**4. Management simulators for higher education**

Simulators in the university environment facilitate the application of knowledge of their students in scenarios that show the results of their decisions in real time [4], where HEIs reduce costs because they save the implementation of on-site laboratories, which require large spaces for their processes, while the virtual simulator provides a suitable environment without requiring a physical space [6], which is a perfect scenario for students of administrative careers to assume managerial roles in decisionmaking. Simulators are digital environments for the application of knowledge in

scenarios and in real time [22]; they contribute to the development of disciplinary competencies [28] and to decision making to learn from mistakes and correct actions, with the analysis of the results of simulated companies [29]. These tools are used in all disciplines because they are flexible and involve their actors in education to keep the attention of students and facilitate their approach to the business environment without having experience [16].

The contribution of simulators for learning involves a context and a methodology that motivates students to participate in educational processes, because they are accompanied by their teachers as advisors, rather than tutors, to promote teachinglearning [28, 30]. In fact, problem-based learning [31] and gamification are used, because they foster environments that promote competition and force the student to take a role in front of his situation and face the simulated reality to perform in his disciplinary field [16, 30]. The use of gamification strategies in higher education allows the student to feel satisfied, participate, and turn learning into a habit in a given discipline [21]. Simulators offer advantages that guide the student to assume a managerial role, through the person, the process, and the company, as shown in **Figure 2**.

Studies by Navarria et al. [6]; Guzmán Duque and del Moral Pérez [7]; Schmeller et al. [24]; and Cristofaro et al. [30] show that simulators provide feedback within the disciplinary field from the decisions made by students, encourage participation to make group decisions, and motivate them to achieve success because a simulated competitive environment is generated, without organizational risks through a holistic view of the company without causing collateral effects [4, 5] and for the integration of the areas of the company because it favors the overall view of the organization [32].

As previously mentioned, a major difficulty for professionals is to integrate theory with practice without presenting risks for organizations. Guzmán Duque and del Moral Pérez [7] in **Figure 3** show the three ways to do it, case studies, business practices, and simulators, where the importance for professionals to confront theoretical knowledge with business practices is highlighted, the latter being an impediment to the recruitment of university students, because organizations do not want to risk that an inexperienced subject makes managerial decisions that can have costly or perhaps irreversible consequences.

**Figure 2.** *Benefits of management simulators.*

*Educational Innovation in Higher Education with the Use of Management Simulators… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112771*

#### **Figure 3.**

*Integration of knowledge through application of theories into practice.*

Finally, students through the efficient use of simulators in the classroom develop competencies because it allows them to improve their teamwork skills [7]; make decisions related to their discipline, generating confidence in the process [29, 33]; and favors the application of their knowledge in practice [32].
