An egg-centric approach to teaching strategic types: Adapting a classic exercise

This article introduces a variation on the egg-drop exercise to generate active understanding of strategic choice by firms. Teams are challenged to design, build, and price devices for protecting an egg from a 20-foot drop. The materials are purchased in a bidding process that builds in asymmetries in resources, costs, and finished designs. Teams price their products to reflect their knowledge of the marketplace and what they believe is required to win the contest if their design successfully passes the drop test. This leads students to develop their own intuitive insights about strategic choice and resource markets.