Search results

Summarizes what business and management games are, their history, the different types of games that are available and what their uses are. Through interviews and a questionnaire survey the users of games are studied to ascertain who they are, why they use or are involved with games and what they think of them.

Games are an effective teaching and classroom training tool, since they allow students to practise real‐life events. In the area of project management, most games focus on the planning phase of a project. The current paper aims to describe a new game, called PEG – Project Execution Game. The uniqueness of this game is its focus on real world problems during the project's execution.

The Project Execution Game provides the “players” with a set of realistic, but unexpected events that occur during a project, in order to enhance their problem‐coping capabilities and decision‐making skills as well as hone their general reactions. The game is designed for either one or several teams competing among themselves. The game's validity was tested on 185 undergraduate students in their advanced project management course. Statistical results about the simulation's contributions are presented in relation to several aspects of project management.

The conclusion from the study is that a game is an effective tool for teaching the unstructured area of project execution, and gives the student a taste of real‐life experience.

The Project Execution Game can be implemented with students in project management training sessions. With this game, the students gain more practical relevant experience, as compared to alternative teaching techniques. Furthermore, the game can be used in organizational training to improve project managers' techniques and experience in reacting to unexpected events. Finally, it can also be used with project managers practising before the actual execution of a big project.

This paper suggests effective and interesting ways of teaching project management in order to better train project managers. By simulating realistic competitive conditions, the concepts learned and solutions generated in the classroom can be transferred to the outside business environment.

Most authors see the origins of Management Games in ancient board games such as checkers and chess, played on squared boards. Games such as these have, of course, been with us for a long time with the distant origins of chess traced back to the 6th century BC.

Reviews briefly the history of management games and outlines the main parts of a game. Lists the best known international management games being utilized in the United States. Provides a complete description of the Multinational Management Game (MMG) along with case histories of management development experiences with MMG in Korea, the Pacific Asian Management Programme, The University of Hawaii, The Japan American Institute of Management Science, a programme in Hungary, and an Executive MBA Programme in the United States. Includes excerpts from student experiences within game play and a short review of research validating games as learning environments.

Many graduates, especially those in the more practical disciplines such as engineering and social science, often take up employment in a manufacturing or service enterprise, doing work of a managerial/administrative nature. Even recent graduates will often find themselves managing a sub‐system of an organisation such as materials purchasing, finished stocks, or quality control. This is particularly true in the smaller companies of the developing countries, where the graduate is usually one of a few professional employees reporting directly to the owners.

Computer‐based games can now be tailored to fit individual applications with relative ease. The “soft” format of games packages (as opposed to the “hard” format of manual games) allows them to be customised and kept up‐to‐date. Wholetrain, developed by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and MAKRO, fills the training gap within the wholesale industry, aimed at junior wholesale managers and supervisors and providing (simulated) training in a Cash and Carry environment where experimentation is not usually feasible.

From 1995 to 2011, tribal gaming has grown from $5.5B to $27.2B in revenues (NIGC website, 2012). When so much money is changing hands, a lack of adequate policies heightens the possibility of financial mismanagement. In fact, gaming violations have grown during this time period. This paper explores the relationship between financial management policies and regulatory violations among American Indian Tribal gaming activities. Through empirical testing, we conclude that deductive models of proactive and reactive policies do not accurately predict the incidence of gaming violations and these policies are ineffective. The results raise normative questions about regulatory policy parity. These findings and related implications for future financial management regulations, policies and practices are tremendous, given the amount of money involved.

The growth and usage of business games in management training programmes and university business courses are examined. It is concluded that usage is quite high in both, and those unfamiliar with this instructional method are encouraged to find out what simulation gaming is about.

Compared with other methods of instruction, whether in management training programmes or in university courses, simulation gaming is relatively new. Readings, lectures, cases, role playing and other instructional techniques were in use long before the appearance of business games. Though recent in comparative terms, however, simulation games have been in existence for nearly 40 years. Examines the use of simulation games for sales management training, describes a newly developed sales management simulation and illustrates its use in a sales‐training programme.

The purpose of this paper is to present the main characteristics of the role‐playing game “Strategic Micro‐Firm” which aims to reproduce the fundamental features of a complex supply chain.

A specific role‐playing game is presented, in which a Balanced Scorecard is used as the reporting device and is the main tool for analysing players' performance. The research design and the typical outcomes of several gaming sessions are discussed.

The paper illustrates the strengths of using this specific role‐playing game as a means for training managers to face complex and dynamic issues, such as the supply chain.

Depending on the features of the specific game and the interaction taking place, different kinds and various degrees of learning and performance improvements can occur. Therefore, it is not possible to provide a generalization.

The paper shows that gaming can play a relevant role in management training, providing free and safe environments in which players can face decision‐making issues and problem‐solving challenges.

The paper demonstrates how a specific role‐playing game maybe used in management education/training to incentivize improvements in problem‐solving skills as well as in communication and coordination. Role playing could be used for support in designing supply chain management policies, providing a safe, simulated environment where managerial strategies may be explored and discussed before their implementation. The paper's originality relates to the adoption of the Balanced Scorecard as the main reporting and performance assessment tool for the gaming experience.