AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE RELATED TO PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE RELATED TO PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES Khush K. Pittenger, Ashland University ABSTRACT Given below is an exercise related to measuring person-organization fit and it consequences. The exercise is based on the O’Reilly, Chatman, and Caldwell (1991) paper dealing with the same subject. The importance of the exercise lies in the fact that it helps teach a research based concept in a manner that students can personally relate to. References are available upon request. PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT Purpose: 1. To gain better understanding of job attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction & organizational commitment) 2. To understand the concept of person- organization fit & its impact on job attitudes 3. To apply the concepts to one’s personal situation to understand their true significance Instructions: 1. There are no right, wrong, desirable or undesir- able answers. 2. Answer honestly and candidly. The exercise is for self-analysis and class-discussion purposes only. You are not required to turn in anything. 3. How often do you think of leaving the organization where you are employed now? 1. Never 2. Rarely 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Constantly Part II (Individual Analysis) Preferences vary from individual to individual. Our preferences are often expressed in terms of our expectations. In column II of the score-sheet, assign a value from 0 to 10 to the characteristics to indicate how important is it for this characteristic to be a part of the organization you work for? The factors most important to you should receive higher values than the ones least important to you. No two characteristics can have the same value. The differences in values between characteristics should reflect the strength of your preferences. Part III (Individual Analysis) Organizational values vary. Organizations often express their values in terms of shared expectation about what is important, how to behave or what attitudes are appropriate. These expectations may be explicit or implicit. In Column III of the score sheet, assign a value from 0 to 10 to the eight characteristics to indicate how characteristic is this of your organization. The factors most characteristic of your organization’s culture should receive higher values than the ones least characteristic of it. No two factors can have the same value. The differences in values between characteristics should reflect the strength of your preference. Part IV. (Individual Analysis) 1. In column IV of the score sheet, calculate the absolute difference between column II and III. 2. Add up the eight absolute differences at the bottom of column IV. 3. Compare the total score with your scores on the two questions in part I of this exercise. The scores should be positively correlated. 309 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 Part V (Group Discussion) 1. In a round robin fashion, share your responses to number 3 in Part IV. What kind of a pattern do you see? 2. How do individual preferences (values in column II of the score sheet) vary among members of the group? 3. How do organizational characteristics (values in column III of the score sheet) vary among group members? 4. How do individual preferences and organizational characteristics relate to members’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment? 310 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