A Terminal Keyboard Experience in Executive Gaming

Abstract

"The traditional computer based business game requires students to submit their decisions for each game period on some type of printed form. The decisions are then keypunched into cards and included as input, perhaps along with a “history deck,” to a computer program. Finally, the computer print-out results of the program are distributed to the students. This procedure usually creates a relatively long delay between the students’ submission of decisions and their receipt of the results. In addition, gathering and entering input, maintaining history data, and distributing output tend to be troublesome and error-prone processes. The authors have developed a business game implemented on a time- shared computer system. This eliminates most of these intermediate processes by enabling the students to enter their decisions and obtain results directly from the computer. In addition, they may use the computer terminal to write and access analytic programs to aid in making those decisions, and to analyze the output result from their decisions. A typical cycle for a period of play includes the following steps. Students access the game through a pass-word protected identification using a teletype terminal. They. submit their decisions for the period of play in response to questions from the interactive program. All teams must enter their decisions by a deadline. After the deadline, the game administrator uses a computer terminal to issue the necessary commands to run the programs for a period of play. Immediately thereafter, the students may return to a terminal and obtain the results from their own protected file. Many students write their own time sharing programs (or use “canned” programs) to analyze the output and prepare forecasts to aid in making their decisions. The result is a dynamic and stimulating game experience which generates a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement among the students."