Dear BPS list members,
In order to assess the impact of management simulation games as a research method in the field of management, we are conducting a literature review of all the management studies that have used business simulation games as a research method. To make sure that we have covered all of the relevant study, we hope you can help us by letting us know if you have such a study or know such a study. Please email Vivian at (
Of course, for those of you who are interested, we can compile all the citations that we received and send you a summary.
In our paper, business simulation game includes the following four types:
Behavioral simulation is a typical non-computerized game. Participants are required to perform some tasks in person in a lab during the study period while their behaviors are observed by the researcher or their answers are recorded by the researcher.
Total Management Games are computerized simulations that deal with an entire organization. The simulation game creates a hypothetical industry with hypothetical companies. Given information about the industry, the company, and the competition, participants run those companies by making a number of decisions relating to a number of business functional areas, such as marketing, production, R&D, and finance.
Functional business games are similar to the Total Management Games but these simulations concentrate on a single subunit of the firm rather than the entire organization (Keys & Wolfe, 1990).
Simulation games in non-business settings are simulations games that are not designed in a business setting, such as war games, military command-and-control games, or flight simulations.
Thank you in advance!
Best regards,
Rhonda Reger & Wei Guo (Vivian)
Dr. Rhonda Reger
Associate Professor of Strategy
Management & Organization
Robert H. Smith School of Business
4562 Van Munching Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-1815
301-405-2167 TEL
Wei Guo (Vivian)
PhD Student in Strategy
Management and Organization
Robert H. Smith School of Business
University of Maryland
3330J Van Munching Hall
College Park, MD 20740
Cell: (240) 271-4575