Management training simulation method and system

• US 20050004789A1
• Filed: 06/30/2004
• Published: 01/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tumbleweed Holdings LLC (Equitable IP Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Gary J. Summers
• Inventors: Summers, Gary J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,349,838 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/18 Book-keeping or economics
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F

Abstract

Developing decision-making skills of a user through practice in a simulated environment comprises defining a simulated situation to be influenced by the user including a set of objects that are represented by an attribute-characteristic representation, presenting information concerning a current state of the simulation, obtaining decisions from the user that at least partially determine object designs to be evaluated, evaluating an object design using a value function having multiple optima, updating the simulation with the results from the evaluation, and permitting continued practice by selectively repeating several of these steps. A system executes simulation software that simulates such a situation on a processor, and includes evaluation software for selecting and evaluating design objects by applying a value function having multiple optima. At least one terminal and communication links are provided for information transfer and implementation of the simulated situation. Diagnosis of the user'"'"'s cognitive approach is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method of developing decision-making skills of a user through practice in a simulated environment, comprising the steps of:

a. defining a simulated business situation to be influenced by the user including a set of objects that are represented by an attribute-characteristic representation;

b. presenting information concerning a current state of the simulation to the user;

c. obtaining decisions from the user;

d. evaluating at least one object design using a value function having multiple optima, wherein the obtained decisions at least partially determine the object designs to be evaluated;

e. updating the simulation with the results from the evaluating step; and

f. selectively repeating steps b) through e).

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the value function is one or more of an interdependent-attribute value function and an interacted value function.

3. The method as in claim 1, wherein one or more attributes of the attribute-characteristic representation is a qualitatively varying attribute.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein one or more attributes of the attribute-characteristic representation is a quantitatively varying attribute.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein the value function evaluates only a portion of an object design.

6. The method as in claim 1, including the additional step of changing the value function having multiple optima.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein a plurality of objects have multiple values.

8. The method as in claim 1, wherein the attribute-characteristic representation has multiple segments.

9. The method as in claim 8, wherein the decisions obtained from the user include designs for only a portion of the segments of the attribute-characteristic representation.

10. The method as in claim 1, including the additional step of changing a system-set attribute, wherein a computer-implemented system performs the steps in claim 1.

11. The method in claim 1, including the additional step of defining object categories with the attribute-characteristic representation, wherein the presenting step presents information concerning at least one of the categories, the obtaining step obtains decisions concerning the at least one category, and the evaluating step evaluates design objects contained in at least one category.

12. The method as in claim 11, including the additional step of providing resources for the user to allocate to a project, wherein the project includes one or more object categories.

13. The method in claim 12, wherein projects are defined on a portion of attributes and the updating step selectively includes defining projects on additional attributes.

14. The method as in claim 1, wherein the decisions obtained from the user include at least one design object.

15. The method as in claim 1, wherein the information presented to the user includes information derived from the evaluating step.

16. The method as in claim 1, including the additional steps of:

a. providing one or more directing conditions and a directing condition manipulator; and

b. manipulating the directing conditions with the directing condition manipulator during a simulation to define an enhanced subset of design objects.

17. The method as in claim 16, wherein the directing condition is a set of rules or calculations involving attributes and/or characteristics.

18. The method as in claim 16, wherein the directing condition manipulator alters the value function.

19. The method as in claim 16, wherein the directing condition manipulator changes the characteristics expressed by at least one system-set attribute.

20. The method as in claim 16, wherein the directing condition is at least one restriction on the valid object designs and the directing condition manipulator alters these restrictions by changing at least one of a domain of one or more attributes and the number of attributes of the attribute-characteristic representation.

21. The method as in claim 1, including the additional step of obtaining a query from the user and wherein the step of presenting information includes information that satisfies the query entered.

22. The method as in claim 21, wherein the step of obtaining a query occurs after performing the repeating step at least once.

23. The method as in claim 21, wherein one of the query and the presented information comprises an object category.

24. The method as in claim 1, including the additional steps of:

a. defining a second attribute-characteristic representation to represent a set of resources and at least one quality of the simulated business situation being influenced by resources;

b. selecting at least one resource from the set of resources; and

c. calculating the value for at least one influenced quality, wherein the calculation is at least partially determined by the attribute-characteristic representation of the selected resources.

25. The method as in claim 23, including the additional step of selecting at least one object design, wherein the calculation is at least partially determined by the attribute-characteristic representation of the selected object designs and the attribute-characteristic representation of the selected resources.

26. The method as in claim 1, wherein the information is presented through an interface, the method including the additional step of allowing the user to sort the information presented in the interface.

27. The method as in claim 1, wherein the processing step processes at least two object designs.

28. The method as in claim 1, wherein the simulated business situation has multiple users, wherein object have multiple segments, and different users design different segments.

29. The method as in claim 1, wherein there are plural users each representing a competing firm.

30. The method as in claim 1, wherein the step of updating the simulation includes processing the results of the evaluating step with either a market model or a set of market equations.

31. A management training system comprising:

a. a computer processor executing simulation software that simulates a business situation including a set of design objects represented with an attribute-characteristic representation;

b. at least one terminal in electrical communication with the processor that displays information about the business situation to a user and that permits the user to input decisions;

c. evaluation software configured to select design objects, wherein the selection is at least partially determined by any decisions input by the user, and to evaluate the selected design objects by applying a value function having multiple optima;

d. a first communication link means that transfers any decisions input by the user to the evaluation software; and

e. a second communication link for transferring information about the simulated business situation to the terminal.

32. The system as in claim 31, wherein the value function is one or more of an interdependent-attribute value function and an interacted value function.

33. The system as in claim 31, wherein any decisions input include design objects, design categories designed by the user, or both.

34. The system as in claim 31, wherein the processor executing the simulation software is further configured to execute the evaluation software.

35. The system as in claim 31, wherein the evaluation software is executed at the terminal.

36. The system as in claim 31, further comprising a directing condition manipulator software that defines enhanced sets of objects.

37. A method of diagnosing the cognitive approach of a user in responding to a design task presented on a computer, comprising the steps of:

a. defining a set of objects that are represented by an attribute-characteristic representation (ACR);

b. obtaining from the user at least one object design, wherein the object designs comprise at least one of an object represented in the ACR and an object category which represents plural objects represented in the ACR;

c. evaluating one or more of the obtained designs using a value function having multiple optima;

d. presenting the user with information derived from the evaluated designs;

e. repeating steps b) through d) while recording information derived from the evaluated designs; and

f. comparing the recorded information to other data to gauge the user'"'"'s cognitive approach in revising the designs.

38. The method as in claim 37, wherein the value function is one of interdependent-attribute value function and an interacted value function.