Hot Seat: A risk management simulation game
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Abstract
Hot Seat is a risk management strategy game where players take the role of a Senior Executive in Stamford Food Limited (SFL) and are expected to make decisions on risk matters pertaining to public opinion, employee happiness, investor happiness and company revenue. Players are entrusted with the responsibility of raising the value of the company by their risk-based decisions.
The player is presented with three goals at the onset of the game and the course of action for the player depends on whether s/he wants to become ‘Revenue King’ (achieve satisfactory revenue for the company), ‘Crowd Pleaser’ (maximise employee and investor satisfaction and enhance public opinion of the company) or ‘Want it All’ (maximise both revenue and stakeholder satisfaction).
Each question in the game furnishes a summary of the risk scenario to the player and then presents the question for the player. Multiple choice answers are presented, and the player is allowed to choose one answer or more depending on the risk scenario and the decision-making choices provided. Answers are scored based on decision choices selected, and revenues are updated accordingly.
As risk-based decision-making evolves around the need of making the correct choices often constrained by social, technical, business, safety and environmental requirements and objectives, it is therefore imperative for decision-makers in an organisation to gain a thorough understanding of these requirements and objectives and their relative importance in order to make the best possible decision under the scenario. An explicit attribute of the Hot Seat game is to allow players to identify and evaluate the risk response options presented in the various scenarios and make appropriate decisions. Sometimes the decision choice is clear, but more often than not there is no clear solution to risk-based decision-making and the game presented here tries to encapsulate this through the scenarios presented.
The simulation game/case tries to present scenarios on various sources of risk that an organisation faces in its day to day operations. Some of the key areas the game/case tries to look at are the multifaceted nature of risks facing companies in the context of an uncertain environment, the appropriate risk responses to address such risks, and the risk-reward implications in business decisions. The game is complementary to case-based teaching and attempts to provide a flexible experiential learning opportunity for students. The simulation game/case is intended for a Risk Management class and can be used in undergraduate and post-graduate classes.