IMAGES OF EFFECTIVENESS: A CLASSROOM EXERCISE


Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 13, 1986 

 138

IMAGES OF EFFECTIVENESS: A CLASSROOM EXERCISE 
 

Eugene C. Gomolka, Virginia Tech 
 

ABSTRACT 
 
This paper presents an experiential exercise designed to 
address issues in evaluation, representation, self- confidence, 
and decision making. Individuals are asked to prepare an 
assignment on “images of effectiveness” by reading 
newspaper advertisements, and then in an experiential group 
exercise, to choose what the group considers the “best” 
completion of the assignment in the group. This group 
choice is submitted for a group grade. 
 

INTRODUCTION 
 
Purpose 
 
To demonstrate concepts of self and group evaluation, 
including the formulation of a working definition of what 
constitutes effectiveness. 
 
Advance Preparation 
 
In an organizational behavior class which is conducted using 
the experiential method, individuals should have been 
working in a group of six to eight members. Over the course 
of a quarter or semester, experience has been gained in the 
experiential methodology, the process of organizational 
behavior concepts, and the dynamics of the experiential 
group. 
 
 
Group Size 
 
The exercise is formulated to be done in a group of six to 
eight members. 
 
Time Required 
 
 
Out-of-class student preparation time, plus approximately 
30-45 minutes of in-class time. 
 
Special Materials 
 
Student access to a business-oriented newspaper or 
magazine, such as The Wall Street Journal. 
 

PROCEDURE 
 
Step 1 - Preliminary Step 
 
As an at-home assignment, students are required to read the 
advertisements in a business-oriented newspaper or 
magazine, such as The Wall Street Journal, to ascertain what 
“images of effectiveness” the publication contains in its 
advertisements. “Images of effectiveness” is defined as a 
pictorial or verbal description or representation of goods, 
services, individuals, and groups which convey an 
impression of ability, success, power, strength, and other 
traits associated with effectiveness. Students may select to 
read one issue of the publication, or several issues over the 
course of a week or several weeks, depending what time 
frame for the assignment is provided by the instructor. 

Furthermore, students may select one advertisement and 
analyze it in depth, or a series of advertisements may be 
analyzed in less detail. A three to five page paper Is required 
to be prepared by each student, including an analysis of 
selected advertisements, using concepts from organizational 
behavior theories about leadership, power, decision making, 
etc., as a conceptual base for evaluation. 
 
Step 2 - Group Meeting 
 
When the students bring the “images of effectiveness” paper 
to class on the assigned date, the instructor, without previous 
warning or discussion, announces that these papers will 
serve as the input for a decision by the appropriate 
experiential group in which the students have been working 
during the quarter or semester. Each group is to select one 
paper from those completed by the group members to be 
handed in for a grade which will be assigned to the entire 
group. Each member of the group is assigned the same 
grade. The task of the group is to decide which “images of 
effectiveness” assignment in the group is most effective, and 
best completes the requirements of the assignment. About 30 
minutes is allotted for the group discussion and decision. 
The one paper selected by each group for grading is to have 
the name of the Individual and/or the group removed from it 
so that it may be graded without knowledge of these facts by 
the instructor. A random five digit number is assigned to the 
paper by the submitting group, and recorded by the group for 
future reference when the paper is returned. 
 
Step 3 - Class Discussion 
 
Following the completion of the group decision, a general 
discussion of the process and problems of the groups 
evaluation is held. Specific comments are sought as to how 
they defined what an effective paper was, how the group 
decided which paper to pick, and how Individuals felt as 
they went about the process of evaluating the work of their 
fellow group members. 
 
Step 4 - Grading and Return of Group Selection 
 
After receiving the group selection, it is evaluated and 
graded by the instructor. The graded paper, including the 
instructor’s comments, is returned to the appropriate group, 
along with information as to how their submission fared in 
relation to those of the other class groups. 
 

DISCUSSION 
 
This exercise provides vivid experiences in the definition of 
effectiveness, and the process of performance appraisal. The 
first step of the exercise is well- received by students, since 
it provides an interesting outlet to demonstrate and apply 
their knowledge of organizational behavior concepts. For 
example, various issues of The Wall Street Journal include 
advertisements for: clothing (the Power Suit) which is 
pictured as being worn by successful executives, hotels 
which offer elegant accommodations and services to conduct 
business, equipment (particularly personal computers) that 
could lead an executive to a successful job performance 
outcome, aptitude testing which purports to tell an individual 
what career path to follow, 



Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 13, 1986 

 139

health centers to teach executives how to maintain a lifestyle 
to ensure a long and healthy successful business life, 
professional seminars that are presented as a great way to 
advance one’s career, etc. Images of effectiveness contained 
in these advertisements include power, knowledge, strength, 
vision, aggressiveness, credentials, innovation, appearance, 
organization, decision-making ability, and resource use as 
traits associated with successful business executives. 
 
The second step of the exercise provides a good experience 
in the process of evaluation. Assuming that the experiential 
group has worked together for a number of class periods, 
this exercise presents the group with a conflict situation 
where the work of some group members must be judged as 
less worthy than that of others. Since the group must 
continue to work together in the future, this negative 
information must be transmitted in such a way that it will not 
affect the future performance of those group members whose 
work is judged as ineffective. 
 
Usually the group begins its discussion with statements of 
how different individuals completed the assignment and a 
passing around of the individual papers for inspection by 
other group members. During this stage there is usually 
some provision of alibis by one or more group members as 
to why their individual paper is not outstanding. Comments 
such as “Everybody’s paper is better than mine” are often 
heard. Thus, some individuals withdraw their papers from 
consideration, since they don’t want to face the burden of 
having the group’s performance fall upon their shoulders. 
 
Attention of the group members is very intense and focused 
during this stage of the exercise, since there is an individual 
and/or group goal at stake in the exercise. At some point in 
the deliberation, there is a call for honesty in the evaluation 
of each other’s work because of the graded outcome. 
Resources called into play during the group discussion 
include information from those group members who have 
had previous experience with the instructor’s grading criteria 
from a previous course, and individual definitions of what 
constitutes effectiveness. Usually the group centers upon 
some trade-off of quantity and quality of presentation, 
including the visual impact of various individual papers, as 
determinants of the final submission. 
 
The person whose paper is chosen by the group is put into an 
interesting position, he or she can be a hero or a villain, 
depending upon the grade assigned to the paper by the 
instructor. An excellent grade establishes the individual as 
competent and as one who has obtained rewards for the 
group. An average or low grade hangs some mantle of 
ineffectiveness upon the individual, even though the group 
bears the responsibility for the final selection. In the 
application of this exercise to a series of MBA classes, the 
authors have observed primarily the assignment of A’s and 
B’s to the group selections, indicating that, in general, the 
groups make effective decisions. 
 
The third stage of the exercise includes a full discussion of 
the issues raised in the previous paragraphs. This is usually 
an interesting discussion, with wide participation by the 
class members. 
 
The initial assignment to prepare the images of effectiveness 
paper can be stated in terms which remove any concerns by 
the instructor or students about grading of the assignment. 
The instructor can state that this assignment will be used as 
the input for an experiential group exercise, and some grade 
will be assigned to the outcome of this exercise. It is not out 
of the ordinary for students to put effort into coursework 
such as reading, preparation of homework problems, 
preparation of cases, etc., which does not directly result in an 
individual grade. 
 

The basic concepts of the exercise, a demonstration of self 
and group evaluation procedures and the formulation of a 
working definition of effectiveness, are only tangentially 
addressed in most exercises found in experientially-oriented 
textbooks. While most experiential exercises deal with some 
subset of organizational behavior topics such as motivation, 
perception, communications, leadership, group dynamics, 
organizational development, etc., few deal with the issues of 
representation, self-confidence, and dynamics in a group 
after critical appraisal has taken place. 
 
While the “Coping with Ambiguity” exercise in Lau and 
Jelinek (1, pp. 250-251) deals with the issue of 
representation, it is considered at the intergroup level, not at 
the intragroup level as this exercise does. 
 
Most experiential exercises do not deal with the reality of 
the after effects of performance evaluation. After 
performance evaluation has taken place, an individual 
should leave this session motivated to continue good 
performance or to modify poor performance, committed to 
the job, committed to the organization, and looking forward 
to future interpersonal and group interactions. The dynamics 
of this exercise make participants deal with these issues, and 
the exercise serves as an excellent vehicle for the discussion 
of these issues in its follow-up step. 
 
The determination of which individual paper in the group is 
“best” requires a comparison of Individual definitions of 
effectiveness, and the determination of a consensus on these 
issues. While the basic processes of this exercise does not 
differ from classic exercises such as the NASA Moon 
Survival Task found in Lau and Jelinek (1), what is different 
is that the Images of Effectiveness exercise deals with a live, 
real situation in which something is at stake for the group. 
The dynamics and interest level of the experiential exercise 
group is greatly affected by focus on a “live” versus on a 
distant, simulated topic. 
 
While the description of this exercise focuses on a written 
source as the basis for the images of effectiveness paper, the 
basic concept could be extended to television, radio, movie, 
and video tape sources for the same basic visual and/or 
verbal analysis. 
 

REFERENCES 
 
(1) Lau, James B. and Mariann Jelinek, Behavior in 

Organizations: An Experiential Approach, 
(Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1984, 3rd edition). 


	Table of Contents
	Volume 13, 1986
	How to Use Microcomputers in Human Resource Management Courses
	What's My Line? An Exercise in Job Analysis, Description and Classification
	Relationships Between Team Cohesion Dimensions and Business Game Performance
	Four Factors Affecting Group Performance in Business Policy Simulations
	Enhancing Strategic Management Goal-Setting Skills in the Business Policy Course
	Using a Business Simulation in the Principles of Management Course - Learning Outcomes and Perceptions
	Personal Computers: Drexel's Experience
	Using Psychological Type to Enhance Negotiation Skills
	The Effects of Conflict Handling Styles on Negotiation Behavior: An Analysis of an Experiential Exercise
	An Experiential Test of Bargaining Decisions and Representation
	Self-Grading of Examination by Students, A Viable Alternative to Traditional Procedures
	Perceived Instructor Enthusiasm and Student Achievement
	An Experiential Approach to Teaching Subordinate-Oriented Communication
	Assessing the Effects of a Computerized Study Guide in Macroeconomic Principles: A Statistical Analysis
	A Sales Management Simulation for the PC an Integrative Tool for the Sales Management Course
	Teaching Re-evaluation of Salespersons Through the Use of a Simulation Game
	A Test of Student Performance and Attitudes and Performance Under Varying Game Conditions
	Developing and Testing Airways: A Marketing Simulation
	Experiential Learning Revisited: Some Thoughts on Designing More Adaptive Management Education Programs
	Developing the Competencies of Creativity and Accurate Self-Assessment
	Self-View and Norms: Some Longitudinal Laboratory Results
	Strategic Planning with an Experiential Case
	The ABSEL Research Consortium: Preliminary Steps and Position Papers
	An Analysis of ABSEL Conference papers (1974-1985)
	The Creation and Operation of a Data-base System for ABSEL Research
	Funding for a Research Consortium on Simulation and Experiential Learning
	Simulation - Indoctrination or Learning
	The Dilemma In Evaluating Classroom Innovations
	Personality Variables on Group Cohesion, Team Participation and Total Learning
	Justifications for and Problems in Developing and Using Computerized Experiential Activities
	Management Competency Models and the Life-Long Learning Project: What Role for ABSEL
	External Validity of Business Games
	Restructuring the University - An Experiential Exercise
	The Surrogate Class Exercise
	Images of Effectiveness: A Classroom Exercise
	The Algebran Industry: A Tutorial Framework
	Another Chance: A Multi-Leveled, Macro Business Game for Micro-Computers
	A Water Quality Management Simulation Game
	Acquisitions? Divestitures? Progress Report on a Conglomerate Game
	Enterprise: A Multi-Purpose Management Development Simulation
	Marketer: A Microcomputer Simulation in a High Tech Industry
	A Pedagogical Analysis of Alternative Tax Elections for Exploration Costs in the Mining Industry
	Using of Multiple Microcomputers Application Programs to Teach Fundamental Business Concepts and Practices
	Demonstrating the Role of Simulation in Strategic Operations Planning: A Case Study in Bank Check Processing Location Analysis
	The Subjective Side of the Decision Support System: A Pitfall for the Panacea
	A Group-Based Procedure for Revealing Judgmental Heuristics and Biases
	An Experiential Exercise in Bayesian Decision-Making
	Values for Selected Parameters in Physical Distribution Simulation and Games
	Computerized Business Management Simulations for Tyros
	The Management Decision Laboratory at New York University
	An Example: The Use of Management Games on Microcomputers by Computer Novices
	Enhancing Mainframe Simulation Via Microcomputers: Designing Decision Support Systems
	Integrating Personal Computers Into a Course as a Decision Support Tool
	A Decision Support System for Capital Funds Forecasting
	Performance and Attitudinal Affects of a Decision Support Package in a Business Game
	Using the Real World: Interviews with Woman Mangers
	The Cooperatively-Authored Student Handbook
	International Buying: An Experiential Exercise
	The Research/Teaching Interface: Turning a Pretest into an Experiential Exercise
	Building Microcomputer Business Simulations
	Simulation with Discrete and Continuous Mathematical Modeling
	An Interpolation Approach to Developing mathematical Functions for Business Simulations
	The Design of Simulation Models Using Thought Organizers
	The Assessment Center as a Teaching/Learning Device
	An Approach to Meeting the AACSB Guidelines for Introducing Skills and Personal Characteristics (SACs) Using an Interclass Simulating and Role-Playing Pedagogy
	Experiential Learning about the World of Work: A Program for Primary and Secondary School Educators
	Assessment of Relevant Personal Characteristics of Potential Entrepreneurs