Expert Gaming: A Means to Investigate the Executive Decision-Process

Abstract

This paper describes the development, structure and use of gaming methodology designed to acquire insights in senior executive decision-processes. The procedure, known as ‘expert gaming’, allows a single scenario to be presented to different players in a controlled manner in order to both acquire a rich response and compare them between players.

The expert-gaming methodology forms part of a broader methodology developed to establish the characteristics of the senior naval-command process. The broad methodology was also implemented in an industrial setting to establish the generality of the process.

Expert gaming combines both low-level data-collection techniques and associated analytical methods with high-level, qualitative techniques.

The paper includes a survey of recent literature in the field of scientific gaming.

Keywords:

• argumentation
• expert games
• free-form scenario
• gaming
• marketing management
• marketing plan
• military decision-making