PROGRESSIVE CASES Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 218 PROGRESSIVE CASES Gary G. Whitney, University of San Diego ABSTRACT Participant’s get quickly involved as they defend their responses and argue their points in progressive cases. The quantitative data makes progressive cases more provocative static cases. Participants get emotionally hooked and committed in the discussion. Progressive cases gather systematic data to draw comparisons among all participants. The leader posts the results so participants can compare their own managerial action with that of the rest of the group. Progressive cases collect systematic data for research purposes. What is a progressive case? Progressive cases describe a business situation in segments as it unfolds. Each segment ads new information from where the previous one ended. Each increment of information changes the demand for a managerial response. Normally the segments are chronological with each segment adding pressure to take a certain action. In the attached case the subject is Tom Lawler. In each segment of he violates the company’s standards of behavior. Students must decide how to discipline Tom after reading a segment and record their decision on a response sheet. The decision may be to take no action but the this forces participants to consciously decide to take no action rather than passively selecting no action by default. Participants are not allowed to read the next segment until they complete the decision form. Example In the progressive case attached, Tom Lawler makes increasingly severe transgressions of the company standards. The participant’s task is to decide on appropriate action at each segment. Participants write their responses on the form provided. The teacher introduces the necessity of documentation of disciplinary action, progressive discipline, and potential wrongful discharge suits. TOM LAWLER Instructions This case describes a series of incidents in the work performance of Tom Lawler. You will take the role of the manager responsible for Tom Lawler and prepare a response at the end of each incident. The roles are on a following page. Your Role You have worked at Leisure Inn for 7 years. You started as a reservation clerk and have worked as a cashier, front desk clerk and night shift leader before your promotion to Manager of Front Desk Operations. Reporting to you are shift leaders for front desk clerks, reservations, and bell services. There is no union at Leisure Inn. All employees are required to read the company rules and policies about their job in their first week of employment. Tome Lawler’s Background Tom started April 15 in anticipation of a busy summer. The front desk was understaffed and Tom was available to start immediately. He was willing to work the night shift (11:00 pm to 7:00 am). Tom’s application included the following information: • 23 years old. • High school graduate, average grades. • Taxi driver past 3 years. • Part time cook in a fast-food franchise for 2 years. The following segments describe Tom’s activities beginning in July. JULY 15 Yesterday the night shift Bell Captain told you that he heard from one of his bellboys that a guest made a remark about his abrupt treatment at the front desk when he checked in. The bellboy thought that Tom was the responsible clerk but was not certain. Milly, the night shift leader, knew nothing of the incident. Stop. Complete a response sheet before reading ahead. AUGUST 8 Milly was upset with Tom at the end of the night shift (when you arrived for work) because four guests with guaranteed reservations were turned away. The hotel was overbooked. It often is during August because there will be come “no-shows.” He did not check for guaranteed late arrivals (prepaid rooms for arrivals after 6:00 p.m.). Four guests arrived from the airport at 2:00 a.m. after flying from Japan and had no rooms. They were extremely angry, especially since they had reserved and paid for the rooms two months earlier. Milly mollified them by finding rooms at a competing hotel, hiring a taxi to drive them there, refunding their money, and giving them a free meat ticket for future use. Stop. Complete a response sheet before reading ahead. SEPTEMBER 25 Milly reported that Tom left work an hour early last night with her permission but that he signed his time card claiming credit for the full shift. Stop. Complete a response sheet before reading ahead. DECEMBER 2 Last night Tom did not show up for work. He did not call to let anyone know that he would be absent. Stop. Complete a response sheet before reading ahead. DECEMBER 20 After your observation on the 16th you decided to make unannounced observations of the evening and night shift crews. You walked by the desk slightly after midnight in time to hear the following exchange: “What do you mean, you don’t have my room ready? I reserved it, I paid for it, and I want it!” “I’m tired. I’ve been on a plane for 6 hours. It’s late. I want to got to sleep!” Tom rejoined quickly. “Tough bananas, buddy. Sit down and relax.” “Don’t talk to me like that. I want to see your boss.” Releasing his pent up emotions, Tom said, “I’ll talk however I want bigmouth. You don’t like it, find yourself another hotel at 12:20 am.” Stop. Complete a response sheet before reading ahead. Note: This is an abbreviated version of the case. The complete version with teaching notes can be obtained from the author at (619) 260-4859. 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