Recreating the Arsenal of Venice: Using Experiential Activities to Teach the History of Management

Abstract

In works by Van Fleet and Wren and by Smith, a strong case is made for including a greater emphasis on the historical aspects of management in undergraduate introductory-level management courses. This article builds on these two works by providing specific experiential activities to assist instructors who wish to offer more depth to their classroom discussions on the history of management. Specifically, three exercises are provided that address key managerial concepts such as the assembly line, interchangeable parts, team building, the Hawthorne Effect, and the four functions of management. In addition, the first part of the article reiterates the importance of including more management history in an undergraduate principles course. Two appendices offer additional experiential activities and a brief timeline of management history milestones.

Teoría General de la Administración y organizaciones basadas en el conocimiento: Un acercamiento

“…Shewhart (1986) ubicó el comienzo del control de la calidad cuando los ingenieros incorporaron la técnica del gráfico de control estadístico; no obstante, estimó que los vestigios del control de la calidad pueden remontarse hasta el tiempo en que la especie humana elaboró y utilizó las primeras herramientas de piedra; aunque existe también la hipótesis de que los egipcios hicieron y utilizaron arcos y flechas intercambiables, con cierta limitación. Las partes intercambiables existieron en el Arsenal de Venecia en 1436 donde se utilizó una cadena de montaje y partes intercambiables (Austin, 2010); no obstante, el concepto de partes intercambiables solo apareció hasta alrededor de 1787, cuando hubo la pretensión de piezas exactas; ese hito significó el estudio de la producción en masa. La aplicación del conocimiento para resolver problemas fue observable cuando hubo que enfrentar el nivel de producto defectuoso aunado al costo que ello implicaba y el tamaño de la muestra pertinente para establecer parámetros de calidad.…”

Understanding Resistance to Change: An Experiential Exercise

“…Experiential learning encourages adult learners to become actively involved (Dachner & Polin, 2016), and it provides a means to generate practical examples to reflect on the emotional, relational, and power dynamics of organizational change (Bridgman, 2020; Larsen, 2004; Reynolds & Vince, 2007). Experiential learning is a perfect vehicle for teaching change management since it calls for application of several skills such as problem solving, managing stakeholders’ needs and expectations, and communicating to manage resistance to change (Lewis & Grosser, 2012; Stovall, 2010).…”

The Change Game

“…In particular, open-ended experiences that allow students to creatively solve problems can lead to engaged classroom discussions, (e.g., Caza,Caza,& 674 Journal of Management Education 36(5) Lind, 2011;Stovall, 2010). Experiences can lead to active learning, resulting in a greater skill development and understanding of how to apply materials (Smart & Csapo, 2007).…”

“…Concrete experiences followed by reflection and application can greatly enhance the learning process in many situations (e.g., Kolb, 1984; Smart & Csapo, 2007). In particular, open-ended experiences that allow students to creatively solve problems can lead to engaged classroom discussions, (e.g., Caza, Caza, & Lind, 2011; Stovall, 2010). Experiences can lead to active learning, resulting in a greater skill development and understanding of how to apply materials (Smart & Csapo, 2007).…”