Developing tools for research on school leadership development: An illustrative case of a computer simulation

Purpose: The extant literature on school leadership development is dominated by conceptual analysis, descriptive studies of current practice, critiques of current practice, and prescriptions for better ways to approach practice. Relatively few studies have examined impact of leadership development using experimental methods, among which even fewer studies have employed a cross-cultural comparative perspective. The aim of this paper is to discuss the feasibility of using a computer simulation as tools for research in leadership development. Design/methodology/approach: This is a methodology development paper. It discusses the feasibility of using a computer simulation as tools for research in leadership development. Exemplary research questions, research designs, and data analyses are used to illustrate the potential of this approach for addressing under-explored issues in management education. Findings: Three categories of cross-cultural comparative research questions are proposed: comparative study of leadership expertise, comparative study of instructional approaches, and comparative study of leadership development processes. This study demonstrates the research potential of using the computer simulations to address complex issues in leadership development across cultures. Originality/value: Although computer simulations have been used as training tools for several decades, few scholars have explored their potential for use in the collection of complex data in an efficient fashion. The current study not only demonstrates how a specific simulation has been adapted to collect data on leadership development in education, but also models the means by which computer simulations could be employed in a similar fashion in other domains of education and training.