Thoughts on “The Epic Win” in Cathy Davidson’s Now You See It

Cathy Davidson discusses the use of games in Chapter 5 “The Epic Win” of her Now You See It.

As readers may already be aware, I am director of a master’s degree program in management information systems at Benedictine University.  The capstone MBA course, MBA671, Strategic Management, includes a large-scale business simulation game, where teams of our students compete against thousands of teams across the globe. In the last few years, M.S. in Management and Organizational Behavior students have participated along with MBA students. Beginning with Fall 2012, my M.S in Management Information Systems, students will also participate.

Some years ago, this capstone course was shared among several programs: MBA, M.S. in MOB, and M.S. in MIS. We did not have an integrating experience like the business simulation and, eventually, MOB and MIS Programs went back to offering their own capstone courses. The business simulation has made us reconsider. Why not include information technology and management students along with business administration students in teams running a company? The benefits to all students should be significant; different groups of students bring different talents to the experience. How should these different talents be leveraged to make their virtual company more successful than other students’ companies?