THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ABSEL DURING THE 1980's Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ABSEL DURING THE 1980's Lane Kelley, University of Hawaii William David Brice, University of Hawaii ABSTRACT This paper will review the contributions to the experiential pedagogy during the 1980's by the Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning. A review of the proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the association will be used to establish patterns and significant contributions and trends. During part of this decade the Association with a partner, the North American Simulation and Gaming Association (NASAGA), also had its own journal, the Journal of Experiential Learning and Simulation, (JELS), published by Elsevier North Holland, Inc. The JELS was short lived; it actually was published for less than five years but was acclaimed and recognized by the profession. It won the award for the highest quality new journal in its first year, but in five years was gone. Some of the more senior members of ABSEL, at present, were on JELS first editorial boards of which there were four: 1. Editorial Review Board for Applied Social Sciences. 2. Editorial Review Board for Management Organizational Behavior. 3. Editorial Review Board for Marketing. 4. Editorial Review Board for Simulation. The other main source for publishing the research of the membership was the Proceedings. This paper will review both sources. THE 1980'S IN PERSPECTIVE During the early 1980's, ABSEL membership and attendance at its annual meetings were at approximately the same level as today. At the start of the decade, Experiential Learning was a relatively new and controversial teaching method. Research on pedagogy was not recognized by many of the research oriented major universities. This author in the mid 70's was advised by his chairman not to do this type research nor to author experiential textbooks. My research was later recognized with an ABSEL award for "Best Paper in the Experiential Area". The subsequent text, the first in Human Resource Management, went through 5 editions and was adopted at more than 500 colleges and universities. Two of the three authors of the first major organizational behavior experiential texts were no longer in universities even though the book was on the market for over 25 years and 6 editions. This bias is still evident today, with most of the ABSEL membership being from teaching oriented colleges and universities. In the 1970's a number of books that consisted of Organizational Behavior experiential exercises were published which dominated the market into the 1980's and even '90's. These included Kolb, Rubin, and McIntyre (1971); Knudson, Woodworth, and Bell (1973); Lau (1975); Vaughn and Deep (1975); Hall, Bowen, Lewicki, and Hall (1975); Finch, Jones and Litterer (1976); Katz and Rosenzweig (1976); and Morris and Sashkin (1976). In 1983, in order to ascertain the emphasis in management curriculums, we sampled the management departments of 100 U.S. business schools ("Experiential Methods in the Management Curriculum", NEWS AND VIEWS, ABSEL Vol. 5 (2), pp. 13). The management department was selected because it typically includes courses covering: 1) behavioral skills, 2) technical skills, and 3) business policy-the three aforementioned management functions. A total of 31 department of management chairpersons responded. The survey was not conclusive but the data certainly provided adequate information to indicate the direction in the department. The responses are divided into two groups: schools with undergraduate bodies of less than one thousand, and schools with a thousand or more undergraduates. When appropriate we examined the two groups to determine if 8 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 curriculum or teaching methods might be correlated to school size. Seventeen larger schools responded (graduate student enrollment up to 2500 students) and fourteen smaller schools responded (graduate bodies ranging from 50 to 800 students). A summary of the questionnaire findings follows. Organizational behavior was the most emphasized field of study in the management department in a remarkable 51% of the smaller schools. At the larger schools, departments were more divided on their emphasis: a technical course, operations management, was identified as the least stressed course at the smaller schools, while business policy was the least stressed at the larger, at less than 2%. Of further interest, this study polled the management department's involvement in the instruction of information systems, a very contemporary rapidly changing technical skill. The decisive conclusion was that management information systems were not stressed in the management department. MIS was emphasized in only a slim 6% of either school size, and was actually singled out as being the least emphasized in close to 30% of the smaller and 33% of the larger schools. The questionnaires revealed that all schools employed a spectrum of teaching methods: lecturing, cases, discussion and experiential exercises. Interestingly enough though, some respondents reprimanded their faculty as being "foot draggers" in the evolution. Not surprisingly, professors in schools with undergraduate student bodies of over a thousand lecture a little more frequently than those in the smaller schools (38% vs. 33% of class time respectively). The remainder of the time lecturing, cases and discussion are utilized in even proportion. Experiential exercises have gained popularity in all the management departments, with only one chairperson replying that exercises were not utilized. About 18% to 20% of class time was spent practicing these exercises. They allow the students to role play and actually experience for her/himself how she/he reacts in a given situation. Furthermore, the exercises provide the opportunity to observe how other individuals react. When the chairpersons were questioned about complaints from the students regarding this avant-garde learning experience the overwhelming response was that there were none. Most chairpersons did point out, however, that occasionally a few faculty members criticize or find some fault with the experiential approach to learning. Some chairpersons felt that eventually business schools would provide behavioral labs where students could have "hands on" opportunity in developing behavioral skills such as leadership, group decision making, and communication. Asked why these labs were not already established at our nation's business schools the consensus was: 1) lack of funding, and 2) available space. Very few respondents indicated a lack of interest to the prospect. Where labs were already in use, the respondents were very enthusiastic. Are behavior labs a wave of the future? Will more schools be able to provide this learning device to their students? The chairpersons were divided on their predictions. Some felt that neither adequate space nor funding will become available and that moreover, there was an absence of trained faculty to staff such labs. Furthermore, a very few professors were repulsed by the "touchy-feely" image of the labs, claiming they were not in keeping with the rigors of business school. Nevertheless, many respondents acknowledged existing student demand for behavioral labs and predicted such labs would be the wave of the future. Responses indicated high acceptance of this method by students, and that if there was a barrier, it was being created by other faculty. Interestingly, it was acceptable for those who experienced it and was criticized by those who didn't experience it. ABSEL CONTENT ANALYSIS RESULTS During the decade of 1980-89, ABSEL published in its two Publications, its yearly Proceedings and in its journal, the Journal of Experiential Learning and Simulation, a total of 649 articles. The number that we identified as Experiential declined steadily during the decade, from about forty-five percent in 1980 to about twenty-four percent in 1989, 9 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 averaging about thirty-two percent during the entire period. The overwhelming number of experiential articles were devoted to the two functional areas, Organizational Behavior and Management. Totals for the decade were 28 percent for OB and 16 percent for Management. Marketing articles accounted for 6 percent, HRM 2 percent, Finance 1 percent, Accounting 3 percent, International Business 3 percent, Cross Cultural areas 1 percent, General Business 5 percent, and non-functional areas accounted for 35 percent of the total. The disparities between the functional areas are undoubtedly due to the perception that experiential activities are most suited for behavioral rather than analytical subjects. Teaching Tools: Which experiential tools were used in the decade's 200 plus experiential articles? Role playing dominated with 37 percent; diagnostic instruments comprised 14 percent; case studies 7 percent; in-basket 2 percent and other made up 30 percent. Role playing dominated the Organization Behavior and Management area, with 47 percent in OB and 19 percent in Management. Given the increasing emphasis in consumer behavior during the 1980's, it is important to note the lack of marketing exercises given the learning opportunities using active teaching methods. Two other areas seem especially noteworthy. The first is the general lack of cross cultural and international business exercises. Given the increasing importance of both areas, the organization failed to gather the momentum that was certainly warranted. The last concerns the role of the teacher in insuring the success of exercises. Is it possible that certain personalities will be more effective with different teaching methods? Do experiential methods require an environment of greater trust, for example, for the student to experiment and provide feedback in activities. It would seem that the facilitator role would require a different set of interpersonal skills. Tying this to the previous point, is it possible that certain teaching methods are more suitable for different cultures also? CONCLUSIONS After a decade of research effort it appears to us that far too many situation-specific studies are being reported, the impact of our educational processes remain clearly understood, and our theoretical developments are lagging far behind the needs and developments of our society (Whatley and Hoffman). This critical statement was written more than 15 years ago and remained true through out the decade of the 1980's. Research at ABSEL is primarily a function of the association's annual meeting and its proceedings and so the research there is a function of the interests of individuals rather than the need for developing a body of knowledge and its foundation of research. This exercise will provide one step forward for the organization. It will provide a compilation of the abstracts of experiential articles with an index and table of contents. This should be a very useful resource and research tool for individuals interested in experiential exercises themselves or in research concerning its effectiveness. 10 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 11 11 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 12 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 13 - 13 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 14 14 Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 26, 1999 15 Table of Contents Volume 26, 1999 ABSEL's Historical Research Interests Back From the Future: An ABSEL Merlin Exercise for the Year 2005 The Contributions of ABSEL During the 1980's ABSEL's Contributions to Experiential Exercises in the 90's ABSEL's Contributions to Experiential learning/Experiential Exercises: The Decade of the 1970's Business Simulations - Algorithms and Model Enhancements: A 25 year Review A Study of the ETS General Field Test as an AACSB Assessment Tool and the Impact of Experiential Exercises and Simulation on Learning A Framework for Assessing the Competencies Reflected in Simulation Performance Developing A Learning Culture: Assessing Changes in Student Performance and Perception Financial Simulation Using Distributed Computing Technology Analyzing Managers' Judgements and Decisions with an Educational Business Simulation Understanding Your Business through Home-Made Simulator Development An Examination of a Reanalysis of the Impact of a Market Leader on Simulation Competitors' Strategies Applying Shocks to TE Simulations: A Demonstration Increasing Efficiency of Management Skill Assessment A Testbank for Measuring Total Enterprise Simulation Learning Developing Leadership Skills - Video Live! LEADSIMM: Collaborative Leadership Development for the Knowledge Society A Team Approach to Producing Multi-Media Laptop and Video Formatted Presentation Tinkertoys Revisited: Exploring Trust Based Relationships Overall Dominance in Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Success or Bankruptcy: The Relationship between Personal and Goal Orientation and Simulation Performance Assessing the Effects of Feedback: Muti-method and Muti-directions in Multi-pedagogical Courses The Missing Ingredients in Experiential Learning Purpose and Learning Benefits of Business Simulations: A Design and Development Perspective Building Capabilities for Change through Laboratory Simulations Modeling Innovation as a Process of Design in Educational Business Simulation The Need to Measurer variance in Experiential Learning and a New Statistic to do so Assessing Effectiveness of an Experiential Oriented Course Over Time Developing Participant Satisfaction Models of Experiential Exercises in Business Education Perceptions of Learning in TE Simulations Students' View on the Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Management Gaming's Lost Opportunity: Meditations about the Russian Experience and Prospects for the Future Unanticipated Enhancements in the Business Strategy and Policy Game when Running in Windows 95 Using a Business Game to Demonstrate Broad Business Concepts A New Model for Business Courses (Getting the Student Connected) Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Integrating Knowledge Using Large Scale Simulations in Capstone Business Strategy Classes Is It Here To Stay? A Roundtable Discussion of the Inter-Group Interaction Interactive Tools Used in Applying Financial Concepts Strengthening Essential Skills through a Finance Exercise: Calculation of Beta A Model of Currency Exchange Rates Understanding Currency Exchange Rates: A three-part Exercise Student Experiences in the World Intercollegiate Business Game Competition Student Experiences in the International-Collegiate Business Policy Game Competition Using Boards of Directors in Simulation Environments: Comments From Board Members Sharing Best Practices: Teaching Smarter, Not Harder Star Power: A Simulation for Understanding Power and Empowerment The Marketing Game: A Marketing Principles Simulation Alexander Islands: GSSM Tiny Business Simulator on the WWW Putting Strategy into Strategic Business Games Industry Analysis, Porter's Five Forces Model and Strategic Group Maps in the Business Strategy Game Simulation The Use of Concept Mapping to Improve Student Performance and Understanding of Strategic Management Concepts: A Comparison of Techniques Transformational thinking in the Organizational Behavior Course: The Use of Metaphor as an Assessment Tool Creation of a Virtual Learning Community for the Global Virtual Enterprise Project Inter Institutional use of Educational Resources: Joint Use of Management Simulation Games Business Insights: Theory and Practice with the Aid of a Business Simulation Progress: An Experiential Exercise in Development Marketing The ABC's of teaching the Theory of Constraints to Undergraduate Business Students Demonstrating Principles of Organizational Purchasing Behavior through an Experiential Exercise The Virtual Manager: A Different Simulation for Managing Complexity When the Rules are changing and Chaos Breeds Innovation: Recapturing the Value of Constructive Thinking and Play in Simulation Training The Pitfalls, and Potential, of Actual Events as Problem Drivers Using Business Games to teach Environmental Awareness and Green Management: The International Experience with the ENSIM Game A Review of my ABSEL-Related Work Simulation of Government: A Workshop Using GEO Creating Internet-Based Games Using Perl and JavaScript Who's on First? Exploring the Concepts of Problem-Based Learning, Experiential Learning, and Lifelong Learning Students Learn Customer Service and Selling while Conducting Research So You Want to Run an NFL Football Team–An Honors Interdisciplinary Project Supervised Internship: The Employer's Perspective Using Computer Assisted Simulation to Teach International Business Strategy: A Case of the Multinational Management Game (MMG) Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in China An Appreciative Stance on Diversity as We Move into the 21st Century: A Timeline Exercise to Identify Key Experiences in Good Work Relationships between Black and White Peers A Day in the Life of an Interactive, Real Time, and Internet Delivered Course: A Demonstration Comparing Internet Search Engines: An Experiential Learning Exercise Total Enterprise Simulations and the Internet: Assessing Student Perceptions and Preferences Teaching Accounting Information Systems in a Practicum Format Providing Experiential Learning in Accounting through a Field Study Payroll Project A Spreadsheet Based Business Simulation Game Computer-Behavioral Simulations Training for Project Managers Simulation Scenarios - Rationale and Illustration