THE ORGANIZATION SIMULATION
(Developed and © by Lee Bolman and Terry Deal)
The organization simulation is a temporary system established to
promote learning, particularly about topics of structure,
people and power in organizations.
Each participant will be a member of either:
(a) one of the three levels in an educational consulting firm, Educational Resources Corporation (ERC)
or
(b) National Educators' Benevolent League (NEBL)
You will receive a briefing sheet appropriate to your organizational
membership.
The Staff
The teaching staff will serve as travelling anthropologists. They are
free to move about the system to study the process.
They will not intervene or participate in the simulation until its
conclusion.
THE SIMULATION WILL LAST FOR ONE HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES.
THE END WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY THE TEACHING STAFF.
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Briefing Sheet
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES CORPORATION (ERC)
Top Group
1. Members of the top group are viewed as having overall
responsibility for ERC'S business success
and for promoting the welfare and learning of all participants.
2. In keeping with their responsibilities, the top group is also entrusted with control of the corporate treasury.
3. The Top Group is responsible for negotiating with Customers for
sale of ERC's service. ERC's only current
service is developing educational slogans. In order to provide a fair
return to ERC and its employees, you want
to sell at a price no less than $6/slogan. You have no current
customers, but you hope to negotiate a contract with
the National Educators' Benevolent League. You know that they are
looking for a vendor to provide slogans that
will help build public support for schools.
4. Top management negotiates the slogan specifications with the
Customers, and communicates those specifications
to the Middle Group. The Middles are responsible for organizing the
production workers to create the slogans.
5. It is a policy that the members of the top group are considered
invited guests who are always welcome in the spaces
of each of the other two groups. Members of the top group may
communicate with members of the other groups
at any time.
6. It is also a tradition that members of the top group are the
guardians and interpreters of ERC's traditions, rules and
policies, including wage and salary policies. In that capacity, they may
change or re-interpret any customs or rules
at any time.
Middle Group
1. Historically, the role of the middle group is to work with the top
group to set performance goals and specifications,
and to organize and manage the workers in production of slogans.
2. It is an ERC policy that members of the middle group never enter
the space of the top group, nor communicate with
the top group, unless they have received the invitation or permission of
the top group. It is viewed as permissible for
members of the middle group to knock on the door of the top group, and
request an audience.
3. Members of the middle group have always been free to enter the
space of the bottom group and to communicate
with members of the bottom group at any time.
4. Each member of the middle group has been assigned to one of the
work teams in the bottom group.
Bottom Group
1. Members of the bottom group are expected to perform the basic work
of the organization: producing educational
slogans, and learning about structure, people, and power in
organizations.
2. Members of the bottom group remain in their own designated space
unless they receive permission from members
of the Middle or Top groups to go elsewhere. Bottom group members may
knock on the door of the middle group, and
request an audience with that group. It would be considered a serious
violation of custom for any member of the bottom
group to attempt to communicate with the top group, unless first invited
to do so by the Top Group.
3. Each member of the bottom group is assigned to a work team.
Members of a team work together in the production
of educational slogans, under the direction of their middle group
supervisor(s).
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Briefing Sheet
NATIONAL EDUCATORS' BENEVOLENT LEAGUE (NEBL)
You are the professional staff of the National Educators' Benevolent
League. NEBL is a voluntary association of
professional educators formed to promote the education profession and to
build support for educators. Responding
to widespread evidence of a decline in public support for education and
respect for educators, NEBL wishes to
develop a public education program to enhance such support. Central to
the campaign will be slogans that will
catch public attention and remind citizens of the importance of
education.
Your group's task is to purchase education slogans that meet the
specifications outlined below, using funds from a
grant awarded to NEBL by the Education Power Foundation (EPF). You are
not permitted to produce slogans yourselves,
but you may purchase from any qualified vendor. Currently, the only
known vendor is Education Resources Corporation
(ERC). For each slogan that you successfully purchase, you will be paid
a commission that can be used as salaries for
your staff. Your commission varies with the price you pay for slogans,
as shown in the following table:
|
Price per slogan |
Commission |
|
$1.00 - $3.00 |
$1.00 |
|
$3.00 - $6.00 |
$0.50 |
|
$6.00 - $8.00 |
$0.25 |
|
over $8.00 |
$0.00 |
Note: your salaries are not paid from the funds you receive at the
beginning of the simulation. Be sure to keep
a record of your purchases. Any money from the grant that you don't
spend to buy slogans will revert to
the professor.
Slogans must meet three criteria:
1. They must be consistent with NEBL's basic themes: education is
central and vital to our nation's survival and
quality of life; educators shape our nation's future; money spent on
developing and compensating educators is
not an expense but an investment that will be returned many times over;
educators are dedicated and creative
professionals who deserve to be compensated accordingly.
2. Slogans should be simple and brief, yet powerful. (NEBL is
concerned that jargon and wordiness might turn
off the public.)
3. They should be original, creative and well-written. (In all
due probability public supporters for public education at this current point
in time is likely to not very much be facilitated by slogans that are
old fashions, dull and/or boring, mispelled
and/or not as good grammarwise.)
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ROSTER FOR ORGANIZATION SIMULATION
EDUCATION RESOURCES CORPORATION
TOP GROUP:
ALDREDO FETTUCINI
PUTTANESCA PASTA
ETC.
Middle Group:
O. Veal (Team A)
W. Boeuf (Team B)
etc.
Bottom Group:
Team A: Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato
etc.
National Educators' Benevolent League
Suzette Crepes, Melba Peche, etc.
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e.r.c.
Executive Offices
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E. R. C.
Middle Management Offices
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Team A
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Team B
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Team C
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National
Educators'
Benevolent
League