著者

谷口 文朗

出版者

帝京科学大学

雑誌

帝京科学大学紀要 (ISSN:18800580)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.2, pp.25-43, 2006-03-31

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Management games are a comprehensive way for students of our Science and Engineering Department to experience the whole processes of management visually and experimentally. Management games set in the context of the manufacturing industry have been used over the last thirty years by more than 5 million business people in Japan but no comparable management games set in the service industry has been produced yet, despite the fact that the ratio of total supply of services is increasing year by year in Japan to 58.1 percent of total supplies in 2001 as shown in Input-Output Analysis data compiled and published by the Japanese government. The management disciplines of manufacturing businesses and services businesses are very different in ways such as : 1] No inventory exists in the service production process, such as an inventory of intermediate products and finished products, because services are real-time actions that bring customers benefits. 2] Any supplies and demands of services have to be met at a specific time, place and opportunity and sales and supply costs are incurred concurrently. 3] The supplier of services is "servant" to the customer and any additional supply of services is not possible at the same time as supplying services. 4] Customers of services have to be present at the service supply spots where the qualified technicians, tools and equipment are to be found. 5] Customers need not only enough money but also enough time in order to avail themselves of services. 6] Services are paid for in cash and no deferred payment is acceptable except by credit card. 7] The ratio of fixed investments in tools, equipment, buildings and land to total assets is greater than in the case of the manufacturing industry and the price of services is often massively discounted in order to promote sales. Services are categorized as one of two types --- "franchised" such as family restaurants and beauty and hair salons or "networked" such as railways and telecommunications. There are fundamental differences between the two and they cannot be dealt with in the same management game framework. The author of this article concentrated his efforts to produce management games of "franchised type services", specifically "Beauty & Hair Salon" Business Game.Beauty & Hair Salon Management Game starts with each player holding 1000 units of money and each begins to compete for customers in competitive markets, not by quoting prices but by appeal chips that symbolize the reputation of the salon's technicians and hair treatment products sales to customers. The results of one year's business operations are easily compiled into a statement of "profit and loss" and a "balance sheet", enabling players to develop strategic thinking skills for future business operations while playing the game.