Simulation Business Games in the Research of Marketing Managers’ Decision Making Process
Journal Title: International Conference on Marketing and Business Development - Year 2016, Vol 0, Issue 1
Abstract
Simulation business games might be suitable research tool to develop knowledge of how marketing managers make their decisions, the area of research still underdeveloped in marketing. The quality of these decisions is single most important factor determining how successful marketing management of a company would be. Marketing decision making process and its results are determined by vast number of factors, with complex interrelationships between them, which implies high levels of risk associated with these decisions. Little is still known what leads to good or bad decisions, and our understanding of the underlying processes is very limited. Better understanding of how marketing managers make their decisions is crucial to develop appropriate support tools and systems. Complex cognitive processes are very difficult to be researched with traditional empirical methods, such as surveys or interviews. Simulation business games allow observation and measurement of decision makers in “known environment”, which is controllable and complex enough to emulate real life. Dickinson et al. (2004) argue that simulation business games not only allow investigation of complex phenomena, but also their observation in different timeframes. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of potential and limitations of simulation business games as research tool to investigate decision making process of marketing managers, based on the analysis of the existing literature. The concept, limitations and potential of simulation business games are identified in this article. Selected proprietary simulation business games are compared to identify what types of marketing decisions can be investigated with them. Simulation business games, although criticized for limited mundane realism and validity, are useful research instruments, allowing investigation of complex decision making processes, and their potential has not yet been exploited sufficiently.
Authors and Affiliations
Marcin Awdziej, Jolanta Tkaczyk
Keywords
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