THE DELIVERY, ADMINISTRATION, AND EVALUATION OF AN EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM USING A TOTAL ENTERPRISE BUSINESS GAME Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 162 PANEL THE DELIVERY, ADMINISTRATION, AND EVALUATION OF AN EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM USING A TOTAL ENTERPRISE BUSINESS GAME J. Bernard Keys, Memphis State University ABSTRACT This paper will include a review of a system of training for executives utilizing a simulation which has been developed with several corporations. After the presentation of the paper, several respondents will reply to the paper by suggesting modifications they may have used to this approach. ORGANIZING THE SIMULATION EXPERIENCE The approach used in the system is given below. (l) A total enterprise simulation such as The Executive Simulation (2) is handed out to the participants approximately two weeks prior to start of game play. (3) The participants are instructed to read the game materials and be prepared to enter into a decision-set or exercise on the specified date. On that particular date, teams are given their assignments, organized Into groups of four to five people each, with each team including a good balance of various disciplines within the group. The administrator then reviews the basic variables of the simulation utilizing overhead projections of the decision sheet and the financial statements to be printed out by the computer. In the first session of approximately 90 minutes, teams are required to make a trial decision-set. The decision- set is reviewed at the next session and the teams are then allowed to start over at zero position and complete the first real decision-set. The above process continues running on a weekly basis until at least two full years (eight real decisions) are completed. During each participant meeting, general feedback about the team performance is provided, hints are given about ways to improve certain ratios, and decision areas and lecturettes are prepared from the readings provided in The Executive Simulation. At the end of year 1, more complete information is provided about team standings. At the end of year 2, two of the better performing teams are chosen and a management audit is performed on their results. This process avoids embarrassment for Losing teams and focuses teams on learning rather than defense of poor results. The audit includes an analysis of their liquidity ratios, leverage ratios, and activity ratios in the financial areas. They are compared on marketing ratios such as marketing expense, selling, advertising, and R & D relative to sales. Their profitability ratios are also compared. A summary of all of these ratios is presented on overhead projections for both teams, ratio by ratio, and compared with industry averages for national manufacturing ratio percentages. ENCOURAGING LEARNING THROUGH FEEDBACK Several different approaches have been used to encourage reflective learning while teams are engaged in a simulation. For example, teams are often required to write their overall objectives before coming to the first session and to review and rewrite these at the end of year 1. What using The Executive Simulation teams are required to complete the planning sheets included in the game manual: a policy and strategy worksheet, a sales forecasting sheet, a production schedule work sheet, a budgeting or proforma work sheet, and a funds flow forecasting work sheet. Teams are encouraged to continue their assignment of completing each work sheet and to do all the work possible on these sheets prior to the joint session. PROVIDING KNOWLEDGE OF NEW CONCEPTS One of the clients with whom I have worked has now implemented tape recordings of mini-lectures in which they review various corporate activities and explain the way to complete each of the planning sheets. This allows various team members to “gear up’ early for proficiency in different functional areas simultaneously. Prior to this, lectures had to be spaced throughout the game play. The team members the rotate the assignments of the simulation so that each one learns how to complete all the planning sheets and listens to the other mini-lectures. It should be noted that the planning set sequence used is the complete sequence of corporate planning at the policy level. Various time frames have been utilized with the different client groups over the past ten years. The most typical one is to have teams meet once per week at that corporate headquarters for a decision-set and lecture. The printouts are then returned during the week. Although this facilitates scoring and evaluation, it is difficult to keep class interest and momentum going for such a long period of time. When executives can be released for a week of intensive game play, learning is accelerated but game administration is demanding. The taped mini-courses facilitate the administrator’s work and allow intelligent game play while various team members are learning. The paper presentation will include illustrations of lecture materials and end-of-game evaluations. REFERENCES (1) Keys, J. Bernard, “The Management of Learning Grid for Management Development,’ The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, April, 1977, pp. 289-297; “Toward the ‘Compleat’ Management Development Training Program,” Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Meeting, Academy of Management, August, 1973. (2) Keys, Bernard and Howard Leftwich, The Executive Simulation, (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1977). (3) For a review of total enterprise games, see, J. Bernard Keys, “A Review of Total Enterprise Business Games,” The Guide to Simulation/Games, Fourth Edition, Robert E. Horn (Editor), Didactic Systems, Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 9, 1982 163 Inc., 1979. For an international version used by some of the respondents, see Edge, Alfred G., Bernard Keys, and William E. Remus, The Multi- national Management Game, (Dallas, Texas; Business Publications Inc., 1980) 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