Project 2 - Group 6

The Prisoners Dilemma
And How it Relates To Business’s Group Interactions
Group 6
Riley Nielsen, Sarah Parker, Valerie Parmarter,
Lauren Perry, Joseph Phillips

What is Prisoner’s Dilemma?
This concept is the “…conflict between
individual and group rationality. A group
whose members pursue rational self-
interest may all end up worse-off than a
group whose members act contrary to
rational self-interest.”

How the Prisoner’s Dilemma Applies to
Peer Revision
 When peer revision occurs many times it does not end with
true results because evaluators are not being objective or
precise.
 Self-appraisals usually results in inadequate results
because individuals cannot review themselves objectively.
 Distrust among peers, lack of convergence, and disruptive
competition are also reason why peer revision is not truly
reliable or recommended
 Members of a group would give themselves a higher score
and if something did not get done, would blame it on
another member of a group.
 But if everyone had worked together and put the GROUP’S
interest first, then everyone would receive a better grade,
better reviews, and results.

How the Prisoner’s Dilemma Applies to
Business Groups
 The man objective for any business group is success and to
outperform the competing firms.
 When in these groups its difficult to not want personal
success over all who are engaged on the project.
 The only way to overcome this innate human desire is to
be able to sacrifice personal pride for the projects
prosperity.
 It must be understood that the sum of the success of all
committed parties goes up as cooperation increase.
 Project success in a diverse team setting relies heavily
upon open communication.

How the Prisoner’s Dilemma Relates to
Business
 In the business world there are always deals to be made
whether its to make money, increase your market share, or
deals that will change your business forever, like buyouts
and new partnerships.
 When making deals you have to figure out what is best for
you personally and for your business. But this is where the
similarity to the prisoners dilemma in business lies.
 Individuals in business are responsible for these kinds of
decision making daily.
 With each decision there will be an outcome of good or
bad, small or big, but it will stem back from the “decision”
that was made.

Using the Prisoner’s Dilemma to
Teach Business
 In the world of business ethical behavior is a major hurdle
and companies need to be careful when reaching that
hurdle.
 Enron and its insider trading scandal is the most notable
unethical behavior of our time
 Unethical behavior can result in a higher payoff and
because its more appealing.
 In business, the adherence to ethical behavior will result in
a great group and individual reward.
 The prisoner's dilemma is a good business idea; an
example of group success vs. individual success- how the
two are usually no the same.

References
 Berman, Evan M., Bowman, James S., Jonathan P. West, and Montgomery R.
Van Wart. Chapter 10. Human Resource Management in Public Service:
Paradoxes, Processes, and Problems. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2010.
301-334. Print.
 Brazile Donna (2010). Greed, negligence behind BP oil spill. [ONLINE] Available
at:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/03/brazile.oil.new.orleans/index
.html ?iref=allsearch. [Last Accessed 21 September 2013].
 Dixit, Avanish K. Nalebuff, Barry J. 1991. Thinking Strategically. U.S.A. W. W.
Norton & Company Ltd.
 James, H. (1998). Using the prisoner’s dilemma to teach business. (pp. 211-
222). Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
 Kay, J. A. (1995). Why firms succeed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
 Rodriguez, E. (2012, January 14). game theory prisoner’s dilemma cooperation
teamwork study habits strategic strategy | The Harsh Side [Web log
post]. Retrieved from http://harshside.wordpress.com/tag/game-theory-
prisoners- dilemma-cooperation-teamwork-study-habits-strategic-
strategy/
 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/prisoner-dilemma/

Project 2 - Group 6

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Project 2 - Group 6