Welcome to Gaia! ::

Set-up: Company A (Let’s call it Rush) is dedicated to producing cars that are efficient (high MPGs) for their customers, they value this goal above all else. Mission Statement: “To produce efficient vehicles so everyone can go further for less.”
Company B (Let’s call it Harmony) is dedicated to producing cars that are not harmful to the environment (no carbon emissions). Mission Statement: “To produce vehicles that allow people to go places while preserving those places for future generations.”
There are 20 students in our class, 10 will “work” for Rush and 10 will “work” for Harmony (note: you do not necessarily have to work for the company you agree with most; this will add complexity to interpersonal interactions and showcase our learned leadership skills). One person of the ten will take the role of CEO of Rush, another the CEO of Harmony. The remaining nine will be divided into three-person Departments— Research & Development, Production, and Marketing (note: this is a simplified supply chain)— with one of the three as the Department Manager, while the other two take the role of Employees. You can choose if you would like to behave like yourself during the game, or if you’d like to have more fun with it by pretending to be Authoritative/Participative or use Level One/Two/Three methods during the game. R&D values the freedom to innovate, Production values revenue/ability to meet demand, and Marketing values the company’s reputation to its customers (but again, the employees within each department may have their own agendas or conflicting VABEs!).

Scenario: Both companies are thriving and have a dedicated customer base thanks to each having its own competitive advantage in the industry. But suddenly, a DISRUPTION occurs! A massive new oil well is found in Greenland and is immediately accessible to refineries and the price of gasoline plummets to a price not seen in decades— only 50¢ per gallon!! Expert analysts predict this price will persist for at least ten years. How will Rush and Harmony respond? Does either company feel there is a need for change? Should they continue to do what they already do well (the “new wrong thing”), or should they temporarily become poor at the “new right thing” in hopes their company can stay current?

Gameplay: Play begins with an address from the CEO. Afterwards, all Managers must have a discussion with their Department as to how they plan to move forward (it may or may not agree with the CEO). Employees then have a chance to express their opinions or persuade. Next, each Department should meet together to discuss how their plans affect one another. Continue to work to try to come up with the best solution(s) for the company.

Rules: During play, each CEO will float around the room so he/she can observe his/her company’s direction; he/she can choose to interfere or not at any time. The CEO can choose to fire anybody (if he fires a Manager, one of the Employees receives an immediate promotion), the Managers can choose to fire their Employees. But if they do, the Manager/Employee immediately goes to work for the corresponding role in the other company! Employees can also chose to quit to work for the other company. (Note: Once you switch sides, it’s permanent.) CEOs also have the power to promote Managers to Vice Presidents, and Managers have the power to promote Employees to Assistant Managers, which affects the hierarchy of the game.

Some fun thoughts to get your juices flowing for game day: As the CEO, will you decide the company needs to go in a new direction? If so, how will you tell your team and inspire them? As an Employee, do you have a great new idea? How will you present it to your Manager to try to make it a reality? As a Manager, do you have a contact in the other company’s R&D Department? Will you meet in secret or forge a reciprocal relationship beneficial to both Rush and Harmony?

Seriously? The Human Knot as a final? I can understand it being suggested at the beginning when you're starting to get to know your fellow classmates. But as you stated, it's ridiculous to have as a final.

And sucks it has to be the shared grade system. I hated when I had group projects that involved that style because I always ended up with the "outcasts" who either didn't know what the hell they were doing or didn't want to do a single thing. And me? Well, I'm the "Straight A" student, so obviously I ended up doing a majority of the work. stressed