Simulation games that place groups of people in a fictitious
situation in which they have to overcome some obstacle or perform
some assignment. These are training tools that 'reach the parts
other tools do not reach'. This is because - if they succeed - they
engage their participants wholly, including their motivational
system, while still allowing them to reflect on the event
afterwards. Gert Jan likes to use them for cross-cultural learning.
Subjects include collaboration, negotiation, conflict
management.
For some ready-to-use games with instructions, and for ideas
about how to create your own simulation games, see Exploring
Culture (2002) by Gert Jan, Paul Pedersen and Geert Hofstede. For
background reading, see the book Why do games work (2008) edited by
Léon de Caluwé, Gert Jan Hofstede and Vincent Peters, with
contributions by authors from all around the world. The web site www.gertjanhofstede.com
contains some actual games.