersive context for their learning pathway.

The cumulative effect of completing connected, ‘as real’ tasks and challenges in a WBL environment is to give the student a richer experience and deeper insight into the application of theoretical concepts.

Team dynamics and decision-making

SustainabilitySim brings the conversation into the learning space as the students discuss the team's strategies and decisions.

In this simulated working environment, students step into the shoes of decision-makers, confronting real-world problems and experiencing first-hand the trade-offs and complexities that come with balancing Environmental, Social and Governance goals.

They are constantly having to make the type of decisions and actions they would make in work: meeting deadlines, informing the right stakeholders, communicating ideas, brainstorming, etc. The team dynamic is a crucial part of this and reflects how companies operate.

Tasks and challenges

As students navigate their way through the daily work challenges, how do they experience the subtlety and complexity of concepts and challenges, for example, in HRM, Sustainability and CSR?

In professional life, work doesn't progress along narrow, pre-determined pathways in one area of operations. Nor do staff receive immediate responses to their actions. They will typically be doing several things at once in different areas of the business, working independently to a set of goals, without receiving ongoing feedback, and taking responsibility for their actions.

For example, in the simulation the team completes a task that involves preparing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for a product. Immediately afterwards, they receive an email from their communications team demanding they deal with a reputational issue. This is followed by the review of the budget and a request from the finance team to reduce costs. Several tasks later, they come back to the LCA and are asked to review it following feedback from their sector specialist.

Authentic learning & profession-ready graduates

The development of employability skills is a priority in higher education, especially in Business/Management Schools where there is such a close alignment to the professional working environment.  Most have a dedicated Employability team to help ensure that graduates arrive in the workplace with the skills employers need.

SustainabilitySim helps develop students’ ability to think critically, creatively and productively about problems while nurturing a range of key skills.

To add authenticity to the student experience, the simulation’s content is relevant and topical. Actor-led video content forms an important part of the simulation in order to present participants with a realistic environment for them to work within.

The simulation is valuable for giving students a general introduction to business practices and offer them the opportunity to explore complex problems faced by companies. Part of being ‘profession-ready’ is being able to understand and be up to date with current key issues affecting businesses, for example in the key area of Environmental, Social, and Governance.