OMSIM: An Operations Management Game

Abstract

"This paper describes a new game oriented towards a production/ operations management environment called OMSIM [4] (Operations Management SIMulation). The authors have been developing and refining OMSIM for the past three years and are currently subjecting it to extensive classroom testing on over 400 students in nine course sections taught by four different instructors at the University of Colorado. The early responses from students are gratifying; most say that it is challenging, realistic, properly frustrating, and provides an integrating decision making experience. Our stimulus to build OMSIM was not caused by the absence of several excellent games which emphasize production/operations decisions; pedagogical simulators in this area have been commercially available for about six years. PROSIM [3] and The Decision Making Game [2] both appeared in 1969. A year later JOBLOT [1] was published, with PROSIM V [5] following in 1971. Having utilized [2], or attempted to utilize, [1], two of these games at the University of Colorado and reviewing the structure of the other two, we would characterize The Decision Making Game and PROSIM as games of beginning to moderate complexity, with JOBLOT and PROSIM V being classified as complex. "