Project Competitor: A Simulation Game for Project Management with 2 Models and 2 Modes PROJECT COMPETITOR© A SIMULATION GAME FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT WITH 2 MODELS AND 2 MODES Nikhil Mishra Tata Interactive nikhilm@tatainteractive.com Anish Malhotra IILM anish.malhotra.pgpo9@iilm.edu Kanika Sibal IILM kanikasibal@gmail.com George Otoiu Aphorme georgeotoiu@yahoo.com Karl Heinz Greess Mercedes khgreess@aol.com Kailash Tuli IILM kailash.tuli@iilm.edu Richard Teach Georgia Institute of Technology richard.teach@mgt.gatech.edu ABSTRACT PROJECT COMPETITOR© is a KISS class simulation game of a project management situation. It has an individual or single team model as well as a competitive one and it can be played as a computer run simulation or in a manual mode. The non- competitive model can be briefed, played and debriefed within a single, 50-minute period and the competitive model takes only slightly more time. The game, as described, simulates a project that needs to be completed within a specific time limit and under a stated budget. This project has three required elements: an analytical component, a technical component and a commercialization component. The simulated project is broken down into four periods in which the player(s) receive(s) feedback and can make needed changes in order to complete the project on time and under budget in only the last 3 time periods. (The designation of a KISS type simulation occurs when the model is to Keep It Simple and Short.) WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project Management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while adhering to classic project constraints—usually scope, quality, time and budget. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre- defined objectives. A project is a carefully defined set of 200 | Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 36, 2009 mailto:nikhilm@tatainteractive.com mailto:anish.malhotra.pgppog@iilm.edu mailto:kanikasibal@gmail.com mailto:georgeotoiu@yahoo.com mailto:khgreess@aol.com mailto:kailash.tuli@iilm.edu mailto:richard.teach@mgt.gatech.edu activities that use resources (money, people, materials, energy, space, provisions, communication, motivation, etc.) to achieve the project goals and objectives. A DESCRIPTION OF THE SINGLE PLAYER, MANUAL GAME The participant plays the role of a project manager who has received a project that requires 1,000 hours of time of analytical skills, 1,200 hours of time of technical skills and 1,000 hours of commercialization skills time and the project must be completed within a 12 month period of time and cost less that 25,000 currency units, utilizing no more than three specialists at any one time. The project management task’s skill needs are shown in Table 1. What is standardized time? Workers have various efficiencies, that is, in a fixed period of time two people never get exactly the same amount accomplished. In addition, some people are good at analytical skills, while others are good at people skills and, of course some are good at both. In this simulation each worker has a set of three specific skills that are needed in the project management task, but the worker seldom excels at all three skills, but when the project manager uses a worker he hires the entire worker not just a single skill. Each worker will be able to devote exactly 300 hours of effort toward the project management task, but the amount of standardized hours of time the worker accomplishes is a function of the workers skills levels. If a worker has a skill level for analytical work of 125, it means that the worker accomplishes 125 hours of analytical work with 100 hours of actual working time. Thus if a worker’s Skill Scores were: Table 1. Requirements needed to complete the project management task Total Budget Limit 25,000 Currency units Standardized Technical Time 1,000 hours Standardized Analytical Time 1,200 hours Standardized Commercial Time 1,000 hours Total standardized time needed 3,200 hours Actual hours of time possible 6,000 hours Maximum number of workers 3 during any quarter (One year has 2,000 hours of work time available per person) Table 2. The list of specialist and their talents and costs Name Skill sets Cost/quarter Analytical Technical Commercialization Heinz Beck 103 84 74 2,115 Henry DuPree 118 81 144 2,458 Marie Metz 103 84 74 2,115 Naresh Patel 61 94 73 1,911 Heidi von Holt 50 63 117 1,713 Kailish Citrin 126 53 87 2,015 George Kanoplias 140 131 143 3,216 Vito Vitali 97 122 72 2,285 Amiee Gris 56 101 51 1,648 Suko Kim 108 60 117 1,959 Analytical Skill Score ………. 125 Technical Skill Score …….…. 100 Commercialization Skill Score .. 85 The worker would accomplish 125 standardized hours of analytical work and 100 standardized hours of technical work and 85 standardized hours of commercialization work in his/her 300 hours of committed actual time working on the project management project. To complete the project, the project manager has a set of 10 specialists from which to select and each specialist has all 3 of the needed skills (analytical, technical and commercialization), but the specialists’ abilities of these skills differ widely. The project manager must commit to using a worker for 300 hours and reimbursing the department from which the borrowed worker is normally employed the specified amount of money solely determined by the worker’s home department. The specialists are each described on a separate card (about the size of a playing card). This card has the name of the specialist at the top, followed by the identified skill levels of the specialist for all three skills and the quarterly cost for the specialists in currency units. Exhibit 1 displays an example of one of these specialist’s identity cards. The skill score number is the number of hours that specific worker can allocate to the project management task. The project manager must remember that the people he/she uses for the project management task are currently employed by the firm and are, in essence, on loan to the project from their regular department. 201 | Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 36, 2009 Exhibit 1. A specialist card Table 2 displays the contents of all 10 cards. These 10 cards are shuffled and three cards are given to the game player. These three cards represent the project manager’s initial team. Note that if the game is played anywhere in the world, the names given above may be changed to fit whatever culture might be best for the location of the game exercise. The project manager then records the information on the record sheet as shown in Exhibit 2. Sums the four columns on the line called resources consumed, then subtracts these values from the values recorded on the project needs line and records the differences on the remaining needs line. The project manager then decides if he/she needs to replace a specialist with another selection. Note that only one specialist may be replaced per decision round. The simulation is over after playing a total of four rounds. To be successful, the player needs to fulfill all three skill needs within the standardized hours’ constraints and be at or under the projected budget. THE COMPETITIVE MODEL This project management simulation can be modified slightly in order to make the game a competition between two project managers. (The development team recommends that the competition be limits to only two teams). When direct competition is undertaken, the set of 10 possible workers remains constant, but two sets of 3 workers with identical shill levels and per person costs are used to start the game. These three additional workers are shown in Table 3. The competition mode requires the use of one moderator for each set of two competitive project managers. The project managers review the set of 10 potential workers and if each selects the same person from the list, the project manages bid for the services of that person. The moderator notes the winning bid and the losing project manager then must select his/her second choice from the list; he same record sheet as show in Exhibit 3. If the first three values in the remaining needs line on Exhibit 2 are all zero or negative, the project manager has completed the project. If, in addition, the budget value on this line is zero or positive the project has been successfully completed. THE COMPUTER ASSISTED VERSION OF THIS SIMULATION GAME Heinz Beck Skill Score Analytical Skills 103 Technical Skills 84 Commercialization Skills 74 Cost to project per quarter 2,115 currency units The computer driven game has more features than the hand game, but the problem and its solution remains exactly the same. The differences include the feature that the game is never the same when it is played more than once. This is handled simply by the use of a functional approach to setting the skill levels of each potential worker and making the salary a function of the skills. This model then adds a controlled random number to each value generated. In addition, the model selects the names of the worker pool from a list that may be altered to better fit the country or society in which the game is being used. Thus the computer model is more flexible and easier to alter than the hand game... In addition to the changeable inputs, the computer model automated the accounting process and generated a substitute to the financial report shown in Exhibit 3. Another difference is the display of progress. This computer driven model produces a set of four graphs that display the progress of the project being managed. There are graphs of how well the three critical needs of the projects, Analytical. Technical and Commercialization, are being met as well as a graph of the planned budget and how close the project is to meeting the budget goals. One of these graphs is shown in Exhibit 3. Which is a graph displaying the technical needs of the project over time and how will the project is progressing. Tables are used to display the workers being used and each person’s performance. The dismissle of a worker is accomplished by clicking on a person’s line in the current employees table and the addition of a new person to the project management team is accomplished by clicking on the persons line in the avaliable workers table. Table 3. Three additional workers data values for the competitive version Workers Name Skill sets lowest Cost/quarter Analytical Technical Commercialization Clayton Silverio 86 89 118 2,021 Elnora Chesnut 109 74 97 2,155 Lorrie Hoaglin 62 136 67 1,981 202 | Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 36, 2009 Exhibit 2. The record sheet The project needs: Analytical Technical Commercialization Budget Worker’s Name 1,000 1,2000 1,000 25,000 1st Quarter results: _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ ========= ========= ========== ============ Resources consumed _____ _____ ______ _________ ========= ========= ========== ============ Remaining needs _____ _____ ______ _________ 2nd Quarter results: _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ ========= ========= ========== ============ Resources consumed _____ _____ ______ _________ ========= ========= ========== ============ Remaining needs _____ _____ ______ _________ 3rd Quarter results: _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ ========= ========= ========== ============ Resources consumed _____ _____ ______ _________ ========= ========= ========== ============ Remaining needs _____ _____ ______ _________ 4th Quarter results: _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ _______________ _____ _____ ______ _________ ========= ========= ========== ============ Resources consumed _____ _____ ______ _________ ========= ========= ========== ============ Remaining needs _____ _____ ______ _________ 203 | Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 36, 2009 THE COMPETITIVE COMPUTER MODEL. Exhibit 3. A graph of the progress of the technical aspects of the project management task The competive compuer model in the competitive mode uses two networked computers and generates the three initial workes with idential profiles. At the end of the first period (quarter) it allows the project managers to select the worker from the list that they desire and if both players select the same worker, it informs the playrs f this fact and asks each to submit a bid. After the bids are placed, the computers displays the highest bid and identifies the player that made the hightest bid and asks the losing bidder to he/she wants to up the bid. If the player says yes, the computer then displays the higher bid and the process repeats until the low bidder indicates that he/she decides not to put in a new bid. Whren this, no more bidding condition occures, the player then selects another worker from the list. The computer model allows the game administrater to made the game more difficult by lowering the maximum budget of the project. 204 | Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 36, 2009 PROJECT COMPETITOR Nikhil Mishra Tata Interactive Anish Malhotra IILM Kanika Sibal IILM Kailash Tuli IILM George Otoiu Aphorme Karl Heinz Greess Mercedes Richard Teach Georgia Institute of Technology richard.teach@mgt.gatech.edu PROJECT COMPETITOR© is a non-competitive model can be briefed, played and debriefed within a single, 50-minute period. The game, simulates a project that needs to be completed within one year and under a stated budget. This project has three required elements: an analytical component, a technical component and a commercialization component. The simulated project is broken down into four periods in which the player(s) receive(s) feedback and can make needed changes in order to complete the project on time and under budget in only the last 3 time periods. The participant plays the role of a project manager who has received a project that requires 1,000 hours of time of analytical skills, 1,200 hours of time of technical skills and 1,000 hours of commercialization skills time and the project must be completed within a 12 month period of time and cost less that 25,000 currency units, utilizing no more than three specialists at any one time. Workers have various efficiencies, that is, in a fixed period of time two people never get exactly the same amount accomplished. In addition, some people are good at analytical skills, while others are good at people skills and, of course some are good at both. In this simulation each worker has a set of three specific skills that are needed in the project management task, but the worker seldom excels at all three skills, but when the project manager uses a worker he hires the entire worker not just a single skill. Each worker will be able to devote exactly 300 hours of effort toward the project management task, but the amount of standardized hours of time the worker accomplishes is a function of the workers skills levels. If a worker has a skill level for analytical work of 125, it means that the worker accomplishes 125 hours of analytical work with 100 hours of actual working time. To complete the project, the project manager has a set of 10 specialists from which to select and each specialist has all 3 of the needed skills (analytical, technical and commercialization), but the specialists’ abilities of these skills differ widely. The project manager must commit to using a worker for 300 hours and reimbursing the department from which the borrowed worker is normally employed the specified amount of money solely determined by the worker’s home department. The game, as being played is never the same when it is played more than once. The computer model automated the accounting process and generates a financial report. The game produces a set of four graphs that display the progress of the project being managed. There are graphs of how well the three critical needs of the projects, Analytical. Technical and Commercialization, are being met as well as a graph of the planned budget and how close the project is to meeting the budget goals. 199 | Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 36, 2009 Table of Contents Volume 36, 2009 Protecting Academic Integrity: Student Assessment In The Online Environment Pedagogical Shift: Teaching Report Writing For Accountants Online Increasing Student Learning In An Investment Management Course Through The Innovative Use Of Experiential Learning Pedagogy A Moral Development Unit For Business Courses Dividing Up Grandma’s Things: A Multifaceted Exercise In Critical Thinking Application Of Haekel’s Thesis To ABSEL Development Linking Stories With On-Line Threaded Discussions For Critical Thinking In Management Curriculum Why Have We Neglected Vicarious Experiential Learning? A Triadic Multi-Disciplinary Approach To Enhancing The Efficacy Of Experiential Learning Movement Toward Increased Student Roles In The Design Of Experiential Exercises Ready-Mix Concrete Company: An Experiential Exercise In Management Theory Using Portfolio Theory In A General Management Simulation An Experimental Analysis Of Advertising Strategies And Advertising The Relationship Between Goal Orientation And Simulation Performance With Attitude Change And Perceived Learning Beyond The Profitable-Product Death Spiral: Managing Product Mix In An Environment Of Constrained Resources Online Marketing Control With The Strategic Business Unit Analysis Package Beat The Market Game Creating Decision Support Systems In Business Simulation Games The Use Of Computer-Assisted, Interactive Role-Play Simulation In China Asia Marketing: An International Business Game An Empirical Test Of “Behavioral Immersion” In Experiential Learning Existing And Emerging Business Simulation-Game Design Movements Computerized Business Simulations: A Systems Dynamics Process Service Launch Evaluating Business Plans In A Simulation Environment Teaching Software Development By Means Of A Classroom Game: The Software Development Game Group Decision Experiments Using Business Game - Problem Solving With Conflict Luna: A Role Play Game For Learning Incoterms 2000 Entrepreneurship: A Game Of Risk And Reward Phase I -- The Search For Opportunity The Wee Game: A Pre-Game Learning Inhibitors In Business Simulations And Games New Version Of An Old Simulation Helps Build A Perfect Capstone Course Project Competitor: A Simulation Game For Project Management With 2 Models And 2 Modes Mitigating The Winner’s Curse In The Auction Market Of A Computer-Assisted Business Gaming Simulation Evaluation Of Collaborative Filtering By Agent-Based Simulation Considering Market Environment Marketing Simulation Game Decision Making Experience And Its Impact On Indecisiveness Among Introductory Marketing Students Individual And Organizational Learning In A Top Management Game In Pursuit Of Stockholder Value: Reinforcing Core Concepts In A Business Strategy Simulation With A “Shadow” Stock Market Competition The Simplicity Paradox: Another Look At Complexity In Design Of Simulations And Experiential Exercises In Search Of The Ethnocentric Consumer: Experiencing “Laddering” Research In International Advertising The Paradise Islands Revisited: Trouble In Paradise Developing And Assessing Student Information Literacy Competency Do First Mover Advantages Exist In Competitive Board Games: The Importance Of Zugzwang The Natural Debriefing Approach: A Case In A Simple Business Game Pursued For Perfect Communications New Product Development Simulation Dominance In On Line Business Games Competitions Cooperative Business Game With Framing Effect Experiential Exercises In The Online Environment Enhancing Web-Based Simulations With Game Elements For Increased Engagement The Ginseng Game Experience Business Using a Simple Business Simulation