The Hunger Chain: A competitive simulation for teaching supply chain management

Shortage gaming, supply chain competition, and supply rationing are important and timely topics in operations management and supply chain management curricula. We introduce an online instructional game, the Hunger Chain, that provides an action-based, competitive simulation for engagement of students in experiential learning of these topics. We discuss how instructors can use the game to stimulate students’ learning about panic orders and hoarding (shortage gaming), decision dependencies (supply chain competition), and efficient and/or fair allocation of limited supplies (supply rationing). A comparison of test results from students who played the game to those from a control group showed significantly improved learning outcomes. In addition, sentiment analysis of student feedback was overwhelmingly positive.