AN INVESTIGATION OF THE VALIDITY OF A RECOMMENDATION FOR EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE DEBRIEFING Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 12, 1985 163 AN INVESTIGATION OF THE VALIDITY OF A RECOMMENDATION FOR EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE DEBRIEFING* Steven W. Lamb, Indiana State University Samuel C. Certo, Indiana State University * This study was partially supported by a research grant from Indiana State University. ABSTRACT Experiential exercises have become commonly used as instructional tools in various business courses throughout the country. This study investigates one such principles of management exercise for the purpose of validating a recommendation for exercise administration made by the authors of the exercise. The study concludes with empirically based recommendations for exercise administration/design. INTRODUCTION An experiential exercise is somewhat narrowly defined for organizational behavior situations as a task designed with specific circumstances to generate trainee behavior which can be observed, discussed, and evaluated against interpersonal theory (I). This definition can be easily adopted for more general management training by defining an experiential exercise as a task designed with specific circumstances to generate trainee behavior which can be observed, discussed, and evaluated against management theory. Several recently published instructional packages intended for use in schools of business include a wealth of various sorts of experiential exercises. Such materials have been specifically designed for use in courses like principles of management (2, 3, 4), personnel (5), organizational behavior (6), organization theory (7), and organization development (8). Although the use of experiential exercises has apparently become quite commonplace in schools of business, there is a general lack of experimentation aimed at investigating them. This study is such an investigation focusing on an experiential exercise called Chairman of the Dance Committee (9). The exercise begins with an incident which states that the Student Executive Council of State College is responsible for planning and running four major dances for the student body during the academic year. According to the exercise, the Student Executive Council must consider selling tickets, hiring a band, refreshments, as well as all other relevant issues. The incident ends by indicating that the reader of the exercise has been elected as chairperson of the Student Executive Council. The newly elected chairperson is then given the task of classifying by management function (planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling) the issues which must be faced if he/ she is to be successful as chairperson (10). The purpose of this study is to Investigate the validity of a recommendation made for the administration of Chairman of the Dance Committee (11). This recommendation is that, when debriefing, instructors should stress the point to students that all four management functions must be integrated and practiced as one if a manager is to be successful. In effect, this study explores how the relative independence of planning, organizing. influencing, and controlling is perceived in carrying out the role of manager. METHOD To investigate the appropriateness of this recommendation for exercise administration, one hundred subjects who were employed on a part-time basis were initially identified. They were selected from a junior level principles of management course at a major midwestern state university. Subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire in which each item attempted to ascertain a perceived level of the existence of planning, organizing, influencing, or controlling, in their work organization. Each of the 56 Items was scored by subjects on a Likert scale ranging from I (meaning never true of the work organization) to 7 (meaning always true of the work organization). Sample items for each function are shown in Figure 1. The questionnaire was developed, tested, and then revised to ensure that each of the fifty-six items addressed only one of the four management functions. To investigate the dimensionality of the questionnaire, (or at least the responses to the questionnaire) a factor analysis using principal component analysis with varimax rotation on four factors was used (12). The suspicion was that the instrument responses would be one dimensional if planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling were perceived to be highly integrated. On the other hand, factor analysis would group the items in a four dimensional array if each management function was perceived to be somewhat unique. The Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 12, 1985 164 authors felt that if the responses to the questionnaire were found to be unidimensional, the value of the recommendation for exercise administration being investigated would be supported. RESULTS Table 1 strongly indicates that the responses to the questionnaire are one dimensional. Of the thirteen items tapping planning (Plan 1 to Plan 13), 9 have values > to .50. Of the thirteen items tapping organizing (Org. 2 to Org. 13), 8 have values to .50. Of the nineteen items tapping influencing (Infl. 1 to Infl. 19), 14 have values > to .50. Of the eleven items tapping controlling (Cont. 1 to Cont. 11), 6 have values a to .50. In addition the average absolute loading between factor I and the items tapping planning was .52; that between factor 1 and the items tapping organizing was .56; that between factor 1 and the items tapping influencing was .55; and that between factor 1 and items tapping controlling was .51. These loadings indicate that factor 1 is quite equally correlated with items supposedly tapping different dimensions. Factor I obviously does not isolate one function to the exclusion of another. Also, Factor 2 only has two loadings greater than .5, indicating that which is left is primarily residual correlation. The eigenvalue of the first factor was 17.58, while that of the second was down to 3.87. There was no discernable pattern in the factor loadings on the second factor, i.e., factor 2 did not seem more highly correlated with one function than another. The rotation of 4 factors using varimax rotation did not identify or isolate any of the four functions (13), nor did it succeed in identifying any other construct. STUDY LIMITATIONS The individuals who responded to the questionnaire were employed on a part-time basis. One possible study limitation might be that part-time employees may have difficulty in distinguishing among the four management functions. However, given that all subjects were members of a principles of management course and that the study questionnaire was administered near the end of the course, this limitation may be somewhat discounted. As another limitation, these part-time employees could be responding only to an overall feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the firm rather than to perceptions regarding the management functions themselves. In so far as the part-time employees are capable of discriminating among and reporting on the management functions, study results strongly support validity of the experiential exercise being investigated. However, in so far as the part-time employees are not capable of differentiating among and reporting on the four management functions, study results might be confounded. The authors are of the opinion that relatively inexperienced part-time employees may not be as capable of differentiating among and reporting on the management functions as well as more experienced full-time employees. However, the authors are also of the opinion that the strength of the unidimensionality of the instrument responses cannot entirely be explained by the alleged lack of sophistication of the subject group. Rather to a reasonable extent this unidimensionality seems more related to the integration of the functions themselves. Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 12, 1985 165 IMPLICATIONS Based upon the results of this study, planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling are perceived not as separate and distinct management activities, but as highly related management activities. Therefore, the argument can be made that classroom activities which accentuate this integration of the management functions are affording students a more realistic exposure to the practice of management. Not only should instructors using the Chairman of the Dance Committee exercise stress this integration of the management functions to students, but the case could reasonably be made that Instructors emphasize a similar integration emphasis In administering other experiential exercises. Further, research in this area should focus on issues such as how an instructor can best debrief an experiential exercise to accomplish this integration emphasis, and how best to structure experiential exercises to afford students such functionally integrative experiences. In addition, replication of the present study would certainly be worthwhile. REFERENCES (1) Certo, Samuel C. “Experiential Training Methodology, Traditional Training Methodology and Perceived Opportunity to Satisfy Human Needs,” in Richard H. Buskirk (Ed.) Simulation Games and Experiential Learning Action. Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning Proceedings. 1975, pp. 31- 37. (2) Certo, Samuel C. and Lee A. Graf, Experiencing Modern Management, A Workbook of Study Activities, (Wm. C. Brown Co. Publishers: Dubuque, IA) 1983. (3) Lussier, Robert N., Applying Management Fundamentals, Experiential Exercises, Self Study, Objective Cases, (Reston Publishing Co., Inc.; Reston, VA) 1982. (4) Doktor, Robert, Alfred Edge, and Lane Kelley, Experiencing Management: Active Learning For Large Classes, (Management Publishing, Inc.: Honolulu, HI) 1980. (5) Beatty, Richard W. and Craig Eric Schneier, Personnel Administration, An Experiential Skill- Building Approach, (Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.: Reading, MA) 1981. (6) Hall, Douglas T. , Donald D. Bowen, Ray J. Lewicki, and Francine S. Hall, Experiences in Management and Organizational Behavior. (John Wiley & Sons: New York, NY) 1981. (7) Veiga, John F. and John N. Yanouzas, The Dynamics of Organization Theory: Gaining a Macro Perspective, (West Publishing Co. St. Paul, MN) 1984. (8) Harvey, Donald F. and Donald R. Brown, An Experiential Approach to Organization Development, Prentice-Hall, Inc.: Englewood Cliffs, NJ) 1976. (9) Certo, Samuel C. And Lee A. Graf, Experiencing Modern Management, A Workbook of Study Activities, (Win. C. Brown Co. Publishers: Dubuque, IA) 1983, pp. 5-7. (10) For definitions of functions see: Certo, Samuel C., Principles of Modern Management, Functions and Systems, (Wm. C. Brown Co. Publishers: Dubuque, IA) 1983, pp. 9-10 (11) Certo, Samuel C. and Lee A. Graf, Instructor’s Manual: Principles of Modern Management and Experiential Workbook, (Wm. C. Brown Co. Publishers: Dubuque, IA) 1983, pp. 70-71. (12) Nie, Norman H., C. Hadlai Hull, Jean C. Jenking, Karin Steinbrenner, and Dale H. Bent, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, (McGraw-Hill: New York, NY) 1975. (13) Cooley, William W. and P. R. Lohres, Multivariate Data Analysis, (Wiley: New York, NY) 1971, p. 144. Table of Contents Volume 12, 1985 One Step Beyond Naiveté: Laboratory Simulation of Strategic Management Predicting Performance Over the Course of the Simulation Congruency of Critical Performance Factors in Simulated and Real World Environments: An Exploratory Study Stimulating Learning and Creating Course Involvement Through the Use of Debates A Novel Approach to Writing Texts ABSEL Revisited: In-Class Student Involvement Increases Learning Bus-Sim Micro: An Introductory Business Simulation Demonstration Solutions Diversified: And Experiential Introduction to Management Information Systems Simulating Rigorous Analysis in Stimulation Gaming The Use of Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS) Techniques to Enhance the Learning Experience of Students Participating in Computerized Simulation Problems Associated with the Administrative Use of Student Ratings Enthusiasm Awareness in the Experiential Classroom Participation Expectations of Students in Experiential Settings Using the Computer as a Planning Aid in an Applied Marketing Course Integrating Microcomputers in the Marketing Curriculum Through the Use of Marketing COMPUPROBS Giving Students Experience in Team Report Writing Description and Results of an Experiential Approach in the Teaching of Business Policy Using Real World Experiences as an Experiential Activity: the Page Technique A Guide to Writing Microcomputer Simulations The Development of a Microcomputer Distributed Processing Business Game A Monte-Carlo Approach to Interactive Gaming Single Case Experimental Design as an Alternative to the Conventional Approach Learning Theory and Research Design: How Has ABSEL Fared? Criticisms of the Use of Simulations in Economics: A Rebuttal Using the General Management Game in the Business Policy Course General Management Policy Simulations: Which Games are Popular, and Why do Professors Stop Using Games? Business Policy Content and Teaching Methods: Comparisons of the Hegarty and Summers and Boyd Findings Let's Talk to the Experiential Authors A Computerized Logistics Game for Micros Effects of Contextual Factors on Bargaining Decisions of Experiential Group Representatives The Linking of a Collective Bargaining Simulation and a Business Simulation Game - A Case Study Students are Surrogates in Arbitration Studies AIRWAYS: A Microcomputer Simulation of a Service Industry A Proposed Interactive Inventory Control Simulation Microcomputer Demonstration Exercises for a Course on Creativity and Problem Solving Processing Skills for Teachers, Trainers and Managers Developing the Competencies of Resistance to Stress and Accurate Self-Assessment Raising Elizabeth: Socializing Girls to Aspire to Careers as Managers, Secretaries or Corporate Wives Factors Influencing Perception: Gaining Understanding Through Experience Painless Computer Simulation The Effects of Differential Grade Weights on Business Game Learning levels An Investigation of the Validity of a Recommendation for Experiential Exercise Debriefing Simulation and Experiential Practices of Faculty: A Data-Based Workshop The Live Case Study: Filling the Gap Between the Case Study and the Experiential Exercise A Reactive Microcase Pedagogy Advantages of a Multigame Simulation Course Using the Logistic Function to Score Computer-Supported Games A Simulation Model to Calculate Session Time for Running Simulation Models in a Shared Resource Environment On the Core Size of Small Task Groups and the Cause for the Core Size to Emerge