The International Operations Simulation at the University of Chicago

Abstract

7j~HE University of Chicago Inter| national Operations Simulation (INTOP) is the first major business simulation exercise oriented toward the specific problems of international trade and overseas operations.1 It derives special significance from the fact that international operations will become an increasingly vital element in the evolving American enterprise system of the 1960's. This is obviously true with regard to the growing number of American firms directly engaged in such operations. But the statement is also valid for the majority of businesses not so engaged; there is every indication that domestic business will be subject to more intense international competition in the United States market. The high degree of realism in the game brings out the fact that effective solution of international business problems often requires diagnostic ability and conceptual thinking to a greater degree than most other management situations-and whatever other merits business games may have they do seem to stimulate these qualities. While a prime purpose of the game is to increase understanding of the problems of international operations in general, and those of the multi-national corporation in particular, INTOP is so designed as to yield substantial payoff in general management training as well. This is achieved by a balanced representation of such classical functional areas of reallife companies as finance, marketing, production, research and development. The companies also face major problems of personnel, executive teamwork, and internal organization: the number and complexity of decisions to be made make survival subject to effective division of labor within company teams. As might be expected, the relative complexity of a management game of this nature made the use of a computer indispensable. The exercise is programmed for UNIVAC I-III, and it is being translated into FORTRAN. Among the particular advantages of INTOP is that this game forces participants into a stream of truly entrepreneurial (top management) decisions of business philosophy and objectives, as opposed to the heavy strategy-tactics emphasis of most other games. This is accomplished by continually facing the teams with the choice of representing national or international companies, and, if the latter, whether by exporting, licensing, selling to overseas distributors, or overseas* Professor of business administration, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.