Creating and Running A Game

1
Creating and Running A Game
2
Background Preparation

• You have installed The Global Business Game (GBG)
  on a personal computer. You have also checked
  the games website to make sure you have included
  any necessary updates to the games software.
• You understand the experiential method and will
  be altering your teaching style to realize the
  methods learning benefits.
• You have determined the level of game complexity
  and its configuration to accomplish your courses
  teaching objectives. This is discussed in the AM
  and covers team creation methods, alternative
  game configurations and growth scenarios.
• You have assigned players to their companies and
  you have collected from them their initialized
  company Decision Set disks. You may also have
  used in class the PowerPoint presentation named
  Initialize found on the games website.

3
Prof. Nathan Globus Shows You How

• Prof. Globus will take you through the steps he
  took to create his game.
• He has two sections of a senior-level strategic
  management course with about 35 students in each
  section.
• He wanted a strong international emphasis,
  believed firms should be rewarded for producing
  shareholder value and wanted the economic
  environments to be fairly competitive and tied to
  real-world economic conditions.

4
The Professor Creates His Game

• He clicked New Game because he created a new
  game for the semester.

5
Naming and Passwording the Game

• Prof. Globus named his game New Game.
• He created and verified his Password.
• Satisfied with his work he pressed Next to move
  onto the next steps.

6
Selecting the Number of Industries and Companies

• The good professor thought four-member firms
  would be just about right for the complexity
  level he will be choosing.
• He didnt want the industries to be too big for
  motivational purposes.
• Three industries with five or six firms per
  industry were created.

7
Configuring Industry A
Click here to view and edit Scenarios available.

• This industrys Home Country is the United
  States.
• The countries in play are the U.S. and Mexico.
• Growth Scenario A will be used.
• Company performance evaluations are based
  primarily on shareholder concerns.

8
Examining and Outputting A Scenario

• Prof. Globus liked the growth trends associated
  with the Scenario chosen.
• He printed out copies of the charts for his
  players indicating the underlying demand
  characteristics for the games countries.
• Copies of the charts were also given to his
  players for Industries B and C.

9
Country Economic Conditions

• The economic conditions for each country can be
  changed on a quarterly basis. Prof. Globus
  decided to do this because he wanted his game to
  use real-world economic data.
• His players will use The Wall Street Journal each
  week to get their financial market information.
• The cost of Subassemblies will remain the same
  throughout the game.

10
Mexicos Economic Conditions

• Only local financial conditions can be changed in
  foreign Country Units. This is why the Stock
  Market Index and Subassemblies are greyed out for
  Mexico.
• Prof. Globus thinks he will increase Mexicos
  wage rates later in the game reflect its high
  inflation rates.

This is greyed out because the United States
is the Home Country and only the Home Country can
issue stock.
11
New Game Almost Complete

• Prof. Globus set up his Industries B and C
  somewhat differently to provide contrasts between
  them for a better post-game debriefing
  experience.
• The program automatically creates the files it
  needs for future game runs.
• Pressing Back allows the professor to change
  any previous entries. He presses Finish
  because hes satisfied with what he has created.

You can always change your mind by going Back.
12
A Successful Game Creation

• The program tells Prof. Globus his game is ready
  to play
• His files are stored in his C Drive under Program
  Files/The Global Business Game/Game Data/New
  Game.game.
• When he runs his game for its 4/2002 Start-Up run
  the professor will access the New Game file.

13
Priming the Game With Company IDs

• The simulation needs to know the names of all
  companies and their managers.
• Prof. Globus gets his game file via Open Game.
• He clicks on the file New Game and enters his
  Password.

14
Importing Company Information

• The professor clicks on the data storage method
  used at his institution. In this case it is
  Players Disks rather than a hard drive file.
• He OKs each firms ID as he imports the
  information.
• Done is clicked when all disks have been read.
  Dummy disks must be created for companies
  failing to supply Decision Disks. Prof. Globus
  tends to fine these companies for their
  negligence.

Working from a hard drive is faster, especially
if you are gathering Decision Sets from
off-campus companies.
15
Checking Inputs and Outputs

• Prof. Globus can check on his games status and
  its inputs and outputs at any time via Edit/Game
  Explorer.
• Industry Status tells him how many quarters he
  has run and the Quarter/Year processed.
• Clicking on the particular industry reveals all
  reports and outputs associated with all elements
  in the industry.
• Here he has opened Industry A.

All zeros because the game has not been run.
16
Checking on Players Submissions

• Player disks can be imported in any order.
• The Firm Data Summary Screen tells Prof. Globus
  if all firms have submitted decisions. If they
  have not he either contacts the company for its
  decisions or creates a Dummy decision to get
  the firm and the industry through the run.

The firms are checked off as they enter the
games data base.
17
Using Game Explorer

• Game Explorer gives Prof. Globus an overview of
  each industry as well as an inside view of each
  company.
• Clicking on Firm, Decision Sets allows him to
  review and edit company decisions.

Click on the output or company
information desired.
18
Examining Company Decisions

• To edit a decision press Allow Editing, change
  the decision or decisions and then Save.

Click here to edit a companys Decision Set.
19
Reviewing the Industrys Performance

• Most of the time Prof. Globus uses Game
  Explorer to preview each industrys results
  before releasing them to his players.
• For example, Bulletins allows him to read both
  the confidential information each company
  receives and all public announcements in The
  Global Industry Report.

20
Reviewing the Industrys Performance

• Clicking on Administrators Reports gives the
  professor side-by-side comparisons of company
  performance.

21
Saving the Start-Up Run

• Prof. Globus has reviewed the Start-Up results
  and wants to export them to his players Decision
  Disks.
• He presses Begin Game under Game.
• A message warns him he is taking a final
  action. After pressing Yes to go ahead, the
  program tells him that his game is ready for play
  after a few processing seconds.

22
Preparing Start-Up Position Reports

• Prof. Globus must provide each company with their
  Start-Up positions. The data being outputted
  here will be somewhat different from the examples
  in the Players Manual because of how he has
  configured his industries.
• He does this by clicking on Process on the menu
  bar and approving or updating the 4/2002 Start-Up
  runs economic conditions and playing parameters.
  At the games beginning he has decided to not
  meddle with these items but will later stir
  things up.

23
Accepting the Economic Conditions

• Each quarter Prof. Globus is asked whether he
  wants to change the quarters Economic Conditions
  and Exchange Rates.

24
Using the Global Industrys Bulletin Board

• Prof. Globus likes to keep in touch with his
  students through different methods. He uses the
  Bulletin Board to make announcements about class
  activities and occasional news events. Each
  industry has its own Bulletin Board.

Click here to issue Bulletins.
25
Occasional Activities and Events

• The professor knows that special, game-related
  events will occur.
• He explains these occasional events later in the
  slides indicated
• Critical Incidents in Strategic Management--
  Slides 31-32.
• Inter-Firm Transactions such as licensing or
  purchasing Patents and buying or selling
  television sets between competing companies--
  Slides 33-39.
• Fining or crediting companies-- Slides 40-41.
• Changing company passwords and re-storing disks--
  Slides 45-46.
• Fixing broken runs-- Slides 47-51.
• Spinning Off an industry-- Slides 52-53.

26
Running the 4/2002 Start-Up Quarter

• Progress lines in the Process Quarter window
  tell Prof. Globus the sub-routines within which
  the program is operating.
• Click Run Quarter to begin processing the
  4/2002 quarter.

27
Skipping Over Missing Firms

• Missing firms can be bypassed by pressing Skip.
• Prof. Globus usually contacts these companies or
  Deactivates them. Once a firm has been taken out
  of the simulation it cannot return.

Press Write to read-in the firms Decision
Set.
28
Exporting the Start-Up Run Results

• The 4/2002 Start-Up results are read into the
  player disks.
• The program displays a message when all companies
  have received their Start-Up files.

These files will be exported to each firms own
Decision Disk or a centrally located file .
29
Inserting the Wrong Company Disk

• The games program keeps track of which company
  disks are being read.
• A memo appears if the wrong disk has been put in
  the floppy drive.

30
Advance the Game

• When Prof. Globus is satisfied with the results
  of his games run he advances it to the next
  quarter. If he subsequently has to fix the run
  he can always recover and roll the game back.

You can always rollback the game to any
previous quarter.
31
Invoking Critical Incidents

• Prof. Globus likes to expose his students to some
  of managements softer decision issues.
• He uses the games Critical Incidents later in
  the game to accomplish this purpose.
• Here he has chosen Incident 3.
• The simulation automatically announces the need
  to respond to the Critical Incident on the games
  Bulletin Board.
• The program also keeps track of the Incidents
  that have been used.

32
Players Respond to Critical Incident

• The Critical Incident Bulletin Board announcement
  appears.
• The firms Decision Set panel brightens.
• The Incident number and the choice of four
  responses is offered. This firm is about to
  choose Response 4.

33
Handling Inter-Firm Transactions

• Firms can buy or sell any patents to each other
  in the industry.
• They can also sell their Automatons or Base
  Capacity.
• Companies can be subcontractors of television
  sets for others. This is in addition to bidding
  for the Private Label needs of Home Electronics
  King.

34
Inter-Firm Transaction Intentions

• The Game Administrator controls the field of play
  for inter-firm transactions.
• Companies wanting to buy or sell patents, TV set
  output or Automatons and Base Capacity must
  submit their completed forms from the Manuals
  Appendix to the Game Administrator.
• The Game Administrator initiates the announcement
  of intentions. Asset Sales are also listed in
  GBGPlayer.

35
Handling Transactions

• All transactions postings and sales are handled
  via the Transactions window.
• The example below deals with an offer to sell
  Auto1s and the subcontracting of 25 TV sets.

36
Entering the Transaction Intention

• Start the entering process via the Transactions
  window.
• Click on the assets to be offered for sale or
  purchase. This example deals with a firm wanting
  to manufacture TVs for other companies. The
  asset transactions for Automatons and Patents are
  handled in the same fashion.

Click here to add items for sale.
37
Announcing A Subcontracting Offer

• In this example Firm 1 wants to sell 1 Auto1.
  Its asking price is 35,000.
• Only one Automaton of each type can be sold per
  quarter.
• Click the Save button to record and exit this
  routine.

This sale will probably result in a capital loss.
38
Announcement Written

• Prof. Globus writes a posting of all asset sales
  offers for The Global Industry Reports Bulletin
  Board.
• The availability of assets for sale also appears
  as part of each firms Decision Set.

39
Recording the Subcontracting Sale

• Click on Modify selected item to enter an asset
  sale.
• Click Finish.

Click here to edit or complete the transaction.
40
Fining or Crediting Companies

• Sometimes Prof. Globus finds it necessary to
  either fine a company for a misdeed or credit one
  to compensate for damages incurred.
• He does this by first clicking on Administrator
  Fines and Credits.

41
Fines and Credits Dialog Box

• A firm in Industry A is about to be fined.
• Firm 3 was fined 50,000.
• The dialog box keeps a running record of all
  previously assessed fines or credits.

42
Restoring Company Disks

• Companies sometimes destroy or lose their
  Decision Disks or corrupt their data.
• Prof. Globus has found new disks can easily be
  created in The Global Business Game.

43
Make/Recover a Company Disk

• Access the Make/Recover Routine.
• The Recover Disk Dialog Box appears.
• Click on the Firm whose disk is being recovered.
• Choose the Quarter/Year to be recovered.

Click on Save to start the process.
44
Restore to Company Disk

• Put the companys disk into your computers
  floppy drive and click Save. The file name
  shown will be transferred to the companys disk.
• A message will confirm the file was created and
  transferred.

45
Changing Company Passwords

• Prof. Globus cannot believe it but some companies
  forget their password. This is easily fixed.
• Access the Change Firm Password dialog box via
  Game.

46
Change the Firms Password

• Click on the Industry and Firm whose Password
  will be changed.
• Enter and confirm the new Password and Save.
• A message indicates that you have changed the
  Password associated with the company.
• Have the firm re-initialize its Decision Set disk
  with its new Password.

47
Fixing Data Input Errors

• Prof. Globus has learned that data input errors
  are created by players under two circumstances.
• Players sometimes discover they have made an
  input error when they examine their results
  after-the-fact.
• The simulation discovers an error while it is
  attempting to process the run.

48
Dealing with the Error Situation

• Errors brought to the Game Administrator by
  students are handled through the decision edit
  process previously described.
• The other error situation is discovered by the
  Game Administrator when the simulation hangs up
  during a run.

The firm forgot to hire Shift 2 25 Workers and
Shift 1 27 Workers.
49
The Computer Run Hangs Up

• While the run is being processed a message
  appears at the point where the error caused the
  run to hang up.
• The Process Quarter dialog box indicates the
  error occurred while the game was Processing
  plant and equipment changes.

The run failed while trying to process new plant
and equipment.
Something needs to be fixed.
50
Finding the Companys Decision Set Error

• The error is in a firms Plant decision. Prof.
  Globus reviews each companys plant expansion
  decisions via Game Explorer.
• The error found... Firm 2 wanted to purchase 2
  Auto1s and 2 Auto2s but entered their total
  purchase costs rather than the units desired.

The error found.
51
Correcting the Error
Change the decisions.

• Prof. Globus corrects the decision. He usually
  fines companies for these types of mistakes.
• He can now continue the quarters run by
  re-starting Run Game.

Enter the Edit routine.
Save and continue processing the quarter.
52
Moving An Industry

• When multiple industries are being run Prof.
  Globus has sometimes found that a problem-firm in
  one of the industries forces that industry to
  fall behind the others.
• He fixes this problem by spinning off the
  industry into one all by itself.

53
Move Industry Dialog Box

• Access the Move Industry dialog box via
  Process.
• Select the industry to be moved and Save.
• The program will automatically ask you to save
  the industry that is being moved under a new file
  name. The name here is NewIndustry.
• A message appears indicating the NewIndustry
  has been created.

Create a name for the new industry. The same
password is used.
54
The End