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  • 1.  classroom games for strategic management teaching

    Posted 02-19-2010 04:06
    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

    (Apologies for cross-posting)

    **************************************
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    Ventures HO!


  • 2.  classroom games for strategic management teaching

    Posted 02-22-2010 15:14
    Pavel,

    I 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.

    Terry

    Terry Noel
    Associate Professor of Management and Quantitative Methods
    Illinois State University
    Follow me on Twitter
    twitter.com/terrynoel



    -----Original Message-----
    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv on behalf of Pavel Luksha
    Sent: Fri 2/19/2010 3:06 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: [ENTREP] classroom games for strategic management teaching

    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

    (Apologies for cross-posting)

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1

    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.

    Ventures HO!

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

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    Ventures HO!


  • 3.  classroom games for strategic management teaching

    Posted 02-23-2010 03:56
    Dear Pavel,
    one commercially available game that I use to teach students about
    making strategic decisions under conditions of uncertainty is Fluxx from
    the company Looney Labs (http://www.looneylabs.com/). As opposed to
    standard card games, where the rules, goals, and outcome probabilities
    are relatively fixed, nothing is fixed in Fluxx. The rules of play and
    the goals for winning the game can change with every card played.
    Initially the students are very frustrated by the uncertainty, but after
    about 20 minutes they get into the flow game, at which time I debrief
    them about their feelings and decision making experiences. The whole
    learning experience takes about an hour.
    Best Regards,
    Erik

    ----------------------------------------------------
    Dr. Erik Monsen
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Senior Research Fellow
    Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group
    Max Planck Institute of Economics
    Kahlaische Str. 10
    07745 Jena, Germany
    +49-3641-686736 (office)
    +49-3641-686710 (fax)
    monsen@econ.mpg.de
    http://www.econ.mpg.de/english/staff/egp/monsen
    ----------------------------------------------------



    Pavel Luksha 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
    >
    > (Apologies for cross-posting)
    >
    > **************************************
    > This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.
    >
    > Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.
    >
    > You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    > http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1
    >
    > If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.
    >
    > Ventures HO!
    >

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1

    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.

    Ventures HO!


  • 4.  classroom games for strategic management teaching

    Posted 02-23-2010 10:25
    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, M.B.A., APR
    Management & Supervision Instructor
    Business Department
    Muscatine Community College
    office phone:  563-288-6057


    -----Original Message-----
    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Erik Monsen
    Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 2:56 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: [ENTREP] classroom games for strategic management teaching

    Dear Pavel,
    one commercially available game that I use to teach students about
    making strategic decisions under conditions of uncertainty is Fluxx from
    the company Looney Labs (http://www.looneylabs.com/). As opposed to
    standard card games, where the rules, goals, and outcome probabilities
    are relatively fixed, nothing is fixed in Fluxx. The rules of play and
    the goals for winning the game can change with every card played.
    Initially the students are very frustrated by the uncertainty, but after
    about 20 minutes they get into the flow game, at which time I debrief
    them about their feelings and decision making experiences. The whole
    learning experience takes about an hour.
    Best Regards,
    Erik

    ----------------------------------------------------
    Dr. Erik Monsen
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Senior Research Fellow
    Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group
    Max Planck Institute of Economics
    Kahlaische Str. 10
    07745 Jena, Germany
    +49-3641-686736 (office)
    +49-3641-686710 (fax)
    monsen@econ.mpg.de
    http://www.econ.mpg.de/english/staff/egp/monsen
    ----------------------------------------------------



    Pavel Luksha 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
    >
    > (Apologies for cross-posting)
    >
    > **************************************
    > This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.
    >
    > Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.
    >
    > You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    > http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1
    >
    > If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.
    >
    > Ventures HO!
    >

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1

    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.

    Ventures HO!




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    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

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    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.

    Ventures HO!


  • 5.  classroom games for strategic management teaching

    Posted 04-30-2010 10:58

    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

    ---------------------------

    * 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


    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!