The Role of Management Games in Education and Research

This paper is intended to be a broad survey of both the present and the potential role of management games in education and research. Against a background of the history of business games, we first try to characterize the present development of these games. A few management games are described in some detail, and a number of others are mentioned only briefly. The differences between general and functional business games are discussed. Present uses of management games as a teaching device are surveyed and evaluated. Some hypotheses regarding the relations between the design and administrative characteristics of a business game and its educational properties are also formulated. What might be a major improvement over existing management games, here named the “game case,” is then suggested. In the concluding portion of this paper, the potential use of management games as a laboratory for business and social science research is surveyed. Some methodological problems which would arise from research uses of business games are also discussed.