To Investigate Players' Behavior When Price Variable Is Put In The Beer Game

摘要

Beer Game was developed by Sloan School of Management which didn't add price variable into the game. The reasons were: (1) As long as there is time delay, it will induce dynamic complexity. (2)If there is price variable, maybe we can't observe patterns and structure in the Beer Game. In this research, we try to add the price variable into the Beer Game to verify the statement made by Sloan School of Management. Besides, we can explore whether it will influence players' decision or not. The learning effects would be what we concern about. After modeling and some real tests, we found that bullwhip effect still exists, and it's much apparent then before. Besides, players are affected by price variables. From discussions after the game, we can find players lack of systems thinking, they have misperceptions of feedback and get used to put blame on others. Those learning effects are almost the same as traditional Beer Game induced. However, the Beer Game with price variable can conclude many behaviors made by players. Compare with the Basic Beer Game, adding the price variable seems too hard for the players to experience the structure produce behavior.