The Bullwhip Challenge
A bonus mode for Capy Kicks: Sneaker Empire, based on MIT's classic Beer Game. Run one business in a four-step sneaker supply chain. Every order takes weeks to arrive, and you can't see what the others are doing. Can you keep sneakers flowing without drowning in boxes?
For teachers
The Bullwhip Challenge is a free, school-friendly version of the Beer Distribution Game, the supply chain simulation created at MIT's Sloan School of Management in the 1960s. Students run one of four businesses in a sneaker supply chain while computer animals run the others. Every week they receive sneakers, ship what they can, and order more. Orders take two weeks to reach the supplier, and shipping takes two more.
The lesson students discover
Customer demand changes only once, from 4 pairs a week to 8 pairs in week 5. Yet orders swing wildly as they move up the chain toward the factory. That's the bullwhip effect. Students don't learn about it before they play. They cause it, and then the results screen shows them how. A second round lets everyone see real customer demand and each other's stock, and the chaos usually shrinks dramatically.
How to use it in class
A game takes 15 to 20 minutes (less with Manager mode, which skips the walking). Try having groups of four each take a different business on the same difficulty, then compare charts. Students are graded against the best possible cost for their seat, found by replaying their position with hundreds of ordering strategies. Each student can print a one-page report.