Utilization of free lean games in education and comparison of results in business and academic field
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Recent Researches in Applied Economics and Management - Volume I
Utilization of free lean games in education and comparison of results in
business and academic field
MARTIN JANUSKA
Department of Business Administration and Management
University of West Bohemia
Univerzitni 8, 30614, Pilsen
CZECH REPUBLIC
mjanuska@kpm.zcu.cz
JIRI KUDRNA
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
University of West Bohemia
Univerzitni 8, 30614, Pilsen
CZECH REPUBLIC
kudrnaj@kpv.zcu.cz
Abstract: - This paper presents a comparison of achievements and benefits of the usage of management games
in teaching university students and employees. The paper describes the benefits of playing managerial games
and the result is demonstrated on the Frog Factory game which serves as a simulation of the production line.
Frog Factory game should simulate lean strategies and principles, optimizing of the layout and benefits of staff
training.
Key-Words: - Lean games, managerial games, Frog Factory, lean principles training, training games.
1 Introduction
Management simulation games are a means by
which is possible to simulate any business 2 Evolution of managerial games
environment. Games includes the interaction of Most authors think that modern management games
multiple people. This makes playing management evolved from war games. Their ancient predecessors
games very close to reality. Players can test their were for example chess. The basis of the war games
decisions in "dry runs". This practice helps to were originally viewing of maneuvering exercises
develop all types of managerial skills both soft skills with progressive decision making of participants
and learning itself. Management games supports playing according to predetermined rules. At the
faster learning because players can compare their beginning of the 20th century extended knowledge
own theory and experience gained during the game of war games was around the world. Over time the
[1]. measures simulated by game were formulated still
As an example of the current practical usage of more in detail and in addition to military factors
games can serve the usage of managerial games in economic, financial and psychological factors were
the staff coaching. Also there is a big influence of included. The major development of advanced
teambuilding activities (games) at the formation of simulation games began after the Second World
high-quality team or workgroup. Management War. Simultaneously with the development of
games are an important active method for teaching mathematical methods in economics, development
management skills. Their main task is to develop the of operational research, game theory, systems theory
capacity for strategic thinking and decision making and other new disciplines emphasizing analytical,
in tense situations, encourage teamwork and quantitative and experimental site of simulation
communication between individuals. games.
Management games can be referred to as business Under these conditions managerial games were
simulators, business games, interactive learning developed from the war games. Top Management
environment, management flight simulators, micro- Decision Simulation developed in the USA in 1957
world or serious games [1]. is considered as a first managerial game.
ISBN: 978-960-474-323-0 101Recent Researches in Applied Economics and Management - Volume I
Development of the management games starts based student's their socioeconomic status and other
on the success of this game by number of factors.
institutions in USA and later in world especially
universities and companies manufacturing desktop • teamwork
computers. Number of other management There are teammates and opponents in the
simulation games was developed. Some games with managerial games as indeed in every other game.
use of a computer model and some without it. When we collaborate with teammates to win and
Games have been applied in different fields of beat the opponent we share a common goal. At this
economy. For probably the most famous game time a group of players become a team.
which relates to simulation modeling is considered a
Beer Game - "Production and distribution of beer." • managerial decision making
The game originated in the early sixties years at By playing management games is possible to
MIT. Game is designed for teams of at least four examine the consequences of our decisions. In the
players and the theme of the game is the production event that we do not know which solution is correct
and distribution of a single brand of beer. Goal of is possible to seek a solution by trial and error. By
the game is to get highest profit. Popularity of this playing the management games is possible to get
game is currently very big and it is offered by many plenty of experience by working with modeling
companies and it is also part of the teaching tools. Thanks to them is possible to model the
program in many business schools. specific situation and modeling tools are an ideal
decision support tools.
2.1 Goals of the games
The usual goal of every game is to be the winner but
even that would not be satisfying if we did not have
3 Division of games
good time during the game. The aim of management Considering the complexity of the concept of
games is rather test the behavior of the players "management game" is also possible to divide these
during the game. Individual players can verify the games by many criteria.
consequences of their decisions on the outcome of According to Biggs [2] is possible to classify
the game. By playing they gaining experience that managerial games by following criteria:
otherwise would be difficult to acquire in the real • according the subject of game focus
conditions or their decision could have fatal One group is relatively narrowly focused on only
consequences for running real businesses. In some one aspect of decision-making within the company
cases of management games players learn to look at and on the other side games dealing with the whole
problems differently thanks to the understanding of company including the possible interactions
the processes within the system. Players can try the between different functional areas within the
systems thinking rather than reactive behavior. company.
Rules are the basis of management games same as • according the nature of competition -
in other games. More complex they are the harder competitive and noncompetitive.
playing is. The game even with complex rules can Competitive games allows interaction model to
often provide lots of space to search for new novel affect the results of one company by decisions of
results which enhances the attractiveness of a game other companies. In other words firms compete with
experience and develops creative approach of each other. In games that can be described as non-
players [1]. competitive, firms play "against the computer" and
decisions do not affect each other.
2.2 Advantages of utilization of managerial • according to the level of interactivity
games That means how participants communicate with the
There are many advantages of management games management game respectively with the model or
described in literature. how the data about participants decisions are
transferred to the game model and vice versa. Also
• learning by doing depends is what form is the output of management
This is the method in which students are educated game for participants.
by their own experience. Students in regular classes • according to the generality of game focus
receive only 10% of their capabilities at the school. This relates to the intention of the drafters either
The remaining 90% is by the natural ability of the model the game as a simulation of a particular
industry (eg production and development of
computer processors) and therefore their efforts to
ISBN: 978-960-474-323-0 102Recent Researches in Applied Economics and Management - Volume I
capture the specifics of the industry in the model in information is processed manually using a
the game or to completely avoid this dilemma and variety of forms, reports, papers
does not specify the type of products produced by o computer economic games
the company. o economic games based on solid
• according to the nature of participants mathematical methods and rules -
involvement economic situations that are more
Games can be divided into individual and those in quantitative
which participants create teams. Each team then • Economics games based on free models –
represents one company. decision is based on actual situation which
• according to the level randomness of is developing during the game
events in the game
The level of randomness means the way the game 4 Lean games
goes from one state to another. If there is only result Following part of the paper shows the practical
of participants decisions and the clear rules or if application of managerial games. Specifically games
there is also an element of luck in the scenarios. that deal with practicing lean approaches (Kanban,
• according the way of technical 5S, Kaizen, etc.).
implementation Here are the reasons why games are better than the
• according to the overall complexity traditional way of teaching, such as using Power
• according the way of dealing with game Point presentation. Following chapter (4.1) is taken
time from portal www.leansimulations.org [4]:
Another division is from economic point of view 4.1 Seven Benefits of Teaching Lean with
[3]. Simulations
• Business games simulates decision making
on the top management level Why should to use games and simulations to teach
• Functional games simulate functions and Lean material? What’s wrong with Power Point?
decision making on operational Why waste time with a simulation, when you can
management level. For example: traffic take your team right out to the shop floor?
management, material and finished goods Learning through games has many benefits.
handling, supplies, sales, human resources
management,… Seven Benefits of Teaching Lean with Simulations:
• Economic games difficult, complex and 1. Simulations demonstrate Lean principles in
related to the economic situation, action.
individually and collectively assessed, Demonstrating Lean concepts is one of the main
developing stages in dynamic contexts, reasons to use a simulation as a teaching tool.
often based on model procedures. During a Lean workshop, the key material can be
o the functional business game - consider taught, and then illustrated with a simulation or
the various views on the economic game.
situation, expressing complex character of
the situation 2. Games involve your audience!
o the general economic game - similar to Maintaining your audience’s interest is one of the
the functional economic game but is hardest things to do during training sessions.
focused on causal relationships and Especially when they don't want to be there!
simulating economic practice
o isolated economic games - are the 3. Games are perfect team building activities.
opposite of the previous modifications, the Training sessions done at your workplace will
decision of one group is focused only on a typically involve people of different departments
particular area of the economy that are not and management levels.
related to other areas
o integration economic games – mutual 4. Simulations are small and flexible.
interaction of economic subjects decisions Manufacturing and business processes are large and
with the external environment complex. Providing real-world improvement
o manual economic games - solution does solutions within the current business is difficult
not require technical resources, data and
ISBN: 978-960-474-323-0 103Recent Researches in Applied Economics and Management - Volume I
within a two-day training session. If it was that easy, game forces the students to effectively divide the
you would have done it! different manufacturing processes and make the
Simulations are small and compact. They fit into a appropriate layout. The simulation of manufacturing
room. They can be performed in a quiet training processes is done here by folding paper frog model.
room environment, rather than a noisy shop floor. Students must divide among themselves the various
They don’t interrupt normal business. They are tasks.
short. They are expandable. At the beginning of the game participants are
divided to professional workers and inexperienced
5. Games are confidence builders. workers. Inexperienced workers can send their
Your audience consists of many types of people. product to next working site every 90s.
Shy, introverted thinkers mix it up with overbearing Professionals can send over the product every 30
loudmouths. seconds.
By placing people in roles they are not familiar The first round of games is just about building an
with, you can empower them. A shop floor effective layout and production testing.
employee can shine while directing the divisional The second round simulates the benefits of staff
manager, who’s struggling with the bottleneck training.
process. When roles are switched in such a way, In the second round of game teams can use profit
managers can see what it’s like to be in the trenches, from the first round for training of inexperienced
while others can become confident with their new employees and thus shorten the time. Training can
responsibilities, even if their factory is just making be ordered between all rounds of the game.
paper airplanes. In the third round the variability of demand is
simulated.
6. Test real processes with simulations first. Teams have 5 colors of paper for folding frogs.
Sometimes simulations are used exactly to simulate Organizer of the game randomly draw one color
actual processes in your business. every 2 minutes that is now preferred on the market.
Delivering the preferred color earns double points.
Kanban sizing is a good example. Kanban card However the actual production cycle of one frog is
calculations can become pretty confusing once all longer than 2 minutes. So before the next round
the factors such as lead times and signal stagnation tams will have to adopt a strategy. Team can
are considered. Simulating this with pieces of paper produce to stock and sell only preferred color goods
or on a spread sheet will make things a lot clearer or not and sell all colors for normal price.
and highlight potential issues before implementing In the fourth round all of the previous rules apply
into the real world. and there will be a random event for each team.
Random events include:
Another example of this would be designing new • failure of a key supplier
work cell layouts with papers representing work • loss of trained personnel
equipment. • theft of finished goods from the previous
round
7. Give yourself a break! • fire in stock and loss of unfinished
A simulation allows you to break away from products from the previous round
teacher-mode and interact with individuals one on • inability training in this round
one. You can relax, joke around, answer questions • nothing happened
and have a breather while the teams are interacting
with each other. There is no new rule in fifth round. This round if for
the final competition and the points are doubled in
4.2 Frog Factory game this round to prove which strategy was most
In order to revitalize and improve the attractiveness effective.
of teaching subject Operational Management the After each round there should be at least 5 minutes
authors decided to use game called Frog Factory free time for discussion and optimization in team.
taken from portal www.leansimulations.org [5].
This game is intended to simulate the production 4.3 Benefits of the Frog Factory game
line. A group of students is divided into several Based on the evaluation of results and feedback
teams. Each team simulates a factory production from trainees is possible to draw the following
line. Individual teams compete against each other conclusions and recommendations:
and the goal is to achieve maximum profits. The
ISBN: 978-960-474-323-0 104Recent Researches in Applied Economics and Management - Volume I
The game certainly enriched the theoretical teaching have theoretical knowledge but often lack the more
of lean principles and was positively received by all complex interconnection of such knowledge to real
participants. situations. The authors therefore recommend an
emphasis on enriching the theoretical knowledge of
The authors have good results with letting company employees at the general superficial level.
participants to create their own teams and then to Trainees from companies are most interested in
reorganize them to force participants to work with general courses which demonstrate all available lean
strangers. If it is not a course where the participants methods. They are interested to be inspired what is
are from one group (classmates, co-workers) is not used in other companies and which method can
essential. This was evaluated positively by bring benefit and be implemented in their own.
participants at the end of the course because they Than they are willing to study selected methods
were forced to work in the new organizational deeper.
structure that enabled excel other personalities than Students on the other hand miss the link between
usual. theory and practice. This is not a surprising
conclusion. The authors recommend greater
involvement of students in teaching and recommend
After each round is necessary to leave time for an emphasis on teaching the application of the
discussion and subsequent optimization. theoretical knowledge. Management games are an
ideal tool for students to test the application of rich
The tutor should not advice the participants during theoretical knowledge obtained while studying at
the course and they should work completely the University.
independently even when they chose wrong The use of management games as a teaching tool
solution. was positively assessed by both groups (staff
training and students)
After end of the game is necessary to analyze the For inspiration, the authors recommend portal
mistakes and successes of all teams in discussion. www.leansimulations.org where a number of games
The game simulates very nicely creation of for training lean principles is available.
inventories of unfinished products. Although
theories such as JIT says that inventories are wrong References:
and waste. This is a frequent topic of discussion and [1] Vožická, M., Využití systémových simulátorů.
is necessary for tutor to be prepared for this Jindřichův Hradec : Vysoká škola ekonomická
discussion. v Praze, 2011. Diplomová práce.
[2] W., Biggs., Introduction to Computerized
Another topic for discussion is forecast of customer Business Management Simulations. Guide to
requirements (in-game simulated color paper) and Business Gaming and Experiential Learning.
therefore the importance of marketing research for 1990. ISBN: 0-89397-369-6.X1.
manufacturing enterprises. [3] LOKŠOVÁ, I., LOKŠA, J., Tvořivé vyučování.
Praha: 2003.
Participants manage quite well the organization of [4] Seven benefits of teaching lean. Portal
production but many of them will not be willing to leansimulations.org (cited 1.2.2013)
invest in training in the early rounds even though it http://www.leansimulations.org/2011/01/seven-
is an effective solution. After they realize they benefits-of-teaching-lean-with.html
should invest in training in first round they will still [5] List of free lean games. Portal
refuse to invest to training because it's late and leansimulations.org (cited 1.1.2012)
payback period will decrease. It is appropriate to http://www.leansimulations.org/p/huge-list-of-
debate the decision-making traps. free-lean-games.html
5 Conclusion
Authors use Frog Factory game for teaching at
University of West Bohemia but also at lean
management courses for private companies. It
turned out that company employees do not have the
theoretical knowledge of lean principles but are
willing and able to respond flexibly to the situation
and try new solutions. Students on the other hand
ISBN: 978-960-474-323-0 105You can also read
