Over the last few years, games of different types have been successfully used in the teaching of production management and in the introduction of new planning methods and systems in industrial enterprises. Games have been used to explain the dynamic nature of production management and for testing new planning principles. Company-specific games have recently been involved as part of developing new production management systems.

Over the last few years, games of different types have been successfully used in the teaching of production management and in the introduction of new planning methods and systems in industrial enterprises. Games have been used to explain the dynamic nature of production management and for testing new planning principles. Company-specific games have recently been involved as part of developing new production management systems.

OMG! is a serious game that represents a real-world system and is used for the purpose of learning and problem-solving. It is the first customizable serious simulation board game designed to help managers and leaders learn about various aspects of operations management in a simulated production line. In OMG! participants are immersed in a simulated learning environment that is risk free yet challenging at the same time. This environment creates an ideal place for testing decisions and learning from feedback without the costly disruption of a real system.

This book is based on the presentations at the Third Workshop on Games in Production Management, The Effects of Games on Developing Production Management, held in Espoo, Finland, June 27-29, 1997. The workshop was organized by the Special Interest Group on Games of IFIP Working Group 5.7, which is coordinated by Professor Jens Riis. The Special Interest Group aims to enhance learning in production management in academia and in industry, through the development, application and research of simulation games. Currently, the Special Interest Group is developing a catalogue of games in production management, which will be available on the Internet. The two previous workshops of the Special Interest Group were held in Aalborg and in Sf/lnderborg, and a workshop and exhibition of simulation games was arranged in connection with the APMS '96 Conference in Kyoto in November 1996. In these workshops, various simulation games have been presented, experimented, and discussed, and experiences exchanged. As a result, a network of researchers and teachers interested in games has been created. The third workshop with participants from ten countries further expanded and strengthened the network, and created ideas for potential joint research projects in simulation for learning in production management. The workshop was sponsored by the IFIP Working Group 5.7 on Computer Aided Production Management Systems, Helsinki University of Technology, the Finnish Graduate School of Industrial Management, and the City of Espoo, which we gratefully acknowledge.

Learning has become a constant state of mind for most professionals in today's organizations. However, to become a true learning enterprise, organizations cannot stop at instilling this yearning for knowledge into their collaborators. They must also capture and formalize the common know-how of the organization, as well as provide time and infrastructure to allow learning moments to happen. The aim of the Gaming Workgroup within IFIP 5.7 on Integrated Production Management Systems and the European Group of University Teachers for Industrial Management EHTB is to develop tools and formalisms to support experimental learning in these organizations. It has been proven that modelling the know-how, using visual environments such as multimedia and graphic simulations, is a first step. This in turn allows for the development of games, i.e. challenging settings that foster group interaction and problem solving. Games in Operations Management provides an excellent overview of the different game formats that have been developed and tested in past years, and includes games in a manufacturing environment, games in a services environment, and games for teaching organizational values. The book comprises the selected, revised proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Games in Production Management: Experimental Learning in Industrial Management, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held in November, 1998, in Ghent, Belgium. The book will be of particular interest to organizational trainers, providing a good overview of state-of-the-art game and training formats as well as hints and advice on how to organize interactive training sessions. It will also be of interest to researchers in industrial engineering, industrial management, and operations management.

This essential Handbook outlines the latest research on operations management teaching, and identifies new developments in the overall trends of (de)globalisation, sustainability and digitalisation. It highlights contemporary developments in teaching practice, providing theoretical insights into potential future pedagogical directions.

Today the Scottish electronics industry employs 40,000 people directly and a further 30,000 in the supply infrastructure. There are now more than 550 electronic manufacturing and supplier companies in ' Silicon Glen'. In terms of the contribution to the economy, electronics is by far the most valuable industry. Its value in 1996 was approximately £ 10billion and accounted for more than half of Scotland's exports. The major product groupings within the industry include: • PCs, laptops and workstations • Disk drives, cable harnessing • Printers, keyboards and peripherals • Semiconductor devices and PCBs • TV, VCRs, CDs, stereos and other consumer electronics • Cellular phones and telecommunications products • A TMs and funds transfer systems • Networking and security systems • Navigation and sonar systems • Microwave products • Power supplies • Software and compilers Many of these companies are multi-national OEMs, who came to Scotland as inward investing companies. Early inward investing companies were from USA, followed by companies from Japan, and more recently from Taiwan and Korea. An important segment of the industry is involved in the manufacture of computers, including IBM, Compaq, Digital and Sun. In fact approximately 40% of the PCs sold in Europe are built in Scotland. With five of the world's top eight computer manufacturers locating a manufacturing base in Scotland there has been an attraction for foreign companies keen to provide service for these multinationals. In 1995/96 the supply base output was worth £1.