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by Christopher Puto All business schools strive to duplicate real- world challenges in the classroom. At the University of St. Thomas, a new full-time MBA program uses business simulations as the backbone of the entire curriculum to immerse students in an intense world that mimics the actual business environment. 44 BizEd MAY/JUNE 2004 developing business school curricula that revolve around computerized simulations. As dean of the University of St. Thomas inMinnesota, I have supervised the launch of a new full-time MBA program using the business simulation as the backbone of the curriculum. I also spent five years working with a similar program when I was director of MBA pro- grams at the University of Arizona's Eller College of Business and Public Administration. Simulations take the business case study and go one bet- achieve success no matter where they go in the workplace if they have the right skills. Business schools can help them hone those skills by creating intense learning situations that replicate real-world environments. One excellent way to expose students to the challenges of corporate life is through computerized business simulation technology. For the last few years, I have been deeply involved in gy to succeed. Instead, he had to understand the company's current and potential value to customers, and he had to fig- ure out how IBMcould best deliver that value. Today, IBM's e-business service approach to customers is one of America's great corporate success stories. Like Gerstner, today's business school graduates can ter. Most schools have not yet begun to take full advantage of the possibilities offered by business simulation technology. They can do this by integrating simulations throughout the whole curriculum. A Brief Background Computerized business simulations help students master the skills known as "critical incident learning"—skills that are not automatically learned in today's generally accepted business curricula. Many schools use consulting projects to augment the casemethod, but these only give students a glimpse of the total picture. Furthermore, even the most realistically based projects typically have a fail-safe mechanism in the watchful eye of the supervising professor. Therefore, even with con- sulting projects, students often do not develop the essential ability to identify and assess true risk. Nonbusiness fields use technology-aided simulations to When Lou Gerstner was named to lead IBM, many industry experts were skeptical about his prospects for success. Although he was bright and accomplished, his background included handling consumer packaged goods at RJRNabisco, finance at American Express, and consulting at McKinsey. How could he step in and turn around the world's largest technology company—when he knew nothing about tech- nology or IBM? Gerstner proved he did not have to understand technolo-