Managing Organizations: Experiential MBA Course Teaches Alternatives to the Machine Model Page 169 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 38, 2011 ABSTRACT The nineteenth-century industrial or “machine” model for managing organizations remains the dominant structure in America today. Productivity, worker satisfaction, and America’s place in a global economy suffer as an end re- sult of using this structure – aside from the ethical issues associated with treating people as replaceable parts of a machine. This MBA program offers a course that teaches alternatives to the industrial model based on the work of Argyris, Herzberg, McGregor and others. The course con- cepts include how motivation differs from movement in- duced by rewards, and why factors that give satisfaction (such as achievement and recognition rather than material) are long-lasting, more fulfilling, and motivate people more. The course is set up so students personally experience the course concepts. Students work individually on self- analysis, reflection and experience. Students complete an in -depth personal motivation paper. In groups, they use a group project to experience first-hand how course concepts including theories of leadership, conflict management, and decision-making work in a real-life situation. Students plan and teach the class an approved experiential learning exer- cise of their choice. The exercise is of secondary impor- tance to the primary focus of understanding and experienc- ing group processes. Desired outcomes for the course in- clude developing awareness and learning the value of a new organizational structure based on course concepts – and learning how meeting the needs of the self and others benefit the individual and the organization. Students set their own learning goals on the first day, and this becomes an integral part of the course. We may conduct an experiential exercise relating to course concepts, depend- ing on time and other constraints. INTRODUCTION The traditional university model assumes that the profes- sor’s job is to transfer knowledge to the student in a top- down manner. The philosophy that inspired this course rejects that model and is instead grounded in the idea that teachers and students are “co-producers of learn- ing” (Murrell & Braxton, 2010). Equally important is that people need to understand why they do things themselves if they are to understand others. Since Organizational Behav- ior is concerned primarily with issues of human interaction, this is critical for people who will be managing organiza- tions. This course is designed so that students experience the course concepts themselves. Additionally, they have a good deal of control over what they learn. The course is required for the MBA program, although students from other graduate programs often experience the course. COURSE LEARNING PHILOSOPHY The professor in the traditional university model is not considered an equal party in the learning process. By his position of dominion over a class, there is an inherent inequality that makes the student feel like a subject. The philosophy of this course is that the student needs to have an active part in the learning process which involves ex- periencing the concepts as much as possible. The course mixes theory with application. There are scheduled class meetings like traditional courses, but otherwise the course design, specific material learned, and outcome is deter- mined by the students (course concepts relate to manage- ment and organizational issues). The “class evolves from the needs and contributions of those engaged in the proc- ess” (Murrell & Braxton, 2010). The reason for this is to simulate a real-world organizational model with the class – complete with all the complexities of personalities, motiva- tion, roles, and other variables that students will face in the real world. An in-depth paper on personal motivation early in the course forces students to face up to what their core motivations and beliefs are, and to analyze why they have those motives and beliefs. In some cultures, many people already have this kind of self-awareness by the time they are adults. For many who take this course, however, it will be the first time they have done a probing analysis of them- selves. The course will be difficult for some – not so much in terms of workload or concept difficulty, but because it is often uncomfortable for people who have done little self- MANAGING ORGANIZATIONS: EXPERIENTIAL MBA COURSE TEACHES ALTERNATIVES TO THE MACHINE MODEL Scott A. Noble University of West Florida san12@students.uwf.edu Kenneth L. Murrell University of West Florida kmurrell@uwf.edu mailto:san12@students.uwf.edu mailto:kmurrell@uwf.edu Page 170 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 38, 2011 reflection and little deep, probing, self-analysis to begin doing so as adults. It has been extensively argued that managers need to be able to function under stress and under uncertain cir- cumstances. Therefore, it is by design that the course pro- vides these circumstances for the students to Table of Contents Volume 38, 2011 Simulated Tabletop Exercise for Risk Management - Anti Bio-terrorism Scenario Simulated Tabletop Exercise From Business Games to Simulations - Simuworlds & Microworlds Demand Equation Redux: The Design and Functionality of the Gold/Pray Model in Computerized Business Simulations Managing Client-Based Learning: Insights from Successful Teaching Project Courses in Marketing Tracking Forecast Error Type, Frequency and Magnitude with the Forecast Error Package Responding to Facilitate Collaboration Simulating Sudden Change and the Value of Timely Information Managing Human Resources Simulation A Study on Collectivism and Group Decision-Making: An International Comparison of Japan, China, and Russia Using a Gaming Simulation The Use of Management Games in the Management Research Agenda Gaming On-Line: A Simulation Application Positioning and Performance in Simulated Networks Supply Chain Management: A Simulation Application Simulation as a Teaching Method in Strategic Management Distance Studies Entrepreneurship: A Game of Risk and Reward Phase II: The Start-Up Return to the Paradise Islands: From Confrontation to Cooperation Effect on Market Performance of Displaying Supply and Demand Curves in a Business Simulation Appreciating Complexity: The Chief of Staff of the Army Game Managing Organizations: Experiential MBA Course Teaches Alternatives to the Machine Model A Simulation Model for Analyzing the Night-Time Emergency Health Care System in Japan The Continuing Evoluation of Assessing Project Management as an Academic Learning Outcome (ALO) Should College Instructors Change Their Teaching Styles to Meet the Millenial Student? The Mouse Game and its Effects on Team Interdependence Learning from the Gulf Oil Spill to Prepare for a Brighter Future: A New Game Engaging Stake Holders in Triple Bottom Line Accounting & Strategic Planning Video Killed the Biblio Star: The Impact of Digital Media on Student Learning Outcomes Exploring Motivation: Using Emoticons to Map Student Motivation in a Business Game Exercise An Alternative to PC and Internet Based Simulations: The Internet Integrated Mode MiddleState University -- A Crisis in Education Complexity Avoidance, Narcissism and Experiential Learning Examining the Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor Dimensions in Management Skill Development Through Experiential Learning: Developing a Framework A Situational Leadership Exercise Based on the Biology of a Starfish JOGAI CEFET -- The Industrial Administration Undergraduate Game Would You Take a Marketing Man to a Quick Service Restaurant? Modeling Corporate Social Responsibility In A Food Service Menu-Management Simulation Use of a Simulation in a Large Class Environment for a Marketing Principles Class: A Qualitative Analysis of Whether Learning Objectives were Met A Team Based Information Literacy Exercise ABSEL Marketing Communications Plan An Interdisciplinary Study of the Impact of Playing a Marketing Simulation Game on Student Knowledge of Management Accounting/Finance Principles Analyzing Construction Planning of Interiro Finish Work of Apartment Building by Simulation Doing Murder One Again The Simple Business Game and Simulation Transfering the Knowledge of Middle Management to Novices Infectious Disease Simulation Model for Estimation of Spreading Understanding the Relative Influence of Several Factors in ERP Simulation Performance: An Exploration of Ecological Validity Tragedy of the Commons: An Exercise Using Clickers to Illustrate and Teach a Key Concept in Negotiations The Meaning of Firm Demand in Business Simulations If the Games Work, Why Aren't More Faculty Willing to Play? Those Who Do and Those That Don't: A Study of Engaged and Disengaged Business Game Players