TWO MANAGEMENT EXERCISES BASED ON COMMITFEE WORK Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 23, 1996 TWO MANAGEMENT EXERCISES BASED ON COMMITTEE WORK Khush K. Pittenger, Ashland University ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is two fold - first, to provide two rather simple and effective exercises which can be used in introductory management classes to enhance students’ understanding of managerial work. The nature and advantages of these two exercises are discussed. Second, the paper aims to show how faculty members can enhance their efficiency and productivity by using non-teaching assignments (e.g. committee work) to strengthen their classroom performance. TWO MANAGEMENT EXERCISES BASED ON COMMITTEE WORK Most introductory management, organizational theory and behavior classes cover the concepts related to managerial work. The two frameworks - classical functional approach and Mintzberg’s (1990) role approach are often used to explain the work of management in most textbooks (e.g. Lewis, Goodman, and Fandt, 1995). While it is easy to find description and detail of these approaches in textbooks, finding simple but effective relevant exercises is not as easy. Over the last decade, the exercises that I have found and used are relatively lengthy (e.g. Committee Dance by Graft and Certo, 1994) or confusing (e.g. Managerial Roles by Burton, 1990) or both. Last year, after I was elected the Vice President of our faculty senate, I was spending a considerable amount of time in meetings with our administration. My frustration with the amount of time I was spending on non-teaching activities inspired me to create the two exercises described in Figure 1 and Figure 2. These exercises can be used in introductory business courses to teach the functions and roles of management. FIGURE 1 EXERCISE 1: FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT The President of our university, Dr. Benz, held a three day retreat in August, In this retreat, President Benz, with the help of his cabinet and administrative council, did the following: 1. Identified the critical issues facing our university in the near future. Also, they prioritized these issues according to their importance. 2. Reviewed our university’s progress up-to-date and discussed if the progress was according to expectations. The enrollment figures, financial performance of endowment, quality of students, the progress of assessment outcome programs were reviewed. Decisions were made to make sure the University’s progress stays on track. 3. Led the group discussion on the basis of a book, Once upon a Campus by Daniel Seymore (1995). With the help of this book, he tried to make everyone see how they and their departments make a difference in the success of our university. He urged everyone to do better and be more responsive to student needs and the changing educational environment. 4. At the end of the retreat, he asked the Provost, Dr. Drushal, to look into the issue of scheduling. Deans’ council was given the responsibility of helping Dr. Drushal review and revise the current scheduling process to make it more efficient for the students. Questions 1. Is Dr. Benz a manager? Why or why not? 2. Which management functions are being performed by Dr. Benz? Identify each one of these functions. 3. How will the performance of these functions help our university? FIGURE 2 EXERCISE 2: MANAGERIAL ROLES Which one of the Mintzberg’s ten managerial roles is President Benz performing when he does the following: 1. Presents golden watches to the employees who have been at the university for 25 years. Role: 2. Addresses a press conference announcing the appointment of new Athletic Director and the Provost. Role: 3. Addresses an All Institutional Meeting giving report on the state of affairs at the university (e.g., Enrollment figures, Budget information) Role: 4. Attends a meeting of Presidents of Universities in the state where the presidents share their perspectives on challenges facing higher education. (e.g., reduction in Pell Grants and other federal funds, decrease in student enrollment, financial aid programs) 173 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 23, 1996 Role: 5. Addresses faculty at the faculty retreat urging them to challenge students in the classroom. Role: 6. Works with faculty in developing a merit compensation plan that the Board of Trustees can review and make recommendations on. Role: 7. Works with the Vice President of Business Affairs in putting a budget together and allocating monies to the five schools. Role: 8. Gets together with the Presidents of the local banks to work out the details of interest rates on our university’s deposits and short term loans. Role: 9. Gets together with the local police and campus security to work out a plan to reduce vandalism in the dorms. Role: 10. Works with the Provost in developing long distance learning center using the latest technology. Role: Questions 1. What does this exercise teach you about the nature of managerial work? 2. How does the performance of these roles help an organization such as our university? 3. What else did you learn from this exercise? ADVANTAGES Some of the advantages of these exercises are: 1. They are very efficient. They can be completed in less than ten minutes each. 2. They allow the introduction of experiential learning early in the academic term as the nature of managerial work is usually the first chapter in most management textbooks. 3. They are simple enough to be used without users’ notes, prior preparation, or by inexperienced junior faculty members. 4. They demonstrate that committee and institutional service work does not have to be isolated from teaching. In fact, faculty members can improve their efficiency by using their peripheral work to design exercises, which can strengthen their teaching. In addition, these exercises can be shared with peers at conferences or made available to interested publishers for supplemental teaching materials. CONCLUSION In an era in which business schools are teaching its students the value of efficiency and higher productivity, business school faculty members need to practice what they preach. Junior faculty members, who often teach the introductory level classes, are usually pressed for time because of their efforts to balance teaching, institutional service and research. The value of this paper lies in the fact that it shows how time spent of non-teaching activities can be used to enhance one’s teaching as well. It enforces the concept of working smarter rather than harder. Also, the two exercises presented here should be of value to a great many ABSEL members since they relate to very basic management concepts covered widely in all business schools. REFERENCES Burton, G.E. (1990) Exercises in Management to accompany 3rd. Edition of Management by Griffin, Houghton Mifflin Company Certo, S.C., Graf, L. (1994) Experiencing Modern Management A workbook of study activities for 6th edition of Modern Management by Certo, Boston, Allyn and Bacon. Fandt, P.M., Goodman, S.H., Lewis, P.S. (1995). Management: Challenges in the 21st Century, Minneapolis/St. Paul, West Publishing Company Seymour, D. (1995) Once Upon a Campus: Lessons for Improving Quality and Productivity in Higher Education, Phoenix, Arizona, Oryx Press. 174 Table of Contents Volume 23, 1996 Modeling Advertising Effectiveness Simulation as an Aid to Learning: How Does Participation Influence the Process? Administering Business Simulations in Transitioning Economies: The Introduction of Simulation Gaming to Estonia Business Simulation Games: Current Usage Levels. A Ten Year Update The Relationship Between Interpersonal and Task Cohesiveness and Performance in a Business Simulation Game The Design of an ITS-Based Simulation: A New Epistemology for Learning Correlates of Learning in Simulations How Do We Know where we're going if we don't know where we have been: A Review of Business Simulation Research Making Cash Flow Come Alive and Sensible in the Classroom Enhancing Simulation Learning through Objectives and Decision Support Systems An Analysis of Deliberate and Emergent Strategies Relative to Porter's Generic Differentiator and Cost Leader: A Bias and Variance Modeling Approach Introducing Ethical Dilemmas into Computer-Based Simulation Exercises to Teach Business Ethics CEO Strategic Locus of Control Effects on Game Performance and Playing Behavior The Relational Database As a Link between Operations and Cost Accounting Goal Setting over Time in Simulations Computerized Business Simulations: A Workshop Exploring the Tutor's Role, Task & Needs Strategic Analysis of the Product Portfolio with the COMPLETE PPA Package: A Strategic Market Planning Tool Draft Standards and Registration Procedure for Assessment Instruments Perspectives on a New Generation of Business Games An Economic Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changing Institutional Norms and Behavior, Not Culture: Experiential Learning Comes to Myanmar Strategic Management and the Case Method: Survey and Evaluation Individual Differences in Internet Attitude and Use Long Live the Plan - or Should It? Examining the Impact of Detailed Strategic Plans on Organizational Performance Do Your Students Really Read the Manual? A Computerized Contextual Tool As A Surrogate for the Traditional Student Manual Pilot Analyses of Self-Peer Evaluations in an Experiential-Exercise Human Resources Management Course Leader Behavior Feedback: A Learning Exercise Dilemma-Dilemma: An Exercise for Teaching Significance Of Communication Computer Mediated Conferencing: Technology and Classroom Learning Multimedia in the Workplace: Who is really using it and where is it Headed? Using Experiential Exercises for Collecting Research Data: Integrating Teaching and Research Interactive Distance Learning as a Tool in a College's Theory and Practice The President's Decision: An Experiential Exercise in Decision Making Integrating Computer Literacy Skills in the Undergraduate Curriculum: The Advanced Accounting Experiment Imperatives for the Transfer of Experience-Based Training Deciding How to Decide The Internet as a Pedagogical Tool Internet Scavenger Hunt Two Management Exercises Based on Committee Work Multimedia in the Year 2000: How Will It Affect Our Lives? Bootstrap Benefit Segmentation: Finally A Way to Teach Benefit Segmentation without Primary Data or Those Fancy Statistical Methods Multimedia and Learning: Is There A Connection? A Changing Business Policy Collaborative Learning Through Real-Life Assignments in Accounting Classes The Necessity Of Incorporating Local Cultural Aspects Into International Business Experiential Exercises Utilizing Cultural and International Landmark Constructs to Assess Business Student's International Awareness Legal Issues related to the Use of Application Blanks: An Experiential Exercise The Family in the Classroom: An Experiential Exercise for Teaching Issues Related To Expatriate Assignments Using Internet Resources to Enhance Teaching of Information Systems Courses: A Demonstration Proposal Chalkboards to Chipboards for Teachers and Consultants How Do We Measure The Learning In Experiential Learning and How Do We Best Simulate It?