Applications of Game Theory in Project Management: A Structured Review and Analysis

Abstract

This paper provides a structured literature review and analysis of using game theory to model project management scenarios. We select and review thirty-two papers from Scopus, present a complex three-dimensional classification of the selected papers, and analyse the resultant citation network. According to the industry-based classification, the surveyed literature can be classified in terms of construction industry, ICT industry or unspecified industry. Based on the types of players, the literature can be classified into papers that use government-contractor games, contractor–contractor games, contractor-subcontractor games, subcontractor–subcontractor games or games involving other types of players. Based on the type of games used, papers using normal-form non-cooperative games, normal-form cooperative games, extensive-form non-cooperative games or extensive-form cooperative games are present. Also, we show that each of the above classifications plays a role in influencing which papers are likely to cite a particular paper, though the strongest influence is exerted by the type-of-game classification. Overall, the citation network in this field is sparse, implying that the awareness of authors in this field about studies by other academics is suboptimal. Our review suggests that game theory is a very useful tool for modelling project management scenarios, and that more work needs to be done focusing on project management in ICT domain, as well as by using extensive-form cooperative games where relevant.

Optimal governance and implementation of vaccination programmes to contain the COVID-19 pandemic

“…An individual is likely to get vaccinated only if the policymakers decide to offer vaccination to that individual, and the individual decides to accept it. Game theory can be used to explicitly model the decision-making of policymakers (vaccine givers) and individuals (vaccine takers), because it has well-defined branches which model ‘public good’ decision-making (cooperative game theory) and selfish decision-making (non-cooperative game theory) [ 12 , 37 ].…”

“…Game theory, which is the study of strategic decision-making by rational players, is used to study several phenomena and behavioural patterns in human societies and socio-economical systems, and is applied in fields ranging from evolutionary biology to computer science and project management [4,[34][35][36][37][38]. Several previous studies have modelled vaccination uptake using game theory in the context of diseases such as influenza, measles, chickenpox and hepatitis [4].…”

Proposition of a Model for Selection of the Hybrid Contract Implementation Strategy for a Pilot Project of Regular Road Maintenance in Montenegro

“…Despite some limitations, game theory has found application in a variety of business areas. It is especially applicable in various areas of project management [20], selection of bidders in construction or in general [21][22][23]. In addition, some papers discuss the application of this theory from the aspect of defining an appropriate contract model [24,25].…”

“…To create the regret matrix, a player will take each entry and subtract it from the highest entry in its column. If the entry is the highest entry in a column, then in the regret matrix, the corresponding value will be 0, as shown in equation (20).…”

Evaluation of Knowledge Flow from Developed to Developing Countries in Small Satellite Collaborative Projects: The Case of Algeria

“…The concept of 'balancing games' is borrowed from game theory to show the difficulty of seeking the balance between velocity-viscosity[79].…”