BUILDING BUILDINGS: AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE IN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP AND GROUP DYNAMICS Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 19, 1992 237 BUILDING BUILDINGS: AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE IN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP AND GROUP DYNAMICS Maryanne Rouse, University of South Florida Hamilton Stirling, University of South Florida-St. Petersburg ABSTRACT “Building Buildings” has been used in introductory management courses, including management principles at the undergraduate level and management process at the MBA level, as well as in workshops addressing organizational structure, organizational communication, leadership styles and/or group dynamics. By observing the effect of organizational structure on communication, leadership and group dynamics, students and workshop participants “discover” several key management concepts. Feedback from students and workshop participants has been uniformly positive: not only do they enjoy participating in or observing the exercise, it is an element of the class or workshop they recall quite clearly years later. INTRODUCTION Learning to manage by attending a lecture or lecture /discussion management class has been compared to learning to swim by reading a book about swimming techniques: although a student completing either may perform extremely well on a short answer or essay test, it is unlikely he/she will master the concepts well enough to be effective in either swimming or managing. The purpose of this exercise is to provide students and workshop participants the opportunity to experience or “actively observe” the effect of organizational structure on the way in which work groups interact and perform. TIME, COST, AND GROUP SIZE The exercise and subsequent discussion require 60 to 90 minutes. Because the only “props” are index cards, tape and staples, cost is negligible. “Building Buildings” will accommodate both small (minimum 12) and large groups. THE EXERCISE The exercise requires two groups or teams of five members each; the balance of class members serve as active observers.” Each team is placed at a table, either in different classrooms (ideal) or in the same classroom but blocked from viewing each other (acceptable). The only supplies necessary are a large supply of 4” x 6” index cards plus a stapler and full tape dispenser (with refills for both) for each team. Each team member receives an assignment card. The cards for Team A (the structured team) include functional job titles (President, Vice President of Engineering, Vice President of Manufacturing, Vice President of Finance/Controller, and Vice President of Marketing) and a brief job description. The president is given the objective of building a building, with the materials provided, in 30 minutes and is told the building will then be marketed to class members. Assignment cards for Team B (the unstructured team) are all the same and direct team members to build a building, which will be marketed to class members, in 30 minutes. Observers are given Observation Checklists and asked to observe, but not interact, with both teams and to take notes for the class discussion that will follow the exercise. After 30 minutes, the building exercise is stopped for both teams and the entire class, including Team B, is gathered around Team A’s table. Team A is given five minutes to market its structure to the class. Then the entire class, including Team A, is gathered around Team B’s table and that team is given five minutes to market its building to the class. CLASS DISCUSSION That the buildings are usually radically different in size, shape, stability and appearance stimulates discussion by the observers and allows both team members and observers to “discover” the influence of structure on, for example, leadership style. Team members are then encouraged (although little encouragement is usually needed!) to share the feelings each experienced during the exercise. CONCLUSION This exercise has been used in undergraduate and graduate classes, including an Executive MBA class, as well as in several dozen workshops over the last ten years. it has elicited truly emotional and exciting participation from many of the building teams. As with many experiential exercises, at times the exercise has been almost textbook-perfect in terms of illustrating the relationship between the structure of the team and the structure of the building; at other times it has worked less well. In all cases, however, it has made organization structure more than just another classroom discussion topic. Table of Contents Volume 19, 1992 The Pedagogical Utility of a Management Simulation Game in a Business Policy Course Modeling Economic Environments in Business Simulations: Some Comparisons and Recommendations Experiential Learning and TQM Principles: Teaching Behavioral Science in a Business School The Use of Poster Presentations as a Final Project in the Business Policy Course The Device Business: A Management Simulation for Strategy Formulation The Advantages of Experiential learning in the Auditing curriculum A Framework for the Identification of Moderated and Mediated Performance consequences of Pedagogical Alternatives Simulating Qualitative Research Relating to Values and Lifestyle Segmentation A New Market Demand Model for Business Simulators Interactive Optimization Using the Method of Relative Improvement Preferences: Methodology and Empirical Evaluation The Service Trainer Simulation Benefits of Internet Computer Networks for ABSEL Members How Should We Measure Experiential Learning? An Assessment of Simulation Usage in Management Accounting Courses The Influence of Myers-Briggs Type and Group Dynamics on Simulation Performance Effective Leadership Behavior in the Desert Storm Arena: An Application of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model Installing and Consolidating Work-Team Values: The Effects of a Multicultural Outdoors Experiential Program Key Determinants and Decision performance in a Business Simulations and Experiential Learning environment Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in Indonesia Attitudes Toward and Emotions Related to Women as Managers: A Replication and Beyond Scenario Approach to Simulating Consumer Expenditures: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Insights into Ethical Decision making Activities and Organizational Performance: A Management Simulation Analysis of College Students and Managers Evaluating a Business Simulation Program for Joint Venture Negotiation and Management Teaching Business Interviewing Strategies with an Experiential Approach Cooperative Learning Across the Business Curriculum Modeling Total Quality Elements into a Strategy-Oriented Simulation Teaching Business Decision making using a Simulator Extending the Educational Utility of a Simulated Competition within the Confines of an Established Undergraduate Marketing Curriculum Expert Systems Versus Traditional Methods for Teaching Accounting Issues Confidence Extremes Diminish Quality Performance in a Total Enterprise Simulation Can Ethics Be Taught? A Simulation Tests a Traditional Ethics Pedagogy Through The Looking Glass, Inc.: Organizational Climate Research as Experiential Pedagogy The use of Cluster Analysis for Business Game Performance Analysis Power and Ethnicity: An Experiential Learning Exercise (How to Sensitize Students to Diversity) Directed Development of Critical and Creative Thinking Skills for Case Analysis Implementing Total Quality Management in a Computerized Business Simulation Product Quality in Business Simulations Use of Simulation for Ethics Education in Management Satisfying the University's Customers through Total Quality Management Instruction: A Case Study Personality Characteristics and Group Performance in Total Enterprise Simulations Concepts of Interval Estimation and Quality Control Charts via Computer Simulated Sampling An Examination of the Effect of Team Cohesion, Player Attitude, and Performance Expectations on Simulation Performance Results The Effectiveness of Inventory Management and Production Scheduling Training in a Total Quality Management Environment Peer Group Indicators of the External Validity of Business Games: A five-year Longitudinal Study Political Strategies and Personal Actions Does Practice make Perfect? Observations on Simulation Trial The Use of A Non-Business Computer Simulation to Teach Marketing Management BankPro Commercial Bank Simulation The Production Game Pursuing Excellence: Work Strengths, Assets and relevant Values (An Exercise) Test of a Short Outward Bound Experience for College Students What is it that we want Student To Learn? Using Two TQM Philosophies when Playing Blackjack The Lagged Effects of Decision Variables on Financial Performance Measures Used in Two business Simulations The Development of an Experiential Exercise for Career Planning and Effective Job search Performance Measuring Quality in Management of Business Pedagogy Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement: Using and Experiential Process Toward a Generalized Architecture for Intelligent Reactive Management Systems The Quality Game TQX: Using Expert Systems to Improve Training in Total Quality Management A Simulation of the Effect of the Medicaid Payment Lag on the Financial Position of Community Pharmacies The Use of a Board of Directors to Evaluate and Validate Decisions in a Competitive Graduate Management Simulation Course The Impact of Academic Dishonesty on Business Simulations and Experiential Learning Activities Picture Project: An Experience of Icebreaking and/or Decision-Making An Effective Role-playing Exercise for Teaching Requisite TQM Supervisory Attitudes/Behavior Computerized Management Simulations and Some Correlates of Students' Satisfaction The Timing and Stability of Reactions to Market Structure in a Single Player Simulation Environment A Graphics Application Extension for a Simulated Decision Support System Environment Aspects of a Group Project Utilizing Actual Business data and a Computerized Accounting System The Role of Universities' Extended Learning Department in Assisting Organizations Implement Total Quality Management A three-dimensional Learning Experience to Develop Total Quality Management Skills Estimating Quality Costs by Computer Simulation Applications and Examples of Quality Control Software Assessing Business Pedagogy A Demonstration of an Experiential Process for Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement Processes An Action-Ethics Dilemma: A Demonstration Org Sim Jr.: A 2-3 Hour Version of the 2-Day Blanchard/Murrell Organization Simulation Building Buildings: An Experiential Exercise in Organizational Structure, Communication, Leadership and Group Dynamics Expert Systems for Organization Design: A Demonstration A Demonstration of Product Quality in a Business Simulation: Version 2 of CEO Two Revolutions, Total Quality Leadership, and the Baldy: The Story of Milliken Total Quality after the Award - The Xerox Story Building a Competitive Advantage through Customer Satisfaction and Reengineering Human Resource Planning: Managing the Only Renewable Resource for a Competitive Advantage Using Simulations to Teach International Issues: An analysis of the Multinational Management Game's Learning Environment Quality Function Deployment: A Tutorial Care and Nurturing of Teams Making a Good Thing Better: Adding TQM to Participative management Empowering Organizations to Redesign and Transform Themselves - Eastman Chemical Using Simulations in Field Management Development of an International Life Insurance Company Reinforcing the TQ Environment via Simulation Transforming a Business College into a Total Quality College