Parallel interaction supply chain game: an extension of the Beer Game

As the subject of supply chain management (SCM) continues to grow, so too the challenges of teaching its concepts. While the Beer Game has become one of the most popular simulations used in the classroom to help students understand the obstacles to effective SCM, it is possible to extend its original purpose to teach various topics in SCM. In my courses over the past few years, the basic Beer Game has evolved from a simple linear supply chain to a more complex parallel interaction supply chain. This extension was initially designed to illustrate the rationing and gaming as a cause of the bullwhip effect, but has recently evolved to also serve as a means to introduce the students to various SCM topics. These topics (such as speculation/postponement, risk-pooling, control systems, and technology in supply chain integration) result from the students’ final debriefing session (Phase 5) where the students are brainstorming ideas for solving the operational issues discovered. Instead of a 1-day overview of the SCM course, I provide the students with a hands-on introduction to SCM. The strategy that I use is a five-phase approach and spans five 80-minute classroom time slots. This multiphase approach is designed to first introduce the students to operational issues in SCM and then leads them to an overview of the tactical and strategic concepts that will be explained throughout the semester. Phase 1 serves as an introduction to the operational issues in SCM. In Phase 2, a version of the basic Beer Game is simulated. Phase 3 then focuses on a conceptual discussion of the operational efficiencies observed and the bullwhip effect and concludes with a brief introduction to the extended simulation. In Phase 4, a parallel interaction supply chain game is simulated to introduce the students to the rationing and gaming effects that are not explicitly seen in the basic Beer Game. Finally, in Phase 5, by debriefing, we discuss the possible tactical and strategic solution to those operational issues. This hands-on multiphase approach to introduce the students to the SCM curriculum has served to be beneficial for reinforced learning throughout the semester.