Power Simulation
A brief, engaging and usually very powerful simulation that creates a three-tier society stratified by status and wealth.
Organization Simulation
A highly-involving simulation activity with a focus on issues of structure, power, politics, and leadership. It descends from the Power Simulation, but is different in that the organization has a product to produce, and there is a client to whom the organization might sell the product. It usually offers a pretty good demonstration of how tough it can be to get close to the customer while trying to keep your organization running at the same time.
Quality Housing.
A relatively short and simple, but involving team exercise. Teams design and produce housing (using cards, tape and markers) in a competitive context.
Carpenter Strategy Toolbox
This site hosts a varied collection of videos, class activities, readings, etc. The primary focus is on strategy, but many of the activities have broad relevance to organizational behavior and leadership. One example is The Vision Thing Exercise. [Professor Russell Coff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison maintains this site as a tribute to his colleague, Mason Carpenter, Weikel Professor of Leadership at Wisconsin, who died in 2011 at age 50.)
Academy of International Business Exercises and Simulations
Simulations and activities related to intercultural communication and doing business abroad. Some are downloadable for free:
- Journey to Sharahad: Americans travel to try to make a deal with a company in Sharahad, which is roughly aligned with cultures in the Middle East
- Trip to Mintana: Similar to Sharahad, but Mintana is more like cultures in East Asia.
- A Visit with the Amberana: A team of Americans visits an insular tribe in a remote area in Latin America to try to obtain a rare plant.
- Brief Encounters. An brief exercise that puts participants in one of two distinct cultures, and then has them mix at a party.