MBA Game Theory for Strategic Advantage
| Class 1: | Introduction Dominant strategies · Prisoners’ dilemma · Application: Tobacco Industry |
| Class 2: | Rationality Dominated strategies and iterated elimination of dominated strategies · Allocentric thinking · Application: Product Positioning and Rational Cascades |
| Class 3: | Nash Equilibrium Never best responses and rationalizability · Simultaneous-moves games · Beliefs and best responses · Nash equilibrium concept · Prototypical games · Application: Printer Industry |
| Class 4: | (Un)predictable Outcomes Focal points · Population games and evolutionary stability · Mixed strategies · Zero-sum games · Applications: Technology Adoption, Market Congestion, and Poker |
| Class 5: | Influencing Outcomes Strategic Pre-Commitments (changing actions, payoffs, technology, order of moves, and enabling retaliation) · Applications: Price-Match Guarantees, MFN Clauses, Production in Teams, Sports |
| Class 6: | Strategic Trade Policy Application Lecture: Strategic Moves in International Business |
| Class 7: | Bargaining (Case-Based Lecture) Added Values · Nash bargaining solution · Application: Airplane Purchase Negotiations |
| Class 8: | Backward Induction Sequential-move games · Sub-game perfect equilibrium · Credible threats · Experimental evidence · Application: Timing of a Product Launch |
| Class 9: | Market Entry and Competitor Analysis (Case-Based Lecture) Entry game · Competitor analysis · Application: Entry in the Airline Industry |
| Class 10: | Wars of Attrition Two-period version · Infinite horizon version · Strategic effects · Application: Exit Decisions in Markets |
| Class 11: | Team Presentations: Project Proposals Students present their final-project proposals |
| Class 12: | Dynamic Price Competition Price wars · Softening competition · Application: In-Class Loyalty Program Game |
| Class 13: | Introduction to Repeated Interaction Infinitely repeated games · Grim-trigger strategies · Credibility of punishments · Applications: Impossibility of Sustaining Cooperation in Cartels |
| Class 14: | Long-Run Relationships (Case-Based Lecture) Transaction costs · Relational contracts · Hold-up problem · Reputations · Application: Buyer-Supplier Relationships in the Auto Industry |
| Class 15: | Application: Tacit Coordination (Case-Based Lecture Imperfect public monitoring · Strategic pre-commitments · Strategic effects of transparency · Application: Closed-Door Large Purchases |
| Class 16: | Introduction to Auctions Typical formats and information structures · In-class bidding · Application: Destabilizing Bidding Rings |
| Class 17: | Bidding in Auctions Equilibria in first-price and second-price auctions · Revenue equivalence · Reserve prices · Optimal Myerson auctions · Bidding with common values and winner’s curse |
| Class 18: | Online Auctions Formats used online · Bidding in generalized first-price and second-price position auctions · Reserve prices · VCG Mechanisms · Application: The Strategic Value of Marketing |
| Class 19: | Topics in Market Design Medical match game · Gale-Shapley algorithm · FCC auctions · Application: Bidding at Sloan |
| Class 20: | Learning and Signaling Signaling games · Bayesian persuasion · Application: R&D Project Reporting |
| Class 21: | Credibility and Reputation Strategic irrationality · Dynamic signaling and reputations · Application: Consumer Scores and Privacy |
| Class 22: | Application: Cold War Politics Brinkmanship as a strategic move |
| Class 23: | Team Project Presentations |
| Class 24: | Team Project Presentations |
