THREE STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT!: A DOWNSIZING EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 22, 1995 280 THREE STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT!: A DOWNSIZING EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Peter M. Markulis, State University of New York at Geneseo Daniel R. Strang, State University of New York at Geneseo WORKSHOP Time Frame: 30-45 minutes Pertinent Courses: Principals of Management, Organizational Theory/Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management,and/or Production & Operations Management. Format: Participants will role-play employees of a firm which has made a decision to downsize. Participants will debrief the exercise as would be typically done with students. Participants also will be asked to comment on the relevance and meaningfulness of the exercise. Description: This workshop is a demonstration of an experiential exercise on the impact that downsizing has on a company’s employees. Participants in the workshop will be asked to play members of a company, which has made a decision to downsize. The exercise employs a mock baseball game as the means to select employees for termination. The exercise attempts to have the participates simulate the experiences of both those who have been terminated, as well as those who remain with the firm. Learning Objectives: Experience the impact of downsizing, learn responsibilities to terminated employees, appreciate impact of downsizing on organizational morale, develop an ethical downsizing strategy, and create alternatives to downsizing. Materials Required: Clip boards, 4-5 whiffle balls, baseball bat, (if available, use of an outdoor space). Group Size: Twenty to 35 participants are manageable. Any number of teams, with 5-10 people on a team. REFERENCES Baggerman, Lisa, “The Futility of Downsizing,” Industry Week, Vol 242, Jan 1 8, 1 993, pp. 27- 29. Barkley, William J., Jr., and Thad B. Green, “Safe Landings for Outplaced Employees at AT&T,” Personal Journal, Vol 1 7, June 1 992, pp. 1 44-147. Byrne, John A., “The Pain of Downsizing,” BUSINESS WEEK, May 9, 1994, pp. 60-69. Fagiano, D., “The Downside of Downsizing,” Management Review, Vol. 81, April 1992, p. 4. Greenberg, Eric R., “Four Years of Downsizings,” Personnel, Vol. 68, February 1991, p. 34. Greenberg, Eric. R., “Upswing in Downsizings to Continue,” Management Review, Vol. 82, February 1993, p. 5. Lawrence, Anne T. and Brian S. Mittman, “What Kind of Downsizer Are You?” Management Review, Vol. 80, January 1991, pp. 33-37. Lee, Chris, “After the Cuts,” Training, Vol. 29, No. 7, 1992, pp. 17-23. McCune, Joseph T., Richard W. Beatty, and Raymond V. Montagno, “Downsizing: Practices in Manufacturing Firms,” Human Resource Management, Summer 1988, Vol. 27, Number 2, pp. 145-161. Richey, M. W., “The Impact of Corporate Downsizing on Employees,” Business Forum, Vol. 17, Summer 1992, pp. 9-13. Solomon, C. M., “How to Keep Employees Loyal During Downsizing,” Personal Journal, Vol. 71, 1991, p. 58. Table of Contents Volume 22, 1995 Simulation Performance, Learning and Struggle Are Good Simulation Performers Consistently Good? Cognitive and Behavioral Consistency in a Computer-Based Marketing-Simulation-Game Environment: An Empirical Investigation of the Decision-Making Process Chalk & Cheese: Executive Short-Course vs. Academic Simulations Revisiting Personality Bias in Total Enterprise Simulations Are Good Strategies Consistently Good? Investigating the Use of a Computer Simulation as an Effective Pedagogical Tool for the Application of a Strategic Model The Problem of determining an Individualized Simulation's Validity as an Assessment Tool A Simulation Based Analysis of the Value of Information in the Hrebiniak Joyce Typology of Adaptation Relative to Porter's Generic Strategies The Impact of Sales and Income Growth on Profitability and Market Measures in Actual and Simulated Industries A Comparison of a Stand Alone Version of a Simulation with the Traditional Competitive Version Computer-Assisted Gaming of International Business Analyzing Simulations with Computer-Based Programs and Applying the Experience to a Real-World Business A Preliminary Investigation of the Use of a Bankruptcy Indicator in a Simulation Environment Graduates' Views on the Use of Computer Simulation Games Versus Cases as Pedagogical Tools An Analytical Advertising Model Approach to the Determination of Market Demand Dealing with the Complexity Paradox in Business Simulation Games A Prototyping Approach for Incorporating Large Data Bases into Media Planning Simulations: An Example Using Magazine Media Through the Looking Glass, Inc: Superior-Subordinate Personality Type and the Leniency effect Evaluating the Effectiveness of Role Playing Simulation and Other Methods in Teaching Managerial Skills Student and Teacher Perceptions of a Management Simulation Course Performance Evaluation: The Effect on the Propensity to Create Budgetary Slack Management Team Formation for Large Scale Simulations Comparative Static Analysis with the Complete PPA Package: A Strategic Market Planning Tool Consistency in Intent: Learning Objectives at the 1994 Intercollegiate Business Policy Competition A New Twist on an Old Game: The Business Strategy Game: A Global Industry Simulation 3ed Evaluation of Performance in Management Simulation: A Management Coefficients Model Building SimuWorlds: Strategic Management Games of the Future Bulls and Bears: A Stock Market Simulation A Systems Thinking Paradigm and Think Computer Simulation Model of Broadcast and Cable Television Industry Competition Jacket Factory The Sales Management Simulation The Marketing Management Simulation A Demonstration of Promodel Demonstrating A New, Cross-Functional Business Simulation: Vision+ A Cost Chain For The Business Strategy Game Simulation Special Session On Experiential Teaching Compensation Dilemmas: An Exercise In Ethical Decision-Making Organizational Storytelling: Telling Tales In The Business Classroom Evaluating Experiential Training: Case Study And Recommendations The Internship Portfolio: An Innovative Tool For Experiential Learning, Critical Thinking, And Communication An Ethnographic Analysis Of The Pedagogical Impact Of Cooperative Communicating Consumer Behavior: A Long-Term Integrated Exercise Using Personal Consumption Journals And Consumer Analysis Papers An Experiential Paradigm For Teaching Business Problem Solving Developing Leadership Skills The Spss® Student Assistant: The Integration of A Statistical Analysis Program Into A Marketing Research Textbook Negotiating With Your Students Using TQM Principles To Transform Accounting Systems Into An Experiential Exercise Enhancing The Effectiveness Of Outdoor-Based Experiential Training Using Virtual Reality Concepts Case Writing In A Developing Country: An Indonesian Example Experiential Learning Using Focus Groups How Real Should Experiential Pedagogy Be? A Viewpoint From Our Students Reengineering The Internship: A New Approach To Experiential Learning Utilizing The Cosmopolitan/Local And Marginal Man Constructs To Measure Students' Propensity For Creativity Developing Experiential Processes For Teaching Quantitative Techniques For Business Team Learning Roles: A Cooperative Learning Technique Creating the Ultimate Small Business Student Experience: Melding Score/Ace with SBI The Development of Trust in Work Teams: The Impact of Touch Some Outcomes of Experiential Learning: How the Cultural Dynamics of Different Countries are reflected in Workplace Norms & Values Incorporation of Job Analysis Results in Various Forms of Selection Interviews Chudesno, Inc.: An Evaluation of an Experiential Training and Development Simulation An Exercise for Exploring the Relationship between Jungian Psychological Types and Organizational Dynamics Partnership: A Radical Approach to Experiential Learning Partnership: A Nice Idea, But How Do I Get Started? Recognizing Discrimination at Work Using Critical Incident Skills Questions to Help Students Become More Successful at Job Interviewing The Video Project Introduction to Psychological Type Theory Come On Down Understanding Facilitation for Development and Continuous Learning: A Micro-Workshop Leadership and Empowerment: An Experiential Exercise in Decision Making Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Selecting a Manager for Maquiladora, Inc. Experiential Training In Multi-Cultural Corporate Settings The Role of Facilitation as an Aid to Complete Learning An Experiential Exercise to Illustrate Difference in Information Processing Behaviors and Styles How to Deliver Accessible Survey Results Age Diversity in the Workplace- Family Feud Style Nafta Standoff: A Cross-Cultural negotiating Role-Play Three Strikes and You're Out!: A Downsizing Experiential Exercise