This text book was written to help the instructor and the student solve todays business problems. Over 200 small and large businesses were consulted in determining the issues management teams are faced with. The exercises are organized to fit into a standard BAB curriculum. Text book recommendations are provided in each chapter. Solutions for the exercises are determined by the students using the best possible practices they can research.
The Team Exercise Guide to Business Education
Providing Team Exercises for the Business EducatorBy James C. MonkAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 James C. Monk
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-4910-2Contents
Chapter 1 Why practical exercises for teams, cross curriculum coordination, and SCANS?.........................1Chapter 2 Leadership in the practical exercise model...........................................................9Chapter 3 Introduction to Business.............................................................................23Chapter 4 Managerial Communications............................................................................57Chapter 5 Human Resource Management............................................................................87Chapter 6 Computers and Technology.............................................................................127Chapter 7 Conflict Resolution for Managers.....................................................................161Chapter 8 Business Law for Managers............................................................................201Chapter 9 Marketing for Managers...............................................................................257Chapter 10 Business Ethics for Managers........................................................................331Chapter 11 Organizational Management...........................................................................389Chapter 12 Contemporary Business Leadership....................................................................421Chapter 13 Business Strategy...................................................................................481Chapter 14 Business Capstone Seminar...........................................................................539Epilogue........................................................................................................549Annex 1 Cross curriculum ideas.................................................................................551Annex 2 Rubrics................................................................................................553Annex 3 Using (RFPs) Request for Proposals and (RFQs) Request for Quotes in the curriculum.....................559Annex 4 Objectives, outcomes, assessment forms.................................................................563Annex 5 Project ideas and samples of team projects.............................................................573Index...........................................................................................................575
Chapter One
Why practical exercises for teams, cross curriculum coordination, and SCANS?
There are many instructors of higher learning who might find it difficult and time consuming to integrate practical exercises into the class room curriculum. When asked if they see the value of practical exercises (PE) most instructors will recognize the need to bring the reality of meaningful practical exercise into the class room.
During an assessment survey we had asked our student body to name the most important concerns they have with our curriculum they are as follows:
The number one response was:
Make it practical, or (Make your curriculum apply to my work situation.) In other words make it real.
The number two issue was:
Don't bore me by lecturing for four hours about what I have already read in the text.
Number three was:
Students need to enjoy the learning experience.
And number four sighted was:
Reduce the redundancy in the curriculum and courses offerings.
One of the natural out growths of the student response comments was the understanding for the need for practical exercises in the curriculum.
The history of practical exercise instruction has a strong foundation in the model of instruction used by the U.S. Armed Forces. Their entire military curriculum is centered on a task, condition, standard demonstration model. Currently the instructional emphasis on what I call, "focused training", it amplifies a practical exercise demonstration model which is efficient and produces the desired results focused on the individual's ability to perform each required task to standard. The idea is you train on the skills you will need to use in the job you will be doing. Now if you're a Vocational Educator this is not a new concept. It might be a bit contrived if you're a university professor.
The practical exercises in this book are designed to provide the instructors with the opportunity to facilitate the students toward finding real solutions to real problems small and large business leaders face every day. No ground is sacred, no topic is off limits. If the issue is diversity, aids, sexual harassment, organizational effectiveness, ethics, or micromanagement it is addressed in this book.
My intent is not to provide the instructor with a roll play where the students read a script but to present the problem for solution within the cohort/class or team structure. Some of the exercises presented will lend themselves to a roll play scenario and could be easily modified by the instructor.
In most cases it will be beneficial to organize the class into small business operations with an assigned CEO, Vice President, operations dept, etc. It is important to understand that the students may learn more from watching the student CEO and department heads solving the problems and interacting with the class than they sometimes do listening to the instructor.
In the next chapter you will find some suggestions on organizing your cohort/class or teams in to a small business organization based upon the abilities of each class member's marketability skills or skill sets.
If the instructor decides not to insert the leadership component into the curriculum he or she will still find these exercises valuable. The instructor may want to have the whole class develop the answer to any given situation. Or he or she might decide to split the group into two competing companies and select the best solution to the exercise. In each chapter you will be offered a recommended model and variations for class organization to get the best results.
The facilitator may find there are too many exercises, to much to do or they frankly have to many or two few students. The quality and skill sets of the students in the cohort may not allow the facilitator to assign all of the exercises. I found it valuable to survey the student cohort/ class or team to find out what they thought they could handle before I taught the course. In most cases it was a 50/50 response. Most students thought they could do the exercises but they didn't think the whole cohort could do them.
The instructor may want to modify the exercises to accommodate the cohort. Some exercise scenarios I found were solved in very little time. Other exercises I thought were slam dunks and should be easy for the students took three classes to solve.
It is vital for the instructor facilitator to insure any exercise developed is valued by the team. In other words team assignments must be something the team cares about.
Cross curriculum coordination and Team Practical exercise
An additional challenge to our curriculum was to add cross curriculum coordination components. The leadership evaluation provides a natural continuum in the business curriculum. Here are a few comments and suggestions on using the practical exercises to enhance cross curriculum coordination.
Common sense inclusions for business BAB degrees for enhancing curriculum coordination are the SCANs skills.
These attributes are common sense skill sets desired by all employers. If you build a business protocol problem solving model addressing these skills into your courses you will have established cross curriculum coordination by default.
Building skills and habits in Team Curriculum
In order to establish some basic understandings of what our curriculum should contain. We need to look at skills and habits as indicated by the scans report.
Since statistically most people do not lose their jobs from lack of technical skills. It is in reality the habits that they have developed which cause them to be undesirable as employees.
In almost all positions of employment there are desired technical skills and desired interpersonal skills.
For example:
Perhaps some employees are too bureaucratic, act inflexible or they may lack a commitment to work in a team. In some cases, they are not able to set priorities or cope with stress or react appropriately in emergencies.
Here are some of the work habits that need to be inculcated into our curriculum:
Business acumen, adaptability, analysis, assertiveness, coaching, collaboration quality, compliance, conflict management, critical thinking, customer satisfaction, decision-making decisiveness, dedication, empathetic listening, empowerment, goal setting, information management, influence, innovations, integrity, leadership, managing change, Managing diversity, motivation, organizing, planning and scheduling, problem solving, sociability spoken , thinking, team building, versatility, vigilance and written communications.
For example:
Team projects in every course should require, problem solving, time management, leadership, task organization, censuses building, deadlines, presentation and written communications, participation, peer evaluation and feedback. All activities should reinforce good work habits.
In actuality this can be solved very simply by having each team present a power point team project, I call them manuals, in a standard formal written protocol format at the end of the course which includes:
1. Summaries of all text readings
2. Key elements of all five lectures
3. Individual assignments
4. Team assignments
5. Final exams and quizzes
The instructor simply says this is the team assignment; you work out how you will organize it, illustrate it, divide up the tasks, and do it. You may want to give students a format or you may elect to have them design it themselves. In the (Forms Annex) is a simple manual table of contents you might want to use.
This project also becomes a gradable portfolio item for each student providing an in depth summary of the course.
Now comes the real hard part for ivory tower instructors. Most of the failure in team projects revolves around a total lack of awareness on the part of the student regarding the standard they are to produce. The thing to remember is that no one ever did a WORSE job from knowing the standards. If you don't show them what they are expected to produce they will not produce it to your standard.
Intuitively they will seek to make their project better than the standard. This approach even encourages creative thinking, and out of the box solutions to the problems. A good exercise allows the student to find a solution based on research, skill sets, text books, peers, past experience. The hardest task the facilitator has is to guide the students to a possible solution without solving the problem for them.
(Some material taken from SCANS report)
Team Curriculum coordination through threads
I have identified four additional components or curriculum threads that I think will enhance the continuity of the educational program and add practical real world application to instruction.
Community service
Exercises which involve the various aspects of community service
Leadership lab
Exercises which involve student leadership experiences and evaluation
Organizational effectiveness
Those exercises which enhance the effective operations of a business (best practices)
Business problem solving
These are practical exercises that require the student to think critically to solve business problems.
It may also be described as student managed problem solving.
1. These exercises are facilitated by assigning the students or student a task.
2. Providing the conditions or resources to accomplish the task
3. Showing them the standard at which they will be held accountable.
(Task, condition and standard)
The course practical exercises in the text will have a thread identified in at the top of each exercise. (See exercises)
Chapter Two
Leadership in the practical exercise model
One of my objectives in writing this book is to provide the instructor and students with a model they could use in evaluating leadership rolls. If you haven't already guessed it, I think we have leaders and we have followers. Some students don't want to be leaders. Some can be developed into leaders and others are natural born leaders!
When I examined most of the current literature on leadership I found a lot of self analysis, self examination, self pity and, what kind of leader am I charts, bar graphs, and x/y axis graphics. I did not find a lot of helpful information on how do you assess a leader in a Business leadership role? I read, Joel Barker, Peter Senge, Steven Covey, Deming, Autry and a few I can't remember. Based upon 31 years of leadership experience some under some very intense challenges I found some simple axioms of leadership to use in evaluating leaders in leadership roles. You might want to call them components of leadership. If you will notice I have combined some elements for the simple reason that you must think harder about the combined component in order to evaluate the performance.
They are:
The leaders ability to communicate vision and intent
Leadership in planning and organizing at all levels
Management of delegation & abilities of the leader
The leaders problem solving and creative thinking
Initiative on the part of the leader to make it happen
Risk taking and decisiveness' in the leader
The leaders sound Judgment
Stress tolerance and persistence of the leader
Leadership using Adaptability, flexibility, and consideration
The leader's ability to take responsibility and maintain a keen awareness at all levels of operations. (From Army doctrine and student input)
I would like to share with you a few concepts and address these ten Components to explain why I feel they are important to evaluate in your student leaders. Remember when you evaluate components you are teaching them. The student becomes aware of their importance and to pay attention to what ever leadership elements he/she might be observing. Remember if the student reads it, observes it, writes about it, and teaches it, he or she will usually learn it. I like to show the students a leadership evaluation sheet before the class starts and provide them with the definition of each component they will be evaluated on. (ANNEX 4)
NOTE: If your student, OBSERVES IT, READS IT, WRITES IT, TEACHES IT, he or should REMEMBER IT.
The ability to communicate vision and intent
Most students find it awkward or uncomfortable to assume a leadership role. They are used to having the instructor (leader) spoon feed them from the text book. It is a systemic educational problem not easily over come. You should coach the student leader/CEO or department head to present the exercise or problem to his key staff members or his team members. The student leader should then give the team some time to reflect on the exercise then he or she should ask for suggestions to solve the exercise problem.
Once the input is processed by the leader he or she selects the best avenue for success and returns with the vision and intent that best accomplishes the exercise. The leader leads from the front offering encouragement guidance and assistance. The CEO/leader does not solve the exercise alone.
Written communication has been identified as one of the most neglected skill sets by today's business executives.
Hear are a few items that deserve particular attention:
Can the student write a readable, persuasive, complete document?
Is it appropriate for the intended audience?
Is the document incomplete or disorganized?
Dose the student use poor basic communication skills, making the message difficult to understand?
Is the material and tone appropriate for the audience?
Did they provide supporting evidence?
Do they convey the required information to the intended audience?
Is the information concise?
Dose the student paper or power point presentation include an introduction body and conclusion?
I often use an old organizational communication template from my Army instructor training course to provide students with a common foundation for papers and presentations.
It looks like this:
Welcome
Ice breaker
Administration
Overview
Goal
Scope
Purpose/thesis/enabling statement
Topics/body
Check for understanding/evaluation
Conclusion
A good practical exercise to use to check for the ability to communicate is the mission and vision practical exercise. This exercise is discussed in detail in chapter 12 the Contemporary Business Leadership course. It is important in reaching the learning objectives in each course to insure the CEOs vision and mission process is communicated to the entire class.
Planning and organizing at all levels
It is understood that most students will struggle with effectively prioritizing their own life. With the pressures involved with attending classes, working full time, dealing with a family and a variety of personal problems no wonder they have trouble in organizing. Some times it is apparent they are just overcome by events. I have suggested to more than one student they take a break from school to get their act together.
When your students have their basic survival needs threatened they just can't organize, prioritize or conduct activities of themselves or others.
If a student has little evidence of being capable of planning his or her own activities, content scheduling conflicts, and missed deadlines it is obvious they have no systematic approach to problem solving.
Here are a few items to help you in your evaluation:
Does he or she effectively prioritize, plan, conduct activities of self and staff/team?
Is there evidence of planning and organizing activities?
Can you detect a systematic approach to problem solving?
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Team Exercise Guide to Business Educationby James C. Monk Copyright © 2009 by James C. Monk. Excerpted by permission.
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