Intopia (or INTOPIA) is a
strategic management
In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of Resource management, resources ...
simulation
A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...
tool in the form of a
business game
Business game (also called business simulation game) refers to simulation games that are used as an educational tool for teaching business. Business games may be carried out for various business training such as: general management, finance, orga ...
, and is used in a variety of undergraduate and graduate university courses. It is used to teach students the concepts of strategic management of multinational businesses in a simulated world of up to four "nations". The number of participant executives or students can range from 9 to 100+, and are divided into 3−25 teams, each managing a company. The participants practice their skills over a few hours, receiving immediate feedback on their decisions.
Intopia has been used as a tool in teaching
business strategy
In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of resources and an assessment of ...
in universities in over 55 countries, including 18 in the U.S. A positive 1995 review by Peter Palij of Columbia University concluded that the tool is "a benchmark for measuring other competitive simulations".
History
Development of management simulation software began at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
in the early days of academic computing. This work led by Hans B. Thorelli and Robert L. Graves resulted in the release in 1963 of the
early mainframe game
Mainframe computers are computers used primarily by businesses and academic institutions for large-scale processes. Before personal computers, first termed microcomputers, became widely available to the general public in the 1970s, the computing ...
INTOP, which was employed for teaching in over 160 institutions world-wide over the period 1963-1995.
The modern tool INTOPIA was first released in 1995, after a development by an international team over a period of approximately seven years. The team included Thorelli (coordinator, presently Distinguished Professor Em. in the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University), Graves (then Prof. of Mathematics and Computers in the School of Business, University of Chicago), and Juan-Claudio Lopez (Professor in Escuela de Administracion, Universidad Catolica, Santiago de Chile). The company Intopia, Inc. was registered in the State of Indiana, USA, in the mid-90s to further develop and manage the simulation. The present version of INTOPIA B2B was developed by Thorelli, Graves and Scott McDaniel of Personix (Indianapolis, Indiana). Thorelli's work with the simulation is being carried on by his son, Tom, and grandson, Erik Thorelli.
Key features
Intopia is an imaginary
world
The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...
of four
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
, with a maximum of four
currencies
A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or currency in circulation, circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use wi ...
. The world has multiple competing
firm
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
s which may produce a maximum of two types of
products of varying types. These products fall into two distinct categories of consumer durables – X's and Y's, although those X's and Y's may represent different products within each simulation.
Each company is required to make decisions regarding the current and future periods. A company's unilateral decision can range from introducing new products, performing R&D, stepping up production, initiating market research, setting prices and sales/promotions for its products. As well, there is a great amount of inter-company business, with each company able to purchase or sell to other companies.
As well as the production of X's and Y's, companies may choose to sell insurance, provide financial or analytical services, or license new products to gain revenue.
Each decision affects the bottom line of the company which is reflected at the end of the period, after the simulation has run.
See also
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Beer distribution game
The beer distribution game (also known as the beer game) is an educational game that is used to experience typical coordination problems of a supply chain process. It reflects a role-play simulation where several participants play with each othe ...
*
Business simulation
Business simulation or corporate simulation is business simulations used for training, education or analysis. It can be scenario-based or numeric-based.
Most business simulations are used for business acumen training and development. Learning ...
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*
Education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
*
Friday Night at the ER
Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...
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Leadership Series
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Military simulation
Military simulations, also known informally as war games, are simulations in which theories of warfare can be tested and refined without the need for actual hostilities. Military simulations are seen as a useful way to develop Military tactics, t ...
*
Project management simulation
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Roleplay simulation
Roleplay simulation is an experiential learning method in which either amateur or professional roleplayers (also called interactors) improvise with learners as part of a simulated scenario. Roleplay is designed primarily to build first-person exp ...
*
Serious game
A serious game or applied game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to video games used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, he ...
*
Simulations and games in economics education
A simulation game is "a game that contains a mixture of skill, chance, and strategy to simulate an aspect of reality, such as a stock exchange". Similarly, Finnish author Virpi Ruohomäki states that "a simulation game combines the features of ...
*
Strategic management simulation
*
Training simulation
In business, training simulation (also known as Simulation-based training) is a virtual medium through which various types of skills can be acquired. Training simulations can be used in a variety of genres; however they are most commonly used in c ...
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.intopiainc.com
1963 software
Business simulation games
Strategic management