AN INTERACTIVE SIMULATION GAME FOR COMPETITIVE DECISION-MAKING Development In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 21, 1994 180 AN INTERACTIVE SIMULATION GAME FOR COMPETITIVE DECISION-MAKING Sharma Pillutla, Towson State University ABSTRACT This paper discusses a simple simulation game being played at Towson State University in the introductory production and operations management course for business students. The game attempts to help the students understand the interactions between various decisions and functions in an organization through a hands-on participatory approach. We discuss some of the salient features of this game. We also explain the mechanics of the game’s operation by elaborating on the technical components of the game. The fact that the game serves its purpose is confirmed by its popularity among the students and the effort put into making good decisions. OVERVIEW This paper discusses a simulation game being played for the introductory Production and Operations Management class for Business students at Towson State University. The purpose of the game is to encourage hands- on participation by the students and to gain an understanding of the interaction between various decisions and different functions within the organization. It encourages analytical decision-making. The game can be made more or less challenging by varying different parameters and thus adjusting to the students’ capabilities and the level at which the course is conducted. In this demonstration, we show how the game is structured. We explain the various modules: the instructor’s module and the student module. The computer implementation is briefly explained and the advantages of this set-up are highlighted. This game is meant to simulate the decisions made by the students in the medium term, i.e., the focus is on decisions similar to those being made in an aggregate planning exercise rather than strategic decisions such as location and layout. However, there are options to add to plant capacity or dispose of plant capacity based on the demand forecasts. One can also borrow long-term loans or pay off existing loans. Most of the decisions made on a period-by-period basis are directly related to medium term planning decisions where the attempt is to match demand and supply. Each student acts as an entrepreneur who is in charge of a company. Three such companies are aggregated to form an industry. Thus, each company has two other competitors within the industry. The companies are of different sizes to emulate reality. Different company sizes imply that all facets of the company, including market share, assets, liabilities, and plant size are different for the three companies. The companies are assumed to be manufacturing a single indistinguishable product. The industry demand is a fixed external factor. The objective of the game is to maximize long-run profits for the company being managed. Towards this goal, the players in the game make a variety of decisions that have an impact on factors ranging from short term aspects such as cash position and inventory, to plant assets and long term bonds. In the medium run, however, the players have to match supply and demand in a cost-effective manner. The simulation proceeds for a planning horizon of 10 to 20 periods or quarters depending on the time available during the semester. The students make decisions for each quarter after which they receive the results. The output essentially consists of an income statement, a balance sheet and a section, which contains the evaluation of performance for that quarter. The game performance is evaluated with respect to five aspects: market share, income, cash position, owner’s equity and dividends. The students are graded at the end of the semester bas on their cumulative performance on all five performance factors COMPONENTS OF THE GAME The game consists of a set of Fortran and DCL programs. DCL, standing for Digital Command Language, is the language used to communicate with the VMS operating system running on the VAX. There are two basic modules in the game: Student module and Instructor module. The student module provides the basic interface between the student and the game and is the means of entering decisions. It is invoked simply by typing in ‘mansim’ at the DCL command prompt. The program then prompts the students to input the various decisions. The instructor’s module consists of one major DCL program, which is the driver program and a set of supporting Fortran programs. This set of programs performs all the tasks necessary for creating a compiled decision file from the individual student decision files, running the program, creating the output files and finally printing the program. However, all these programs have been seamlessly integrated and the fact of different programs working together is transparent to the instructor. The program can be invoked simply by typing ‘operate’ at the DCL command prompt. The instructor module takes over and presents a user-friendly interface. A question-answer session directs the instructor to enter various parameters of the game. The instructor has a choice of exiting the program at any stage and either re-running the ‘operate’ module or running individual components of the program if the instructor so desires. CONCLUSIONS We mentioned that this game provides a hands-on, participatory style of learning, which has been found to be very effective. Learning of text book material and concepts discussed in class are expedited through their application to decisions made in the game. Student comments indicate that they are extremely positive about the game. One of the advantages of the game is that it is implemented on a computer that can be accessed via telephone lines. For continuing education classes with students who work full-time, this is a tremendous time-saver, eliminating the need to be physically present on campus at times other than regularly scheduled class times. Such students also tend to have access to computers and modems at work and can easily access their account from their computers at work. REFERENCES Vance, Stanley and Lloyd Swanson, Management Decision Simulation Digital Equipment Corporation (1988) VMS General User’s Manual, Maynard, Massachusetts Digital Equipment Corporation (1988), VMSRTL Library (LIB$) Manual. Maynard, Massachusetts Digital Equipment Corporation (1988), VAX Fortran User Manual, Maynard, Massachusetts Table of Contents Volume 21, 1994 ABSEL: The Way We Were and Need to Be The Intellectual Structure of ABSEL: A Bibliometeic Study of Author Cocitatons Over Time Activity-Driven Time in Computerized Gaming Simulations An Assessment Framework for Determing the Effectiveness of Total Enterprise Simulations Attributes of Learning Organizations: Simulating the Relationships Business Policy/Strategy Case Extension using Pro-Forma Planning: A Computer Based Model Complexity: Is it really that Simple? A Random-Strategy Criterion for Validity of Simulation Game Participation Enhancing a Computer Simulation with a Structured Reporting Environment Experiencing a Foreign Culture: A Cross-Cultural Simulation Group Cognitive Style and Computerphobia in Functional Business Simulations Human Issues in Technology Implementation Management Simulator Incorporating Advertising Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations: A Validation Study Increasing the Effectiveness of Performance Evaluation Through the Design and Development of Realistic Finance Algorithms The Packer-Feeder Game: A Commodity Market Simulator Relationships Between R&D and Profitability: An Exploratory Comparison of Two Business Simulations with Two Real-World, Technology Intensive Industries Simulation of the Predictive Value of Mammography Simulation Performance and Learning Revisited Strange Bedfellows: Competency Models and ACBSP Accreditation Standards Using a Business Simulation to Study the Determinants of Ethical Behavior What Simulation Users Think Players Should be Learning from the Simulations ADA and its Implications for Experiential Training Boss/ Subordinate Perceptions of Instrumental and Supportive Leadership Behaviors in Relation to Myers-Briggs Thinking Type Cluster Analyses of American Universities' Business Core Curricula Structures Utilized to Satisfy Fifteen Curriculum Areas Cooperative Learning or Learning to Cooperate Experiential Learning: Constraining Students with Time Budgets How Different Workplace Experiences Affect Different Worker Values Implications of the Trend Toward Relationship Marketing for Experiential Learning The Increasing Cultural Diversity of the American Workforce: Management's Challenge of the 21st Century Information and Uncertainty as Strange Bedfellows: A Model and Experiential Exercises Leadership as a Medium: It's Emergence and Effect on Performance in Small Leaderless Groups Speed, Depth, and Breadth: Assessing Learning in Learning Organizations Teaching Strategic Planning, Problem Solving, and Decision Making with Envisionary Experiential Exercises Validating an Instrument for Student Evaluation of Teachers: Some Noteworthy By-Products Don't Teach Ethics to Business Students Emotional Reactions Toward a Simulated Layoff: Before and After the Manipulation Enhancing Communication Using a Presentation Package Implementing Marketing Policies through a Business Management Simulation Integrating Action-Based Learning into Executive Development Programs On the validity of using the Microsegmentation Principle in Media Simulationsm Participatory Systems Analysis Some Relationships between Cultural, Organizational, and Educational Experience and Perceptions of Influence The Use of Decision Support Systems with a Marketing Simulation: The Future is Now Astute Business Policy: A Simulation of the Automobile Industry The Business Policy Game CEO II: A Gaming Simulation for Assessment Computer Paced Project Management Simulation Computerized Tutor Support Systems DEAL & GEO: Progressively Integrating Gaming Simulations for Entrepreneurship and International Business An Interactive Simulation Game for Competitive Decision-Making International Operations Simulation/Mark 2000 (INTOPIA) Multimedia Simulation Cuts Training Costs for Anderson Consulting Concepts of Total Quality Management: An Active Learning Exercise Cooperative Learning: The Extended Jigsaw Managing Diversity--Values and Attitudes: An Experiential Exercise in Awareness Navigating the Shoals of International Management Development Evaluating Student Performance in the Use of Computer Simulation Entrepreneurial Simulation Program