AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL FORM & THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 63 AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL FORM & THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS T.F. Gautschi, Bryant College ABSTRACT This experiential exercise involves the participants in a dynamic project management environment which includes planning, communication, decision-making and interpersonal interaction. It will help them to recognize and acknowledge the organizational metamorphosis that should take place as a project proceeds through its cycle, as well as the three basic project tradeoff factor--schedule, resources and performance. The time required is about two hours, this can be divided into three 50-minute class sessions if desired PART 1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Organizational Variables The manner in which a firm is organized with respect to its structure, leadership style, and decision-making process influences How well it will fulfill its strategy and meet its objectives.1 Effective organizations do not result from generally applied management principles, bit from principles appropriately matched to the specific conditions faced by the organization. “The basic premise of the contingency model is that the management system must be compatible with the nature of the people, the nature of the task, arid the nature of the environment2”. Thus, no one management system is best for every situation. If the tasks are routine and involve well- established technology, the people are theory X (work to eat), and the environment is stable arid predictable, then a more bureaucratic (mechanistic) model is appropriate. On the other hand, if the nature of the task is non-routine, creative, and complex and involves state-of-the-art technology, the environment is not stable arid is unpredictable, arid the people are theory I (eat th work) then the appropriate management philosophy should follow a more participative (organic) management model. 1 MANAGEMENT FORUM, Vol. 3, (Chapter 1 by Dr. T. F. Gautschi Photogensis, Derry, NH (1989). 2 COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT: a Regional View by Raghu Nata. Ballinger Publishing co., Cambridge, MA (1988) Table 1 lists some of the characteristic of the two extremes. Note particularly that when effectiveness is the focus, . a more organic-type organization is appropriate. On the other hand, when efficiency is the focus a more mechanistic-type organization is appropriate. However, neither extreme is good or bad in and of itself, and the vast majority of real life organizations will be between the two. The Project Management Cycle As we approach the 1990’s the general trend is away from the traditional bureaucratic mechanistic functional type of organization, with its many layers of approval excessive inertia and lack of innovation; arid towards small flexible organic entrepreneurial oriented groups, which can provide timely innovative responses. These latter groups are usually organized on a project rather than on a functional basis and use some sort of ad hoc organizational arrangement to achieve a variety of objectives over a range of operational environments. Project Management offers both opportunities and challenges because it usually requires processes and techniques, which are more advanced than those used in traditional management practice. Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 64 Two major factors contribute to this situation: Project activities are often non-repetitive and unique to the situation at hand. They generally start out with a strong organic orientation characterized by flexibility, freedom to experiment, an emphasis on innovation and management by objectives. But as they approach completion, they move to a more mechanistic orientation characterized by resistance to change, experimentation and innovation, and management by detail direction. Projects culminate with an end product-be it documentation for a new product or some sort of report-that is very stable and specific in its detail. The change in orientation from organic to mechanistic requires that the people working on the product also change their orientation or to be replaced as the project proceeds. Projects are time and resource constrained and focus on specific performance objectives, all three or which often require tradeoff decisions as the project proceeds towards competition. The tradeoff relationships are usually not quantifiable although their direction may be known. For example: to increase performance usually requires some increase in resources and time; and to decrease time usually requires an increase in resources and/or a decrease in performance. But exact numbers are not usually known. PART 2: OBJECTIVES OF EXPERIENCE This exercise involves planning, decision-making, and interpersonal interaction and is designed th help participants gain experience and insight regarding two of the main factors that make project management unique. Specifically it will cause them to: 1. Recognize and acknowledge the management system metamorphosis that should take place as a project proceeds through its implementation cycle from research, design and into production. 2. Consider the three basic project trade off factors - schedule, resources and performance. This exercise has been used with success in a variety of management courses in both college and business environments. It is especially helpful for establishing a common frame of reference for succeeding discussions of project management theory and practice. In addition to involving planning, communication, decisions-making and interpersonal interaction, this exercise enables the participants to experience being involved in a project management process which proceeds from being more organic to being more mechanistic with outside prompting. This change in perception may not be identified until the post-mortem phase. However it does become a part of the participant’ s experience, and will influence thinking and organizational decisions in real world project situations, as verified in subsequent discussions with those that have participated in this exercise. PART 3: PROCEDURES This exercise should be initiated without any theory discussion. The participants should be assigned to project teams (four people per team seems to work best, but three to five people per team is ok.) The teams should be told that their objective is to earn incentive dollars by planning amid constructing a tower, which will support a small weight for at least 15 seconds. Each team should be given an identical kit which includes a set of tower building resources,3 a tape measure, a weight (I use an old flashlight battery), trade-off charts (see Fig. 1)4 and a proposal sheet (see Fig. 2). Teams should be told that they can accomplish their objective by organizing any way they wish as long as they submit their incentive dollar proposal (see Fig. 2) 45 minutes after the exercise is started (T + 45) and are prepared to start construction of their towers in parallel with the other teams 60 minutes after the exercise is started (T + 60). The teams should be told that the trade off charts (fig. 1) (which are included in the kit) indicate the relationship between incentive dollars and each of these factors: 1. Performance (as measured by the height of the completed tower) 2. Performance (as measured by the number of pieces used to complete the tower) 3. Schedule (as measured by the time to construct the tower after T + 60. 3 I use “Rig-A--Jig” components (210 W. State St. Geneva, IL. 60134). However, other building resources (such as blocks) would be just as useful, as long as the contents of each KIT are the sane. 4 These charts may have to be modified to be compatible with the tower building resources used. Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 65 After the tower building and post-mortem are completed the instructor should review the theory discussed in Part I and help the participants relate to, and understand, the changes should take place as a project moves from research to production. The duration of the post-mortem phase and theory discussion will vary discussion upon the goals of the instructor and the participants. Time Duration Ideally this exercise should conducted in a two hour period- including the team activity and the post-mortem. However, it can be divided into parts for use in the typical 50 minute class session. Part I should go through the design phase (P + 55 minutes), Part 2 should cover the construction and post- mortem phase, and depending upon the situation a third part could be used for reviewing underlying theory, its application, and subsequent discussion. VARIATIONS 1.Transfer one person from each team to another team sometime prior to P + 55 minutes. 2. Prior to T + 55 minutes change the tower building site from horizontal to an angle of 10 to 15 (this can be easily done by placing books or blocks under the table legs). 3. Designate an observer for each team to record and to report what took place during the exercise. PART 4: POST-MORTEM DISCUSSION 1. Record the results on the blackboard by summarizing the “actuals’ as recorded by each team on their figure 1 form. 2 . The winner is the team with the most total incentive dollars. 3 Ask someone from each team (or the observer) to describe: (1) what different classes the project went through, (2) how the team was organized, (3) their decision process (especially as it related to the trade-off charts), (4) the team’s culture, (5) how the team handled their loss of a key person and his/her replacement, and (6)hoe the team handled the change in building surface. Be sure to check with all of the team member’s to verify their description given. 4. After all the teams have reported, the instructor should summarize the similarities and the differences of the various team’s operations. The following are typical results: 1. Most teams will be informally organized without being without a designated leader, at least in the beginning. 2. The various team members will usually agree on a common goal and try to contribute what they as the projects proceeds. Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 66 3. Team members easily accept changing roles (moving from organic to mechanistic) as the project proceeds from experimentation, through analysts, design and construction. During experimentation and some design the organization is usually organic with little structure, lots of ideas, and several activities going on in parallel .During the construction each person takes a very structured role as everyone works together to construct the tower to the agreed upon design. 4. Everyone usually wants their team to “win”, and there is lots of enthusiasm and some tension when the team transport their towers for the final test-and a letdown when they fail. 5. Some teams do not make rational trade-off decisions because they concentrate on making the “tallest tower”,, and on earning the most incentive dollars. Actually, “time to build” is the key variable. 6. Few teams think about their process. Most devote their attention to the techniques of tower building At this point the instructor may wish th review the underlying theory (see Part I), aid follow with the question, what are the in locations of the tower building activity for real world projects? Possible responses: 1. As the project progresses from research to production, the basic nature of the operation should gradually change from being more organic to being more mechanistic A. This should result in team in members either changing, or being replaced. B. This explains why sate people (the organic types) are more highly motivated in the project’s early stages, ard others (the mechanistic types) are more highly innovated in the project’s later stages. C. The project structure arid its control system should be made more mechanistic (less organic) as the project process. D. This explains some of the communication problems-some people think in more organic team (engineers) arid others in more organic terms (e.g.). E. In a sense, a project is like a funnel. It starts out broad, with lots of inputs; but to progress, it must narrow down to one specific output. F. Very little, if any, supervision or control, is required when everyone understands and agrees to a common goal, ard is willing to work together to accomplish it. G. It certainly helps when everyone on the project knows what is going on, ard is involved in the planning and it’s execution. PART 5: SUPPLEMENTAL READING 1. Burns, T. & G.M. Stalker (1961) The Management of Innovation London: Tavistock 2. Gautschi, T.F. Management Forum, Vol. 2 Lord Publishing Dover (1984) 3. Gautschi, T.F Management Forum, Vol. 3 Photogeneis Derry, NH (1989) 4. Harrison, Roger “Harnessing Personal Energy: How companies Can Inspire Employees.” Organizational Dynamic, Autumn 1987 American Mgt. Assoc. 5. McGregor, Douglass The Human Side of Enterprise (1960) McGraw-Hill, NY. 6. Nath, Gaghu (1989) Comparative Management: A Regional View Ballinger Publishing Co. Cambridge, MA 7. Roman, David D. Managing Projects: A Systems approach Elsevier New York (1986) 8. Schein, E.H. 1985 Organizational Culture & Leadership San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 9. Shea, G.P. ard R.A. Guzzo Group Effectiveness: What Really Matters? Sloan Mgt. Review Spring 1987 10. Steele, L.W. Managing Technology: The Strategic View McGraw-Hill New York, 1989 11. Woodward, J 1965 Industrial Organization: Theory & Practice London: Oxford Univ. Press Table of Contents Volume 17, 1990 The Impact of Decision Support Systems on the Effectiveness of Small Group Decisions - Revisited The Relationship Between Financial Performance and Other Measures of Learning on a Simulation Exercise Use and Effectiveness of an Analogy-Based Expert System Suggestions for Computerized Business Authors Dealing with Power: An Experiential Exercise Using Movie and Personal Diary Analysis Techniques A Model for Developing Student Skills and Assessing Outcomes Through Outdoor Training Computer-Aided Exercises Versus Workbook Exercises as Learning Facilitator in the Principles of Marketing Course An Exposition of Guilford's Si Model as a Means of Diagnosing and Generating Pedagogical Strategies in Collegiate Business Education Formal Planning and Simulation Team Performance: A Cross Sectional Approach Cases: Real Organizations in Real Time in the Classroom An Empirical Investigation of the Internal Validity of Marketing Simulation Game An Empirical Evaluation of the Pedagogical Value of Playing a Simulation Game in a Principles of Marketing Course Factors Affecting Effective Teaching of Strategic Planning: Some Preliminary Evidence An Experiential Exercise for Learning About the Relationship Between Organizational Form & the Project Management Process Accounting Communication Skills can be Taught in the Auditing Course Modeling Cost Functions in Computerized Business Simulation: An Application of Duality Theory and Sheppard's Lemma A Life Cycle Analysis of Decision Making for a Strategic Management Team What's the Problem? A Dynamic Model for Teaching Problem Solving Skills Experientially International Currency Fluctuations: Money$im, A Simulation Superstores: A Specialized Retailing Simulation Within a Specialized Marketing Curriculum Factors Affecting Student Perceptions of Learning in a Business Policy Game VC + EL = VL The Name Game: An Experiential Exercise in Intergroup Relations The Effects of Experiential Accounting Work Experience on Student Performance in Intermediate Accounting Courses The Results of Using the Experiential Activity Group Performance Evaluation in a Business Policy Setting Using a Legal Database to Describe the Legal Environment of Marketing (and Business) Matching Environmental Uncertainty and Organizational Configuration An Instructional Computer Simulation of Tampering in QC Executive Evaluation of Student Learning in the Looking Glass Simulation Group Personality Composition and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance An Expert System for Selecting Analytical Techniques for Analyzing Marketing Research Data Effects of Cognitive Styles on Responses in an In-Basket Simulation A Psychometric Analysis of Kolb's Revised Learning Style-Inventory Selecting and Developing Experiential Exercises Using Movies Application of a Real-World Strategic Management Model in the Classroom Demand Equations which Include Product Attributes Consumption as the Objective in Computer-Scored Total Enterprise Simulations The Effects of Decision Format and Evaluation on Simulation Performance, Decision Time, and Team Cohesion The Effects of Computer Related Assignments on Student Performance in Business Administration The Money Game: A Dynamic Simulation Including Random Shocks for Money and Banking Courses Methods for Evaluating Performance on Business Simulations: A Survey The Effects of Synergogy on the Policy Course: Significant Improvements in Student Learning and Teacher Evaluation Conditions and Outcomes of Trust in a Two-Person Bargaining Exercise Bankgame Enhancing Computer Business Simulation with the Use of VGA Graphics An Experiential Approach to Entrepreneurship An Advanced Simulation Method (ASM) for Multiple Objective Problems The Influence of Experiential learning Techniques on Student Recognition of Non-Primary Learning Styles Negotiating Mergers and Acquisitions: A Cocktail Napkin Approach Identification of Unintended Effects in Experiential Laboratory Exercises An Experimental Comparison of Paper and Pencil and Computer Aided Decision Support Tools Porting a Simulation from the IBM World to the Macintosh World A Transaction Cost Analysis of Experiential Learning The Development of Experiential Exercises for Courses in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management The Assessment Center as and Experiential Classroom Exercise Pricing Strategy Algorithms for Playing Business Simulations Organizational Structures for International Operations: An Experiential Activity Simulation Emphasis in the Business School Capstone Course An Integrated Approach to Computerizing the Business Curriculum Cross-Cultural Business Negotiations Exercise Organizational Socialization and Gender Differences in Students at Work Understanding Student Work Experience: A Content-Analytic Approach Introducing Executive MBA Programs with Management Games An Analysis of Improvement in Business Decision Outcome with Sequential Use of Two Simulation Games Teaching Business Policy Utilizing Mass Lecture and Individual Case Labs Potholes Along the Road to Evaluating Learning Outcomes: The Case of Outdoor Management Training Experiential Learning for Interior Design Students: Using CADD, Lotus 1-2-3, and Wordperfect Cognitive Learning Using a Computer-Based, Qualitative Interactive Business Simulation Sex Discrimination: Does the Woman get the Job or Does the Best Man Win? A Search for Visual Aids to Support Experiential Learning Through the 1990's An Experimental Analysis fo the Effectiveness of Student Role-Playing in Sales Training How to Have Students Learn from their Term Projects Self-Evaluation Exercise (SEE): An Assessment of Class Contribution A Study of the Influence of Team Formation on Attitudes and Performance in Management Games A Hardware Based CIM Simulation Laboratory Model Test Substance Abuse in Organizations Micro Computer Training Models Teaching Forecasting, Cash Budgeting and Inventory Model Building Using SBTools A Comparison of the Effects of Experiential Learning Activities and Traditional Lecture Classes An Adjunct Writing Instruction Assistant, The Computer; With an Illustration Classroom Software for ABC Analysis Utilizing Information Processing Technology to Enhance the Business Policy Simulation Experience Progressive Cases Realistic Job Previews Vs. Traditional Job Previews: Experiencing the Differences and Understanding the Consequences Investment Analysis Using the Pragmatic Multiplier Approach A Computer Simulation Interface for Competitive and Firm Analysis Self-Assessment of Ethical Decision Making Predispositions Preparing Managers for Overseas Assignments An Inquiry into Japanese Marketing: Workshop on Teaching Japanese Marketing The Performance Appraisal Feedback Interview: A Role Play for Human Resources Management Teaching Counselor Selling techniques Using Experiential Techniques to Teach International Topics International Management Simulation Gaming: Current Status and Future Developments A Realism Comparison of Simulation Technologies/Methodologies A Time-Efficient Game to Illustrate Concepts Taught in Management Courses and Management Development Programs Teaching the Management of Technology The Concept of Face and the Applicability of Experiential Exercises in an Oriental Culture's