A Business Gaming Odyssey

Abstract

This article chronicles the author's experiences, beginning with the use of the Ralph Day MARKETING IN ACTION game in 1965 and concluding with predictions about the total enterprise game of the future. The author's gaming odyssey includes a number of different experiences, all of which have, in retrospect, had an impact on his teaching/learning philosophy and the design of games that he has co-authored. The odyssey included coaching 12 intercollegiate business game teams and the co-authorship of three total enterprise business games, one of which, THEMULTINATIONAL MANAGEMENTGAME, continues to be the major focal point of the author's professional development work. It also includes consulting work on three noncomputerized games, one for the National Rehabilitation Administration, one for Oklahoma City, and one for the Southeastern National Park Service. Much of the odyssey describes his interaction with the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning (ABSEL), an association that he cofounded and for which he served as the first president.