LESSONS LEARNED FROM A CUSTOMIZED MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT SIMULATION Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20,1993 130 LESSONS LEARNED FROM A CUSTOMIZED MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT SIMULATION Michael McDonald, Georgia Southern University Bernard Keys Georgia Southern University ABSTRACT This paper describes the development and delivery of a customized management development training program featuring a simulated National Park Guidelines are described for others to consider in designing similar training. Lessons learned by the designers are discussed. INTRODUCTION The National Park Service (NPS) was established in 1916 “to promote and regulate the use of national parks, monuments, and reservations” and "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein” increasing pressure is being felt by the National Park Service system, however, by a widening diversity of park visitors, park employees, nearby communities, and the general public, all demanding a voice in Park Service planning. Added to this are the political demands of Congress and special interest groups. Of greatest concern is the growing frequency of visitation to the parks and the accompanying damage caused by people and automobiles (NPCA, 1988). The National Park Service (NPS) is 70 years old, although Yellowstone- the world’s first national park-is 115 years old. NPS consists of 341 individual park units and is managed from the central office in Washington, DC. One of its ten regional office’s, located in Atlanta, Georgia, provided the opportunity for the project described here, which addresses the complaints among Park Service supervisors that the design of management development programs using concepts, experiences, anti illustrations from business anti industry are simply not N PS-specific enough to allow for sufficient “transference” of learning. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES The National Park Service has utilized various management training programs in the past, but none that speaks the Park Service’s language and deals with their unique problems. A steering group was established consisting of supervisors, a superintendent, the regional associate-director and the regional training officer. In the initial discussions, an overview of NPS work and the supervisor’s job was discussed. A plan was then developed in which (1) a representative number of parks (large, medium and small) would be chosen and supervisors at all levels would be interviewed; (2) one thousand questionnaires would be mailed to a representative sample of small and large parks to obtain relevant information; (3) background information on the National Park Service and several representative parks would be collected; and (4) career case studies would be written from extensive interviews with chief rangers, administrative - officers and maintenance supervisors. A three-step approach to developing simulations was used involving content (new concepts and information) - experience (an opportunity to apply content in an experiential environment such as a simulation), and feedback assessment ‘ exercises and instructor comments) - Experience was provided by the - simulation, content was provided by traditional lectures and discussions (bolstered with fresh National Park Service information anti terms); and feedback was provided by numerous customized assessment exercise’s (Keys, 1989; Lewis, 1987). The information obtained as described above was analyzed and organized into a delivery mode. An in-basket simulation called SCAMP (Southeastern Coastal and Mountain Park simulation) was developed based on 23 case incidents uncovered in interviews and the questionnaire- and the background information described in item three above. Since none of the Southeast Coastal Parks have both mountains and ocean, some liberties in the simulation were taken to add realism for all geographic locations The simulation was not focused on one role-, as is usually the case, but was developed for an entire - team playing the role of management in a small National Park, A unique element of the simulation was the way in which incidents were addressed. Usually, an in-basket is organized so that participants may deal with any incident first or last, and notes are made at the bottom of each incident about action taken, We preferred to steer participants toward consideration of several alternative solutions. Accordingly, programmed choice’s were provided for each incident and participant teams simply chose the alternative which they consider most useful and were later called upon to explain why they chose a particular solution LESSONS LEARNED BY THE DESIGNERS 1 A week's activities cannot be organized around the logical development of lecture or cognitive information. In a simulation session, organization gives way to sequencing of experiences; however, integrating themes [Visioning, Empowering, Supporting, Enabling, Rewarding, Transforming] were used, 2. Designers really can’t predict what will happen when participants begin to work through the simulation, An unanticipated problem in this simulation was information overload, One afternoon session, for example, produced some 24 incidents, which were all presented at once. 3. Designers must be flexible and “up front” about the simulation. The initial plan was to acquaint participants with many more learning experiences than they could have personally experienced in the hope that these experiences would surface throughout the week as teachable moments, Participants, however, expressed frustration about the overload created when they were given answers to questions that had not yet been asked. 4, Designers must be willing to modify preplanned activities if its discovered during the simulation that participants will benefit from such changes. For instance, the designers intended for the exercise of writing one’s own case problems to be a minor part of one afternoon, When these cases (which were done for SCAMP) were retyped, copied and distributed for analysis during the week, however, it was found that they took on even more realism and more immediacy of need to the participants. This action apparently caused many participants to ‘‘buy into" the simulation. 5, More realism built into the simulation results in higher participant involvement, satisfaction and learning, An example of such realism occurred at the time of the training program when a major forest fire was raging at Yosemite National Park and a hurricane hit Fort Sumter National Park near Charleston, South Carolina, 6, The closer the simulation actually approximates reality, then the better the result will be, In the design of this simulation a thousand surveys (40% of returns were useable) were sent to N PS personnel throughout the Southeast. From these surveys were - obtained incidents real data, comparisons, critical concern 5, etc. REFERENCES National Parks and Conservation Association, The National Park Service’s: It’s Organization and Employees, Vol. 9, 1988. Keys, B. ‘The Management of Learning Grid for Management Development Revisited," in J. Bernard Keys (Ed,) Management Development Review, Special Issue: The Journal of Management Development, Vol. 8, No, 2, 1989, 5- 12. Lewis, A., and W, Marsh, “Action Learning: The Development of Field Managers in The Prudential Assurance Company,” in Alan Mumford (Ed,) Action Learning: Special Issue: The Journal of Management Development, Vol. 6, No, 2, 1987, 45-56, Table of Contents Volume 20, 1993 Dominant Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Shelf Wars: A Grocery Channel Simulation Shared Cultural Perspectives: An Experiential Exercise Utilizing International Students to Globalize the Classroom An Instrument for Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods in the Business Policy and Strategy Formulation Course Providing Better Trained Graduates for Accounting Employers The Ambition Gradient Approach to Evaluation of Computer Simulation Game Team Performance Alphatec: A Negotiation Exercise with Logrolling and Bridging Potential Using the Ideafisher Idea Generation System as a Decision Support System in Marketing Strategy Courses A Dynamic Market Share Allocation Model For Computerized Business Simulations Multi-Cultural Adaptability Using Experiential Learning in a Graduate Course Development of Experiential Applications in HRM: Practicing What Preach and Preaching for Practice Linking Students and Business Leaders Through Portfolios Debriefing International Experiential Learning Exercises: Road Signs for Effectiveness Sales Manager: A Simulation Modeling Interactive Effects in Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations: A Critique of Goosen's Interpolation Reducing the Complexity of Interactive Variable Modeling in Business Simulations Through Interpolation Antecedent Biases of Experiential Learners: Trainee Occupation and Subgroup Diversity Pax in Terra Sancta: Simulating the Middle East Peace Negotiations A Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changes in Ethnocentric/Geocentric Orientation by Business Students after Exposure to a One Summer Course in International Marketing's A Systematic Approach to the Development and Evaluation of Experiential Exercises Entrepreneurs Evaluate Experiential Education A Linear Programming Approach to Open System Total Enterprise Simulations Reflecting Leader Behavior from the Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation Linking Cognitive Styles, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives and Assessment: A Decision Tree Approach Restructuring Management Education in Post-Communist Countries: How Western Experts Can Help Managerial and Cultural Pre-Conditions for Superior Performance in a Global Setting: An Experimental Study with the Aid of Business Games Multiple Industries in Computerized Business Gaming Simulations Content or Process? - Content and Process! Some Observations and Reflections About Management Education in Central Europe Out-of-Class Experiences to Promote Volunteerism Enacting the Linguistic Consciousness of the Modern Managerial Mind: Post-Modernism and Experiential Learning Intergrating Experiential Exercises into the College Curriculum: The Case of Internationalizing the Business Curriculum Simulation Marketing Oversights Incorporating Advertising Creative Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations The Dynamics of a Partnership Between Business and Education Collaborative Education Done Globally Experiential Systems Analysis CADPLAN: A Simulation for Comparative Advertising A Doctoral Symposium: Preparing Students for Conference Behavior Comparing the Simulation with the Case Approach: Again! Total Quality Management: A Model for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Audit: An Experiential Exercise for Business Students Extending the Reach of Simulations: DECIDE Heads for the Inner City Lessons Learned from a Customized Management Development Simulation The Foreign Exchange Spot Trading Simulation Using Lotus 1-2-3 to complete a Triple Play in a Simulated Competition International Business Education: Is Enough Being Done? Matching of Student-Teacher Cognitive Style as a Factor in Student Success in an Introduction to Information Systems Course Breathing (More) Life into the Case Approach Lord of the Flies: A Live Case Approach to Leadership Cooperative Case Studies: Experiential Tools for Teaching Business Problem Solving Tools Strategy Simulations in Context: An Evaluation of Key Dimensions The Distribution Channel Game Evaluation of a Simulation Game as an Education Tool for Utility Professionals The Relationship Between Total Enterprise Simulation Performance and Learning Total Quality Management does not Happen by Magic, but it can be Taught Using a Pedagogical Methodology that Utilizes Magic Effectively Preparing Students for Careers in a Global Environment by Integrating Total Quality Management Thoughout the Business Curriculum An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive and Performance Consistency in a Marketing Simulation Game Environment Using MARSGAP with LAPTOP: (A Marketing Simulation Game Analysis Program) with LAPTOP: A Marketing Simulation Adapting TQM Implementation to Organizational Level An MBA Business Simulation: Executive Interaction Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the Classroom (and the Hotel Meeting Room) Closing the Gap between Corporate and National Culture The Dynamic Manufacturing Company The Use of Experiential Techniques in Corporate Training The State of Simulation Gaming in Easter European Countries- Principally Russia An Experiential Exercise in Cross-Cultural Training Valuing Differences: A Conceptual Framework Demonstration of an Experiential Exercise Effectively Using Experiential Learning to Impart TQM Concepts in a High Technology Environment The Older Worker Questionnaire: An Exercise Concerning Older Worker Stereotypes and Behaviors The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics Welcome to the Party! An Expression of Vocational Preference Experiential Exercise for Imparting Cross-Cultural Appreciation Six Swift Simulations on Globalization Overview of BASF Delegate Program