Cloud's Docu life/Simulation Game

Wall Street Simulation

2009. 7. 30. 00:21

Wall Street Simulation

Introduction

The aim of this game is to make the participants reflect on the motives and methods of transnational corporations. It will help you understand how low in their hierarchy of priorities stand ethics, social issues, environment, fair competition.

The game also points out how interpersonal conflicts and animosities can influence company's decisions that affect thousands of people.

Who can play?

The game can be played by anyone preferably over the age of 15. The number of participants should be between 20 and 25.

Time and place

You need about 2,5 h in total:

1,5h to play the game

1h for discussion afterwards. You need enough space for the "companies" and the "Wall Street" so that they can sit in some distance and don't disturb each other. There should also be space to move around between the groups. The board on which the stock exchange graph will be drawn must be visible to everybody. You need:

role descriptions for each participant (councilors/president)
sets of 9 problems (one set per each "company")
answer scheme and score scheme for the "Wall Street"
a board or a big sheet of paper on which the stock exchange graph will be drawn - see example here
colour markers to draw the graph (different colour for each "company")

Step-by-step description

1. Participants are divided into 4, 5, or 6 "companies".

2. Each "company" sits in some distance from each other so that they don't overhear other companies' discussions.

3. Game facilitators give participants their roles (which must be kept secret and not revealed to anybody neither in nor outside the "company"). There can be more than one councilor with the same role in a "company" (if there are more than 4 persons in it).

4. President of each "company" introduces herself/himself to the other members of a group and the game starts.

5. "Companies" decide on their names and inform the "Wall Street" (the game facilitators).

6. The problems are distributed to the "companies" in different order, following the score scheme.

7. "Companies" discuss and vote to choose one of four possible solutions (in case of parity the president's opinion prevails). Then they quickly communicate it to the "Wall Street" that reacts according to the score scheme and show the result on the graph.

Suggestion:

Time is the essence! You can set up a time limit for solving each problem (for example 5 min). The "Wall Street" can demand slow groups to fasten their actions. It can also punish "companies" unable to take quick decisions, eventually lowering the quotation of their stocks.

You can modify the set of problems by adding new or changing already existing ones. Don't forget to update the score scheme and the answer scheme.

Role descriptions

PRESIDENT
You are the president of a multinational company. You never have a clear opinion on the solution of a problem and you always prefer to listen to others' reasons before saying your own. One minute before the meeting starts, a close collaborator tells you that one board of directors member is a spy of a competing company. You do not know who she/he might be, but you know she/he will often repeat the word "social". You obviously have to pay attention to the spy's suggestions because she/he will try to make your enterprise collapse.

COUNCILOR 1
As a matter of fact, you are a spy of a competing multinational company. Your task is to convince the other members of the board directors to take decisions opposite to the ones you believe are right, so to make the enterprise collapse.

COUNCILOR 2
You just get in the board of directors of this multinational company and you want to establish good a relationship with the president. You will try to convince the president of your reasons but never contrasting her/him and always flattering her/him. Still, you want your reasons to prevail because you know the president likes firm people. A close friend told you the president seems to be sensitive to social problems, so you have to include in your speeches social matters such as "President, think of the social repercussions" or "President, what will the society say?"

COUNCILOR 3
It's been ten years that you've been a member of the board directors and you are on strained terms with the president. In a month, there will be the election of the new president and you do not want to fail as it happened four years ago. You will do anything to discredit the president and to make your decisions be approved especially if contrasting the president's. By discrediting her/him, you will always insist on her/his irresolution and on her/his inability to come to a quick decision. You will oppose while the other councillors will always agree with her/him.

Problems

PROBLEM 1
The production costs of your farm in Haiti rose by 10% because of the increase in salaries and of the adjustments to laws which regulate workers safety at work. Digifoot, a competing firm, has just opened a farm in China where salaries are lower and trade unions are weaker. In this way, their shoes cost 15% less than yours.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You open a farm in China but leaving the one in Haiti at least one year.

2. You begin an advertising campaign on work conditions in Chinese farms to strike Digifoot competition.

3. You close Haiti farm and you open one in China.

4. You begin an advertising campaign of your shoes underlining that buying yours helps the poor people in Haiti that work for you.

PROBLEM 2
Your farm in Texas is losing 15% annually and your experts suggest that you should sell it.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You fire 1000 out of 3000 workers to control the costs.

2. You invest in a training course for your workers and you begin to make hand-made high quality shoes which will cost $600 a pair.

3. You provide income support for the 3000 workers while waiting to find a buyer for the farm.

4. You fire 2500 workers and you use the rest for administrative jobs.

PROBLEM 3
800 workers who used to be employed in one of your farms in Mexico sued you for damages assuming you were adopting solvents glue which caused their permanent sterility.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. Before the trial starts, you immediately indemnify them with $15.000. To promote your action you buy a page in the Times.

2. You buy the jury with $100.000 to make sure you do not have to pay any indemnity.

3. You wait for the trial.

4. You pay some of the best lawyers in New York to defend you so as to make sure to be discharged (it will cost you $10.000.000).

PROBLEM 4
Greenpeace has discovered that you use a cancerous element to produce one model of your shoes. For this reason, Greenpeace activists chain themselves to the gates of your central office in London.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You ignore the protest and deny the use of the cancerous element.

2. You call a meeting with the delegation from Greenpeace.

3. You stop using of the cancerous element waiting for scientific results (you have to close the farm losing 50.000$ a day).

4. You kick the activists out.

PROBLEM 5
Activists are distributing pamphlets in front of your Italian shops (around 140) denouncing the dreadful working conditions in your Indian farms. The shop director in Pinerolo sued the ones distributing pamphlets in front of his shop.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You deny any responsibility of what is going on in India, but you do not take part in the trial.

2. You establish an inquiry commission into your Indian farms.

3. You support the director and start the trial against the activists to defend your image (it will cost you about 800.00 $).

4. You ignore the matter and you do not support the director's action.

PROBLEM 6
You bought 70% of Benzina si, a Nigerian petrol company. Many of its oil-wells are located in the middle of the Nigerian virgin forest.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You extract oil but you make sure that any precaution is taken to avoid pollution (this costs you 20% more).

2. You extract at lower cost.

3. You decide not to extract oil from the virgin forest to avoid pollution.

4. You keep extracting oil and you launch a new kind of petrol: "Pine-petrol", a new petrol smelling pine to strike ecologists.

PROBLEM 7
Amnesty International accuses Vietnamese farms which produce laces for your shoes: bad salaries, corporal punishments, prohibition of using bathroom more than once a day.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You give $100.000 to Amnesty International.

2. You establish an ethic behaviour which pledges you to engage just companies that recognise dignity to workers. But you reject any kind of supervision.

3. You deny Amnesty's report.

4. You close any relationship with the farms.

PROBLEM 8
You have the possibility to have the most famous football player Bobaldo for an advertising campaign ($20.000.000).

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You prefer a cheaper contract with the Brazilian volleyball national team ($10.000.000).

2. You accept it and you launch a big advertising campaign on television and magazines with Bobaldo.

3. You refuse it and start a new advertising campaign by doubling salaries if your 80.000 Asian workers (it costs $20.000.000).

4. You hire not only Bobaldo but also his entire team. You launch a huge campaign ($50.000.000).

PROBLEM 9
Your main competing firm invents a new material: "gompack", which makes shoe soles harder and stronger . "Gompack" pollutes rivers next to the Brazilian farm.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

1. You denounce your competing firm for the pollution.

2. You use it but reclaim the area.

3. You finance a new research on a material which does not pollute.

4. You also use it.

Score Scheme

"Wall Street" consults this scheme to check the results of companies' decisions.

SCORE SCHEME
Answer	Problem 1	Problem 2	Problem 3	Problem 4	Problem 5
A	-50	50	-100	50	100
B	-100	-150	50	50	100
C	50	-50	-50	-100	150
D	-100	100	50	100	0
Answer	Problem 6	Problem 7	Problem 8	Problem 9
A	-100	100	100	50
B	100	100	150	-50
C	-100	100	-150	-50
D	50	-100	200	50

Debriefing and Discussion

For the debriefing and discussion you can sit all together or split into 2/3 groups (to make it easier for everybody to speak). Try to base your discussion on the following topics:
Analyzing the problems your "companies" were struggling with, point out which decisions were rewarded by "Wall Street" and which not.
Were your "companies" eager to sacrifice profits for the good of environment, people's health, safety, rights?
What was the impact of interpersonal relations within the "companies" on the decisions that you took?
Do you think this game reflects the reality?
How can we make huge coroprations become more responsible?

World Trade Game 2nd

2009. 7. 30. 00:15

World Trade Game

Introduction

The aim of this game is to help the participants understand how trade influences the development of a country and to create interest and discussion about the world trading system in an enjoyable and non-academic way.

The earth is divided into two parts: The economically rich north (industrialised countries as the US, Japan and Europe) and the poorer Global South (meaning Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia). There are many ways of explaining the differences between North and South but one thing is clear. The gap between rich and poor is becoming bigger partly because of the world trading system we have today which makes the North richer at the cost of the South.
The game will try to show, through the production of different paper products, how the world trade works. How do countries interact? Who are the winners? Who are the losers?

Who can play?

The game can be played by anyone preferably over the age of 14. The number of participants should be between 15 and 30, if the group is bigger than that you can run two games at the same time. The rules are simple and the knowledge you need to play is elementary.

Time and place

You need at least an hour for the game including the discussion afterwards. The game can be used alone or as a part of a longer educational program.
You need a room big enough for 6 groups with around 4-6 participants in each group. Each group needs a chair for each participant and one table. There should also be space to move around between the groups.
Preferably 6 groups divided into the 3 different categories (see below). If you use less than 6 groups make sure that the balance between 'technology' and 'raw material' stays the same.
The game organisers need a table, a blackboard, and some spare pens, papers and 'money'.

Equipment

For 30 participants you need:

30 sheets of A4 paper in the same colour

30 '100 $ notes'

2 sheets of coloured paper

2 tubes of glue

2 pairs of compasses

4 pairs of scissors

6 rulers

2 triangles

14 pencils/ pens

Group Categories country suggestions	Number of Participant	Distributed Resources
Category A USA Japan	4 4	Resource set A: 2 pairs of scissors 2 rulers 3 markers 2 compasses 1 triangles 1 sheet of paper 6 '100 $ notes' 4 pencils
Category B India Brasil	5 5	Resource set B: 10 sheets of paper 1 sheet of coloured paper 1 tube of glue 2 '100 $ notes'
Category C Mozambique Tanzania	6 6	Resource set C: 4 sheets of paper 2 pencils

Ready to Play?

All participants must be able to see the models of the products they are producing (see below). Draw the models on the black board or on big sheets of paper.

The game needs three organisers:

Two bureaucrats in the World Bank. The bank's job is to quality check the products and write down all the deposits in the different bank accounts as well as adding 10% interest every 10 minutes.

The game's facilitator - UN. The facilitator's role is to lead the game, observe how things develop and sometimes change the development of the game by introducing new elements. Because the facilitator is also supposed to lead the discussion afterwards it might be helpful to write down everything that happens; comments, happenings etc.

The Rules

All products must have sharp ends, be cut by a pair of scissors and have the exact size.
When you have produced 5 examples of one product you can present this to the Bank. If the quality is good enough the amount of money your products are worth will be written down in your bank account.
Every 10 minutes the Bank will add 10% interest to the amount of money already in your account.
You are only allowed to use distributed resources and equipment.
You are not allowed to use physical force or violence.
The facilitator, who represents the UN, will mediate in case of disputes between countries.
Only what is already in your bank account when the game ends counts when the result is summarised.

Instructions for the facilitator

Explain the aim and rules thoroughly. Answer questions but make it clear that you will not answer any questions when the game starts.
Divide participants into 6 groups and give them their countries' resources.
In the beginning there will be confusion and you'll get a lot of questions; "Why don't we have any markers?", "What is the coloured paper for?" Remember not to answer any questions. Make sure all the initiative come from the participants and not from you.
The production and trading may last for 30-60 minutes, all depends on how interested the groups are, their activity and initiatives.

What to produce?

These are the 5 different products the groups can produce. When you have produced for example five triangles you go to the bank for quality check and if they are good enough you will get $150 x 5 = $750 into your account.

For the Facilitator (important points during and after the game):

Notice everything that happens
The category "A" countries will probably start producing goods at once but they will run out raw material (paper) quite soon. Then they will have to try and get hold of more paper from the other groups. Because you are the only one that can see how the game really develops it is important that you notice how alliances and trade conditions change throughout the game. Use your observations in the discussion after the game. Take notes.

Stimulate activity
Sometimes the facilitators have to give additional information and try to create new situations. Some of the information can be given to the whole group while some information will be given secretly to some countries. Remember to inform the bank about all the changes you make. Not all the elements below need to be implemented in the game. You have to see how the game develops and how much stimulation is needed. Some examples:

Price-changes on the global market
After a while you can change the price of some products. That way the rich countries for example will find out that their compasses are not as useful as they used to be. From this you can draw parallels to the real world: When a country finds out that their technology is getting out of date they usually sell it to poorer, less developed countries. The prices can also drop if there is an overproduction of one product on the market. (Like oil prices in the mid 80's)

Raw materials
You can for example give a bunch of papers to one country and then announce for "the whole world" that a new source of raw material has now been found in this country.

The coloured paper
Two of the groups have a coloured paper and some glue. They have no idea what to use it for. This represents an unknown natural resource. You can make it known for two other groups, e.g.: If you stick a little piece of the coloured paper on to your normal products the price of those products will increase 4 times.
These two countries will then start searching for the coloured paper and the glue. Because the country that owns it doesn't know the value of it they might sell it really cheap. (Like Zambia sold the rights to exploit and export copper to Rhodes in the late 19th century.) Or they get suspicious and won't sell it.

Development assistance
You might want to inspire a country or two by giving them some economic assistance from the UN, with conditionalities: 1/3 of what they produce with UN support must be paid back to the UN. You can also support a country with technology (e.g. a pair of scissors). If you decide to support a country or one of the rich countries start supporting a poorer country, this can be used later to discuss the motives behind development assistance.

Import taxes
A group of countries can make restrictions on trade with other countries to protect their own interests.
E.g. the EU have higher import taxes on treated goods than raw materials. A couple of years ago the import tax on fresh pineapples was 9%, on tinned pineapple the tax rate was 32% while tax on pineapple-juice was 42%. This way the EU make sure that the Third World countries keep on producing and exporting primary goods.

Trade restrictions and sanctions
Both you and the different countries can set up either multi- or bilateral trading restrictions or sanctions. Examples from the real world: South Africa, Iraq, Cuba etc.

Ideas for discussion

Fair trade
Some of the participants will probably get accused of cheating. That gives you the perfect chance to discuss moral issues and ethics in international business.

"It's not fair!"
Hopefully the participants will point out this fact quite early. After the game it is important to use this statement and together try to find out:

What was not fair about the game?

What does the game tell us about the real world?

How does it feel to be rich?

How does it feel to be poor?

Why is it so difficult to change an unfair system?

Who owns the world's natural resources?

Who owns the world's technology?

Try to move the discussion from describing how the world is today to how the participants would like the world to be. Try also to make them discuss the moral responsibility that goes with wealth.

World Trade Game 1st

2009. 7. 30. 00:05

WORLD TRADE GAME – INSTRUCTIONS

AIM : The trade games aim is to show the participants the mechanisms of world trading,
and how it inflects on world peace.

Time required: 1 half - 2 hours

The game can be played with 15 – 32 participants

You will need:

A large room with 7 tables, or smaller rooms for 7 different groups.

2 compasses for drawing circles

A4 sheets of white paper

2 sheets of coloured paper

2 set squares

Banknotes valued ”250.000”

2 protractors

14 lead pencils

4 pairs of scissors

4 rulers

The leader of the game should have some extra materials – keep them hidden!

The partisipants are divided in 6 groups, each group representing different countries.
Two and two countries represent different levels of countries.

Group	Players	Resource set	Possible countries
1 and 2	2-3	A	UK, USA, Germany, France
3 and 4	5-6	B	India, Brazil, Peru, Thailand
5 and 6	6-7	C	Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Somalia

Resource set:

A	B	C
2 pairs of scissors	10 sheets of white paper	4 sheets of paper
2 rulers	1 sheet of coloured paper	2 banknotes
1 compass	2 banknotes	2 pencils
1 protractor
1 set square
1 sheet of white paper
6 banknotes
4 pencils

The game leader

The game leader will act as UN, impartial, interventing in disputes etc. She/he will keep notes of
transactions interesting comments and corruption. She/he is also responsible for introducing new
elements.

The Banker/world market

The Banker will keep a record of the wealth made by the contries. Use the exel programe to keep
the record. The banker buys the products produced by the countries. The banker only accepts
products that are perfectly shaped and cut with scissors.

TO START THE GAME:

Use the powerpoint instruction to explain the rules to the partisipants. There are only a few
important rules to follow:

The goal for each country is to make as much money as possible.
You earn money with producing goods with the resources you have been given, and sell them at the world marked.
The market will only accept goods that are perfectly shaped and with the right measures.
Goods must be delivered to the market at least 5 of each piece to be accepted.

Split the participants into the different groups representing the countries, and give them their
resources in a closed envelope or plastic bag, so that none of the participants are aware of the
resources given to other countries.

When you announce that “the production can begin” there will be a lot of confusion in the
beginning. The rich countries will probably start production immediately, but will soon run out of
paper. The other countries will start to ask where to get scissors. The leader should resist the
temptation to answer – just repeat the rules. Within a few minutes the groups will start moving
around and begin trading, but the initiative should come from them, not from you.

Change of market values

During the game the leader can change the value on the different shapes. When the production is
high on one specific shape, the value could drop to a lower value. Make sure that all the countries
are informed about the new values.

The parallels for this are the way countries economies can be geared completely to the export of
one product. When the market values dropped, e.g. for rubber or copper the economies of
Malaysia and Zambia suffered badly. Alternatively a change in market value may mean that, for
example, the rich countries find that their compasses are no longer as useful as they were.
Countries do find that their technology has been outdated by changed circumstance.

Increase the supply of raw materials or technology

Give one or two countries an extra supply and announce to the world that a new deposit of raw
material has been found.

This parallels the find of oil or an important mineral, which bring about rapid change.

Using the colored paper

Two groups have been given a piece of colored paper, but will not know what it is for. You can
send a discreet secret message to the two rich countries telling them that if they glue a 1 x1 cm
square of colored paper to their regular products, they will be given a trade bonus (which has its
own column in the excel table)

This parallels a resource which a country doe not realize the full value of. Other nations buy the
deposit cheaply and later make huge profits.

Debriefing

If the game goes according to plan, it will become clear that the whole set up of the game is
unbalanced from start. Some of the countries will feel this unfairness keenly.

You could start the discussion by asking if anyone feels that something wasn’t fair. Listen to the
grievances, and if some are directed towards other countries, ask these countries to respond and
explain their actions.

The game attempts to reflect structures in the real world.

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