Teaching Business Studies using Virtual Enterprises

Another useful resource in the

teaching of business studies is

Virtual Enterprise Australia (VEA).

VEA is a not-for-profit organisation

that facilitates a virtual market place

in which participants run their own

virtual business that trades in a simulated economy

with virtual enterprises run by other participants.

Because running a virtual enterprise relies on the

communication of information between members, it

allows for a variety of information communication

technologies to be introduced to and utilised by

students, as well as facilitating the development of

business related knowledge and skills prescribed in

VCE study designs for Accounting, Business

Management, Economics and Legal Studies, and also

at years 9-10 levels of The Humanities – Economics

(VELS).

Using a Virtual Enterprise to Integrate ICT into the

Curriculum


Students running a virtual enterprise communicate

with other virtual enterprises in real time, using a

variety of information communication technologies

that are used by business in the ‘real world’, such as

email, voice calls, and video calls (e.g. skype).

Students are also allocated into specific roles within

their virtual enterprises, and are required to present

information to other people within their enterprise,

which allows for a wider variety of methods of

presentation. Depending on the curriculum in which

the virtual enterprise is running, differing methods of

presentation could be integrated. For example, in a

VCE Accounting class, students are required to

provide reports on financial performance of a

business. This could be calculated using accounting

package software such as MYOB, presented to

‘investors’ or ‘potential clients’ using PowerPoint or

Prezi, with the use of graphs and statistics calculated

in Excel. Likewise, in a VCE Business Management

class, students could create a marketing campaign for

their business to increase awareness or sales within

the virtual economy. This could be facilitated by video

and voice recording software, as well as publishing

and website development software to create an

integrated marketing campaign across a variety of

forums.

Using Virtual Enterprises to Enhance Curriculum

Delivery

This section will provide an example of how virtual

enterprises can be used to develop key knowledge

and skills in business studies by focusing on VCE

Business Management (in particular unit one).

However, it could be used equally effectively in other

areas of curriculum as previously mentioned.


The participation in a Virtual Enterprise provides many

opportunities to develop knowledge and skills as

outlined in Business Management Unit One. For

example, key knowledge from Area of Study One

includes the features and objectives of businesses.

Involvement in a Virtual Enterprise allows students an

opportunity to be involved in the process of

developing and communicating a set of objectives in a

realistic setting rather than hypothetical. It also

facilitates the development of the key skill of ‘apply

[ing] business management knowledge to practical

and/or simulated business situations’.


The outcome of Area of Study Two centres on ‘the

ability to apply decision-making and planning skills to

establish and operate a small business, and evaluate

the management of an ethical and a socially

responsible small business’. The VCE Study Design

suggests teachers provide students with the

opportunity to ‘apply their knowledge to practical or

simulated small business situations through, for

example, the operation of their own small business

venture within the constraints of the school’s

regulations’. A lot of schools provide students an

opportunity to run a short-term face-to-face business

at school (for example a day where groups of

students run stalls for a day to sell products to other

students and staff) to apply skills and knowledge

covered in class. While this provides students an

insight into the day-to-day operations of running a

business, it does not give students an opportunity to

apply skills in any long-term planning such as on-

going stock control, human resource requirements

and ongoing marketing strategies.

The benefits of participating in a longer-term business

allows students to consider the effects of their

decision making on their business in the future, and

allows them to reflect on and evaluate their business

and implement change to try new strategies as

required (which is a big focus of unit four). Another

benefit of participating in a virtual economy rather

than a real economy is that it takes real money out of

the equation. Students participating in short-term real

businesses can become overly occupied by making

money quickly without considering long-term

strategies and procedures over the life of their

business, because the main measure of success for

the day would be the amount of profit they make. On

the other hand, longer term planning allows for other

performance measures such as productivity, and

employee and customer satisfaction to be measured.

The virtual economy also eliminates the issue of

whether schools allow students to keep their profits

for the day, as well as the possibility of students

making a real financial loss as a result of investing

their own money in their business. 
 



Other benefits of using Virtual Enterprises is that it

caters for multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983), as

students can be allocated roles within the business

based on their specific strengths.


Use of Virtual Enterprises in Schools


Virtual Enterprises have been running since 2007, and

there are currently just over one hundred education

providers (including secondary schools, TAFEs and

universities) in Australia that utilise Virtual Enterprises

in the teaching of Business Studies. The benefits

outlined above show how participating in a virtual

economy provides students opportunities to apply

knowledge and skills in a realistic environment. This is

something that could be utilised in a positive way in

schools today.