A DEMONSTRATION ON MULTIPLE DATA COLLECTION METHODS: SEEING STRATEGIC ISSUES THROUGH THE “LOOKING GLASS” SIMULATION* Development In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 18, 1991 155 A DEMONSTRATION ON MULTIPLE DATA COLLECTION METHODS: SEEING STRATEGIC ISSUES THROUGH THE “LOOKING GLASS” SIMULATION* Organized and Chaired by Paul Miesing, The State University of New York at Albany ABSTRACT While researchers have used simulations to explain environmental and organizational impacts on strategy and learning (Gordon, 1985; McCall & Lombardo, 1982), few have taken advantage of them as a multiple data source. In this session, a team of doctoral students in Organization Studies will demonstrate how an experiential exercise can be a rich source to collect data. Audiovisual media will involve the audience in various methods to collect such data. The panel will provide specific applications to strategic issues and implications about the learning process. THE LABORATORY SETTING Looking Glass, Inc. (Lombardo, McCall, & DeVries, 1983) is the simulation used for the data collection. LGI is an “in- basket” exercise. It overloads students with information or overburdens them with paper, information is ambiguous or facts are missing, concrete measures of success are lacking, and there is a lot of stress and tension, largely due to time pressures (Seltzer, 1988-1989). For this demonstration, the subjects were 65 full-time and 51 part-time MBA students. They formed six color-coded groups that ranged in size from seventeen to twenty-five members. All participants read the LGI annual report ten days before the simulation. Random assignments prevented participants from knowing which team they would be in until the simulation began. Multiple methodologies are valuable in studying group processes and performance, including issues of leadership (McCall & Lombardo 1982) and decision making. Qualitative and quantitative data for such methodologies are readily available in simulations. For research purposes, a convergence of a combination of multiple methods indicates a significant pattern of events if any single analysis is not significant. There are two sources of qualitative measures. First, the decision-making processes and interpersonal dynamics within the six groups are videotaped and documented. A coding sheet permits rapid identification of individuals participating in any given meeting and their power base, activity patterns, reactions to observations, probable purpose of meeting, overall impression, decisions made, communication patterns, leadership style, and group dynamics. Observers must be inconspicuous and, other than clarification, cannot acknowledge participant requests. In additional to useful data, the observations provide a basis for feedback to the participants during the debriefing. Second, each participant can submit a “memorandum” on a computer diskette. These reports discuss and describe various aspects of their experiences, including (1) the organization’s atmosphere, decision making style, and leadership; (2) the external environment they faced and their response; (3) both the strategy formulation process and the content of recommended strategies and policies; and (4) what they learned. A software program is available to analyze the content of these essays. The memos capture a rich description of the insights and overall perceptions of the participants. These qualitative measures are combined with several quantitative measures. First, each president receives a list of critical issues in alphabetical order: capital investment, corporate vision, mission, and objectives, energy policy, internal reorganization, personnel policies, product development, and a public policy stance. (The presidents were the only ones aware of this list of problems and priorities.) They are the basis for a fifteen-minute “State of the Company” address on strategic decisions made in the order of their importance. Recommendations vary in number and priority of areas mentioned, intensity of conviction, and extent of impact. For instance, some discuss specified courses of action for each area in turn while others develop visions that permeate the entire organization. These presentations are recorded and categorized to form the basis for a taxonomy of the strategy recommendations. Second, a questionnaire is administered after the president’s presentations. A Likert-type scale measures various dimensions of LGI’s top management leadership, organizational climate, external environment, and support for and satisfaction of the recommended strategies. Third, corporate (“controller’s”) files have limited and basic information available to participants. These files are like receiving reports from a subordinate. They include financial information, product research, market research, and issues unique to each division. The frequency of requests for the files provide insights into information search patterns. In addition to these measures, demographic data on background and personal information determine if participants are fu 11-time or part-time MBAs, their gender, age, undergraduate college major, career history, and learning because of the simulation. Finally, the assigned role, or formal position, provides information on the participant’s functional task, level in the hierarchy, and external environment faced. This session will present results for each group. There will also be implications about the learning process. Conclusions are drawn from comparisons of patterns within and between groups. The results will shed light on training and development aspects of gaming. REFERENCES Gordon, 3. (1985), “Games Managers Play,” Training. Vol. 22, No. 7: 30 47. Lombardo, M.M., McCall, M.W., Jr., and DeVries, D.L.(1983), Looking Glass: An Organizational Simulation. The University Edition, Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. McCall, M.W., Jr. and Lombardo, M.M. (1982), “Using Simulation for Leadership and Management Research: Through the Looking Glass,” Management Science Vol. 28, No. 5: 533-549. Seltzer, J (1988-1989), “Experiences with Looking Glass,” us Organizational Behavior Teaching Review, Vol. 13, No. 1: 58-65. *This project is partially funded by a grant from the Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, North Carolina. Table of Contents Volume 18, 1991 Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Using DIS 'n DAT as a Decision Support System for a Marketing Simulation Game Theoretical Derivation of a Market Demand Function for Business Simulators The Ethnographic Case Study: An Experiential Approach to Teaching Retail Management Electronic Bulletin Board Systems (BBS): Support Software for Computer Simulations The New Budget Game Negame: A Cross-Cultural Role-Play to Introduce Students to the Familiarization Stage of Negotiations Modeling Short-Run Cost and Production Functions Using Sheppard's Lemma in Computerized Business Simulations Increasing Simulation Realism through the Modeling of Step Costs Predicting Simulation Performance: Differences Between Groups and Individuals A Facility Location Case to Stimulate Classroom Interaction Educational Effectiveness of Business Simulation Gaming: A Comparative Study of Students and Practitioner Perspective Ethical Dilemmas in Experiential Learning: Issues and Strategies A Critical Review and Assessment of ABSEL's Award-Winning Procedures and Protocols Political Risk: A Simulation for Business Practitioners Upside Down: A Cross-Cultural Game in Experiential Learning Gorby's Dilemma: From Communism to Free Enterprise in Two Hours Strategic Market: Planning with the COMPLETE Product Portfolio Analysis Package: A Marketing Decision Support System Career Concepts and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Experiential Learning in Human Resources: A Performance Appraisal Application Managerial Motivation and Realism Among MBA Student as Viewed through The Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation An Experiential Approach to Teaching Data Analysis Using MYSTAT: Rationale, Procedures and Results Practicing What Was Preached: A Sequential Learning Model put to the Test Student Attitudes about Policy Course Simulations An Investigation of the Relationship Between Simulation Play, Performance Level and Recency of Play on Exam Scores The Effect of Leadership and Cognitive Processing Styles upon Peer Performance Evaluation: Implication for the Utilization of Simulations in Business Pedagogy On the Transfer of Market Oriented Business Games to Socialist Cultures An Application of Financial Analysis of the Business Firm in a Simulated Competitive Environment Collective Bargaining Simulation: An Exercise based on a Familiar Theme Making Business Policy a Strategic Management Experience A Student Exercise for Intergrating the Concepts of Power and Motivation The Boundaries Extended: An Experiment Comparing Dialectical Inquiry, Devil's Advocacy and Consensus Using the Executive Game Using a Simulation Package to Develop a Simulation Exercise in Cost Accounting Success Factors in Experiential Training for Creative Problem-Solving Teams An Experiential Approach for teaching Quality management Critical Success Ratios: A Comparison of Two Business Simulations in a Multi-Year Environment Stocklogs: A Classroom Exercise for Teaching the Logistical Relationship of Location and Inventory The Organizational Leadership Program Simulating Business Decision-Making: Using Statistical Cases for Classroom Exercises Scripting for the Classroom Upgrading the Business Strategy and Policy Game Developing Student Team-Building and Leadership Skills Using Computer-Aided Experiential learning Strategies Organizing and Outward Bound Field Trip An Architecture for Extensible Simulation Games Performance in the Capstone Business Course: What is the effect of Pedagogy, Learning Styles, and Student Motivation? Operational Strategy with Participant-Modifiable Parameters An Example of a Personal Selling Case Transformed into a Role Play Scenario Instructional Software: It's Evolution and Current State of the Art in the Business Curriculum Ascertaining Performance Variables for use in Determining Student's Grades in Courses Employing a Business Simulation Designing Management Seminars Using Business Simulations The Accounting Information Systems Course: Bridging the Gap between the Classroom and the Real World The Good Cooks Guide to Training Excellence: Working with Passion A Demonstration on Multiple Data Collection Methods: Seeing Strategic Issues Through the Looking Glass Simulation Systems Analysis and Design: Why Undergraduate Education gets a Failing Grade Accommodating Organizational Culture: An Evaluation of Management Development Delivery Modes in Varying Organizational Cultures Modeling Total Quality into Business Simulations The Political Futures Game Meeting Meeting Objectives