BREATHING (MORE) LIFE INTO THE CASE APPROACH Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20,1993 135 BREATHING (MORE) LIFE INTO THE CASE APPROACH Roger D. Roderick, California State University-Long Beach Jim A. Wilterding, Boise State University ABSTRACT This paper reports the results of an experiment intended to “breathe (more) life into the case approach to teaching. The principal objective was to teach students not just about management, but also how to manage. That is, it was to develop management skills and competencies. Both from Our in-class (grading) assessments and from student feedback, the results included furthering of technical knowledge and skills, research skills, teamwork skills, presentation skills, and “think-on-your-feet” skills. INTRODUCTION The basic premise is that students must “do” management. Management cannot be “done” except in an interactive fashion and that interaction must include people (as opposed to being strictly with instructors and! or computers). With that in mind, the experiment undertaken was designed to elicit maximum preparation, participation, and interaction from each and every student. The experiment began in an MBA program HRM course, and later was used in MBA courses in Business Strategy and Management of Change. Due to certain “system eccentricities” arising Out of severe budgetary constraints, enrollments in graduate “seminars” was consistently in the 35+ range. Plenty of places for the reluctant participant to hide! OBJECTIVES OF THE EXPERIMENT The cases selected charged the students with the tasks of (a) formulating solutions, (b) planning how to implement those solutions, and (c) “selling” their proposed solutions to various stakeholder groups. This required that they understand the “technical” aspects of the problems, understand how HRM strategies fit into the overall business strategy and goals, understand the relationships between HRM and other business functions, and understand the principles of change management. The experiment added two dimensions beyond those usually imposed by the first was the stakeholder approach; the second was the development of managers skills of persuasion. The principal objective, then, was to teach students how to manage, rather than merely about management. To do so, it was necessary to simulate the interaction dimension of the workplace as nearly as possible. THE ASSIGNMENTS Cases selected involved existing, identified organizations, as students were required to obtain additional firm and industry information. For each case, a “principal group” was assigned to study the problem and recommend solutions. That group presented its recommendations to a second group acting as management of the firm in question. This second group was required to role-play the stakes and the personalities involved and to question the presenting group from those perspectives. After questions and responses, management had to arrive at a decision regarding acceptance or rejection (in whole or in part) of the recommendations. Remaining students were divided into groups to assume the roles of other stakeholders (union, employees, community, stockholders, etc.), and to report their assessments following the interaction between the principal and the secondary groups. In addition to content preparation, all groups were required to fully develop professional presentations. Group composition was kept the same throughout the term, so that students would have to work through all of the “group project problems" that typically emerge. Peer evaluations were used to “encourage" this process. CONCLUSION Students like it. And, it appears to “work.’ It develops the kinds of skills and knowledge they can use at work. (Nearly all students are employed full-time at "career” jobs.) They do a better job because their work is exposed, not just to the instructor, but to peers (and sometimes to external “judges”). They push each other. They know that if they do not ask the tough questions, the instructor will. 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