TESTING THE PAGE TECHNIQUE: RESULTS AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS


Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 14, 1987 

 133

TESTING THE PAGE TECHNIQUE: RESULTS AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 

Daniel W. McAllister, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 
 

ABSTRACT 
 

In the 1985 Annual Conference of ABSEL, the concept 
of using “real world” experience as an experiential activity 
was presented (1). This approach was called the Process 
Analysis of Group Experience (PAGE) Technique. The 
purpose of the PAGE Technique is to create a reflective 
learning experience in which participants can use their own 
group experience as the basis for discussion and analysis. At 
the ABSEL presentation, interest was shown in regards to 
whether the PAGE Technique would successfully lead to 
greater commitment and satisfaction for the participants, and 
to greater productivity and quality for the group. The 
purpose of this paper is to review briefly the concepts of the 
PAGE Technique and then to report on the results of 
experimentation with this Technique. 
 

INTRODUCTION TO THE PAGE TECHNIQUE 
 

There seems to be widespread support for Fayol’s 
argument (2) that the manager should be a reflective planner, 
organizer, controller, etc. However, research (3,4) tends to 
show that managers are not reflective, but instead are action-
oriented in their activities. Duncan (5) and Bologna (6) 
indicate that there are two reasons for a lack of reflective 
activity. They are (1) a knowledge deficiency and (2) an 
attitude deficiency. Either managers do not know how to be 
more reflective or they do not enjoy the process. The PAGE 
Technique is an approach to group reflection that is easy to 
learn and use and is also enjoyable. Therefore, the PAGE 
Technique deals effectively with both the knowledge and 
attitude deficiencies. 
 

In the PAGE Technique, real world experiences are 
used as the basis of the experiential exercise. These activities 
could be the completion of a series of strategic planning 
meetings, or the completion of a sales campaign or, in the 
classroom the completion of a group research paper. Upon 
the completion of any of these meaningful, real experiences, 
the PAGE Technique can be used. 
 

As group members participate in the PAGE Technique, 
they reflect together on the current and potential strengths of 
the group. The direction of the activity is strictly positive, 
looking at what the group does well and what the group can 
do better. 
 

The guidelines for the PAGE Technique are as follows: 
 

1. Two general questions are answered by the group. 
These are: 
a. In the completion of this task, what did we do 

particularly well? 
b. If we were to do the project again, how could 

we improve our already successful 
performance? 

 
2. Within the context of the two questions above, the 

group discusses specific areas of significance. 
These might include leadership, conflict 
management, decision making, commitment, 
Individual contributions, etc. 

 
3. Members should be as specific as possible. Vague 

generalities create fluff without substance, while 
specific examples lead to a meaningful reflective 
experience. As more specific examples are 
included, greater attention to real life situations 

will be accomplished, leading to the repetition of 
positive behaviors and to the improvement of less 
favorable behaviors. 

 
4. The focus should be on controllable behavior and 

performance, so that those behaviors can be 
repeated and improved. 

 
5. Group members should maintain a consistently 

positive and constructive direction in the 
discussion. This allows better communication 
(defensive barriers are not raised) and a greater 
chance for improvement. 

 
6. Participants should claim ownership of their 

opinions. When opinions are stated as facts, they 
are often discounted and the substantive value of 
the opinion is lost. 

 
7. Participants should have fun with the PAGE 

Technique. It should be a unique learning 
experience based upon reflective insight shared 
with a group of friends who have already 
successfully completed a meaningful group task. 

 
TESTING THE PAGE TECHNIQUE 

 
The hypotheses to be tested in experimenting with the 

PAGE Technique are as follows: 
 

When people participate in a group task where they 
know that a process analysis will be held, they will 
experience the following: 
(1) Greater commitment to the group task. 
(2) Greater payoff in knowledge for the participant. 
(3) Greater satisfaction for the participant. 
(4) Greater investment of time and effort for the task. 

 
Test 1 
 

To test these hypotheses, a questionnaire was 
developed in which subjects were asked to compare their 
experience in a group using the PAGE Technique with their 
experience in other groups. A total of fifty subjects were 
included. They were all upper division students at a state 
university, ranging in age from 21 to 63. There were 28 men 
and 22 women. 
 

The questionnaire included fifteen questions. Seven of 
these focused on demographics (year in school, age, sex, 
major, etc.). The remaining eight questions tested the four 
hypotheses, using a seven point Likert scale. The first two of 
these questioned commitment. The second pair questioned 
knowledge gained. The third pair questioned attitude and 
satisfaction, and the fourth pair questioned the investment of 
time and effort. To avoid directional bias, the ordering of the 
questions within the pairs was alternated to allow both the 
current and past group experiences to come first. 
 
Results of Test 1 
 

The results of the questionnaire are summarized in 
Table 1. Note that each of the four hypotheses was 
supported, indicating that the PAGE Technique is successful 
in generating greater commitment and investment in time 
and effort for the group task, and greater knowledge and 
satisfaction as payoffs to the group



Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 14, 1987 

 134

Test 2 

 
A second test was conducted with a control group. This 

test compared the responses of a group that had no 
experience with the PAGE Technique with the responses of 
the group that had completed the PAGE Technique in Test 1. 
 

Questions regarding the same four hypotheses that 
were tested in Test 1 were asked to a group of fifty upper 
division students, ranging in age from 21 to 58. There were 
26 women and 24 men. These students had to be introduced 
to the concepts of the PAGE Technique. They were asked to 
consider their past experiences with groups when answering 
the four questions. 

 
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 

 
Based upon the results of these tests, there is significant 
support for the four hypotheses. It appears that the use of the 
PAGE Technique leads to a better experience for group 
members and to better results for the group task. When 
people know that their contribution to the group effort is 
recognized by the group members, when participants know 

that the focus on their contributions will be strictly positive, 
and when they know that they are expected to focus on the 
specific positive contributions of other group members, then 
this awareness has a significant positive valuable impact on 
the group task and the individual experience. In summary, 
these tests indicate that the PAGE Technique does work. 

 
Results of Test 2 
 

The results of the second test are summarized in Table 
2. Note that each of the four hypotheses are once again 
supported. 
 

REFERENCES 
 
1. McAllister, D.W., “Using ‘Real World’ Experiences as 

an Experiential Activity: The PAGE Technique”, 
Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential 
Exercises, 1985, pages 66-68. 

 
2. Fayol, H., Administration Industrielle et General, 

(Paris: Dunod, 1916). 
 
3. Mintzberg, H., The Nature of Managerial Work, (New 

York: Harper and Row, 1973). 
 
4. Pavett, C.M. and Lau, A.W., “Managerial Work: The 

Influence of Hierarchial Level and Functional 
Specialty,” Academy of Management Journal, 1983, 
pages 170-177. 

 
5. Duncan, W.J., Management: Progressive 

Responsibility in Administration, New York: Random 
House, Inc., 1983, pages 58-61. 

 
6. Bologna, J., “Why Managers Resist Planning” 

Managerial Planning, 28, No. 4, January-February 
1980, p. 24. 


	Table of Contents
	Volume 14, 1987
	Simulation Gaming as An Experimental Context for the Study of Multicriteria Decision Making
	How to Multiply Your Management Game
	Grading the Personnel In-Basket Exercise
	Simulation: The Players™ Perspective
	The Acute Susceptibility of Nominal Grouping to Negativity
	The Relative Value of the National ABSEL Meetings: An Analysis of Perceptions by Faculty and Deans
	A Survey of Behavioral Labs Used by American Business Schools
	A Structured Framework for Applying Conceptual Models to Problem Analysis: Hardening Up
	An Expert System Approach for Teaching Marketing Case Analysis
	From Theory to Practice: A Model for Teaching Beginning Advertising
	The Use of a Simple Forecasting Technique During an Interactive Computerized Business Game
	An Investigation of the Relationship Between Formal Planning and Simulation Team Performance and Satisfaction
	The Exponential Logarithm as an Algorithm for Business Simulations
	Learning macroeconomic Theory and Policy Analysis Via Microcomputer Simulation
	Laptop: A Principles of Marketing Simulation
	Teaching About Sampling in a Marketing Research Class
	Integrating Decision Support Systems and Business Games
	Demand Generation in a Service Industry Simulation: An Algorithmic Paradox
	ABSEL - At a Crossroads?
	Research on Predicting Performance in the Simulation
	An Expert System for Financial Planners
	"Developing Various Student Learning Abilities Via Writing, the Stock market Game, and Modified Marketplace Game in Beginning Macroeconomics"
	Professional Activity Reports: Getting back to Basics ΠA Preliminary Investigation
	"A Comparison of Performance, Attitudes, and behaviors of MBA and BBA Students in a Simulation Environment: A Preliminary Investigation"
	Decision Styles and Student Simulation Performance: A Replication
	Personal Power Strategies: An Experiential Exercise
	LTL I: A Trucking Simulation Game
	Total Enterprise Business Games: An Evaluation
	Can the Skill of Management be Taught?
	Developing Critical Thinking and Effective Communication
	Meaningful Notebooks and Enhanced Learning Using a Totally Menu-Driven Data base and Decision Support (DSS) Program
	Using a Computerized Menu-Driven Data Entry and fiWhat-Iffl Program as a Pedagogical Enhancement for Management Simulation
	Using a Joint Project Involving MBA Marketing Management and Undergraduate Marketing Research Students to Teach Marketing Research
	Testing the PAGE Technique: Results and Further Developments
	A Comparison of Student Perceptions with Accepted Expectations for Business Simulations
	"Conflict Management in Action: Verbal Strategies, Nonverbal behaviors and Conflict Styles"
	Dramatic Monologues as Surrogates for Experiential Learning
	Influencing One™s Superior: An Assessment and Exercise
	Personality Traits and Organizational Cultures: Two One-Hour Experiential Learning Exercises
	Computype: A Strategic Marketing Game
	Open System Simulations and Simulation Based Research
	"Teaching Forecasting to the Masses: Little Decision Support Training, But a lot of Answers"
	Goal Setting and Performance Evaluation with Different Starting Positions ΠThe Modeling Dilemma
	The Gamesmanship of Pricing: Building Pricing Strategy Skills Through Spreadsheet Modeling
	Teaching MPR Experientially Through the Use of Lotus 1-2-3
	Business Simulation Through Activities of a Manufacturing Company
	Simulated Stock Broker
	Teaching Employee Counseling Skills to Management Students: A Simulation
	Airline: A Strategic Management Simulation
	Developing Simulations and Experiential Exercises on the Personal Computer: Some Critical Issues
	A Powerful Tool ΠFor What?
	An Integrative Systems Approach to Simulating Free Enterprise in a Small Business Course in a Business School
	Profits: The False Prophet
	The Use of Expert Systems to Develop Strategic Scenarios: An Experiment Using a Simulated Market Environment
	An Interdisciplinary Workshop: Spreadsheet Modeling and Case Analysis Techniques for Beginning Executive MBA Students
	An Innovative Approach to an O. D. Class ΠThe Creative Interaction
	The Application of Spreadsheet Software Technology to Complete Taxpayer Elections
	Experiential Learning as the Cornerstone of an Industry Management Course
	"Identifying, Exercising and Enhancing Right Brain Skills in the Business Classroom"
	Utilizing Envisionary Technology in the Business Policy Course: An Experiential Pedagogy
	Business Simulation in the Policy Course: A Survey of American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business
	The Moving Van: Vehicle to Success of Disaster for the Two-Gender Work Force
	Oil and Gas Well Investment Analysis Using the Lotus 1-2-3 Decision Support System
	Team Cohesion Effects on Business Game Performance