Category: Game Theory

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Game Theory

Employee Dilemma

The employees are playing a game of customer safari to see who can find the strangest customers in the store. Glenn doesn’t know about it at first but recognizes that something is “off” since the store manager is gone for the day. He tries to get Sandra to rat out Garrett, but he forgets to separate them. It’s the start to a really good Prisoner’s dilemma, but that only works when the two players don’t know what the other is doing. It’s easy to collude when you’re standing beside each other.

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crime Game Theory

Separating the Criminals

Part of Dina’s role as head of security involves running the shoplifter rehabilitation program. People who have been caught shoplifting can complete the course to avoid having their crimes reported to the police. Dina tricks them into ripping up their workbooks to determine which of the group is actually interested in the rehabilitation process. This trick is done to separate the group into two smaller groups so she can focus on the ones who are likely to not steal again. This is Bo’s third time falling for the trick.

Categories
Game Theory Labor

Incentivizing Steps

Glenn and Dina hand out step trackers in the break room and announce a corporate competition to see which store has the most steps at the end of the week. The incentive to motivate the employees? Lunch with a regional vice president. The employees doesn’t seem all that motivated until later in the episode when the stores begin to communicate through a leaderboard and messaging system, or so it seems! Amy and Jonah enter fake messages from the Bel-Ridge store in an attempt to motivate their branch.

Categories
Game Theory

Ballot Tampering Dilemma

Dina and Glenn accidentally ruined some ballots by spilling a pot of coffee. They are worried they will be accused of tampering with ballots and face jail time. If they both stay quiet, then nothing will likely happen to either of them. There’s an incentive to confess and try to get the other in trouble, but they both know who would responsible. Since they do not trust each other, they try to set each other up by pretending to be each other and recording their voices. This serves as a credible threat in the case that one of them rats the other out.