MGT 702 - Decision Making & Game Theory

Decision making is literally an art and a science. The formal, analytical tools from economics and mathematics that largely fallen under the heading of game theory allow us to understand the rational approach to decisions that have discrete choices and clear paths. Strategy, brinksmanship, coercion and cooperation are some of the ways of describing the human elements of decision making. Combining these human elements with traditional game theory gives up a set of tools, approaches, and perspectives on decision making the can handle most of the decisions that business people encounter in the real world.

This class will combine many real-world examples of game theory and strategic decision making with in class, participatory renditions of games, decisions and interpersonal strategies (bluffing, coercion, limited information, etc.) It will not teach students how to win at poker or how survive the next Cuban Missile Crisis but it will discuss the strategies and practical realities (information sets, loss functions, credible commitments, etc.) of those games and what approaches and tools work under various circumstances.