Mount Everest http://forio.com/simulation/harvard-everest

© 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Outline •  Introduction to the simulation •  Learning objectives •  How the simulation was used and implemented •  Issues with the implementation •  Learning outcomes •  Student Feedback © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

What is the simulation? •  Web-based simulation uses the context of a Mount Everest expedition to reinforce student learning in group dynamics, decision making, and communication. •  5 students on a team trying to summit to the top •  A series of activities that require various degrees of teamwork, problem solving, collaboration, cooperation, and open communications.

© 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

What Does the Team Need To Do? •  Analyze information on weather, health conditions, supplies, goals, or hiking speed, and determine how much of that information to communicate to their teammates. •  Team will collectively discuss whether to attempt to reach the next camp en route to the summit. The team must decide how to effectively distribute supplies and oxygen bottles needed for the ascent--decisions which affect hiking speed, health, and ultimately the team's success in summiting the mountain. •  Strike a balance between individual and team goals •  Failure to accurately communicate and analyze information as a team has negative consequences on team performance. © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

•  http://forio.com/simulation/harvardbusiness-school-everest-leadershipsim-demo

© 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

•  Link to videos by Harvard Business Publishing: http:// harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.ed u/hbsp/educators/article/webarticle.jsp? webid=04-02-08.131014 •  Link to Chris Warner lecture at Google https://www.earthtreksclimbing.com/chriswarner.html#video © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Learning Objectives •  To learn about how to build, participate in, and lead teams more effectively. •  To learn how teams can solve problems and make decisions more effectively in difficult situations when members have different information and opposing interests. •  To examine how teams can improve the way that they make decisions. •  To explore how different leadership approaches can affect team performance in situations with time and competitive pressures. © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Timeline •  First trial: Winter ‘08 Term •  Has been used in every BMGT364 class since

© 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Implementation •  Students came in for one 2-hour session; this was equivalent to spending the week in class •  Roughly 40 people per session, totaling about 8 groups. With roughly 400 students per semester, 10 different sessions were held •  Each group completed 3 rounds of the simulation; the first round was based on achieving individual goals, while the following 2 rounds gave the group the chance to earn their best overall score

•  Grading

© 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Issues with implementation •  Technology –  Accessing website (http://forio.com/simulation/ harvard-everest/login.htm) •  Must be typed in normally, cannot access through BlackBoard or the Smith Portal •  Scheduling –  Scheduling times other than class time; make-ups •  Processing a large # of students –  Scheduling labs, significant # of administrators and helpers •  Dealing with difficult students © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Learning Outcomes •  Information and Interest Asymmetries •  Leading Teams to Reduce Process Losses •  Information Processing Challenges

© 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Student Feedback Teams were asked to analyze their performance by answering these questions in a 4-5 page single-spaced written response: 1.  2.  3.  4. 

Assess the team’s effectiveness in solving conflict/ problems, making decisions, and dealing with process losses What were the strengths and weakness of your team’s process for making key decisions? What are the required leadership skills in team situations when people have conflicting information and goals? What lessons does this simulation suggest to managers when leading teams? © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Assess the team’s effectiveness in solving conflict/ problems, making decisions, and dealing with process losses “Even though the leader (Billy) ensured that we all voiced our opinion before every decision we made, we as a team overlooked individual information” “One of our problems, which we determined after the simulation was over, was that we only shared facts that we thought were relevant, instead of all of our information, with the group” “It was challenging to determine how to achieve our team goals as well as each of our individual goals, since some of the roles’ goals conflicted. Therefore, we had to discuss and decide which goals were more more important according to point value and how they would affect the team’s ability to reach our goals as a whole” © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

What were the strengths and weaknesses of your team’s process for making key decisions? “We wrote down and compared everyone’s individual goals as a percentage of their total individual goals…the leader helped members decide which goals were most important, therefore ensuring a high individual level of success for every member” “What was extremely frustrating was because no one knew how to derive information to accurately decide these tasks, we felt that ‘guessing our way up the mountain’ was the only way to do the simulation” “…failing to record observations, notes, or results during our many attempts resulted in time wasted on problems that had been previously solved” © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Lessons Learned “This simulation definitely fine-tuned our abilities to work in a team environment. It revealed both our strengths and weaknesses. Overall, it was an experience that will certainly prepare us for future real-life projects.” “The Everest simulation effectively demonstrates the importance of establishing a clear direction, working towards a shared goal, understanding each other’s roles, and building trust with one another” “Although it is easy to learn and remember what traits contributed to a team’s downfall or failure to overcome a challenge, it is only though actual experience and reflection that we can learn from our weaknesses and improve them in the future” © 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland

Questions?

© 2007 Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland