Seeing as the Hong Kong Management Game is in its 43rd year, some improvements and changes are inevitable.

New elements introduced to the game this year include an updated computer program, new cases to be used during the challenge, and a new measurement tool.

"Participants will be able to use a tailor-made computer program to try out different scenarios and record their decisions," says Glover Chan, senior marketing manager at the game's organisers, the Hong Kong Management Association.

Another key difference will be the cases that will be used this year, says the game's designer, Russell Morris. "The cases to be used this year are of a new design with new management challenges," he says. "An example could be that teams that make an above-average investment in marketing would receive extra orders at the expense of those who did not."

Another key element in the game this year is that participants will find new facilities and measurement tools being used. Morris says that in most business simulations, absolute values are often used as a measure of success or failure. With a new facility being used in the game for the first time this year, however, measures can be based on average or relative values.

"Previously, it could happen that all teams met the measure, or all failed to meet the measure. This negated the purpose of the measure," he says. "Using an average value, the distribution between success and failure can be balanced no matter what absolute values are used."

The reason for this change is that it is a more accurate representation of how various market forces work in real-life situations. "It better reflects the reality of the different marketplaces," Morris says.

Despite these new additions and amendments, the basis of the game remains unchanged. Teams will be faced with the same real-life scenarios and will have to take a holistic approach to come up with a strategy that will help to bring about a winning combination for the team.