FORMING PARTICIPANT TEAMS IN SIMULATION CANES Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 107 FORMING PARTICIPANT TEAMS IN SIMULATION CANES Toni F. Badgett, Texas Christian University ABSTRACT Several options are available to administrators in forming participant teams in simulation gaming. These options include: (1) random selection, (2) participant selection, and (3) balanced-selection procedures. The key evaluation criteria in choosing a selection strategy include: (1) competitiveness, (2) peer relations, and (3) realism. This paper postulates that balanced- selection procedures yield significant advantages as compared to alternative methods. INTRODUCTION The options that an administrator has in forming teams include: (I) random selection, (2) participant selection, and (3) balanced-selection procedures. Random selection is accomplished by a variety of objective procedures for assigning individuals to specific teams. For example, the administrator could assign a number to each participant and then consult a table of random numbers for the formation of each team’s participants. A second option available to the administrator is to instruct participants to form the teams among themselves. A third procedure or option in forming teams is to attempt to balance the composition of each team so that the teams are as nearly equal to each other as possible. Under the balanced-selection procedure the administrator first determines a set of criteria that are thought to be important in being successful in the simulation exercise. Teams of, say, four members each competing against all other teams to a business policy simulation might be regarded as balanced if all teams had a marketing major, a management major, a finance major, and an accounting major. In addition, secondary criteria such as grade point average, prior experience with other simulation games, the number of hours worked each week, and the like could be incorporated into the selection model in a stepwise fashion. CURRENT SITUATION A convenience sample of twelve administrators was interviewed to determine these administrators’ practices regarding the formulation of simulation teams. Seven respondents reported that they followed the participant self- selection method. Four reported using some form of random or objective procedure. Only one administrator reported following a balanced-selection procedure. CRITERIA A number of criteria should be taken into consideration when evaluating the three basic options in assigning participants to simulation teams. Among these criteria are: (1) competitiveness, (2) peer relations, and (3) realism. The first criterion, competitiveness, concerns the degree to which each team is able to compete effectively during the simulation exercise. A team made up of four highly- motivated and successful participants competing against a team of four persons below average in talent and/or motivation will probably not be a fair match up. Peer relations are a second important criterion. Hostile intragroup relations affect the group’s ability to compete as a team; cohesive groups stand the best chance of working together harmoniously. Likewise important is the degree of realism present in the exercise. Project groups are typically formed in industry and government by the administrator. Group members are assigned to projects and tasks by using such criteria as the areas of specialization required for the project, experience, past track record, availability for the project, and the ability to work with other designated group members. EVALUATION The three criteria defined above were used to evaluate the options available for assigning participants to the various teams in a simulation exercise. The first criteria, competitiveness of the teams in a simulation exercise, favors balanced-selection procedures. Participant self-selection is the worst possible option if the objective is equity in competition. This occurs because participants often know the relative strengths and weaknesses of various members in the group. Good talent is attracted to each other; poorly- prepared Individuals likewise find themselves drawn together when group members are merely told to form their own groups. Random selection procedures fall in the middle with respect to the degree of competition likely present in the simulation. Peer group relations favor participant selection. Random selection procedures have an unknown effect on group relations. The realism criterion also favors balanced-selection procedures. Work or project groups are rarely, if ever, formed on a purely random basis. Likewise, self- selection of project teams is seldom found in industry or government. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS Balanced-selection procedures are favored when competitiveness and realism are important dimensions of the simulation exercise. Peer relations are likely to be best when teams are allowed to form informally; however, good relations are likely to develop and continue during the course of the simulation when the teams are well balanced. Moreover, it is postulated herein that a balanced-selection procedure is the logical option for most simulation exercises. The current situation finds many administrators following participant-selection procedures that violate the evaluative criteria presented herein. Table of Contents Volume 7, 1980 Symbol Recognition and Correlation for Evaluating Decision Making in Computer Aided Business Simulations Polanal: An Experiential Approach to Decision Support The Use of Time Contracts in Formal Education Indexing Simulation Model Response for Gaming Flexibility Moving Toward A Theory of the Use of Simulation Games and Experiential Exercises Use of Simulation Administration to Achieve Pedagogical Objectives Experiential Learning on the Job - A Business Internship Program Toward the Ultimate Experiential Exercise A Learning Through Managing Program Workshop Using Experiential Materials in Industry Training Sponsored Experiential Learning - An Opportunity Problems and Pitfalls of Externally Sponsored Field Research Projects Viewed form an Experiential Learning Perspective A Modular Approach to Experiential Learning: Classroom & Consulting Using Simulation & Experiential Learning In Industrial Settings Terminations: An Experiential Review Agenda Items -- Board of Supervisors' Meeting - Town of Jori The Objective-Setting Interview in MBO: An Experiential Approach The All-Star World Series Team Exercise: an Experiential Learning Exercise Dealing with Various Organizational Behavior Issues Progress Report on global, A Rich Multinational Gaming Environment Computer Simulation: A Tool to Teach Queuing Theory New Technology for Business Games Technological Frontiers in Computer Simulations for Business Education Simulating the Product Life Cycle on Interactive Terminals On Compensatory Demand Functions in Marketing Simulations The Use of Games at Different Levels in a Single Marketing Course to Increase Game Participation Sun Airlines: A Heterogeneous Consumer demand exercise Incorporating a Group Selection Test An Organization Development Approach to Teaching Organization Behavior CBID: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Interpersonal Development - A Skill Development/Social Learning Approach to Management Development Using a Live Case Via Video Tape A Town and gown Approach Development of Student Generated Cases Using Computerized Text Editing and Database Technology Interdisciplinary Approached to Problems in Utilizing Experiential Techniques To Use or Not To Use Experiential Techniques, That's is the Question Forming Participant Teams in Simulation Gaming The Problems of Motivating Students and Clients in Live-Case Projects Problems of Teaching Leadership Skills Through Experiential Techniques Conflict Style Measurement: Antecedent to Change - A Proposal for an Experiential Exercise Demonstration Fundamentals of Simulation for Newcomers An M.B.A. Orientation Simulation for Managing Time and the Areas of One's Life SimNet Workshop: The International Simulation Network Demonstrates Three New Business Games The Use of a Simulation Model in the Planning and Evaluation of Commercial Bank Operations Probability Assessment and Performance in Business Game Simulations WageSim: A Wage and Salary Administration Simulation Grading as a Teaching and Feedback Mechanism: Modifying Student's Self-Perceptions of Performance Can Business Games Effectively Teach Business Concepts? Development of Multiple Value Orientations in Conflict Resolution Behavior: An Experiential Teaching Paradigm in Labor-Management Relations Course Designing a Competency-Based Peer Assessment Scale for the Evaluation fo Teaching in Higher Education A Method for Evaluating Information for the Equipment Replacement Decision: An Application of Monte Carlo Simulation Simulation: A Method of Appraising Communication Networks in Managerial Decision Making An Evaluation of In-Class Student Involvement Evaluation of the SBI Program from an Experiential Viewpoint: Focus on the Student Differential Predictors of Academic Performance for White and Non-White Samples The Manager's Dilemma: An Unobtrusive Measure of the managerial Sex-Role Stereotype Are Computer Simulations Sexist? The Effect of Group Size on Attitudes Toward the Simulation Associations Between Individual Cognitive Processing Variables and Business Game Performance and Play Students' Perceptions on Managerial Functions After Exposure to Either the Case Method or a Simulation What Business Students Learn from Finance Simulations Attitude Toward Experiential Exercises, The Student-Teacher Relationship, Student Psychological Types, and Performance An Example of How to Design a Research-Based and Classroom-Effective Organizational behavior Exercise Some Issues in Game Design Untested Hypotheses: An Approach to Experiential Learning Evaluation of Simulation Games: A Critical Look at Past Efforts and Future Needs Is Self-Perception Predictable? - Some Laboratory Results An Exercise in Conflict-Handling Behavior The Relationship Between Group Size and the Learning Curve Effect in a Gaming Environment Learning About Organizational Management Through Organizational Management: Closing the Gap Strategies, Managerial Approaches, and Decision Making in a General Management Simulation A Comparison and Evaluation of Similar and Dissimilar Group Scenarios Generated Using Manual Simulation Games Weaknesses of Research Methods in Experiential and Simulation Studies