Effective Performance Behaviors in a Simulated Policy and Decision Making Environment

Management games and teaching simulations have obtained widespread adoption in business schools and management development programs. While a number of summary evaluations have demonstrated the efficacy of the management game as a learning environment, little is known about what behavior players exercise within the game situation. Using the critical incident technique, the author collected 1,453 behavior citations of effective and ineffective performance by 211 students playing one of two different management games. The reported behaviors fell into seven broad performance groupings covering the students' pregame preparation, their company's personality and operating characteristics, Board meeting atmosphere and interpersonal climate, the team's use of forecasting, analytical, and planning techniques, and their decision making mechanics. It was found that the management games rewarded rational policy and decision making practices and that chance played no consistent part in company success. As a teaching device, the management game appears to provide many of the elements needed for education in business policy and decision making.