An In-Class Competition Introducing Inventory Management Concepts
David J. Robb
Department of Management Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, P.R. China, david@sem.tsinghua.edu.cn
M. Eric Johnson
Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, m.eric.johnson@tuck.dartmouth.edu
Edward A. Silver
Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
T2N 1N4, Canada, edward.silver@haskayne.ucalgary.ca
Abstract
Encouraging interest in inventory management necessitates that instructors overcome concerns that the subject is
too abstract or conceptual. To aid in this process, we describe a competition engaging students in concepts, including demand estimation, demand uncertainty, and costs of inventory and shortages. The competition simulates a multi-item newsvendor problem employing participant-generated data. We present results from use of the exercise in multiple class settings over the past decade. A number of possible extensions of the basic competition are discussed. Data collection and analysis materials are available to interested readers.
Key words
classroom games; teaching production/operations management; newsvendor problem; inventory costs; forecasting; Bayesian approach
History
Received: June 2009; accepted: April 2010.
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Citation Information
Robb, D. J., M. E. Johnson, E. A. Silver. 2010. An in-class competition introducing inventory management concepts. INFORMS Trans. Ed. 10(3) 122-125. Available online at http://ite.pubs.informs.org/.
DOI: 10.1287/ited.1100.0049