Caitlin Green

We can have a mutual benefit if we partner up.

We can stay ahead of the other guy who has these resources who might win, but if we work together, we might be able to go a bit forward.

It could, but we do have to be quite careful because at the end, this is a board game.

Yes, it mimics some sorts of business environment and it's a fantastic way for the students to really apply these strategic management theories to a practical setting.

But at the same time, there are certain takeaways from Catan that we do talk about that we shouldn't really mirror in the real life.

For example, monopolizing certain resources.

In Catan, yes, that can have a strategic advantage, but in real life,

That could be quite unethical, especially because we do want to promote ethical business practices that considers not just the business itself or prioritizing resources that a business has, but also how do we contribute to the community as such.

So there are certain takeaways from Catan that I think we do discuss in our classroom where we shouldn't really bring to the business environment as well.

100%.

I think it brings the classroom from a really formalized environment to an informal environment where students communicate with each other because they must.

There's always a competitive nature in everyone, I think.

And when we're playing Catan, you see that everyone wants to try to win.

And obviously communication and negotiation is part of that.

So that makes them open up a bit more, put them out of their comfort zone in a fun, exciting environment.

I would say one life lesson from Catan really is self-reflection, especially after you lose a game.

You sit there and you wonder, why did I lose?

Right?

And then you go back and think, what did I do wrong?

And how can I change so that next time I'm more better prepared in terms of my own understanding and in terms of understanding the game in order to win the next round.