RE: BEER GAME

jack.hirschfeld@his.com
Sun, 15 Jan 95 20:25:01

Stever Robbins said: "I played the beer game knowing in advance the entire game
structure.
The other players in my supply chain did NOT know the structure.
Despite my "perfect" knowledge of the system, the system still
exploded, because there was simply no way within the system to
correct the other members' reasoning. It was VERY frustrating, and
probably very much like certain real life situations."

I, too, have played the beer game knowing the structure in advance (I
wouldn't want to claim to have a clear analytical understanding of the
whole structure, but I had both observed and played before, and had read
about the game in V). I agree that knowledge of the structure is not very
helpful if others are ignorant of it,but your knowledge *will* have impact
on the system if you are in the right position in the supply chain. The
retailer can have the most impact, followed by the brewery. This
phenomenon is known in everyday life as keeping your head while all around
you are losing theirs...

--jack.hirschfeld@his.com