Call for Papers

Call for short papers (pdf)

One defining characteristic of humans is the persistence of playing across age (Clancy, 2024; Huizinga, 1950). In different professional contexts, we have been experiencing a revival of wargaming and simulations (Bernardi 2024; Lépinard, 2014; Lépinard, 2022) and this should not happen unnoticed by management scholars.
 
Organizational scholars have been historically contributing to the study of strategy, decision making and planning (March & Weissinger-Baylon, 1986). Scholars such as Simon, Cyert, March, Cohen, Kuehn, also contributed to the development of business strategy games. It is little-known that business strategy games were inspired by military wargames (Eminente et.al., 1985). US management professors first developed business strategy games after observing wargames conducted in the US Naval War College in the 50s (von Hilgers, 2012; Bernardi & Buffagnotti, 2025).
 
Behind games and simulations there is a modelling exercise such as in game theory, economics and organizational behaviour (Clancy, 2024; March & Weissinger-Baylon, 1986; Perla, 1990; Schelling, 1960; Sabin, 2014). Organizational scholars should reclaim their role in designing and using games and simulations for the study of human behaviour and complex organizations.
 
Serious gaming, serious game and gamified simulation are being used in training and education at different levels and across disciplines. The gaming element and the immersive context enhances the learning, analysis, and strategic foresight potential. In public health and medicine (Baličević et.al., 2023; Bury & Meredith, 2011) there is ample use of simulation, wargaming, and other forms of immersive learning. In crisis management, they are used in education or analysis for professional aims in military, civil protection, and public health settings (Schechter et al., 2021).
 
We would like to host research on the relationship between wargaming, simulations, and organization studies. The sub-theme invites papers addressing the role of games and simulations in studying organizations and in management education. Papers might be guided by, but not limited to, questions such as:

• Can games and simulations be used as experimental settings for the study of organizational behaviour? Taking inspiration from behavioural economics and the techniques of assessment centres, can we develop research methods based on game experiments?

• While the military have inspired management scholars in the past, can organization scholars contribute to the design of experiential and immersive education for military professionals? Focusing on wargames, how can organization scholars support the development of wargames and wargaming practices (Bae & Brown, 2021; Banks, 2024; Bartels, 2020; Hulterström, 2024) with their analytical and theoretical tools?

• Serious games are being used in the study and in preparation for civilian emergencies and global issues (food security, disrupted logistics, climate change, public health). Can organization scholars contribute to a further development of this experience through collaborating with scientists and medical doctors?

• The business strategy game tradition is well established in management schools, but immersive learning and serious gaming could be expanded. Furthermore, business simulations rarely deal with logistics, public health emergencies, crisis management, conflicts and international relations. Shall organization scholars contribute to enriching standard business simulations (Lépinard, 2019; Sierra, 2020) in an interdisciplinary manner?

• On the digital side of this sector, AI can potentially contribute to wargaming, simulations and modelling, perhaps even to agent-based modelling in organization studies. Complex simulations and innovative red teaming are now possible at a large scale and a faster pace thanks to AI agents. Will AI enhance or reduce the importance of decision-making theory and the study of organizational behaviour?

References

• Bae, S.J., Brown, I.T. (2021). A Brief History of Educational Wargaming in the Marine Corps. Journal of Advanced Military Studies, 12(2), 40-59.
• Baličević, S. A., Elimian, K. O., King, C., Diaconu, K., Akande, O. W., Ihekweazu, V., Trolle, H., Gaudenzi, G., Forsberg, B., & Alfven, T. (2023). Influences of community engagement and health system strengthening for cholera control in cholera reporting countries. BMJ Global Health, 8(12), e013788. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013788
• Banks, D. E. (2024). The methodological machinery of wargaming: A path toward discovering wargaming’s epistemological foundations. International Studies Review, 26(1), 1–24.
• Bartels, E. (2020). Building Better Games for National Security Policy Analysis: Toward a Social Scientific Approach. RAND Corporation.
• Bernardi, A. (2024). Il revival del wargaming. MIT Sloan Management Review Italia, Gennaio/Febbraio.
• Bernardi, A., & Buffagnotti, C. (2025). Wargame: Formazione, sviluppo e leadership nelle organizzazioni militari. McGraw-Hill.
• Bury, E., Horn, J., & Meredith, D. (2011). How to use war games as a strategic tool in health care. McKinsey & Company.
• Clancy, K. (2024). Playing With Reality: How Games Have Shaped Our World. Penguin Random House.
• Eminente, G., Cuomo, G., Jaccod, P., Lanciotti, P., & Pepe, C. (1985). Manuale delle simulazioni di gestione: Didattica, progettazione ed esecuzione dei business games. FrancoAngeli.
• Huizinga, J. (1950). Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture. Roy Publishers.
• Hulterström, P. (2024). From Play to Power: A Philosophical Inquiry Into How Educational Wargaming Can Help Cultivate Battlefield Acumen. Åbo Akademi University Press.
• Lépinard, P. (2014). Du serious gaming au full flight simulator: Proposition d'un cadre conceptuel commun pour la formation des formateurs en simulation. Systèmes d'information & management, 19(3), 39–68.
• Lépinard, P. (2019). Le projet EdUTeam: Des wargames comme supports d’apprentissage expérientiel au management. In Journées de recherche et de pratique MACCA 2019, Toulouse, France.
• Lépinard, P. (2022). La ludopédagogie en école de management: Le cas du projet EdUTeam. OpenScience Journal of Education.
• March, J. G., & Weissinger-Baylon, R. (1986). Ambiguity and Command: Organizational Perspectives on Military Decision Making. Pitman.
• Perla, P. P. (1990). The Art of Wargaming: A Guide for Professionals and Hobbyists. Naval Institute Press.
• Sabin, P. (2014). Simulating War: Studying Conflict Through Simulation Games. Bloomsbury Academic.
• Schechter, B., Schneider, J., & Shaffeti, R. (2021). Wargaming as a methodology: International crisis wargame and experimental wargaming. Simulation & Gaming, 52(4), 513–526. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878120987581
• Schelling, T. C. (1960). The Strategy of Conflict. Harvard University Press.
• Sierra, J. (2020). The potential of simulations for developing multiple learning outcomes: The student perspective. International Journal of Management in Education, 18(1), 100373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2019.100361
• von Hilgers, P. (2012). War Games: A History of War on Paper. MIT Press.