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Informationen zum Autor Hans B. Thorelli is the author of International Operations Simulation , a Free Press book. Klappentext In the eighth volume of the Studies in Business Administration series from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, professors of business administration and applied mathematics present recent discoveries and research on advanced simulations within the international business planning world. Through research presented on the effectiveness of international business operations and management simulation by gaming, University of Chicago professors Hans B. Thorelli and Robert L. Graves present details on the development of The International Operations Simulation. Featuring modular design and an extraordinary degree of flexibility, the uniquely developed simulation is one of the first applications of sophisticated game design in an effort to mange problems in overseas operations and cope with international competitors in domestic markets. Serving as guideposts for the use of The International Operations Simulation, as well as acting as a source of inspiration for other management simulation designers, this presentation of in-depth research will prove to be a useful resource to everyone from game designers to educators. Chapter 1 Of Games and Game Design Like so many prior arrivals on the educational scene -- lectures, seminars and case discussions among them -- management games are here to stay. This statement can now be made without any doubt; yet there continues to linger in the minds of many much doubt and many questions concerning the functions, construction and effects of games and their proper place in various curricula as well as in research. The present work makes no pretense at answering all questions or trying to allay all doubts. However, in this introductory chapter we shall discuss basic problems of application and design in a manner which may assist the reader with less practical experience of gaming to form his own reasoned views. Later chapters are devoted to the International Operations Simulation (INTOP), representative of a small but growing class of fairly complex general management games which we consider particularly suited to executive development in corporations (particularly but not exclusively those engaged in international business), to business school training at functional as well as general business policy and organization levels and to a variety of research and business planning uses. Games as simulation and training devices originated with the military, who for several decades were the only interested party. The last fifteen years have witnessed the emergence of business games as well as diplomacy and international relations games, and simulation by gaming is rapidly finding many other applications, ranging from the planning of state university systems via city governmental affairs to the determinants of public opinion. No particular degree of familiarity with these developments is required here; neither shall we attempt a systematic analysis of an already oft-surveyed and rapidly burgeoning literature. Pointers from our own experience as participants in and administrators and designers of management games will, however, be used to highlight the discussion. 1. Simulation by Gaming: Purposes of Games Games represent a form of simulation. The concept of simulation is not without its ambiguities in either popular or scientific parlance. We find it natural and useful to think of simulation as "a technique for studying the behavior of complex systems." Thus, it involves the use of a model of reality comprising a bundle of interrelated variables, and the manipulation and/or observation of the behavior of this system over time. More often than not it is impossible to represent in the simulation all variables at play in reality and to assign them their pro...
