Dear colleagues,
I have received a number of reactions to my question on classroom games for teaching strategy & entrepreneurship - thanks to everyone who has contributed! Below I summarize the recommendations I have received. Apologies for being rather slow in producing this summary, I hope you will find some of these links useful.
Best wishes,
Pavel Luksha
Group for Research in Organization Evolution
University of Hertfordshire Business School
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* large collection of games and icebreaking exercises:
* Alaska Gold Mine case - seems to be a very interesting icebreaker game for strategic decision making and entrepreneurship
http://research3.bus.wisc.edu/file.php/139/BPSTOOLS/alaska_gold_mine.doc
http://research3.bus.wisc.edu/file.php/139/BPSTOOLS/AlaskaGoldMine.ppt
http://research3.bus.wisc.edu/file.php/139/BPSTOOLS/AlaskaGoldMine_ShortTN.pdf
* Tinker Toy: Coff & Hatfield (2003) in JSME
http://research3.bus.wisc.edu/file.php/139/BPSTOOLS/tinkering.pdf
* large collection of experiential exercises are great for Strategy classes (especially for 75 minute or 120-minute class sessions) for both graduate and undergraduate strategy courses:
C. Gopinath and Julie Siciliano 'Strategize! Experiential exercises in strategic management.' http://www.cengage.com/cengage/instructor.do?codeid=2A4A&sortby=copy&type=all_radio&courseid=MN03&product_isbn=9780324596380&disciplinenumber=416&codeFlag=false
* Monopoly & Monopoly City:
"I use good old Monopoly and last semester began using the new Monopoly City. I put students in different types of companies ... corporations, partnerships, shareholders and some individual 'working stiffs'. I have them keep a transaction record of their activity ... simple bookkeeping. They are required to pay the Governor (me) quarterly taxes. With the new Monopoly City, there is more opportunity for strategy. The biggest downfall is the chance involved with the roll of the dice. Students have great fun and do in fact learn some strategy and the importance of strategy and control." Jim Elias
* Tower-building Lego game:
Terry Noel (tnoel@ilstu.edu) invented a tower-building game where Legos or other toy construction pieces are used. Each student is given the same number of pieces and told to build the tallest tower for a reward of, say, $20. They may "merge" with other "companies." They discover that there is an optimal number of members--too few and they can't win; too many and the prize is diluted. There are several variations. One is to require that each tower have a certain number of different colors. Another is to integrate monopoly money as a medium of exchange and watch a price structure emerge.
* Egg-Dropping Machine revised
'Design of Machines for Egg-Dropping' as the way to teach entrepreneurship concepts:
Diane Sullivan. Egg-Drop Exercise Revisited. Forthcoming in the Journal of Entrepreneurship Education
* Carter Racing: strategic decision making & risk assessment case study
* commercial simulations
- strategic decisions under conditions of uncertainty: Fluxx from the company Looney Labs (http://www.looneylabs.com/).
- Experience Point simulations (http://www.experiencepoint.com) for integrated management concepts
ALSO: useful link on use of games from social construction perspective:
Ann L. Cunliffe "On Becoming a Critically Reflexive Practitioner" Journal of Management Education, Vol. 28, No. 4, 407-426 (2004)
On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 1:03 PM, Pavel Luksha
<pavel.luksha@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear colleagues,
I am looking for examples of simple classroom games that could be
included in Strategic Management or Entrepreneurship courses, that can
help illuminate strategic management concepts for MBA students (not
games for HR or Operation Management courses). One example of such a
game is Rebecca Henderson's coin tossing game described in HBR article
'Are "Great" Companies Just Lucky?'
Thank you for any advices or leads,
Pavel Luksha
Group for Research in Organization Evolution
University of Hertfordshire Business School