Survey Research Project: a Highly Interdependent Group Task

Abstract

Many experiential management and organization behavior classes require that students participate in an ongoing workgroup that is faced with the necessity of completing a variety of tasks, dividing work, making decisions, and rewarding performance. These groups serve as vehicles for learning about organization behavior firsthand and create opportunities for developing managerial skills.Typically, two kinds of activities are assigned to these groups. The first includes structured in-class exercises that highlight relevant course material. For example, the familiar NASA Lost in Space exercise and its many derivatives are used to compare individual versus group problem solving strategies. In the second kind of activity, student workgroups are assigned projects to complete out of class and are required to submit a final product that is graded. These group projects may include, for example, case analyses, oral presentations on a selected topic and observation exercises in which groups may go to fast-food firms and study the impact of technology on internal operations. Our emphasis here is on the second type of activity.These projects serve two useful purposes. First, they provide substantive learning through problem analysis or in-depth study of a relevant organization behavior topic. Second, they challenge group members to organize themselves for completing the project. Groups must confront the dilemmas of coordinating individual contributions, resolving conflicts, and motivating members. Through this, participants accumulate data on how they function as a group. These data are often used for process discussions and analyses done on an ongoing basis or later in the term.We have observed a significant weakness in these projects. Namely, while the properties of interdependence should be highlighted, it is often artificially contrived, imposed by the evaluation system rather than by the task requirements. For example, having groups write case analyses entails minimal skill differentiation. Often the problems experienced in doing such projects do not center on actual task accomplishment but rather on devising ways to give each member a piece of the action, a result of strong normative pressures for equal participation and of an evaluation system based on individual contributions.While the intent of such projects is to learn about the payoffs that can at DALHOUSIE UNIV on June 26, 2015 jme.sagepub.com Downloaded from

Project Management in Real Time: A Service-Learning Project

“…Instructors routinely assign group presentations and written assignments in disciplines ranging from accounting to marketing and in the form of case analyses and research on business topics. Management education has a rich tradition of using group projects as experiential learning vehicles to develop group process and leadership skills (e.g., Drexler & Larson, 1986;Ettington & Camp, 2002;Manning & Schmidt, 1995;O'Connor & Yballe, 2007).…”

Using Total Quality Processes and Learning Outcome Assessments to Develop Management Curricula

“…This helps further develop skills and establishes explicit connections for students about the interdependent nature of the content learned throughout the curriculum. We were already doing this in the organizational behavior course where for a number of years students were required to conduct statistical analyses for a group project (Drexler & Larson, 1986), thereby integrating TQ skills of teamwork, analysis, and interpretation of data for decision making. We now also require students to do more oral presentations and to deliver them professionally with presentation software.…”