About Kim Boal's query, I teach a course entitled Management
Experience Simulation. It's built around a computer-assisted
gaming simulation that runs for 30 decision periods over five
phases, as follows:
Phase 1: Each participant starts a company from scratch. Each company
gets an earnings target to reach in 6 periods.
Phase 2: Participant founders of the top-scoring 25% of companies in
Phase 1 become CEOs. Other participants apply to work for
the CEOs, forming teams of three to five. Companies are
allowed to expand from one plant to three, and from one market
to two.
Phase 3: Companies issue stock that can be bought by all participants.
Phase 4: Defect rates soars. Companies must locate the causes to control
for product quality.
Phase 5: Companies can modify game parameters. Essentially, they are
are allowed to execute strategies that lock each of them into
a different competitive mode.
The following performance scores result from the exercise:
1. solo achievement score (Phase 1)
2. teamwork score (Phase 2)
3. plan-and-presentation score (Phase 3)
4. performance-to-plan score (Phase 3)
5. Overall team score for the competition
6. Overall individual score for the competition
I developed the gaming simulation myself. It's called CEO III.
The software installs on a PC-platform local area network. The
participants' manual is on the web, accessible through my URL below.
I send the software package as an e-mail attachment to anyone teaching
at an educational institution who writes me a letter of request on
institutional letterhead--yes, the letter is necessary--and gives me:
1. a brief explanation of the contemplated usage
2. an e-mail address that accepts binary attachments
Yes, yes, it's competely free, at no cost to you, your students, or
your institution. Just send me the letter. Collect the money you
and your students would otherwise spend for prizes and a big party!
Precha Thavikulwat, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
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| Dept. of Management |
| Towson University ~\\ ~\ |
| Towson, MD 21252 ~\\\ \\ |
| USA \\ \ |
| Telephone: 410-830-3230 ~ ~ |
| Fax: 410-830-3236 |
| E-mail, message only:
pthavikulwat@towson.edu |
| E-mail, with attachment:
precha@saber.towson.edu |
| URL:
http://www.towson.edu/~precha |
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