Studying Flexible Design and Management Decision‐Making in Engineering Systems Using Simulation Games

This paper presents the results of an empirical study of training procedures enabling flexibility in the design and management of emergency medical services (EMS) systems – an example of complex engineering system. The study relies on the development and use of a simulation gaming environment to study decision-making dynamics under different treatment conditions. Evaluation of short-term (explicit vs. control), long-term (explicit vs. control), and in-game (with vs. without) flexibility training procedures was completed to assess the main and interaction effects on lifecycle performance score (ΔS). Controlled experiments were conducted with forty-six participants working on the design and management of an EMS system. Results show that in-game training produces a statistically significant improvement on lifecycle performance score (ΔS). It means that in-game training may be more effective than others at improving the quantitative performance (i.e. lifecycle performance score). The empirical study provides insights for developing and evaluating novel training approaches for flexibility in engineering systems