Abstract

The subject of this paper is a multi-stage, multi-person business game which will be used for executive training purposes by the American Management Association. A discussion of the basic philosophy of game play, and of the many analytical, computational, and conceptual difficulties encountered in the construction of business games, is followed by a description of the game in question, as actually constructed and played, with particular attention to four features which, it is felt, merit consideration: (1) Absence of an explicit criterion function; (2) Principle of marginal change; (3) Hidden formulas; (4) Minimal computation. The game (which, in a number of preliminary plays with top management participating, has met with a favorable reception) is outlined in some detail with a view to showing how it circumvents or overcomes a number of the obstacles described.

Keywords

Computer scienceGame theoryBusiness managementMathematical economicsFunction (biology)Operations researchMathematics

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Publication Info

Year
1957
Type
article
Volume
5
Issue
4
Pages
469-503
Citations
305
Access
Closed

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Richard Bellman, Charles E. Clark, Donald G. Malcolm et al. (1957). On the Construction of a Multi-Stage, Multi-Person Business Game. Operations Research , 5 (4) , 469-503. https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.5.4.469

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DOI
10.1287/opre.5.4.469