GEO is a gaming simulation for business management. It includes 10 generic nations and six generic industries. Although participants register individually, they can optionally be assigned to groups. When groups are involved, participants receive group-credit scores that are added to their individual-performance scores. The game is Internet-based and requires Microsoft Windows. For those with Macs, Microsoft Azure Dev Tools for Teaching includes Windows 10, which students and instructors may download for installation on Macs, provided they are students of an institution that subscribes to the program.
As typically configured, the nations of the game have differing trade policies, namely free trade, export promotion, strategic trade, import substitution, and laissez-faire. Participants are assigned to the laissez-faire nation at registration, but can migrate to another nation at any time.
Each participant receives a line of credit that can be applied to found up to a limit of eight companies in their selected nation and industry. Typically, the industries include banking, service, natural resources, and manufacturing.
The game maximizes participants’ freedom to strategize by enabling companies to issue shares that may be traded, to acquire other companies, and to switch from one industry to another.
The game supports free markets for products, stocks, and employment, the last by requiring company executive positions to be occupied by hired participants who are compensated with negotiated salaries and stock options.
The game can be administered as a one-day competition, as a project for weekly reports and presentations, or as a continuously available field for practice. In the field-for-practice administration, students taking various business courses are encouraged to consider the game as an intramural-sport-like activity, where they may join with others to practice business-management skills, with those doing well having their grades raised by own or two steps.
The game processes participant decisions continuously, but it processes company production periodically. For a one-day competition, company production takes place once every 10 minutes; as a project and field of practice, company production takes place once every 6 to 24 hours, generally increasing in frequency as the semester progresses. For the demo-play version of GEO, company production takes place at will, whenever the participant chooses, from the menu, Action >> Advance One Period. For the real-play version, production is at administered time, not at will.
Click here to download and install the demo version of GEO. GEO requires prerequisites that may be already installed on your computer through regular Windows updates. Clicking the Install button will either update the prerequisites or be blocked by firewall. Clicking the launch link proceeds to install without updating prerequisites.
When GEO runs, it presents a Login dialog box with a Register button. Depress Register, and register yourself under a fictitious name to protect your privacy. If you repeat the run, select Login, and enter only your registered nickname and password. After registration, you may do anything you like to see how the program functions. For information about administrative features, contact me (email pthavikulwat@towson.edu).