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 UniGame: Social skills and Knowledge Training
[Play]
Guidelines for playing UniGame: Social skills and Knowledge Training
[pdf]
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Oaklands Game
The Game
The Game Objectives
The Scenario
Details of the Game's Executio
Development of the Online Version
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| UniGame: Social skills and Knowledge Training |
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Searching for information, selecting necessary one, development of discussion strategies, “conflict” of the arguments,
decision-making process and negotiation are the important central aspects of the game. But the target and the culmination of
the game is reaching the consensus in a problem solution.
Players go a difficult way from individual/corporate interests
to the team/societies interests; from own standpoint to understanding standpoint, opinion of other; from single aspects to the
integrating of the multiple aspects, from confrontation to cooperation.
By playing different roles students learn and obtain
both basic knowledge and practical experience, soft skills that are needed for organization of the modern industrial trials.
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| oaklands game |
The Game
The game with which the Edinburgh Team is working is a business role-play activity simulating the process of decision making within a medium-sized manufacturing firm. The game exists at the moment as a comprehensive set of "off-the-shelf" materials that a teacher can take, and use to direct and resource the conduct of the game. These materials were published in 1996 by the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK, and were developed with support by the Innovation Framework initiative of the Council. Some general information about the range of materials developed under the initiative can be found on the Web at [http://omni.bus.ed.ac.uk/opsman/oakland/oak1.htm].
The game materials were developed by a team from the Universities of Edinburgh and Warwick. This face-to-face version of the role-play is extensively used in teaching and training, including groups from the Furniture Industry Research Association and managers from Rover Learning Business. In particular, it is used at a number of levels in the School of Economics and Management Studies at the University of Edinburgh, under the direction of Prof Jamie Fleck, one of the original developers.
In addition to the role-playing simulation exercise itself, the materials contain guidance in the conduct of a post-game cognitive mapping exercise, designed to support and assist student reflection on the process of the game, and to help make explicit the lessons learned. It was felt that this rich and reflective approach, "leaving nothing to chance," as it were, with respect to the explicit outcomes of the role play exercise, would form a particularly fruitful basis for the development of an online analogue.
In short then, it was felt that this role-play game presented an number of important advantages and opportunities for the UniGame Project. The development of an online version would be based on an established and tested series of materials, designed for flexibility in terms of time scale of the students’ work, and the type of group (both in background knowledge and practical experience). As the game is actively in use in its off-line form at the University of Edinburgh, the UniGame Team have had the opportunity to see the conduct of the game as it presently exists. They have also talked to students, and used questionnaire instruments to assess student attitudes towards, and perceptions of, the game activity. Importantly too, there is significant support and enthusiasm from the academic colleague involved, who is one of the original developers. Prof Fleck has a desire to see the development of an online version, and has particular student groups in mind for its use. The online version represents a logical development of this game in particular, but also of such business role-play activities in general. This is based not only on a burgeoning interest in work with “distance” student groups, but also recognises the fact that business process - communication and decision making - is increasingly conducted through computer-mediated means. Thus the introduction of an online element into the game, or indeed the conduct the entire role-play through computer-mediated communications, would simply constitute a move towards what is increasingly normal business practice. Further, we believe that this role-play exercise is simply a particular example of a generic class of learning games, with potential for significant extension and adaptation. Thus the work on this particular game constitutes the potential for the construction of an “online role-play shell” which could then be deployed more widely.
The Game Objectives
The learning objectives of the game are to enhance the students understanding of the process of technology innovation and implementation. The introduction to the package list the key learning points as :
practical understanding of the innovation-implementation process
appreciation of the problems of managing suppliers and consultants
management of conflict and change in the implementation process
group dynamics and personal awareness;
interpersonal skills, strategies of persuasion [from Fleck,
Scarbrough & Swan, 1996
The Scenario
The role-play is based upon the discussions surrounding the decision as to whether to implement Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRPII), a particular approach to implementing information technology, within a medium-sized furniture manufacturing firm, Oakland Furniture. The student participants play the roles of the member of the Oakland management board, and of an external consultant recruited by the Managing Director to inform Oakland about the virtues of MRPII. The scene is set such that the participants are given clear guidance about how their roles are to be played, and about the vested interests that they hold in the decision under discussion. The Managing Director, Alex Rheingold, is an enthusiastic advocate of the move, for example, while the Financial Director, Chris Duncan, needs to be convinced, with the firm on the brink of profitability. For each character there is a "history" of their relationship with the firm, and the other key players on the Board.
The role play consists of three phases; an initial meeting of all participants (save the external consultant, Sandy Corbett) to discuss the firm's context in advance of the presentation from the consultant; the consultant's presentation; and the final meeting at which the decision must be taken.
Details of the Game's Execution
The existing materials suggest that the role-play activity can be run with groups of between 5 and 9 students. In the case of the smaller groups, concrete suggestions are offered about which are the key roles that have to be preserved within the scenario. Suggestions are also offered about the scheduling of the component activities of the exercise depending on group size. The role-play and debriefing might be completed with a small group over the course of one class session of 3 - 4 hours, or might be staged over several days. However this is done, the cognitive mapping and debriefing exercises are always key elements, ensuring that student reflection is encouraged.
Development of the Online Version
For local, environmental and organisational reasons, it makes sense within the University of Edinburgh to proceed to develop the game within the WebCT virtual learning environment (VLE). Edinburgh has a license for this VLE, and already has over one hundred courses with significant Web presence through this system. This represents a significant commitment to WebCT, and the imperatives of management coherence and economy dictate that WebCT must first be considered as a potential vehicle for development. It seems, from preliminary work done by the WebCT experts within the University's Media and Learning Technology Service (MALTS) [http://www.malts.ed.ac.uk] that the key elements of the communications and relationships can be represented using WebCT's "discussion forum" tool. The various discussion stages of the game would be conducted using this tool. The various briefing documents required for the game's conduct would be made available to the participants also through the medium of WebCT.
In addition, we would be looking at ways of "enriching" the student experience of the game with the provision of multi-media sources that convey additional background on the company (Oakland Furniture) and the characters whose roles are being played. These might take the form of photographs of the factory and the company's product line, spreadsheet models of the company's finances, and advertising material describing the company's products and "image".
There is potential too to support the cognitive mapping aspects of the activity through online tools and graphing techniques.
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