Beer Game

The Beer spicy Copyright by professor tin usher out Sterman, MIT October 1984 Sourceshttp//www. sol-ne. org/pra/ wight/beer. hypertext mark-up language The Fifth Discipline Pg 27-54 Why play the Beer Game? Instructions for running the granular Steps of the Game Outline for post- adventure countersign and t guides Supplies Checklist & Mock-up of the Game Board Bibliography CHARTS AND TABLES TO PRINT OUT b bely issue accede 1 and 2 at the on position of the bet on. Chart 1-3 to be distri only whened at the end of the lame and forrader post- gimpy discussion. T equal to(p) 1Record sheet Cost of inventory and Backlog carry over 2Computation of cumulative stemma gatherGraph 1Inventory and Backlog Graph 2Orders Graph 3Perceived coif by Customers seashore 1Facilitator Slides Slide 2Facilitator Slides Slide 3Facilitator Slides Slide 4Facilitator Slides Slide 5Facilitator Slides Slide 6Facilitator Slides Slide 7Facilitator Slides Slide 8Facilitator Slides Contact Point for give of Beer Game Set If you or your unit is interested in playing this game and need assistance, ravish contact distributively(prenominal) of the 1Y LO participants, including the webmaster Ms Sheila Damodaran at emailprotected gov. sg. The game establishs argon kept at TRACOMs Resource marrow (SIRC, TRACOM).Contact 3594241. Why play the Beer Game? The Fifth Discipline, pg 27 Prisoners of the System, or Prisoners of our Thinking This game was sure by Professor John Sterman of MIT to introduce pot to fundamental concepts of governances kinetics. Participants experience the pressure of playing a role in a complex constitution, and come to understand first hand a key principle of ashess idea that bodily social organization produces expression. The Beer Game is a simulation exercise like a science laboratory essay, where one is able to hold ? The consequences of your decisions play come to the fore much clearly in real organisations In effect it presents a microcosm of how a real organization functions. ? sideslip in prevailing assumption of what is require of us for creating essenti on the wholey polar organisations from a perspective of the brass we are trying to kind is out there and we (as change agents) are trying to fix it to we and the system are inextricably linked together. It was first actual in the 1960s at the Massach riding habittts Institute of Technologys Sloan School of Management. Be driving force it is a laboratory replica of a real setting (rather than reality itself), we nonify Isolate the disabilities, and ? Their causes more sharply than is practicable in real organisations. Often this reveals that the problems originate in basic ways of thinking and interacting, more than in peculiarities of organisations and policy. Instructions for Running The Beer scattering Game John Sterman October 1984 This document outlines the protocol for the beer distribution game developed to introduce citizenry to conce pts of system kinetics. The game give the bounce be contend by as some as 4 and as many as 60 people (assistance is required for bigheartedr groups).The only prerequisite, besides basic math skills, is that none of the participants stand play the game before, or else agree non to reveal the trick of the game. 1. State purpose of Game a) Introduce people to the key principle structure produces behavior b) Experience the pressures of playing a role in a complex system 2. show overview of work-distribution system a) The game is played on a board, which portrays the production and distribution of beer (show board game). pic b) Orders for and cases of beer are represent by chips, which are manipulated by the players.The players at each position are completely allay to vex any decision that seems prudent. Their only goal is to manage their positions as best as they fuck to maximize profits. c) distributively brewery consists of four sectors retailer, interlocutor, distribu tor and factory. One someone manages each sector. d) A deck of cards represents client demand. Each workhebdomad, guests demand beer from the retailer, who ships the beer requested out of inventory. The retailer in turn parades beer from the wholesaler, who ships the beer requested out of the wholesalers inventory.Likewise, the wholesaler golf-clubs and receives beer from the distributor, who in turn rewrites and receives beer from the factory. The factory produces the beer. At each stage there are exaltation delays and grade receiving delays. These represent the conviction required to receive, process, ship and deliver ordains, and as well be seen play a crucial role in the dynamics. e) If your participants are not familiar with the concept of manufacturing, shipping, and distribution, consider presenting these concepts initially before proceeding. Call the participants together at one board and demonstrate each quantity of the way carefully.Often it is the lack of this training that causes the initial confusion of the game. You could say something like The Beer Game immerses us in a fictitious character of organization that is widely prevalent in all industrial countries a system for producing and distributing a unity brand of beer. There are four main characters in the story a retailer, a wholesaler, a distributor and the Marketing Director of a brewery f) The players at each position are completely free to pip any decision that seems prudent. All they have to do is meet customer demand and indian lodge enough from your give supplier enchantment avoiding costly backlogs.They should manage their positions as best as they can to maximise profits. 3. State Basic rules a) Have each squad pick a earn for their brewery (e. g. the name of a real beer). Have them label their record sheets with the name of their brewery and their position, e. g. retailer, wholesaler, etc. b) Have each psyche ante up $1. 00, or an appropriate amount, which res ult go to the winning team, winner take all (optional). c) The object of the game is to minimize tally costs for your team. The team with the lowest congeries costs wins. be are computed in the pass offing way ? The carrying costs of inventory are $. 0 per case per calendar week ? Out-of- note costs, or backlog costs, are $1. 00 per case per week ? The costs of each stage (retailer, wholesaler, distributor, factory) for each week, added up for the total length of the game, determine the total cost. d) No communication in the midst of sectors. retail merchants should not talk to anyone else, uniform for wholesalers, distributors, and factories. The reason for this is that in real life there may be five factories, several xii distributors, thousands of wholesalers, and tens of thousands of retailers, and each one cannot find out what the total activity of all the early(a)s is.The only communication between sectors should be through with(predicate) the passing of orders and the receiving of beer. e) retailers are the only ones who know what the customers actually order. They should not reveal this in doion to anyone else. f) All incoming orders essential be run intoed. If your inventory is insufficient to fill incoming orders sum total backlog, fill as many orders as you can and add the remaining orders to your backlog. 4. Steps of the Game. a) Issue only gameboard 1 and put off 2 to all the participants. b) The game Facilitator should call out the travel as the game progresses. ) The first few times when the system is still in equilibrium the facilitator should go through the stairs real slowly to make sure people have the mechanics down. d) Notice that of the six steps of the game, only the fifth, placing orders, involves a decision. e) The remaining five steps only involve lamentable inventory of beer or order slips or recording your position, and are purely mechanical. For the first few weeks the facilitator should tell everyone to order f our units to keep the system in equilibrium. 5. Initialization of the boards ) There should be twelve pennies or chips representing twelve cases of beer in each inventory. Each chip or penny represents one case. There should be four pennies in each shipping box and production delay. b) There should be order slips with 4 written on them, face down in each incoming and outgoing order box (orders and production requests). A supply of blank order slips should be available at each sector, as well as a supply of pennies or chips. c) The deck of cards with the customer demand should not be revealed in advance.The copy of customer demand that is most effective for first-time players is a pattern of (. To be revealed after the game/debrief by the Game Leader). d) Each order deck should have fifty weeks worth of cards, and the players should be told that the game lead be fifty weeks long. Typically its only necessary to run the game thirty-five weeks or so in order to see the pattern of fl uctuation, but telling the players it will be fifty weeks prevents horizon effects, where they run their inventories down because they feel the end of the game is coming. 6. Tips for Facilitators ) Its very serve wellful if the game facilitator makes sure that each team stays in step so that you can quickly descry around the room and see that everyone is at the right place. Remind the participants to follow the steps in order to keep pace of the game. b) The game facilitator should write the current week on the blackboard as the steps for that week are called out. c) In about the 8h or ninth week the retailer will run out of inventory and have a backlog for the first time. People do not understand the meaning of backlogs, or the cumulative nature of the backlog.It is necessary to stop the game at this catch, ask everyone to pay aid, and explain how backlog accounting works. Explain that The backlog represents orders youve received, but have not all the same filled, and which y ou must fill in the future, and d) The backlog is cumulative. Next week you have to fulfill the incoming orders that you receive, plus whatever is in your backlog, if possible. If it not possible to fulfill the incoming orders, because the amount left over is added to the existing backlog and must be filled in later weeks. (see Table 2). ) Emphasize at this point that backlog costs twice as often as inventory. You may need to do this one or two more times, and should be careful to check and be sure that they do in fact fill their backlog. It is helpful to write the following equation on the blackboard to help with backlog accounting (see below). Orders to fill = New orders + Backlog this week + expire week + f) The game can be played in as little as one and a half hours if the facilitator maintains a very brisk pace. The debrief usually requires at least 40 minutes and can be expanded substantially. g) Consider having 2 persons to play each role.One person is responsible for ta king the decision and forward the chips and order slips and the former(a) person to maintain the figures and filling up Tables 1 and 2. The pair may change their roles mid-way during the game. 7. End of game a) Halt the game after about 36 weeks (but play the game, up to that point as if it is going on to 50 weeks, to avoid unusual end-of-game hunts). b) expect each position on each team to calculate their total cost c) Cost = Total inventory x $0. 50 + Total Backlog x $1 and to mark the total cost on the Record Sheet for the position d) Pass out Orders graph sheets one to each position. involve each position to graph their own orders, week by week. Clarify to pulverisation that they will graph their Production Requests. e) Pass out trenchant Inventory graph sheets one to each position. Ask each position to graph the inventory week by week, showing any backlog as negative inventory. f) police squad name and position must be establishd on all sheets. Once the graph is comple te, have the players connect the dots with a bold fantasy marker (colour coded retailer = black, interlocutor = blue, Distributor = green and manufactory = red to the board) for ease of viewing by the group. ) Pass out the Customer Order graph sheets to everyone except Retailers. Ask each person to field of study what he or she thinks the customer order rate looked like over time. Ask each to indicate a simple scale or maximum value. ? Ask retailers not to discuss anything about customer orders until after the debrief of the game. h) Collect all the sheets, and send players off for a break. i) During break ? Calculate team costs to determine the winner and compute the average team cost. ? register sheets together (as shown below) and hang up team graphs.Effective Inventory Team 1Team 2Team 3 Retailer Retailer Retailer Wholesaler Wholesaler Wholesaler Distributor Distributor Distributor Factory Factory Factory Orders/Production Requests Team 1Team 2Team 3 Retail er Retailer Retailer Wholesaler Wholesaler Wholesaler Distributor Distributor Distributor Factory Factory Factory STEPS OF THE GAME (Adapted) Step General instructions Specific Instruction to players playing the roles of Factory/ Retailer Receive inventory (move chips from shipping delay 2 into current Factory advance from production delay 1 to inventory) and advance the shipping (from shipping delay 1 to production delay 2. shipping delay 2). Use both hands to slide the chips over from respective boxes. Caution players not to move all chips into one box. Look at incoming orders (check the order slip placed in your Retailer draws consumer card. Follow inbox) instructions as in adjacent set. Fulfill orders from your stock (your current inventory only). persist chips out into shipping delay 1 of the player downstream. All incoming orders must be filled. Facilitator to re-mention this step when the team has entered week 6/8) If your inven tory is insufficient to fill incoming orders plus backlog, fill as many orders as you can and add the remaining orders to your backlog (use Table 2 to work out your cumulative backlog). Record your residue inventory and/or cumulative backlog (in the latter case your balance inventory would have been reduced to zero) on Table 1. Advance the rder slips that you placed in the previous week fromFactory introduces production requests from your outbox into the inbox of the player upstream. previous week into production delay 1. Take decision on the orders you wish to place for the upcoming week. Place your order slips in your outbox. Record your orders on Table 1. work through TASKS AND OUTLINE FOR POST-GAME DISCUSSION (Adapted) Step Tasks and outline Group Task Remind participants of the objective Emphasize that although they played the game to minimize cost, thats of the game. not the real purpose of the game. The game is designed to give p layers an experience of playing a role in a system show them how structure produces behavior Request players arrange total currentNone. inventory, cumulative inventory on Table 1. Accounting None. Record penalty of $0. 50 per item in inventory (at each stage). Record penalty of $1. 0 per item ordered but not filled. Plot inventory versus time (Chart 1) Place charts at front of classroom for everyone to see (see natural and unfilled orders (on Chart 1 also) chart below). versus time for your stage and for your company overall. Plot order versus time (Chart 2) for Place charts at front of classroom for everyone to see (see typical your stage and for your company chart below). overall. Ask participants Each of the players had the best possible intentions to serve his Whats going through the minds of the customers well, to keep the product moving smoothly through the system, players? and to avoid penalties. Each pa rticipant made well-motivated, clearly What problems arose during the game defensible judgments establish on reasonable guesses about what might playing? happen.Still there was a crisis- built into the structure of the system. well-nigh people try to explain reality by showing how one set of events cause some other or, if theyve studied a problem in more depth, by showing how a particular set of events are part of a longer term historical process. Have the participants illustrate this for themselves by looking at at their own explanations for events during the game. Take a particular incident in the game, for example a large surge in production requests at the factory, and ask the person responsible why they did that. Their answer will invariably relate their decision to some prior decision of the person they supply or who supplies them. and so turn to that person and ask them why they did that. Continue this until people see that one can abide to relate one event to earlier events indefinitely. Wholesaler/Distributor may say I am say four/fives times my usual order. Maybe the retailer is ordering so much because they cant get any of the beer from me. Either way I have to keep up. I am dismayed the brewery had just stepped up production. How could they be slow? What if I cant get any of the beer and they go to one my competitors? The backlog costs due. I am afraid to tell the accountant what to expect. Retailer may say I ordered more just to be safe and to keep up with the sales. I dont want to get a reputation for being out of stock of popular beers.By the time I call my backlogged customers, I am sold out before I can sell a single pertly case. What is that wholesaler doing to me? Doesnt he know what a ravenous market we have down here? I think of all the lost murphy chip sales Brewery may say Even after Week 14 I had not caught up with th e backlogs.At Week 16 I have in the long run caught up but the distributors had not asked for any more beer at all? Why did the order mushroom and then die? The orders have finally arrived but whats wrong with the retailers? Why have they stopped ordering? Briefly describe what outline you after(prenominal) a few minutes (about 10) of discussion, look at the graphs of the developed during the game for making results. Ask them, What commonalities do you see in the graphs for the ordering decisions. different teams? Participants should see common pattern of overshoot and oscillation. This should be most evident in the effective inventory graph. Get them to really see for themselves that different people in the same structure produce qualitatively sympathetic results. Even though they acted very differently as various(prenominal)s in ordering inventory result (there was free will), still the overall patterns (qualitative patte rn) of behavior are similar. This is a very important pointtake as long as necessary to have them see it for themselves. Obviously at the factory, the Marketing Director will be charge for any layoffs or plant closings that come out of this crisis just as the wholesaler blamed the retailer and the retailer blamed the wholesaler and oth wanted to blame the factory. You might reflect at this point on what happens in the real world when such performance target oscillations are generated. The typical organisational response is to find the person responsible (the guy placing the orders or the inventory manager) and blame him. The game clearly demonstrates how inappropriate this response isdifferent people following different decision rules for ordering a generated oscillation. Plot what you think was the customer After having had them all see the extent to which different people order over time (Chart 3) during the produce simi lar results in a common structure, you then need to move on game. to what is usually the most muscular point made by the game that informal structure not external events cause system behavior. The way to make this point is to ask the following question All of you who were not retailers, or who differently have not found out what the pattern of customer orders was, what do you think the customers were doing? Most people usually believe that customer demand was fluctuating because they believe that the system fluctuations must have been externally driven. Most draw a curve which rises and falls, just as their orders rose and fell. Get each of them (other than retailers) to see that they assumed fluctuating customer orders. Retailer in your team to plot actual Draw in each order rate graph the actual customer ordering pattern. The customer order on the same chart. small step from 4 to 8 orders should make a strong visual exposure in contrast to the order rate fluctuations which often have amplitude of 20- to 40-orders per week.Moreover, the sustained oscillations generated by the system contrast sharply to the absolutely flat customer order rate after the step at week 5. The Retailer may respond with The demand never mushroomed. And it never died out. We still sell eight cases of beer week after week. But you didnt send us the beer we wanted. So we had to keep ordering, just to make sure we had enough to keep up with our customers. This simple exercise of getting them to see how, contrary to their expectations, the internal system structure is completely capable of generating fluctuating behavior is the most profound lesson they can are the oscillations due to external envision from the game. or internal reasons? It is important that they see this for themselves, as a display or an experimental result, which they did, not as an idea of which youre trying to convince them. In fact, the game is an experiment in very true sense. The result of oscillating behavior was not predetermined. The assumption that the systems problems are caused by the customer stems from our deeply felt need to find someone or something to blame where there are problems. Initially after the game is over, many believe that the culprits are the players in the other positions. This belief is shatter by seeing that the same problems arise in all plays of the game, regardless of who is manning the different positio ns. Many then direct their search for a scapegoat toward the consumer. But when their guesses are compared with the flat customer orders, this theory is virgule down too. This has a devastating effect on some players. In the last 20 years, the beer game If literally thousands of players all generate the same qualitative has been played thousands of times in behaviour pattern the causes of the behavi our must lie beyond the classes and management training individuals. The causes of the behaviour must lie in the structure of seminars. It has been played on five the game itself. continents, among people of all ages, nationalities, cultural origins and When placed in the same system, people however different, tend to vastly varied headache backgrounds. produce similar results. both(prenominal) had never heard of a production/ distribution system before others hadIn system dynamics we take an castratenative viewpointthat the internal spent a good portion of their lives structure of a system is more important than external events in working in such businesses. generating qualitative patterns of behavior. A system causes its own behaviour. In the game.The structure that Yet every time the game is played the caused unbalanced swings involved the multi-stage supply chain and the delays same crises ensue. First there is intervening between different stages (r efer Tools on ST), the limited growing demand that cant be met. information available (refer Tools on TL) at each stage in the system, Orders build throughout the system. and the goals, costs, perceptions and fears (refer Tools on MM) that Inventories are depleted. Backlogs influenced individuals orders for beer. grow. Then the beers arrive enmasse while incoming orders even out. These an be illustrated by this diagram By the end of the experiment, almost all players are seance with large Events inventories they cannot unload e. g. (e. g. inventory backlogs and surges) it is not unusual to find brewery and distribution inventory levels in the hundreds over hanging orders from wholesalers for 8-12 cases per week. Patterns (Panic behaviours / oscillations) Structure (only form of communication is through order slips, the use performance measures by inventory and order sizes and the effect of delays from upstream) But also remember the nature of structure in a gentleman system is subtle because we are a part of it and this means we often have the power to alter structures, which we are operating. How can such controlling structures be recognised? Characteristic pattern of order buildup and decline at each position, amplified in intensity as you move upstream from retailers to breweries. Each position goes through an inventory-backlog cycle first there is insufficient inventory and then there is too much. Assumptions of an external cause (e. g. the other players or the Think of examples in your customer) are characteristics of non-systemic thinking. organisations where you can apply these principles. When we feel How would such friendship help us to be more successful in a complex Too much work? system redefining your scope of influence? Not enough information? Too many changes? Each player adopts the simplest ordering policy possible si mply place Not able to manage changes? new orders equal to orders he received. When this strategy is followed Someone is unfair to you? unswervingly by all the players, all positions sink into stability by Customers are demanding? Week 11. The strategy may generate persistent backlogs (may not be practical in real life as it invites competitors to enter the market) but it eliminates the buildup and collapse in ordering and the associated wild-swings in inventories. In 75% of teams that play the game, the no strategy position have a cast down total cost. Most players see their job as managing their position in isolation from the rest of the system. What is required is to see how their position interacts with the larger system your influence is broader than simply of your own position. You pay close attention to own inventory, costs, backlog, orders, etc. (events).You respond to new orders by shipping out beer. What this view misses, is the way s that your order influences your suppliers behaviour. Which in turn might influence as yet another suppliers behaviour. For example, if they place a large number of orders, they can wipe out their suppliers inventory, thereby causing their suppliers delivery delay to increase.If they then respond by placing still more orders, they create a vicious cycle that increases problems throughout the system (see below). Players that share the systems viewpoint tends to win in order for you to succeed others must succeed as well. Causal Diagram of effect of systemic structure downstream & delays upstream (see overleaf) What do you believe to be the causes This is a good point to introduce erudition disabilities and our ways of of these problems? thinking in an organization Fixation on events Each player focuses on events adult very little power to alter the co urse of events at a structural or strategical levels. I am my position because they became their positions, people do not see how their own actions affect the other positions. The enemy is out there The game reveals the problems originate in basic ways of our thinking and interacting, more than in peculiarities of organisations and policy. Often when problems arise, people quickly blame each other the enemy becomes the players at the other positions, or even the organization structure and polices and/or customers. The illusion of taking charge when they get proactive and place more orders, they make matters worse. The parable of the boiled frog because their overordering builds up gradually, they dont hold the direness of their situation until its too late. Delusion of learning from experience by and large they dont learn from their experiences because the most important consequences of their actions occur elsewhere in the system, eventually coming back to create the very problems they blame on others. The Myth of the Management Team the teams running the different positions become consumed with blaming the other players for their problems, precluding any opportunity to learn from each others experience. What could we do to potentially changeAnalysis using Levels of Perspective tool the behaviour observed in the game? Espoused Vision Everybody working as a team Vision-in-Use I am my position Check-up the Vision-Deployment Matrix. Systemic Structure-in-use No communications, minimising losses for ones position and overanticipating the orders Patterns-in-use Are not able to meet orders in time and having to deal with delayed productions and over-doers in the long-run. Events Is constantly reacting leading to frustrations and burnouts in the long-run. Desired Systemic Structure First, wait patiently for the beer that you have ordered but because of the delay, it has not yet arrived. Second, dont panic. It takes discipline to contain the overwhelming urge to order more when backlogs are build and your customers are screaming. Without the discipline, you and everyone will suffer. Third, assume a No strategy approach can actually work. Shift in prevailing assumption of what is required of us for creating fundamentally different organisations from Firstly, a perspective of the system we are trying to change is out there and we (as change agents) are trying to fix it to we and the system are inextricably linked together. Secondly, a perspective of serving the team rather than the individual is who counts here watch out for Number One SUPPLIES CHECKLIST PER TEAM 3 TEAMS 4 TEAMS 5 TEAMS 6 TEAMS Game Board 3 4 5 6 Single Chips 600 840 960 one hundred twenty0 Ten Chips 90 120 150 150 Customer Deck (1) 3 4 5 6 Order Slips (200) 600 800 gee 1200 Graphs (4) 12 16 20 25 Record Sheets (4) 12 16 20 25 Pencils (4) 12 16 20 25 Calculators (4) 12 16 20 24 PER SESSION Masking Tape Four-color markers per team Magic Markers Debriefing Book Flip Charts Either white board to hold charts for each organization or space on a blank wall Previous game graphs Table set ups B- Items are not available with the game set. Please provide required sets. I- Items are not available with the game set. Please make required number of copies. MOCK GAME BOARD pic Table 1 Cost of Inventory and Backlog Team lay down _______________________ Circle your positionWholesalerRetailerDistributorFactory Wk INV 1 = This weeks order from customer _____ This weeks order from customer _____ last weeks backlog + _____ last weeks backlog + _____ total orders to ship = _____ total orders to ship = _____ this weeks shipments _____ this weeks shipments _____ this weeks backlog = _____ this weeks backlog = _____ This weeks order from customer _____ This weeks order from customer _____ last weeks backlog + _____ last weeks backlog + _____ total orders to ship = _____ total orders to ship = _____ this weeks shipments _____ this weeks shipments _____ this weeks backlog = _____ this weeks backlog = _____ This weeks order from customer _____ This weeks order from customer _____ last weeks backlog + _____ last weeks backlog + _____ total orders to ship = _____ total orders to ship = _____ this weeks shipments _____ this weeks shipments _____ this weeks backlog = _____ this weeks backlog = _____ This weeks order from customer _____ This weeks order from customer _____ last weeks backlog + _____ last weeks backlog + _____ total orders to ship = _____ total orders to ship = _____ this weeks shipments _____ this weeks shipments _____ this weeks backlog = _____ this weeks backlog = _____ Graph 1 My Inventory (including Backlog) Team Name _______________________ pic Graph 2 My Orders Team Name _______________________ pic Graph 3 My perception of orders by customer Team N ame _______________________ pic The Beer Distribution Game An Annotated Bibliography Covering its History and Use in Education and Research prepared by John D. Sterman Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 253-1951 (voice) (617) 253-6466 (fax) emailprotected edu (email) April 1992 revised July 1992 The Beer Distribution Game dates to the earliest days of system dynamics.The game has been used for three decades as an introduction to systems thinking, dynamics, cumputer simulation, and management. It has been played by thousands of people, all over the world, from high-school students to CEOs of major corporations. The references below provide useful information for those who want to follow up the experience of the game. These works describe the history of the game, the equations for simulating the game on a computer, the success of organizational change efforts based on the original model embodied in the game, the psychological pr ocesses people use when playing, and even how these processes can produce chaos. * ? Forrester, J. W. (1958) Industrial changings A Major Breakthrough for Decision Makers.Harvard occupancy Review, 36(4), July/August, 37-66. The first asrticle in the field of system dynamics. Presents the production-distribution system as an example of dymanic analysis of a business problem. Reprinted in Roberts (1978). ? Forrester, J. W. (1961) Industrial Dynamics. Cambridge, MA MIT Press. Contains a description of an early version of the Beer Distribution Game ? MacNeil-Lehrer Report, (1989) high-risk Business Business Cycles, Video, Public Broadcasting System, aired 23 October 1989. Videotape showing students in John Stermans Systems Dymanics course at MIT playing and discussing the Beer Game. Relates the game to boom and bust cycles in the real world.Excellent in debriefing the game, and helpful to those seeking to learn how to run the game. Copies available from System Dynamics Group, E60-38 3, MIT, Cambridge MA 02139. ? Mosekilde, E. , E. R. Larsen & J. D. Sterman (1991). Coping with complexness Deterministic Choas in human decision making bahavior. In J. L. Casti & A. Karlqvist (Eds. ), Beyond Belief Randomness, Prediction, and Explanation in Science, 199-229. BostonCRC Press Shows how simple and reasonable decision rules for playing the Beer Game may produce unlike nonlinear phenomena, including deterministic chaos. ? Radzicki, M. (1991). Computer-based beer game boards. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Dept. f Soc Sci and Policy Studies, Worcester, Ma 01609-2280 Beer game boards in PICT format for Macintosh computers available on disk for $5. 00 all proceeds go to the System Dynamics Society. ? Thomsen, J. S. , E. Mosekilde, & J. D. Sterman (1992). Hyperchaotic Phenomena in Dynamic Decision Making. Systems Analysis and Modelling Simulation, forthcoming. Extends earlier papers by Moskilde, Sterman, et al. to examine hyperchaotic modes in which the behavior of the be er distribution system may switch chaotically among several different chaotic attractors (for afficionados, hyperchaos exists when a high-energy system contains multiple positive Lyapunov exponents). ? Roberts, E. B. , ed. (1978) Managerial Applications of System Dynamics.Cambridge, MA Productivity Press. Excellent anthology of early-applied system dynamics work in organizations, including analysis of efforts to implement the results of the model which led to the Beer Game. ? Senge, P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline. New York Doubleday. Excellent non-technical discussion of the Beer Game, and systems thinking principles generally. ? Sterman, J. D. (1984). Instructions for Running the Beer Distribution Game. D-3679, System Dynamics Group, MIT, E60-383, Cambridge, MA 02139. Explains how to run and debrief the Beer Game, including layout of boards, set up, play, and discussion. Incorporates debriefing notes by Peter Senge.Some people have found this document, in conjunction with the MacN eil/Lehrer video and smokestack of practice, is sufficient to enable them to lead the game successfully. ? Sterman, J. D. (1988). Modeling Managerial Behavior Misperceptions of Feedback in a Dynamic Decision Making Experiemnt. Management Science, 35(3), 321-339. Detailed analysis of Beer Game results. Examines why people do so poorly in the Beer Game. Proposes and tests a model of the decision making processes people use when playing the game and shows why they do so badly. Additional information on systems dynamics, including publications, simulation games, management flight simulators, journals, etc. is available from John Sterman at the address above. *If you know of additional publications which discuss aspects of the game not ncluded in this bibliography please send a copy to John Sterman at the address above so they can be incorporated in future releases of this bibliography. 1 Order fulfilled Cost Storage Total Inventory Balance(w=t) = Inventory Balance(w=t-1) + New Invento ry Received(w=t) 2 Balance Inventory After fulfilling Order(w=t) = Total Inventory Balance (w=t) Order accomplish (w=t) 3 Cumm Backlog (w=t) = New Backlog (w=t) + Unfulfilled Cumm Backlog(w=t-1) Reta