The Integrated Management Game (IMG)
This game is designed to illustrate and operationalize several core management competencies. It has been used in both undergraduate and MBA courses at the “required core” level. Given adequate student background or exposure in each of the three underlying functional areas (operations, management accounting, and organizational behavior), the game can be approached from any of those disciplinary platforms. At BabsonCollege, we use it in our integrated programs to address all three functional perspectives based on a single classroom experience
The setting is a manufacturing firm. Students assume the roles of managers and workers in the organization. Their focal task is to use their knowledge of operations principles to improve the profitability of their firm over several independent attempts. However, it also requires teams to manage materials and labor costs. It rewards teams for managing personnel resources, inventory levels, and various activity costs. Thus, successful completion of that task also requires substantial understanding of the relationships between actions and costs, and basic skills related to assembling financial projections. In addition, the process of finding opportunities for improvements, prioritizing them, and implementing them involves skills in effective team management. Thus, the game addresses issues of leadership, teamwork, action-planning, goal setting, communication and conflict management. A complete set of teaching notes is available for each of the three disciplines. These notes detail the specific knowledge and skills that the exercise addresses.
The game works best when a significant block (or blocks) of time can be devoted to it. Typically, it has been used in a 3-hour session, although it could be used effectively by breaking it into two 75-to-90 minute classes with intervening group assignments. The game experience is also enhanced when two or more competing “firms” can be run simultaneously (requiring 36+ students). The implied competition enhances student motivation, and the apparent resulting classroom mayhem brings the effect of good team management into bold relief.
