THE PRODUCTION GAME Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 19, 1992 208 THE PRODUCTION GAME Dr. D. Keith Denton, Southwest Missouri State University ABSTRACT This classroom simulation called The Production Came has been used in basic or advanced Production/Operations Management university courses, and it is designed to simulate a real-life manufacturing environment. It is not a compute simulation nor a ‘board” game. Instead, students actually form their own companies, divide managerial duties and produce a product. All of this occurs within a classroom setting. Once students have formed their team, they are given instructions for how to run the simulation. Materials used in the simulation include one-half sheets of construction paper (raw material), product specification, and production equipment (scissors, glue, rules, etc.) In its simplest form, students have 30 minutes to make as many products as they can while trying to control inventory, quality, labor and financial matters. The remaining 20 minutes is used to evaluate the team’s performance. These comments and suggestions can be used by the participants to improve their operation before the next “production run.” INTRODUCTION Usually one class or a 50-minute period is required for students or trainees to organize their management team. In order for this to go as smoothly as possible, have the students read the first part of their Study Guide where it describes, “How To Play The Came.” This material is given to the students before their actual “organization period” so they can have time to digest the information in the manual. The time the assignment is made would also be an appropriate point for the instructor to tell the students what they will be making. The instructor can choose their own product or one of the twenty or so products. With initial production runs it is wise to choose one of the simple products to make. Once the instructor chooses one of the products, he or she then reviews the product specifications with the students so they know what will be expected of them. In more advanced versions of the game, students do not know until the day of production exactly what types of products they will make. Sometimes they are given several designs to choose from and they must decide which one is best for them. The reason for this is to analyze the interaction between design and manufacturing often a critical ingredient to business success. If this ingredient is not important to the instructor, then simply give students the design ahead of time and focus exclusively on the actual production process. During this same time, instructors will also want to review with students how they will be evaluated. With this initial organization out of the way, future classes can be devoted to making production runs and analyzing what went well and what needs improvement. Once the “company” makes a production run, each management team assesses its own performance, then streamlines and improves their organization when needed. This sequence of making production runs (which usually lasts about 30 minutes) and then assessing their performance can occur as many times as the instructor chooses. In the basic or more simple versions of the game, this analysis occurs immediately after a production run. A practitioner who has been watching a run can be used because the instructor is so busy playing the role of the customer that they can overlook some important aspects. If a practitioner observer cannot be found, use a couple of volunteer students per work group. This analysis is critical to making improvements in this production process, so the more analyzers, the better. In later “manager’s meetings,” participants can review their results and the suggestions of these consultants to come up with improvements they can implement before the next production run. These meetings can also occur during the next class period or outside class. As in industry, there are always improvements that can be made. Each time participants make a production run and analyze the results, they learn something new about producing products and services that satisfy the customer’s requirements. The simulation has been used as a supplement to courses and as the activity students did in an eighteen- week course. They were still making improvements, when the course ended! The key to making improvement is to insure that participants assess a variety of performance measures such as quality, inventory, labor utilization, profits and so on. Since they collect information on these measures, after a run and analyze them during their manager’s meetings, they always have areas to improve - just like in industry. Students are provided a whole series of measures by using the forms and reports that are in their Study Guide. A supplemental form called a Stockholder’s Report is used when the instructor wants participants to used when the instructor wants participants to summarize what happened, what went well, and what changes they intend to make. By requiring a brief report like this form a company’s CEO, it tends to keep their managers’ meeting more focused on the problems at hand. Table of Contents Volume 19, 1992 The Pedagogical Utility of a Management Simulation Game in a Business Policy Course Modeling Economic Environments in Business Simulations: Some Comparisons and Recommendations Experiential Learning and TQM Principles: Teaching Behavioral Science in a Business School The Use of Poster Presentations as a Final Project in the Business Policy Course The Device Business: A Management Simulation for Strategy Formulation The Advantages of Experiential learning in the Auditing curriculum A Framework for the Identification of Moderated and Mediated Performance consequences of Pedagogical Alternatives Simulating Qualitative Research Relating to Values and Lifestyle Segmentation A New Market Demand Model for Business Simulators Interactive Optimization Using the Method of Relative Improvement Preferences: Methodology and Empirical Evaluation The Service Trainer Simulation Benefits of Internet Computer Networks for ABSEL Members How Should We Measure Experiential Learning? An Assessment of Simulation Usage in Management Accounting Courses The Influence of Myers-Briggs Type and Group Dynamics on Simulation Performance Effective Leadership Behavior in the Desert Storm Arena: An Application of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model Installing and Consolidating Work-Team Values: The Effects of a Multicultural Outdoors Experiential Program Key Determinants and Decision performance in a Business Simulations and Experiential Learning environment Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in Indonesia Attitudes Toward and Emotions Related to Women as Managers: A Replication and Beyond Scenario Approach to Simulating Consumer Expenditures: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Insights into Ethical Decision making Activities and Organizational Performance: A Management Simulation Analysis of College Students and Managers Evaluating a Business Simulation Program for Joint Venture Negotiation and Management Teaching Business Interviewing Strategies with an Experiential Approach Cooperative Learning Across the Business Curriculum Modeling Total Quality Elements into a Strategy-Oriented Simulation Teaching Business Decision making using a Simulator Extending the Educational Utility of a Simulated Competition within the Confines of an Established Undergraduate Marketing Curriculum Expert Systems Versus Traditional Methods for Teaching Accounting Issues Confidence Extremes Diminish Quality Performance in a Total Enterprise Simulation Can Ethics Be Taught? A Simulation Tests a Traditional Ethics Pedagogy Through The Looking Glass, Inc.: Organizational Climate Research as Experiential Pedagogy The use of Cluster Analysis for Business Game Performance Analysis Power and Ethnicity: An Experiential Learning Exercise (How to Sensitize Students to Diversity) Directed Development of Critical and Creative Thinking Skills for Case Analysis Implementing Total Quality Management in a Computerized Business Simulation Product Quality in Business Simulations Use of Simulation for Ethics Education in Management Satisfying the University's Customers through Total Quality Management Instruction: A Case Study Personality Characteristics and Group Performance in Total Enterprise Simulations Concepts of Interval Estimation and Quality Control Charts via Computer Simulated Sampling An Examination of the Effect of Team Cohesion, Player Attitude, and Performance Expectations on Simulation Performance Results The Effectiveness of Inventory Management and Production Scheduling Training in a Total Quality Management Environment Peer Group Indicators of the External Validity of Business Games: A five-year Longitudinal Study Political Strategies and Personal Actions Does Practice make Perfect? Observations on Simulation Trial The Use of A Non-Business Computer Simulation to Teach Marketing Management BankPro Commercial Bank Simulation The Production Game Pursuing Excellence: Work Strengths, Assets and relevant Values (An Exercise) Test of a Short Outward Bound Experience for College Students What is it that we want Student To Learn? Using Two TQM Philosophies when Playing Blackjack The Lagged Effects of Decision Variables on Financial Performance Measures Used in Two business Simulations The Development of an Experiential Exercise for Career Planning and Effective Job search Performance Measuring Quality in Management of Business Pedagogy Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement: Using and Experiential Process Toward a Generalized Architecture for Intelligent Reactive Management Systems The Quality Game TQX: Using Expert Systems to Improve Training in Total Quality Management A Simulation of the Effect of the Medicaid Payment Lag on the Financial Position of Community Pharmacies The Use of a Board of Directors to Evaluate and Validate Decisions in a Competitive Graduate Management Simulation Course The Impact of Academic Dishonesty on Business Simulations and Experiential Learning Activities Picture Project: An Experience of Icebreaking and/or Decision-Making An Effective Role-playing Exercise for Teaching Requisite TQM Supervisory Attitudes/Behavior Computerized Management Simulations and Some Correlates of Students' Satisfaction The Timing and Stability of Reactions to Market Structure in a Single Player Simulation Environment A Graphics Application Extension for a Simulated Decision Support System Environment Aspects of a Group Project Utilizing Actual Business data and a Computerized Accounting System The Role of Universities' Extended Learning Department in Assisting Organizations Implement Total Quality Management A three-dimensional Learning Experience to Develop Total Quality Management Skills Estimating Quality Costs by Computer Simulation Applications and Examples of Quality Control Software Assessing Business Pedagogy A Demonstration of an Experiential Process for Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement Processes An Action-Ethics Dilemma: A Demonstration Org Sim Jr.: A 2-3 Hour Version of the 2-Day Blanchard/Murrell Organization Simulation Building Buildings: An Experiential Exercise in Organizational Structure, Communication, Leadership and Group Dynamics Expert Systems for Organization Design: A Demonstration A Demonstration of Product Quality in a Business Simulation: Version 2 of CEO Two Revolutions, Total Quality Leadership, and the Baldy: The Story of Milliken Total Quality after the Award - The Xerox Story Building a Competitive Advantage through Customer Satisfaction and Reengineering Human Resource Planning: Managing the Only Renewable Resource for a Competitive Advantage Using Simulations to Teach International Issues: An analysis of the Multinational Management Game's Learning Environment Quality Function Deployment: A Tutorial Care and Nurturing of Teams Making a Good Thing Better: Adding TQM to Participative management Empowering Organizations to Redesign and Transform Themselves - Eastman Chemical Using Simulations in Field Management Development of an International Life Insurance Company Reinforcing the TQ Environment via Simulation Transforming a Business College into a Total Quality College