This need for an diversity in presentation of material is especially common among graduating seniors enrolled in a capstone strategic management course. In most cases of using The synergy game the class as well as the game show host have trouble containing their laughter. In addition to being fun, the game is an especially effective tool for teaching lessons surrounding diversification as a source of competitive advantage. A key strategic issue for organizations is whether or not to diversify their business. In order for diversification to have performance implications there must be some economies of scale or economies of scope, which has become known as synergy.
Economies of scale are relatively easy to identify as the advantages come from size.
Economies of scope have proven more difficult as it is harder to decipher if operating in two lines of business will cause an increase in performance. A relatively consistent finding in strategic research has been that organizations that diversify into related business outperform businesses that diversify into unrelated businesses. The issue that has become central to researchers as well as managers is how to identify the relatedness of businesses. Early researchers defined related by SIC code. This proved to provide limited insight into the processes that result in increased performance.