ABSEL AS HOME COMMUNITY: AN INTERACTIVE EXPLORATION Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 ABSEL AS HOME COMMUNITY: AN INTERACTIVE EXPLORATION Sandra Morgan, University of Hartford ABSTRACT This session asks participants to reflect on why they attend the ABSEL conference and then presents a model of home community. The data and model are explored by small groups and implications for building a stronger ABSEL home community are elicited. The results will be presented to the ABSEL Board for review. INTRODUCTION What is “home community” and why is it important for today’s organizations? A home community (HC) combines people, place, and process to provide a supportive, caring, collaborative environment (like an ideal home and healthy family) in which members with similar values interact and learn from each other (purpose). In a home community, members feel free to take risks, learn from mistakes, give and receive feedback to each other and celebrate each other’s successes (again, like the ideal home and family we wish we had).1 Essentially, a home community is a task-oriented place/collection of people with whom we can be our authentic selves and work towards individual and common goals joyfully, collaboratively, and with humor (process). 1 One must also keep in mind the “dark side” of family, e.g., co-dependence, abuse, game-playing, authoritarianism. However, the focus of HC is unabashedly positive, although HC members often seek HC to solve a problem (e.g., alcoholism) or to fill a gap in their lives. In today’s “permanent white water” (Vaill. 1989) environment of global competition, rapidly- changing technology, downsizing and flattening of organizations, and growth in temporary work relationships, people need a “home,” perhaps more than one, in which to refresh and re-new themselves and to enjoy recreation that enables them to approach their jobs with replenished energy. Home communities have a restorative value for many individuals. The resurgence of community and spirit (Fox, 1994) as foci of many books, movements, and popular press articles supports the need for home community. The universal needs for interdependence, community, and being valued (Slater, 1970) are met through home community. Schutz’s (1967) model of interpersonal needs in-group development (inclusion, control, and affection) also applies to the evolution of HC. For organizations to embrace change, their members need something to hold on to, from which to gain support and strength. And, for the growing number of workers without work, HC’s can provide a sense of value and validation. Most individuals find their HC’s outside of the workplace although some high performing teams (Hackman, 1990; Hensey, 1992), departments, task forces, or other task-related groupings of people may provide HC for their members.2 Social groups and sports teams, both work and non-work related, may also be HC’S 2 0f course, for some, work is the central life focus and value. These may or may not be “workaholics; they also may not view their work as HC. 121 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 for their members. Informal surveys identified a sample of groups that function as HC’s for some of their members. A compilation of these groups appears in Table 1. These HC’s are difficult to categorize because their purposes overlap. While all of them have a task or tasks to accomplish, some are more formal and permanent (e.g., church, fraternity) than others (e.g., camp, support group). Professional association conferences are a primary provider of HC for academics and other professionals. In this interactive session, I introduce the home community concept, identify HC norms and characteristics of ABSEL, and facilitate discussion of the value and potential use of the HC concept, especially for improvement and growth of both ABSEL as an organization and for its members. TABLE 1 A SAMPLING OF HOME COMMUNITIES music camp or group church or religious organization task force or team conference or professional association workshop, T-group, or retreat fraternity/sorority/club support group sports teams or activity political campaign neighborhood college dorm or apartment vacation location (e.g., “the beach”) opera workshop sports camp college or family reunion As there are a wide variety of HC’s, their characteristics vary. Home communities may be stand-alone groups outside an individual’s workplace (e.g., musical organization. college reunion, professional organization); they may exist as a subset of the workplace (e.g., department, task force, team); or the entire workplace might be a HC (e.g., some small entrepreneurial companies, a political campaign organization. a professional sports team). It is unusual to find many workplaces that function as HC for all their members; however, there would be significant advantage to employees if they felt “at home” at work. While these three types of HC’s do differ in some ways, their primary norms and characteristics are similar. In order to specify the minimal characteristics of a home community, Column A in Table 2 provides the essential, pivotal norms and characteristics.3 Column B adds peripheral norms and characteristics that may also appear as part of the HC’s culture, but are not critical to the HC concept. The lists are not exhaustive because home community has not been explored fully. For example, we might hypothesize a relationship between size of group and “HC-ness." However, size is omitted from specification until further study validates a relationship. The author is aware of both very large (e.g., StarTrek groupies, MENSA) and very small (e.g. task forces of 5-6 members) HC’s that share the pivotal norms and characteristics. HC seems to exist more in the mind of the member it validates than in concrete, quantifiable specifications. In that way, HC also is a “new, self-organizing’ structure, appropriate and adaptive for current challenges. 3 This list displays a striking similarity to French and Bells (1995) description of the values underlying organization development. It also duplicates the basic tenets of the human potential movement and Rogerian client-centered therapy (1961). 122 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 123 Professional Associations as Home Community For individuals who seek home community related to their work, professional associations may provide HC. Comments from professional association members support the contention that their organizations are HC’s to them. For example, ABSEL (Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning) past presidents and board members being surveyed for strategic planning purposes saw their organization as a place/group that is “friendly, informal, inclusive, supportive, helpful” “more collegial than other organizations” “..we need to talk to each other about our successes and failures in the classroom” U democratic process” and “open nominating and voting for officers” “we get together to help each other, not to impress each other with our knowledge” “safe haven” “work hard/play hard” and “full of humor” “honesty in words and action--no double talk: we are who we say we are; we do what we say we do.” At the closing evaluation session of the 1994 LANES (League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling) conference, attendees shared their learnings/observations: “[it was] coming back to what’s basic, honest, real--back to my language family” “social affirmation” “a feeling of family” “how unique I am but how connected we all are.” “an assembly of great kindness” “warmth” “friendly to stranger” [i.e., first time attendees] “feel very accepted” (first timer) “my mind was exploding” “a community that really reinforces you for being the authentic you” When asked to describe the Organization Behavior Teaching Society’s annual conference, OBTC, attendees saw it as Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 “coming home after a hard day at the office”4 ‘a family coming together for a reunion” “professional family” “playful” “a reminder of my deeper and larger self’ family, caring, relatively safe, struggling to embrace difference” “doing work at a Sunday afternoon picnic” “unexpectedly discovering an extended family” “sharing and connections” “camaraderie” SESSION FORMAT Time required: 1 1/4 hour Room requirements: moveable chairs, easel 1. Brief introduction of format--why begin with data. (3 minutes) 2. Participants complete handout specifying why they come to ABSEL in terms of: - Purpose - People - Process - Place (location, atmosphere) Handout will provide specific questions, such as “What ABSEL norms and processes are important to you?” and “ Complete the following with a metaphor or other description of the ABSEL spirit (ambiance, culture): “ABSEL is “ (10 minutes) 3. Small groups share their data, perhaps telling a story about an experience related to ABSEL, (15 minutes) 4 John Miller, organizer of the 1993 OBTC began his remarks at the celebratory dinner with, Welcome home!” which was received by a thunderous round of applause. 4. Home community conceptual material including Tables 1 and 2 and handout for use in classroom to explore and develop HC. (10 minutes) 5. Small groups discuss the value and potential use of the HC concept at ABSEL (or in their classrooms). An option here would be to break groups up around focal points that emerged in earlier sharing. (20 minutes) Some of these might be: • continuing the ABSEL connection during the year • personal growth • why we don’t get the same HC feelings about our university • bringing the HC spirit into the classroom • creating our own home communities-- what we have already done and can do • other associations that provide HC—what can ABSEL learn from them? • how is HC different from organizational culture or the learning organization? • are there rituals needed (or needed to be formalized) at ABSEL to increase HC? • does everyone want HC: if not, why not? If so, why? 6. Large group sharing and closure. (15 minutes) Option: Create a process for people to write their data and then post in a set of categories on the walls--sort of a wall-based mind-map of ABSEL as home community. Perhaps one item per 3x5 post-it--then participants group them logically and add categories later. REFERENCES Fox. Matthew (1994) The Reinvention of Work. A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time NY: Harper Collins Publishers. 124 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 French, Wendell and Bell, Cecil (1995) 5th edition. Organization Development Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. Hackman J. Richard (1990) Groups That Work (and Those That Don’t): Creating Conditions for Effective Teamwork, San Francisco: Jossey- Bass. Hensey, M. (1992) Collective Experience: Building Effective Teams, NY: American Society of Civil Engineers. Morgan, Sandra (1995) “Home Community--An Exercise to Build a Positive Learning Environment,” Proceedings of Northeast Business and Economics Association, Falmouth MA September Rogers, Carl R. (1991) On Becoming a Person; A Therapist’s View of Psychotherapy Boston: Houghton Muffin. Slater, Philip E. (1970) The Pursuit of Loneliness: American Culture at the Breaking Point, Boston: Beacon Press. Schutz, William C. (1967) Joy: Expanding Human Awareness, New York: Grove Press. Vaill, Peter (1989) Managing as a Performing Art, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 125 Table of Contents Volume 24, 1997 Incorporating Computer Telephony into the MIS Course A Learner Oriented Infrastructure for videoconferencing Based Distance Education Courses The Identification of Temporally Related Structural Elements of the Experiential Component of Electronic Spreadsheet Tasks Does Involvement Influence Learning from Simulation Participation? Some Relationships with Helpfulness and Performance Outcomes Musings on Business Garne Performance Evaluation Performance on a TE Simulation: What does it represent? The Business Policy Game: An International Simulation - An Assessment Tool Students in Free Enterprise as Experiential Learning The Role of Computer Models in Wargames: A Practitioner's view Using Focus Groups as a Tool to Research Learning: A Demonstration and a Discussion Using Medical Simulations to Teach Multi-Cultural Diversity Using the World Game to Internationalize International Exchange Game Community Services Needs Assessment: An Innovative Approach Introducing Students to Potential Total Quality Management Ethical Dilemmas Privacy in the Workplace: A Situational Analysis Antecedents of Learning in Simulations Demonstrating the Learning Effectiveness of Simulation: Where we are and Where we need to go The Use of Computer Simulations as a Pedagogical Aid in Teaching Management Information Systems Evaluating Simulation Learning in a Distant Learning Instructional Model Financial Engineering of Global Investments The Labor History Game: Playing with the Past Perks Participation Assessing Negotiator's Proficiency with a Negotiation role-play The Art of Negotiating Enhancing Learning and Employee Development through the Assessment of Learning Pedagogy Preferences across selected Dimensions of Culture: A Preliminary Investigation Cooperative Learning: What are we Learning? Effective Use of Mastery Based Experiential learning in a Project Course to improve skills in system analysis and Design Simulations and Learning: Can we prove a relationship? (Seminar) Predicting and Reviewing NYSE Stock Prices by use of Basic Statistical Analysis and Logic Toy Car Depreciation Exercise ABSEL as Home Community: An Interactive Exploration Service Learning: Linking Academic Study to Community Development and Business Enhancement Ability of Efficient Evaluation of Knowledge-Based Management Strategies Corporate Ethics Training Programs Modeling Attributes in Demand Functions of Computerized Business Simulations: An Extension of Teach's Gravity Flow Algorithm Expert Systems Combined with Neutral Networks: Tools to Benefit the Marketing Researcher Computer Game Design: New Directions for Intercultural Simulation Game Designers Consistency in Simulation Performance over Time and Across Simulation Games The Impact of an Artificial Market Leader on Simulation Competitor's Strategies Business Plans, Case Studies, and Total Enterprise Simulations: A Natural Co-existence An Exploration into the Non-Use of Business Simulations The Market Game: Interactive Learning Through Market Simulation Plotting Brand Trajectories with the COMPLETE PPM package: A Market Segmentation Analysis and Positioning Tool Me and Mine Inc: An Exercise in Management Theory Learning to Differentiate Leadership from Managerial Position Business Ethics Survey: A Perspective from the Retail Industry Experiential Learning in Demand Analysis for an Agricultural Commodity Marketing on the Internet: A Pedagogical Exercise College Students Need Simple Computer Simulations, Especially for International Business Courses An Analysis of Student Attitudes, Performance, and Strategies in a Simulation Competition Based on a Controlled Product-Market-Entry Game Structure The Crystal Enterprise: Application of a Non-Computerized Simulation Model in a Process of Organizational Change Threshold: A Windows-Based Behaviorally Oriented Total Enterprise Simulation Coaching Business Game Teams Using a Decision Variable Optimizer Rock and Roll is here to Stay: Enhancing Experiential Pedagogy with Musical Exercises An Example of Business Process Analysis Simulation for Customer Software Support The Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Academic Institutions Using the Integrative International Simulation INTOPIA Mark 2000 in a Concentrated MBA Curriculum A Group Experience as an Integrated Part of the Core Management Course Empowered Learning in the Classroom The Inter-Group Interaction: An Innovative Approach to Cooperative Learning Courses that Utilize Student Team: An Approach to enhancing their Effectiveness Thoughts about the Measurement of Learning: The Case for Guided Learning and Associated Measurement Issues Measuring Student Learning Using Business Simulations: A Theory Based Perspective On the Use of PC Fingame in an Undergraduate Finance Course How Managers get Things Done: A Virtual Soundbite Internet Experiential learning in the Principals of Marketing Classroom: A Pedagogical Approach Current Student Perceptions Relative to Business Simulations Beyond Capitalism: Designing Business Policy and Social Justice The Use of Boards of Directors to Evaluate Reports and Presentations in an Undergraduate Business Policy Course Beacon Lumber: An Experiential Introduction to Financial Accounting The Application of Organizational Motivation Principles: The Experiential Business Simulation Motus Manufacturing Avoiding a Bogey: Grading Case Discussions Scientifically Communicating Consumer Behavior II: A Modified Exercise Using Personal Consumption Journals in Condensed Courses Designing Instruments for Assessing the Effectiveness of Simulations, (Seminar) 360º Performance Feedback: Appraisal vs. Assessment The Cafeteria Approach to Managing an Academic Career: Remaining Non-Perishable while Doing Your Own Thing An Experiential Exercise Related to Person-Organization Fit and it's Consequences For Today's Dynamic and Changing World, Business Simulations need to be expanded to encompass Much Greater Complexity: A Demonstration The Incident Process: A Case in Reverse Contextually-Anchored Business Simulations The Energy Factor: Building Motivation in the Simulation Gaming Environment The Design of an Internet Game