EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE ON VALUES, ATTITUDES AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning, Volume 4, 1977 353 EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE ON VALUES, ATTITUDES AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR Albert S. King, Northern Illinois University LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. To shed light on the process by which effects of inconsistent or discrepant communication vary among and between class members. 2. To become more aware of the relationship between attitudes and behavior and understand our own reactions to conflict and ambiguity. 3. To sharpen our insights about the nature of the conflict between individual and organization. ADVANCE PREPARATION Read the theoretical overview. Do not read further until all group and class members have met in open session on the exercise. It is necessary that all members participate in the exercise together. THEORETICAL OVERVIEW Learning theorists maintain that an individual’s cognitive structure (beliefs, attitudes, values and feelings) may be balanced or unbalanced. A cognitive (or affective) structure of attitude is balanced when it contains elements that “mesh” or “fit together.” It is unbalanced when the elements are seen as “not being consistent with each other.” In an unbalanced state, the individual will experience dissonance or tension and will seek to relieve the tension or imbalance. The psychological concept of cognitive consistency has been widely explored in numberous experimental contexts under studies dealing with attitude dissconance and consonance. The exercise to be conducted here is designed to focus attention on differences in how you and other members respond to conflicts in organizational behavior. In so doing, you will be better prepared to assess the conflict between individual traits and organizational demands. Hopefully, by understanding your own reaction to conflict compared to that of other members, New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning, Volume 4, 1977 354 you will gain much stronger insight into the many problems of coping with individual adjustment to organizational controls and change. This exercise will focus on both reactions to conflict (i.e., mode of conflict resolution) and ones own behavioral orientation in organizations, as well as the relationship between them. For the best effect, it is necessary for members to proceed together. PROCEDURE Step 1. Fill out the “reaction to discrepant information” questionnaire. Step 2. Complete the “cognitive temperament” questionnaire by estimating where your attitude is along the continua for “specificity-generality” and “reaction-reflection.” Write A for attitude at the appropriate point on the continuum. Step 3. Place an S (structure) on the “context continuum” at a point representing what kind of an organization setting you prefer to be in (closed-open). REACTION TO DISCREPANT INFORMATION QUESTIONNAIRE Please read each statement and check only one answer that best applies in the box at the left. (These may appear somewhat awkward; however, remember there are no “right” or “wrong” answers--only your experience. Work quickly.) New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning, Volume 4, 1977 355 New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning, Volume 4, 1977 356 New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning, Volume 4, 1977 357 New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning, Volume 4, 1977 358 Write R (for mode of resolution) at the point on the evaluation scale represented by your total score. Total score for reaction to discrepant information: 7 Reject the assertion, e.g., “That is not true.” 14 Discredit the assertion, e.g., “Qualities of understanding yourself and others do not result in being less sensitive and flexible. 21 Refute the assertion, e.g., “Qualities of understanding yourself and others result in being more sensitive and flexible.” 28 Reinterpret the assertion, e.g., “This happens when individuals are inappropriately suited to job requirements.” New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning, Volume 4, 1977 359 35 Tolerate the assertion, e.g., “This is possible; however, the notion needs more qualification and specification of circumstances.” Score interpretations based on second question of Discrepant Information Questionnaire and total is based on all seven questions. Step 5. Mark all of your responses to the “discrepant information,” “cognitive temperament,” and “context continuum” on the scales below. Compare S (preferred structure), A (for cognitive attitudes of style) , and R (for mode of resolution to cognitive conflict). Discuss the results in groups and with the total class. a. Identify specific organizational experiences (your experience with conflict situations in organizations) that may have influenced your S (preference for structure), A (attitude for “specificity-generality” and “reaction-reflection”), and R (mode of resolution) scores. What is your individual pattern of response along these dimensions? Explain. b. Is there a general pattern for your group as a whole? For example, is the R (mode of resolution score) typically to the left of A (attitudes) and S (structure) scores? c. Note that assertion no. 7 of the “Discrepant Information Questionnaire” is different from assertions 1-6. Do group members have similar responses to no. 7 and differ for assertions 1-6? What factors might account for the results? New Horizons in Simulation Games and Experiential Learning, Volume 4, 1977 360 d. Discuss specific examples of organizational situations that you have observed where expressed preferences for structure (S) and attitudes (A’s) seemed to differ from actual modes of conflict resolution (R). To what do you attribute these differences? e. Identify and evaluate the forces in an organization that may make it difficult for us to translate our professed attitudes and preferences into actual behavior. DISCUSSION Did your results on the questionnaires fit one of the general patterns here? What specific pattern did you obtain and what might account for the results? Numerous possible interpretations arise and several criticisms are apparent in evaluating this exercise. Table of Contents Volume 4, 1977 Double Play for Gaming Effectiveness Adaptive Rule Changes in Computer Simulation Gaming Œ A Means of Pedagogical Reactive Interchange Monte Carlo Simulation in Personnel Management Training Teaching About the Implementation of Job Redesign Using Simulation and Group Discussions An Interactive Simulation of Private Sector Collective Bargaining Leadership Evaluation and training through Behavioral Simulations: Method, Results and Future An assessment of the Effect of Experiential, Simulation and Discussion Pedagologies Used in Laboratory Sections of an Introductory Management Course An Experiential Understanding of the Trust Dimension Using Consulting Cases to teach Business Policy An Experimental Testing of Teaching Methodologies in Marketing Interpersonal Skill Development: The Experiential Training Unit (ETU) and Transfer of Training An Analysis of the Relationship between Personality characteristics and Preferred Styles of Learning Analysis of Effective Communication Skill Development in Graduate Business and Engineering Experiential Education Changing Perceptions of Learning in a Simulated Environment Student Perceptions: Simulation and the Corporate Policy Course Degree of Uniformity in Achievement Motivation Levels of Team Member: Its Effect on Team Performance in a Simulation Game Channel Conflict, Cooperation and Control: an Experiential Learning Exercise Differences in Experiential and Non-Experiential Learners' Reactions to Conflict between Individual and Organizations Behavior The Evolution and Evaluation of a Required, Senior-Level Course in Experiential Business Applications Building Management Skills through Problem Solving A Live-Case Approach to the Business and Society Course Experiential Learning: Toward the Development of a Theoretical Base and the Identification of Variables and the Hypotheses to Guide Research The Role of the Administrator in Experiential Learning and Simulations Some Thoughts on a Theory of the Use of Games and Experiential Exercises Three Applications of the Management of Learning Grid An Analysis of ABSEL: Its Past Achievements and Future Prospects New Horizons in Simulation Research Prediction of Academic Achievement in a Simulation Mode via Personality Constructs Sex Differences in a Bargaining Simulation COM-GAME: A Commodity Trading Game for Use in an Introductory Business Statistics Course A Financial Institution Management Game with Direct Participant Interactions A Non-Computerized Marketing Planning and Strategy Game Delphi in the Classroom: A Demonstration of Forecasting Economic Activity The Potential of Programmable Calculators for Processing Small Business Simulations Can a Small Predominantly Clack University Incorporate the Computer Simulation Gaming Teaching Methodology into it Curriculum Measuring the Effect of an Experiential Exercise Experiential Learning - Analysis of a Partial Success Predicting Participants' Performance and Reactions in an Experiential Learning Setting: An Empirical Investigation A Simplified, Non-Computerized Marketing Channels Game Manufacturers and Retailers: A Negotiation Game for Beginning Management Students Petroleum Management Game A Securities Dealer Simulator SIM ECO SOC with Business Curriculum Modules: A Simulation for Business Ethics and Morals The Picnic: A Perceptual Errors Exercise Salt III; an Experiential Exercise to Highlight the Interpersonal Dynamics Involved in the Negotiation Process Experiential Exercise on Values, Attitudes and Conflict Resolution in Organizational Behavior Kick'N Go: A Product Management and Social Responsibility Dilemma The Use of Self-Assessment Work-shops in a school of Business Administration The Dilemma of Self-Perception