WINDOWS INTO MANAGEMENT: A PARTICIPATIVE AID TO LEARNING Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 148 WINDOWS INTO MANAGEMENT: A PARTICIPATIVE AID TO LEARNING John W. Newstrom University of Minnesota, Duluth ABSTRACT Two-dimensional matrices that combine two independent dimensions into a graphic model with four products serve as "windows into management" for business students. Such models can combine either ordinal or nominal scales, focus on people, situations, or out-comes, and serve as descriptive or prescriptive classification schemes. Although each model over -simplifies reality, their visual presentation alone greatly enhances verbal discussion. More significantly, students can participate by assessing them-selves (or their situations) on each scale, and reporting the results to the class for tabulation and discussion. The process helps students internalize abstract concepts. INTRODUCTION Two primary aids in student learning will be combined in this paper-visual matrix models and miniature experiential exercises. The benefits of using visual aids are well documented in the training literature as a means for enhancing student interest and facilitating the retention of conceptual information. The use of experiential exercises has rapidly expanded during the past decade, resulting in a student body in many colleges and universities that has learned to expect such opportunities for involvement. The "windows into management" to be explained below are typically two-dimensional matrices that combine two independent (but related) dimensions into a graphic model. (Each of the dimensions is generally split into two parts, with the four conceptually distinct (and arbitrarily labelled) products as the outcome. Each model, therefore, presents a four-part "window" into one focused element of the overall management process, allowing viewers to see a different slice of organizational life every time they look through one of them. The experiential element emerges when students are provided the opportunity to assess themselves on each of the dimensions and consequently classify themselves, their instructors, or their environments as one of the four types. The objectives of this paper are to 1) describe the ways in which. these models can be differentiated; 2) present some illustrations of them (both classic and new ones); and 3) urge the classroom use of such existing models, as well as the development of additional ones. MODEL DIFFERENCES A preliminary review of the management and training literature has uncovered several dozen 2-x 2 models (either in graphic or verbal form). The models data-logued to date can be differentiated in at least three significant ways, as follows: Dimensions Some dimensions appear as nominal scales and others as ordinal scales. The former are dichotomized: the latter are continuous, generally ranging in degree from 'high" to "low". Some models use two nominal scales, others use two ordinal scales; and the remainder combine one of each. Focus Some models result in the classification of people into four different types; others classify managerial situations or- environments; still others produce four types of outcomes. Nature Some models are essentially descriptive, presenting four different results of the classification scheme without any implications as to the relative value or worth of each class. Other models are clearly prescriptive, with a quite obvious connotation of the relative preference for various outcomes. ILLUSTRATIONS A:few examples will be briefly reviewed here. Johari Window This familiar model combines a person's assessment of the degree to which they know themselves, with the degree to which they disclose themselves to others. Four products emerge, labelled as Blind, Hidden, Unknown, and Open (see Figure 1). This model uses nominal scales, presents four personal situations, end is clearly descriptive. Figure 1 Johari Window mailto:hugh.cannon@wayne.edu Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 149 Approaches to Conflict This model combines the aspirations persons have for themselves in interpersonal conflict (preference for winning vs. losing) with their preference for the other party’s outcome (winning vs. losing). The outcomes are for both to win, both to lose, the one to win and the other to lose, or the one to lose and the other to win (see Figure 2). This model is categorized as basically prescriptive, with a focus on outcomes, and using nominal scales for each dimension. FIGURE 2 APPROACHES TO/OUTCOMES OF CONFLICT Types of Trainers This new model combines an assessment of the platform skills of a trainer with that person’s content expertise (see Figure 3). These scales are ordinal, the model classifies people, and it is implicitly prescriptive (the Technical Expert, Bomb, and Entertainer are inadequate; the Professional is preferred). FIGURE 3 FOUR TYPES OF TRAINERS Readiness to Learn This model incorporates two ordinal scales (employee consciousness and employee competence) to produce four levels of readiness to learn - the unconscious incompetent, the conscious incompetent, the conscious competent and the unconscious competent. The model is descriptive, and classifies people at four different levels (see Figure 4). FIGURE 4 READINESS TO LEARN Evaluation Outcomes This is a conceptual portrait of the classic products of research - Type I and II errors, and true positive or true negative outcomes (see Figure 5). The FIGURE 5 ASSESSING EVALUATION OUTCOMES Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 150 products are the combination of the research conclusion combined with the actual program quality. As such, the model describes four different outcomes, and is clearly descriptive. USES AND DEVELOPMENT At a minimum, professors can use this type of model as a visual aid (overhead, flipchart, chalkboard, or handout) to supplement their verbal presentation of these topics. The author readily admits that the world is not a 2 x 2 model; however, such a format does provide the elegance of simplicity’ that characterized Kurt Lewins views of the world. All of the models allow at least passive participation by students --they can be encouraged to identify with one of the four products. Alternatively, they can be asked to assess themselves on each of the two scales, thereby more actively involving themselves in the use of the model. Subsequently, the instructor can poll the class members to determine how many fell into each quadrant, and why. To date, the author has accumulated over fifty models in the general topical areas of management and organizational behavior. Several of these have been developed following the identification of two related dimensions in the literature, with meaningful titles then created for the four products. Readers are encouraged to search for additional ‘window models, as well as to develop their own from their knowledge of the literature. Table of Contents Volume 9, 1982 The Value of Conjoint Analysis in Enhancing Experiential Learning The Effect of Participation in a Collective Bargaining Simulation on the Expectations and Attitudes of Union and Management Representatives Conflict Resolution in Experiential Learning The Use of Simulation to Test Theories of Bargaining in a Business Context The Nominal Group Technique: A Vehicle for Improving Case Method Courses A Framework for Developing a Business Policy Case Produce Your Own Video Cases for Classroom Use: A Demonstration An Experiential Effect from Charismatic Encounters Nine Topic Oriented Mini Simulations: Descriptions, Purposes, and Observations A Hospital Simulator (HOSPSIM) A Report of the Model and Results Expected from Field Testing An Evaluation of SLIM (A System Laboratory for Information Management) An Experiential Exercise Introducing Students to the Role Ambiguity Faced by Salespersons The Advertising Research Project as an Innovative Experiential Learning Technique The Small Group Research Project: An Experiential Learning Approach for Undergraduate Marketing Research Students The Relationship of Cognitive Style Maps to the Preference for Experiential Learning of Undergraduate Students The Learning Style Inventory Debate Revisited: An Empirical Assessment fo the Construct Validity Issue Related to Experiential Learning Theory Conducting a Classroom to Facilitate Career Goal Attainment Corporation Executives' Ratings of Policy Learning Techniques The Generation and Application of Evaluation Criteria for Management Policy and Strategy Simulation Games Experiential Opportunities with Microcomputers Leading Students to Learning: The Teacher's Obligation An Experiment in Teaching Principles Courses: The Mini Debate Formula Developing Creative Thinking Through Experiential Learning Heuristic and Systematic Evaluation of Policy: Exercise in Decision Making A Case Study Approach for the Litigation Decision: Employing Decision Analysis to Determine When a Business Should Settle or Go to Court Learning Negotiation Skills Through Simulation Union vs. Management: A Simulation of Collective Bargaining in Action Inside the Black Box: An Analysis of Underlying Demand Functions in Contemporary Business Simulations A Review of Channel Exercises and the Description of a New Alternative SIMCON I: A computer Based Simulation Model for Evaluating Physical Distribution Strategies Involving Order Consolidation Toward Competency-Based Management Education: The Interpersonal/Communications cluster The Value of Pre-Teaching in Role Playing Some Effects of Positive Personal Reinforcement upon Socializing Students in an Experiential Learning Course Who Gains and Who Does Not from Experiential learning Toward the Ultimate Experiential Exercise, the Student View Simulating Professional Writing Experiences in the Classroom The Johari Window as a Measure of Personal Development Windows Into Management: A Participative Aid to Learning Get Your Faculty Involved A Pedagogical Approach to Business Gaming for the Commuter Student Super Service for Computer Game Administrators Expand the Role of Simulation with Creative Scenarios The Delivery, Administration, and Evaluation of an Executive Development Program Using a Total Enterprise Business Game An Application of Experiential Learning in International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment International Management: Building Bridges Analysis of a Business Simulation Exercise: Organizational Survival and Success The FALRIS Organizational Scavenger Hunt Trainee V. Trainee Subordinates' Evaluation of Experiential Learning Longitudinal Analysis of an Innovative Teaching Intervention Student Perceptions of Effective Teacher Behaviors Revisited Realism and Learning: The Evolution of a Management Game A Merger and Acquisition Simulation A Stock Market Investor Simulation Experiential Learning in Consumer Behavior: Perceptual and Attitude Change Exercises The Recycling Industry Problems of Women in Management: A Role Playing Exercise for a Course in Contemporary Organizational Problems Experimental Three Weekend Course: Empirical Results A Process for the Analysis and Development of Course Content and Instructional Methodology for Large Class Sections Problems Associated with the Assessment of Experiential learning Using the Multiple Choice Test Combining Lecture and Simulation Teaching Methodologies Qualitative Determinants of Team Performance in a Simulation Game The Effects of Different Team Sizes on Business Game Performance Comparison of Problem-Solving Technologies: A Free Simulation Approach Consistency in Business Games A computer Simulation of Personnel Selection Decisions Giving Praise Exercise Job Enrichment A Look at the Spoken and Written Word in Organizations A Pattern of Group Communication A New Generation in Business Simulation Adapting Mainframe Business Simulations to Min Computers File Access is the Essential Prerequisite to Time-Flexible and Interactive Computer Simulation A Microcomputer Simulation for Teaching Retail Location Strategy Blocks & Chips: A computer-Assisted, Geno-Typical Entrepreneurial Game Development of a Self-Paced Course in Business Statistics The Involvement of Student Bodies in the Teaching of Advanced Technical Concepts Systems Learning Sequence: An Experiential Course Module for Management Information Systems An Experiential Approach to Developing Managerial Competencies Communication Research, Inc. An Experiential Learning Activity Developed as a Practicum for a Course in Organizational Communication