USING TWO TQM PHILOSOPHIES WHEN PLAYING BLACKJACK Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 19, 1992 212 USING TWO TQM PHILOSOPHIES WHEN PLAYING BLACKJACK David R. Grimmett, Georgia Institute of Technology K.K. Kwak, St. Louis University ABSTRACT If the game of Blackjack were considered a profit center, interest would focus on the quality of operation to include inbound raw materials (shuffled deck), work center environment (casino/table rules), quality of workmanship (session play), and finished product (customer satisfaction). This brief paper looks at Blackjack from a business standpoint, adopts two Total Quality Management (TQM) ideas from the Japanese, and offers suggestions on game play. INTRODUCTION Stuelpnagel (1988), the former president and CEO of Hughes Helicopters, begins his article on TQM by claiming that “Survival is the greatest motivator.’ If the game of Blackjack is to be taken seriously, and not as a form of generally expensive entertainment, then this same philosophy should be applied here as well. Many texts have been written on the topic of Quality Control, but as expected, none have included a chapter on Blackjack. The Japanese have offered many terms, which relate to Quality Control, but two could specifically be applied to Blackjack. Kaizen The term ‘kaizen” means a gradual and unending improvement by doing the little things better. In the business world it applies to the way we answer the phone, package our product, or present our invoice. In Blackjack it applies to choosing the casino/table, knowing where to sit, and knowing when to quit. Using the concept of gradual improvement, the player would learn more and more about the game at a relatively slow pace and recognize that vast improvement overnight for that occasional trip to Vegas is unlikely. Understanding the rules of the game is a given, but knowing that more than one ‘basic philosophy exists is a higher level of maturity. Jadahka The term “jadahka’ relates to machines that are designed to stop automatically whenever a problem occurs, From a quality control standpoint in a typical business, the use of sampling theory is a form of jadahka, but is not as automated as it should be. From the standpoint of the casino where players are betting significantly higher than usual (and winning), the deck is changed, thus changing the process parameters. Very rarely does the player have any stopping rule except to say that he will quit when all of his money is gone. But, if the dealer wins four hands in a row, the player should shut down the process and move on to another assembly line; if the deck seems “jagged” and the player wins two, loses two, wins one, loses two, etc., never really getting ahead or behind, the process should be shut down and another process chosen. In a losing session the player should never lose more than 20% of his session bankroll. And, more importantly, on those occasions where the player is winning, he should never give back more than one-third of his winnings. THE SIMULATION For the study at hand a software package entitled Blackjack by ShareData, Inc. was utilized. The software was verified and validated prior to its use, and found to replicate actual play. A simulation experiment of 200 sessions each with 100 hands was performed. The results suggest that the player can expect to a) receive one blackjack in every 21 hands; b) be beaten by a dealer blackjack in every 18 hands; c) have an average winning streak of six; d) have an average losing streak of seven; e) win an average of 43 hands; and f) lose an average of 50 hands. More importantly, the player can expect to not double his session bankroll, nor lose it all as long as he plays by a basic strategy and bets flat. It was also noted that in every winning case the player at one time was behind and that in every losing case the player at one time was ahead. This implies that if the losses are cut short, and if the winnings are allowed to run, the player has a tactful advantage over the house. Three stopping rules might be 1) in a winning session, quit before you give back one-third of your winnings; 2) in a jagged break-even session, quit as soon as you have a one- unit win; 3) in a losing session, quit as soon as you reach your session loss limit. Finally, never exceed your session time limit, because fatigue is also your enemy. CONCLUSIONS The player should treat Blackjack as a process that is either ‘in control” or “out of control.” It is a fact that the casinos consider it as such because it is their business to do so. From the standpoint of the customer, the game is rarely recognized as a process with a stochastic mean. The terms of kaizen and jadahka have been borrowed from the Japanese and offered here as suggestive aids in the playing of the game. Kaizen suggests that we should be satisfied with an unending gradual improvement of the understanding of the process. Jadahka suggests that we should act as a machine that makes decisions based on established policies, not emotion. The ability to walk away from the table when the process is out of control and utilize the most Important tool that the player has (shutting down the process) is an ability that does not come easy. Combining these first-learn-the-game and then- play-it-wisely terms with the observation that the casinos never bring money to the table should help the player reach a higher level of Blackjack understanding. REFERENCES Imai, Masaaki (1986), Kaizen, The Key to Japans Competitive Success, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York, NY 10020. Stuelpnagel, T. R. (1988), Total Quality Management, National Defense, November, pp. 57-62 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