A common pedagogical approach in business education involves the use of a "business game," in which student teams compete with one another, as companies in a simulated marketplace, making tactical decisions to maximize earnings or some other surrogate of corporate success.  In response to the increasing importance of of logistics and supply chains in the marketplace, we are developing a business game that focuses on supply chain interactions.

In the Georgia Tech Supply Chain Game, student teams participate as players in the supply chain of the automotive industry -- manufacturers, transport companies, first-tier suppliers, second-tier suppliers, and so on.  Within a grouping such as manufacturers, the student teams compete with one another.  Between groupings, the teams negotiate and sign contracts (e.g., between a supplier and transport company).  The Supply Chain Game is designed to operate as a web-based application that keeps track of the current "state" of the supply chain.  Students see the impact of their decisions, for better or worse, and learn about supply chain dynamics.

While the primary focus of this project is to develop an educational tool, there are important research questions that must be addressed in its development.  For example, how does one model a competitive marketplace?  Certainly this is prerequisite to developing this game, but it turns out that there is little in the way of published literature on this topic.  The Supply Chain Game project is addressing such research issues.

Contact:  leon.mcginnis@isye.gatech.edu