During the 19th International Conference on Education and Higher Education (ICEHE 2025), held on November 24–25 in Paris, Professor Lucía Garcés from the Public University of Navarre presented an innovative pedagogical approach developed within the framework of the Impactwheel initiative. The session showcased the integration of the Value Creation Wheel (VCW), a tool also at the core of the IMPACTWHEEL project, with an ERP business simulator developed by HEC Montreal—an educational model designed to strengthen strategic and entrepreneurial skills among higher-education students.
Context: Rethinking Entrepreneurship Education
Entrepreneurship education is increasingly challenged to:
- Move beyond traditional lecture formats,
- Engage students in complex, real-world decision-making, and
- Replicate dynamic market environments in which decisions have measurable consequences.
This initiative was guided by the conviction that entrepreneurship must be taught not only as a set of concepts, but as a process of structured decision-making combined with hands-on experimentation. By linking the analytical framework of the VCW with a competitive ERP simulation, students gain the opportunity to design strategies, test them, and refine their reasoning based on immediate feedback.
Methodology: From Analytical Thinking to Action
Similarly to the IMPACTWHEEL project, the pedagogical design followed a blended-learning structure with two main phases:
- Value Creation Wheel (VCW):
Students applied the VCW to:- Identify key entrepreneurial or managerial challenges,
- Generate multiple solution pathways,
- Evaluate strategic alternatives, and
- Justify the decisions they would later implement.
- ERP Simulation:
These decisions were then applied within the ERP environment, where students managed interconnected business functions such as:- Production,
- Finance,
- Marketing,
- Logistics.
This created a continuous learning cycle—think → decide → act → reflect—linking theoretical decision-making with real-time experiential learning.
Key Findings
The results observed and reported by Professor Garcés were highly encouraging:
- Higher engagement: Students became more invested as they saw the direct impact of their decisions.
- Improved systemic understanding: They developed a clearer picture of how each functional area influences the whole organization.
- Strengthened strategic reasoning under uncertainty: The simulation environment encouraged them to make informed decisions despite incomplete information.
- Enhanced entrepreneurial competencies: Skills such as analytical reasoning, teamwork, and innovation-oriented thinking were significantly strengthened.
Significance and Limitations
This integration provides a valuable bridge between decision theory and experiential, technology-supported learning. It also offers a scalable model for entrepreneurship education focused on innovation and strategic thinking.
However, a few limitations were identified:
- Initial learning curve: Students with little or no experience in ERP systems may require additional support early on.
- Competitive bias: The simulation’s competitive nature can favor more assertive profiles unless roles and responsibilities are structured to ensure balanced participation.
Despite these challenges, the overall outcomes confirm the relevance and value of this pedagogical model.
Future Directions
The presentation also highlighted several potential avenues for future research:
- Examining how different student profiles respond to the combined methodology,
- Personalising the decision-making processes within the VCW,
- Comparing the results with other experiential learning tools, and
- Integrating AI-driven analytics or adaptive feedback loops to further refine students’ strategic reasoning.
Conclusion
Presentation at ICEHE 2025 showed that integrating the Value Creation Wheel with an ERP simulation offers a powerful approach for enhancing entrepreneurial and strategic competences in higher education. This methodology encourages active learning, teamwork, and reflective decision-making—essential skills for developing innovation-driven entrepreneurial mindsets.
One response
Congratulations to Professor Lucia Garcés and all the students of Public University of Navarre (Spain) for integrating the VCW with an ERP simulation! Great job!