To Innovate Again: Reassessing Students' Strategic Decision-Making in a Simulated Environment

This paper investigates the use of simulation-based learning in Engineering Management education. Building on prior research, it explores how students allocate R&D budgets between disruptive and sustaining technologies under dynamic market conditions. Conducted with diverse student groups, the study aims to validate earlier findings, which emphasized disruptive innovations as key drivers of success and highlighted the educational benefits of repeated simulation runs. The research extends previous work by adding a longitudinal dimension, examining how decision-making patterns and learning outcomes evolve over time. The findings confirm consistent trends favoring disruptive technologies across cohorts while revealing some variations in strategies influenced by changing contexts. This study underscores the value of simulation-based learning in fostering critical thinking and preparing students for innovation challenges in SMEs and other STEM fields.