12 Fun Management Games For MBA Students

MBA or Master of Business Administration is a degree crafted to enhance the entrepreneurial, business, and management skills of an MBA student.

It is currently the most popular and pursued course, all around the world. Nearly, 2,500+ MBA programs are offered across the globe. Although, initially the most popular route was two years course, presently, many years, part-time and online programs have found a firm footing.

In India, admission to B-schools takes place through National Level or State Level admission tests like CAT, ATMA, MAT, CMAT, OJEE, APICET, etc. Access to the top colleges is not easy; often, one attends special classes or tuitions to crack the entrance examinations. Wherever you go, the MBA is a high-paying job; hence, all the effort and expenditures are worth it.

Every year, more than 1.5 lakh students appear for the CAT examination with the hope of securing one of the 10K seats in the top management colleges in the country. Typical MBA programs comprise a core curriculum of subjects that include finance, marketing, logistics, and business analytics in addition to elective courses.

In This Article

• The Best Management Games for MBA Students
• Benefits of Pursuing an MBA
• Job Prospects After an MBA

The Best Management Games for MBA Students

“All work and no play make Jack a dull boy”- as mentioned before, MBA courses can become extraordinarily tiring and intense with continuous presentations and projects, studies, classes, and constant placement worries.

To counter this, most MBA courses have incorporated offline and online management games for MBA students to keep them engaged and motivated.

Moreover, these games showcase the practical applications of the economics and business theory they learn through the course. This process of visualization and claim helps them grasp the contents of their curriculum more effectively.

The top MBA colleges most often go for the innovative online management simulation games like:

1. MBA Crystal Ball Games

The MBA Crystal Ball games are relatively more straightforward and were initially created for the visitors of their website to grasp the resources and tools of MBA. The simplicity made it appealing to the professors, and these games came to be used in top management colleges in the UK, USA, India, and Singapore. The management games from MBA Crystal Ball include:

Business Strategy Game (BizMAP)

This game gives you a virtual hands-on business experience. In this game, you are to take over an existing business with a team of 4 employees and a million dollars in hand. Complete your contract as you analyze the financial and operational numbers and submit five decisions, which are:

• How many units to produce
• How to price it
• How much to spend on marketing
• How many employees to hire/fire
• How much to invest in product development

Below are steps to play the game:

• Step 1 – Review Financials
• Step 2 – Analyze Business Data for SCM, HR, & Marketing
• Step 3 – Enter & Submit Decisions

Supply Chain Management Game

To help students understand the fundamental challenges involved in business and management, this game allows its users to manage a virtual supply chain. The prime objective in this game is to attain equilibrium in the supply chain ASAP, using only a single parameter to decide in every cycle, i.e., how many units to turn out. Below are steps to play the game:

• Step 1 – Review Status
• Step 2 – Enter the Quantity
• Step 3 –Submit Decisions

2. Capsim

Capsim is a sophisticated simulation game that covers basic and advanced business concepts. It offers Capstone and Foundation wherein the students can form groups to engage in healthy and risk-free competition, thus, learning about the interaction between disciplines. It includes:

• Inbox Simulations
• Business Simulations
• Online Assessments

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3. Forio

Forio simulations have mainly been developed for students and intermediate and senior managers. It offers a mixture of software tools and ready-to-use simulations that help corporate and education clients design their simulations. It includes:

• Higher Education Simulations
• Corporate Training Simulations
• Public Policy Simulations
• Forecasting Applications
• Data Visualization
• Online role-based skills training

4. BSG Online

This is ideal for advanced students; usually, the BizMAP is used first to warm the students up. The game requires you to take 100 decisions for each cycle before the advancement of the game. The highlights of this game include the following:

• Global top performers
• Corporate social responsibility award
• Best-strategy invitational

5. Beach Ball Toss

The first day in class or any program could be a bit awkward. The beach ball toss could be a useful ice-breaker game. Write various questions on an inflated beach ball and throw it around the class. Whoever catches it is to answer one of the items written on it. The ball can have academic or non-academic questions like:

• What hobbies do you enjoy?
• How do you spend your free time?
• Why do you choose to be drug-free?
• Who is a leader you look up to?
• Whom can you ask for advice?

6. Back-to-Back Drawing

This game asks for two people to be seated back to back. One is given an image of a shape, while the other receives paper and a pencil. The former is to describe the form to the latter without telling what the structure is. The latter is to draw it based on the description provided. This is a game designed to enhance communication skills. A few things are required to play “Back to Back Drawing” are:

• Pictures ( in a physical or a digital format ) of the things that will be verbally described.
• Some pens and paper for players to draw.

7. The Mixed Picture Puzzle

The chief objective in this game is to get the two teams to collaborate to get their work done. The two teams receive two puzzles with some mixed-up puzzle pieces. Whoever can finish the task first wins.

8. Two Truths and a Lie

Most of us grew up playing this game with our friends and family. First, students must write three sentences- two facts and one lie. Then, when each of them reads aloud the statements, the rest is to guess the lie. This game helps one develop observational skills, an essential flair in this industry. Some good examples of Two Truths and a Lie include:

• I used to live in Colorado.
• I am left-handed like my dad.
• I only have one cousin.
• I grew up across from a farm.
• My family goes to Disney World every year.

9. The Name Game

This is a partner game wherein one person is to think of a notable person and write his/her name secretly on a post-it.

• Stick the post-it to the partner’s head, and in the first round, he/she is to ask yes/no questions in turns until he/she gets a ‘yes.’
• In the next round, they are to ask one Open or Tell, Explain, Describe (TED) question. One is forbidden to ask closed questions in this round.

This game demonstrates the importance of asking the right questions or looking at a situation from the correct perspective.

10. Paper Planes

Want to find out if your students are up to date with the lessons? The paper planes game is a great way to make learning fun. Here is how to play the game:

• Ask each student to write a question from experience taught the previous day on a piece of paper.
• Divide the class into two teams, asking each to make planes out of those papers.
• Now the groups are to chuck their aircraft at each other.
• The students pick up the airplanes and answer the questions.

11. The I’s Have It

MBA-related jobs require people to be observant and keep silent and listen to what others say. In other words, being self-centered is not the way of this job. To get students used to this idea, engage them in a game of I’s Have It? This is an excellent game for developing both inter and intrapersonal communications. Form pairs and ask them to talk to each other about anything and everything in this world and beyond. The only rule that applies is – YOU CANNOT USE THE WORD “I.”

12. Building Towers

Building towers is one of the best games to test the student’s presence of mind, leadership quality, and teamwork capability. Two groups receive bundles of newspapers. A scissor and tape are kept familiar between the two. Both teams have to make the tallest building in 10 minutes. Whoever builds the highest building wins. This game is a great way to teach how to make the fullest out of minimum resources.

Benefits of Pursuing MBA

Pursuing a course in MBA not only shapes the academic skills of a person but also enhances one’s personality and boosts self-confidence. One can benefit from pursuing an MBA in the following ways:

• MBA is a tedious course beaming with tasks and classes. Hence, this will help one become all the way more disciplined and enhance their time management skills.
• MBA is more than numbers. This course requires one to think out of the box to stand out, thus forcing one to widen their perspective and reach out to every nook and corner of their mind to enhance creativity.
• In this course, you will also learn how to manage finances better, which will come in handy both in daily life and business.
• Whatever you learn from an MBA course can come in handy across multiple industries. For instance, qualities like creativity, leadership, communication, strategic thinking will help you land jobs in any industry.
• Over the course period, you are likely to build relations with fellow students, faculty, and alumni members who will shortly become your valuable network of colleagues. This will also boost your job opportunities.
• MBA will inculcate entrepreneurial qualities in you, which will instill self-confidence in you and re-energize your career.

Job Prospects After an MBA

Here is what you can do after pursuing an MBA course after graduation:

• Banking and Finance
• Information System Management
• Investment Banking
• Entrepreneurship
• Human resources
• Product Management
• Management Consulting
• Private Equity
• Data Analytics
• Education

Final Thoughts

If you have done your share of research and you are interested in an MBA, do not hesitate any longer. MBA is a life-changing course that will not only augment your career scopes but develop you as a person.