It is crucial for academicians, trainers and the like to delve deep into the purpose behind the usage of Management Games (MGs), prior to considering their applicability in classrooms and their relevance in management education.

With almost 50 years of history behind them, Management Games (MGs) are increasingly becoming popular today. They have almost transformed themselves from the role of an accessory to an indispensable ingredient in management education. Facing stiff competition, which at times threatens their very survival, corporates feel compelled to have very sound management. Thus they find the management games very useful in training the managers. Incidentally, the management gamesconsidered a simplistic game-like learning process are also used by the universities for their management students.

MGs are considered as one of the most effective teaching methods. Of late, their growing popularity has led most of the business schools worldwide to incorporate them in their curriculum. MGs are considered both a `Business Game' and a `Simulation Game'. They put forth the concepts to be learned in a very involving way. They seek to capture the practical elements involved in a particular topic, in a way that no other mode of teaching can produce. It is a process which relies on self-education through motivation and thereby generates long-term positive results. Though MGs are frequently conducted in controlled environments, they provide insights into the nuances of the corporate world in a simplistic manner.

It is crucial for academicians, trainers and the like to delve deep into the purpose behind the usage of MGs, prior to considering their applicability in classrooms and their relevance in management education. An understanding of the purpose of MGs coupled with the formulation of an objective for each of them will help in getting the desired results. MGs are generally played in groups wherein they help in channelizing the behaviors of the individual group members towards a common goal or purpose. Care should be taken to make each individual group member to successfully contribute towards the overall group performance. For this, each member should clearly understand his role and responsibility. This disclosure of the roles and responsibilities to each group at the beginning of the game will not lead to role ambiguity.

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