MBA Finance Games

Finance games are popular teaching tools in MBA programs. By getting students involved in stock market games and business simulations, professors can show their pupils what finance looks like in the real world. There are many finance games and simulations that can be used in MBA programs. Some of the most popular include case competitions, trivia quizzes, stock market games and business simulations.

Case competitions pit teams of students against each other to see who can present the best business case study. The two teams in a round are given the same case. Each team is responsible for writing and presenting a case study with recommendations. Popular cases for finance include news stories related to leveraged buyouts, investment portfolios, hedge funds and banks. Each case analysis attempts to determine where the people involved went right or wrong, and then makes recommendations based on this assessment.

Trivia games are used at finance competitions to test students' knowledge of financial concepts. Trivia quizzes group students into teams, and then ask the same set of questions to each team. The competition format can vary. The format may be Jeopardy style (i.e., a race to answer first) or Trivial Pursuit style (i.e., a competition to answer the most questions correctly). Topics may include banking, investments, corporate finance, public finance and personal finance.

Stock market games are perhaps the most widely used games in finance classrooms. In a stock market game, students are given a set amount of hypothetical dollars and asked to invest those dollars in stocks. The performance of each student's stock portfolio is then tracked over the course of the semester. The student who earns the highest returns wins the game.

Business simulations are computer games that model real world business situations. Business simulations are played on computers and require that users install software on their systems. Many businesses now offer business simulation games for download. Finance related games include banking games, investment games and budget management games. Many games are interdisciplinary in character, including elements of management, marketing and accounting.