*formerly posted on the BGSU MBA blog in 2009
Recently, the National Football League's season began. Likewise, the new full-time cohort and my cohort began the Fall semester. In both areas, there are sometimes simulations involved.
I have participated in fantasy football before--maybe 3 times in my lifetime. Twice, I partook in budget rotisserie leagues, which require participants to pick teams within a budget (a "salary cap" in sports terms) and then earn the best performance statistics possible. Here, participants could have identical players on their teams as long as their team budgets permitted this. Once, I participated in a drafted head-to-head league. In this league, we took turns drafting players and then had our drafted teams earn the best performance statistics possible in head-to-head team competitions. Here, participants could not have any identical players, which to me is more realistic.
A couple weeks ago, the new cohort started the "Paper Nation" simulation. In it, four people were elected as team captains and then picked teams. They will learn more about their objectives around the day of the simulation. Meanwhile, my capstone strategy course recently started the "Mike's Bikes" simulation. Here, we are working in much smaller teams, so we just picked teams by word of mouth asking around. Unlike "Paper Nation", "Mike's Bikes" will take place over a number of weeks.
When thinking about fantasy sports and business simulations, I realized how similar they are to each other. In both fields, the participants must have an understanding of the different numbers and other factors involved. The strategies may vary from team to team, or the strategies may be identical. Also, the style of the simulation and the capabilities and limitations vary. Regardless, there are opportunities for the participants of both sports and business simulations to make adjustments.
As there are different rules and stipulations in the various simulations, a participant or a team may do better under some conditions and worse in others. With fantasy football, I did much better in picking a team in the drafted head-to-head league; I took 2nd place there. On the other hand, I struggled in the budget rotisserie leagues; I finished towards the bottom of the league the first time and then improved a bit, finishing in the middle of the pack the other time.
With Paper Nation, I knew that I was on a really good team. We started in last place but worked our way into 1st place by the end of the simulation. Since Mike's Bikes has more time allotted to test and understand the numbers, and because there are 6 teams instead of just 4, there may be even higher levels of competition. Thus, although my team is currently in 1st (we started in the middle of the pack), we might not be able to hold our ground.
Overall, there is excitement in simulating the operations of a sports team or some other corporation. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing "Paper Nation", and now I am starting to catch on with "Mike's Bikes". In the meantime, I might try to participate in a casual fantasy basketball season this year, as my favorite professional league is the National Basketball Association. It is good to know that fantasy sports leagues are out there for me so that I can get my fill for simulations after graduating with an MBA. Of course, the full-time job is the real deal, but I also still need to make my post-MBA employment a reality.:)
Recently, the National Football League's season began. Likewise, the new full-time cohort and my cohort began the Fall semester. In both areas, there are sometimes simulations involved.
I have participated in fantasy football before--maybe 3 times in my lifetime. Twice, I partook in budget rotisserie leagues, which require participants to pick teams within a budget (a "salary cap" in sports terms) and then earn the best performance statistics possible. Here, participants could have identical players on their teams as long as their team budgets permitted this. Once, I participated in a drafted head-to-head league. In this league, we took turns drafting players and then had our drafted teams earn the best performance statistics possible in head-to-head team competitions. Here, participants could not have any identical players, which to me is more realistic.
A couple weeks ago, the new cohort started the "Paper Nation" simulation. In it, four people were elected as team captains and then picked teams. They will learn more about their objectives around the day of the simulation. Meanwhile, my capstone strategy course recently started the "Mike's Bikes" simulation. Here, we are working in much smaller teams, so we just picked teams by word of mouth asking around. Unlike "Paper Nation", "Mike's Bikes" will take place over a number of weeks.
When thinking about fantasy sports and business simulations, I realized how similar they are to each other. In both fields, the participants must have an understanding of the different numbers and other factors involved. The strategies may vary from team to team, or the strategies may be identical. Also, the style of the simulation and the capabilities and limitations vary. Regardless, there are opportunities for the participants of both sports and business simulations to make adjustments.
As there are different rules and stipulations in the various simulations, a participant or a team may do better under some conditions and worse in others. With fantasy football, I did much better in picking a team in the drafted head-to-head league; I took 2nd place there. On the other hand, I struggled in the budget rotisserie leagues; I finished towards the bottom of the league the first time and then improved a bit, finishing in the middle of the pack the other time.
With Paper Nation, I knew that I was on a really good team. We started in last place but worked our way into 1st place by the end of the simulation. Since Mike's Bikes has more time allotted to test and understand the numbers, and because there are 6 teams instead of just 4, there may be even higher levels of competition. Thus, although my team is currently in 1st (we started in the middle of the pack), we might not be able to hold our ground.
Overall, there is excitement in simulating the operations of a sports team or some other corporation. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing "Paper Nation", and now I am starting to catch on with "Mike's Bikes". In the meantime, I might try to participate in a casual fantasy basketball season this year, as my favorite professional league is the National Basketball Association. It is good to know that fantasy sports leagues are out there for me so that I can get my fill for simulations after graduating with an MBA. Of course, the full-time job is the real deal, but I also still need to make my post-MBA employment a reality.:)