Because they are analytical rather than descriptive, the case studies are not typical teaching cases. The cases are paired with customized game-theoretic models that cover a wide range of commitment decisions, from short-run commitments such as price to longer-run commitments such as capacity expansion and reduction, product and process innovation, and battles for market share. A variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques are used to test the models' predictions on case data.
Do games hold the secret to better productivity? If you’ve ever found yourself engrossed in Angry Birds, Call of Duty, or a plain old crossword puzzle when you should have been doing something more productive, you know how easily games hold our attention. Hardcore gamers have spent the equivalent of 5.93 million years playing World of Warcraft while the world collectively devotes about 5 million hours per day to Angry Birds. A colossal waste of time? Perhaps. But what if we could tap into all the energy, engagement, and brainpower that people are already expending and use it for more creative and valuable pursuits? Harnessing the power of games sounds like a New-Age fantasy, or at least a fad that’s only for hip start-ups run by millennials in Silicon Valley. But according to Adam L. Penenberg, the use of smart game design in the workplace and beyond is taking hold in every sector of the economy, and the companies that apply it are witnessing unprecedented results. “Gamification” isn’t just for consumers chasing reward points anymore. It’s transforming, well, just about everything. Penenberg explores how, by understanding the way successful games are designed, we can apply them to become more efficient, come up with new ideas, and achieve even the most daunting goals. He shows how game mechanics are being applied to make employees happier and more motivated, improve worker safety, create better products, and improve customer service. For example, Microsoft has transformed an essential but mind-numbing task—debugging software—into a game by having employees compete and collaborate to find more glitches in less time. Meanwhile, Local Motors, an independent automaker based in Arizona, crowdsources designs from car enthusiasts all over the world by having them compete for money and recognition within the community. As a result, the company was able to bring a cutting-edge vehicle to market in less time and at far less cost than the Big Three automakers. These are just two examples of companies that have tapped the characteristics that make games so addictive and satisfying. Penenberg also takes us inside organizations that have introduced play at work to train surgeons, aid in physical therapy, translate the Internet, solve vexing scientific riddles, and digitize books from the nineteenth century. Drawing on the latest brain science as well as his firsthand reporting from these cutting-edge companies, Penenberg offers a powerful solution for businesses and organizations of all stripes and sizes.
The Great Game of Business started a business revolution by introducing the world to open-book management, a new way of running a business that created unprecedented profit and employee engagement. The revised and updated edition of The Great Game of Business lays out an entirely different way of running a company. It wasn't dreamed up in an executive think tank or an Ivy League business school or around the conference table by big-time consultants. It was forged on the factory floors of the heartland by ordinary folks hoping to figure out how to save their jobs when their parent company, International Harvester, went down the tubes. What these workers created was a revolutionary approach to management that has proven itself in every industry around the world for the past thirty years--an approach that is perhaps the last, best hope for reviving the American Dream.
Business Games for Management and Economics: Learning by Playing presents board and video business games which combine teamwork with individual decisions based on computer models. Business games support integration of learning experience for different levels of education and between different disciplines: economics, management, technological, environmental and social studies. The work is based on experience in adaptation, design and conducting of field, and board and video games played in college settings within standard schedules. Most of the games are played in Modeling and Simulation, Microeconomics, Logistics and Supply Chain Management courses. Game boards are 2- or 3-dimensional displays of subsystems, their components and phases of technological and business processes, which allow customization of games of the same type for different missions in schools, universities, and corporate training centers. The range of games applied to economics and management classes spreads from 2-person games for kid's “Aquarium” up to the REACTOR games for several teams of executives.
This book explores the lifecycle of digital games. Drawing upon a broad range of media studies perspectives with aspects of sociology, social theory, and economics, Aphra Kerr explores this all-pervasive, but under-theorized, aspect of our media environment.
"This book presents research on the most recent technological developments in all fields of knowledge or disciplines of computer games development, including planning, design, development, marketing, business management, users and behavior"--Provided by publisher.
Balloons, fun, games, magic, and more -- they are all here. From entertaining and food to marketing and promotion, this book features comprehensive and detailed guidance on how to succeed in the birthday party business. At the heart of the birthday party business is the entertainment. In this book you will find detailed information on the art of entertaining children of all ages. You will learn how to work with children, what they like, what they don't like, how to make them laugh, and how to control them. You will learn the secrets of entertaining kids using magic, clowning, puppetry, storytelling, ballooning, and face painting, as well as gain valuable information on catering, party games, and creating enchanting theme parties. This book has everything you need to get started in the birthday party business; included are samples of advertisements, sales letters, thank you notes, news releases, contracts, party planning guides, flyers, business cards, stationery, and promotional give-aways, as well as dozens of comedy skits and party routines.
Now with SAGE Publishing, Timothy S. Hatten’s Seventh Edition of Small Business Management equips students with the tools they need to navigate the important financial, legal, marketing, managerial, and operational decisions to help them create and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in small business. Strong emphasis is placed on application with Experiential Learning Activities and application of technology and social media throughout. New cases, real-world examples, and illuminating features spotlight the diverse, innovative contributions of small business owners to the economy. Whether students dream of launching a new venture, purchasing a franchise, managing a lifestyle business, or joining the family company, they will learn important best practices for competing in the modern business world. This title is accompanied by a complete teaching and learning package.
This Handbook provides a comprehensive guide to the latest research on role-playing games (RPGs) across disciplines, cultures, and media in one single, accessible volume. Collaboratively authored by more than 40 key scholars, it traces the history of RPGs, from wargaming precursors to tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons to the rise of live-action role-play and contemporary computer RPG and massively multiplayer online RPG franchises, like Baldur’s Gate, Genshin Impact, and World of Warcraft. Individual chapters survey the perspectives, concepts, and findings on RPGs from key disciplines, like performance studies, sociology, psychology, education, economics, game design, literary studies, and more. Other chapters integrate insights from RPG studies around broadly significant topics, like worldbuilding, immersion, and player-character relations, as well as explore actual play and streaming, diversity, equity, inclusion, jubensha, therapeutic uses of RPGs, and storygames, journaling games, and other forms of text-based RPGs. Each chapter includes definitions of key terms and recommended readings to help students and scholars new to RPG studies find their way into this interdisciplinary field. A comprehensive reference volume ideal for students and scholars of game studies and immersive experiences and those looking to learn more about the ever-growing, interdisciplinary field of RPG studies.
The Business Game—here’s how you can win! Are you a business owner, manager, or employee who struggles with: Taxes, cash flow, sales, and profits Marketing and advertising effectiveness Hiring, motivating, and managing talent The economy, stock market, and competitors Bosses, boards, stockholders and partners Never-ending to-do lists and sacrificing your quality of life to succeed? If you answered "yes" to any of these, you’ve been playing The Business Game and suffering the consequences. Even if you’re rolling in profits right now, there are hidden costs you’re paying to earn that money—money that’s always at risk. You learned "the rules" and you’ve been faithful to them, thinking you can win. But you can’t really win The Business Game, because it’s designed to be unwinnable—that is, as long as you play by the rules you were taught. The only way to truly win is to bust loose from the "old" game and start playing a new game with a new set of rules. This book helps you discover who you really are, what you’re really capable of, and how you can tap new sources of power, wisdom, and abundance to radically transform your experience of business. When you bust loose from the old game, you’ll suddenly be playing a new game: For the sheer pleasure of playing, with no worries about sales, marketing, profits, cash flow, taxes, other people, or personal income Entirely unaffected by the economy, stock market, competitors, or technological innovation Having more fun with less effort than you’ve ever experienced Doing only what you love to do—all day, every day Watching as amazing results come your way, without having to "make it happen" It may sound unbelievable, but it’s entirely possible. You can do it—if you open your mind and embrace the strategies in this book. Busting Loose from The Business Game leads you into a New Business Game filled with results and satisfaction beyond anything you’ve ever imagined possible. Read on... and bust loose!
