Information and communication technologies integration in teaching: Use of a business game in a Supply Chain course

This research shows the results of using a business game (BG) for a Supply Chain (SC) course over three semesters by female students. Utmost care was followed in designing the BG to abide to recent pedagogical trends. The course has both theory and developmental (laboratory) components. The objective from introducing the BG is to provide an integrated assessment tool covering both components and to enrich the student learning process through facilitation and mentoring. Thus, the purpose of this game is to expose students to the real business and the online trading environments. Students are expected to form groups, adopt business ideas in a SC setting (in coordination with other groups), and plan and implement the business (business case) and developmental (functional SC prototype) parts. In the business plan, groups are expected to strategically trade shares online using appropriate online tools to diversify their investment portfolios and to increase the overall SC surplus. The scope of the BG is intended to extend across the whole semester and hence, progressing both the theory and technical components of the groups' projects (report, presentation, demonstration) as the different SC topics are progressed and covered. The BG has proved useful in fulfilling its objective raising both theoretical and practical implications.