A Computerized Beer Game and Decision Making Experiments

This paper has two goals: The first is to present a computerized version of “Beer Game” originally developed as a board game to teach managers the principles of supply chain management. The multiplayer interactive simulation game we develop is 100 percent faithful to the original game, so that experimental results from the physical and computerized environments can be safely compared. The simulation model used to represent the game also illustrates some subtleties that a model builder must be careful about while simulating a discrete and physical game. Secondly, the game was used as an experimental platform and experiments were done in order to analyze game medium (computer vs. board), demand pattern and learning effects on performances of players. One striking result is the fact that subjects who played the board game scored significantly better than those who played the computerized version in the same conditions.