COOPERATIVE CASE STUDIES EXPERIENTIAL, BUSINESS PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20,1993 137 COOPERATIVE CASE STUDIES EXPERIENTIAL, BUSINESS PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS Bruce M. Saulnier, Quinnipiac College ABSTRACT The rapidly changing nature of the world of work requires college graduates to possess knowledge, skills, and attitudes far beyond those required of graduates a mere decade ago. For business schools it cannot be simply business as usual; old delivery systems tied to traditional areas of functional specialization meet the needs of neither American business nor entering college freshmen. A cooperative case study experiential approach is demonstrated which moves beyond functional specialization while simultaneously addressing student developmental needs in the area of problem solving. Preliminary results are discussed and more creative approaches to business education are advocated for the future. THE FORCES OF CHANGE As the business environment becomes more technologically advanced and globally oriented, new forces are dominating the global marketplace. Management practices and organizational structures that corporations have lived by for decades are no longer effective. New challenges are creating new problems that require a different concept of the business organization. The business environment of the 1 990s requires that companies be more flexible than in the past, capable of responding quickly to rapid changes with a lean management team working in a flattened pyramid structure. The successful coordination of information is increasing in importance. The ability to create unique products targeted at smaller, more selective groups of consumers in an international market is increasing in importance. A new employee skill mix is required to meet these challenges. Change has also greatly influenced business schools. For the past three decades the story of collegiate business schools has been one of incredible affluence. The demand for business majors clearly outstripped the supply. On most campuses business schools enjoyed both prestige and political clout. Faculty became somewhat detached from the business community, and business curricula evolved into a pattern of conformance with standardized national norms. These decades of prosperity are now ending. With the demographic handwriting on the wall, the inevitable enrollment declines of the next several years are fostering significant changes in American business schools. The multifaceted approach of education and research based on the interests and preferences of individual faculty members is evolving towards a more strategic focus based on the unique competencies of the institution and the needs of its corporate and student constituencies. Detachment from the business community is being replaced by responsiveness to corporate concerns. The national standardization of academic programs is giving way to program differentiation on the local and regional levels. THE PROBLEM; CONFLICTING DEMANDS Business schools continue to admit students less prepared than those a generation ago. Demands are placed on the faculty to educate the students not only in terms of the traditional functional disciplines, but also in terms on student developmental deficiencies. These deficiencies include decision making skills, communication skills, working in groups, setting goals and priorities, time management, etc. The importance of addressing these deficiencies is highlighted by their effect on student retention. If business schools do not retain and develop these students then the demands of American business for competent entry level employees will not be met. Simultaneously, American business is demanding more of higher education than ever before; entry level personnel who are well advanced in their developmental skills while simultaneously possessing a firm foundation in their area of functional specialization. Yet the newly adopted AACSB requirements stress the need to include more and more perspectives consistent with the needs of American business, while strongly suggesting that no more than 50% of the students total course work be taken in the business school. Attempts to conform to AACSB requirements respond to corporate demands, and simultaneously address student developmental deficiencies prove to be more and more difficult, placing ever-increasing pressures on business schools. A SOLUTION: COOPERATIVE CASE STUDIES Cooperative case studies simultaneously address two developmental skills needed by American business, group work and decision making, while simultaneously focusing on content related issues of the discipline at hand. Cooperative learning differs from collaborative learning in two very important ways: (1) it focuses on learning structures designed to teach students “how” to learn in groups and ensure student-student interdependence; and (2) it emphasizes individual accountability - virtually all of a student’s grade depends on individually completed tests and papers, rather than undifferentiated group grades for team work. Thus, students are taught how to work productively in-group settings. In a typical business environment the group task is to solve a business problem. Unfortunately, most entering students have little if any formal problem solving skills; thus, it is imperative to provide students with a formal problem solving method. Such a method is usually based on the classical business systems development life cycle and typically includes the following phases: (1) Data Gathering to determine the facts at hand; (2) Problem Definition which includes assessing the problem from multiple perspectives (critical thinking), a formal problem definition, and determination of performance criteria for any proposed solution; (3) Solution Selection, including generation of alternatives, “SWOT” analysis, and selection of the “best” solution consistent with performance criteria; (4) Detailed Solution Design, which develops a detailed plan for implementing the selected alternative, and (5) Implementation in which the solution is put into action. Thus, students are taught a formal problem solving method. Employing the method, and working in cooperative work groups, students are given case studies to reinforce content issues addressed in courses, thus providing an experiential base for comprehension of the business concepts at hand. PRELIMINARY RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The experiential, cooperative, case study approach advocated herein has been employed in approximately 50% of the sections of the introductory computer course required of all students enrolled in Quinnipiac’s business school. Pre- and post tests have been run on both the control (traditional) and experimental (cooperative case study) groups and results have been encouraging. Students have enthusiastically embraced the cooperative case study approach. Enthusiasm for the course is much greater. Student performance on standardized tests is significantly higher than the control group. Students feel the course is much more relevant to their educational and career concerns. Further refinement of the case studies will provide for more improved student retention and comprehension of subject matter by providing them with a sound experiential base for understanding business concerns. 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