Aims of the HandbookThe handbook is a guide for students in the Department of Business and Management. The information in the handbook can also be found in a number of other electronic or paper sources and the document provides links to the definitive data sources wherever possible. Please note that the electronic version of the handbook will be kept up to date and you will be notified of any sig
...[Show More]
Aims of the Handbook
The handbook is a guide for students in the Department of Business and Management. The information in the handbook can also be found in a number of other electronic or paper sources and the document provides links to the definitive data sources wherever possible.
Please note that the electronic version of the handbook will be kept up to date and you will be notified of any significant changes. If you have taken a hard copy of any information please remember to refer back to the electronic version to ensure that you are working with the most up to date information.
Contents
Page
1. Module leader contact information 3
2. Module specific information 3
- The function of the Integrated Business Management Simulation 3
- Module Learning Outcomes 4
- Learning and Teaching Strategy 4
- Team Allocation Process 5
- How To Do Well in this Module 5
3. Seminar and Preparation Tasks 7
4. Lecture and Seminar Programme and Readings 8-10
5. Assignment Brief 12
- Team Grade 12
- Team and Individual Responsibility 12
6. Submission details 13
7. Additional information and reading strategies 14
8. Communication 15
9. Advice and support 15
10. Appendices I to VII (includes marking criteria) 16-29
1. Module leader contact information
Your module leader for this component is:
Dr Susan Barnard
Office: 6X224
Tel: 0117 32 87104
2. Module specific information
The Function of the Integrated Business Management Simulation Module
This module draws together strands of learning from the module and your undergraduate programme of study more widely through an integrative, problem-based project, in the form of a business simulation. The key elements of this are:
• Participating as part of a team in a business project that requires the application of learning from across the student’s programme of study.
• Implementing and evaluating project decisions and their consequent strategic implementation.
• Reflecting on project and team processes as well as outcomes, and to develop resilience to cope with unexpected challenges in managing within a team context.
You will need to put all of your learning to the test through participating in teams of 4-5 students to run a ‘virtual’ airline company in this Integrated Business Simulation. You will be competing with a maximum of 11 other teams in an ‘industry group’. This simulation will run across the whole semester, with on-line decisions being made each week and entered into a log-book during your tutorial. At the end of the semester, you’ll draw together material for a PowerPoint presentation, submit this on-line and then make a formal oral presentation during the formal assessment period. You will also complete a peer evaluation.
The company you will be ‘inheriting’ in the simulation is a regional airline carrier that currently operates in multiple cities within a region but has the option to expand into new markets and regions, including international and resort routes. You and your team will practice managing all aspects of running this business, making a wide range of decisions in marketing, operations, management, human resource development, finance, and asset management. The simulation will require you to design and implement a strategy, make decisions in a team environment, and deal with the uncertainties of change caused by ‘critical events’ that will challenge your team’s performance.
As this is an ‘integrative’ business simulation, you will draw on learning not just from this module, but from other modules taken during your degree at UWE, for example Strategic Management and Managing Organisational Change. Further, the simulation provides a link to your Personal and Professional Development (PPD) and this is assessed formally through Component B of the assessment strategy.
The Module Specification (UMSDMK-15-3) can be found here:
Module Learning Outcomes
As outlined in the Module Specification, the Learning Outcomes for this Module are that on successful completion of this module students will be able to:
- Integrate learning from a range of different disciplines (underpinned by prior programme learning) to holistically explore complex organisational situations (Component A).
- Effectively engage in practice-based learning through the application of a range of theoretical approaches, analytical techniques and tools to develop and implement strategic recommendations for achieving project objectives (Component A).
- Understand, critically evaluate different conceptual frameworks of individual change. (Component A & B)
- Systematically understand the interrelationship of organisation theory and organisational practice. (Component A).
- Reflect critically on the ethical dilemmas, challenges of organisational change and working in a team (Component A & B).
- Explore the concept of personal resilience and develop reflexive self-awareness (Component B).
- Identify the need for personal change to achieve their preferred futures (Component B).
Learning and Teaching Strategy
This module is delivered over one semester. It is essential that you follow the schedule set out in the ‘Lecture and Seminar Programme and Readings’ section (pp. 8-10). The basic pattern is a one-hour lecture and a two-hour seminar each week.
As you will see from reading through this handbook, a key element of your assessment is linked to success achieved through preparing for and participating in the simulation each week. The seminars are an exceptionally important part of this module. You will spend most of your time on team related activities geared towards understanding the data and making informed decisions for the simulation as part of an experiential learning process. Your tutor will be available to help guide you (but not to make the decisions for you!) to actively support your independent learning.
Working together with others enables you to develop and practice the essential analytical and critical thinking skills required to do well. The process of analysis, critical thinking, evaluating evidence and forming judgements is not something you can just ‘learn and remember,’ since this simulation presents you with a dynamic ever changing environment in which you are forced to confront new situations in each decision period.
You will need to develop your skills in working within a team and in confronting the challenges of teamwork, engage actively with notions of organisational citizenship. In addition, you will be expected to reflect on both the simulation outcomes and the team process to promote wider learning from the integrative project experience, linking it directly to your PPD activities.
Team Allocation Process
During Seminar 1 you will be asked to form a team of 4-5 members and notify the tutor by the end of the session. Any student who has not notified the tutor may be randomly allocated into a team. You are advised to bear in mind the simulation requirements when choosing your team.
How To Do Well in this Module
The primary objective is to develop your capacity to integrate learning in order to analyse complex management problems from an organisational perspective and to reflect this in you PPD portfolio. To this end, to do well in the Component A assessment high quality presentations will offer evaluation and synthesis across a broad spectrum of learning, demonstrating a seamless integration across disciplinary areas such as marketing, finance and accounting, management, human resource management, strategy and operations, as well as ethical and social issues. They will however also be the product of good team working. For Component B you are required to reflect on your experience of the simulation, how this might translate to the workplcae and how this has assisted you in linking theory and practice. It is therefore essential that you attend your weekly seminars as a team and engage with the simulation process.
Do not overlook the importance of the team in contributing to success in the simulation – there will be the opportunity to reflect on this in your PPD portfolio. When thinking about how to form your own team, you will want to consider both skill sets and interpersonal dynamics. Your team will function much like a consulting team for which a diversity of functional skills and perspectives will undoubtedly be an asset. Shared goals and familiar work styles may present their own advantages.
Given the task at hand, you will need to determine how best to compose your own team - the combination of skills, knowledge, abilities, and work styles you think are important; how you plan to assemble or recruit people with these skills; and what, sometimes difficult, trade-offs you may have to make. The Airline Student Manual provides some guidance on team formation and you will be provided with your own copy at the beginning of semester. As the manual notes, Airline is a sophisticated interactive simulation and should not be taken lightly by your team. Success in the game, both in terms of the learning experience and company performance, is directly related to the degree of organization and cooperation among company (team) members. Game results are directly correlated to well-thought-out analysis and planning in the decision process. An early and complete familiarisation with the contents of the Airline Student Manual will increase the chances of success.
Getting off to a good start is critically important in managing a firm or participating in a simulation. Your team should be organised as soon as it is formed. Specific duties should be assigned with each person to be held accountable for his or her responsibilities. It is recommended that you assign a "lead" person to head up the team, perhaps with the title of CEO. This position should be assigned on a rotating basis to give everyone an opportunity to take a leadership role. Please refer to the Airline Student Manual for suggestions on roles of the team members in the functional areas of Finance, Marketing, Human Resources and Operations.
Good performance in your team and thoroughly engaging with the simulation should help you prepare and deliver a high quality presentation. As a guide, higher levels of achievement will demonstrate much fuller integration across the simulation.
In summary, to do well your team needs to:
1. Know and Understand the data. This means that you must review the simulation results for your company and the industry and understand the outcomes of decisions you and others have made. You will be expected to understand the discipline specific material to cope with basic decision-making - such as financial analyses, scheduling or marketing decisions from your prior learning. The amount of data generated by the simulation may often look formidable. However, sharing activities across the team and using each other for support (as well as knowing the intricacies of how to operate the simulation – such as exporting data into Excel spreadsheets) can help you.
2. Practice Applying your knowledge to the simulation. This involves attending and taking an active role in your team decisions during the seminars. The skills and insights you develop in the seminar will directly relate to your experience in the simulation and enhance your learning to help you make a better-informed presentation.
3. Develop your ability to Analyse and Evaluate. Skills of analysis and evaluation involve thinking in a structured and critical way. You will be expected to apply this way of thinking to the theoretical material with which you have engaged in the MOIC module as well as in your prior learning, as noted above, to help you address the problems of change faced by your company and indeed by your team.
4. As you reflect on the decision and the performance outcomes each week in the simulation, you should develop a Decision Log that will demonstrate an increasing integration and Synthesising of your analysis and evaluation. The highest level of learning will demonstrate the culmination of this synthesis in the presentation.
3. Seminar Preparation and Tasks
To get the most out of the Airline Simulation you are expected to review the simulation output and to attend each seminar where you will participate in the team decision-making process.
At various points in the semester your team is required to submit documents to a Team Log Book maintained by your seminar tutor. You should also retain a copy of these documents for your own use. Copies of the document examples and templates are contained in the Appendices to this Handbook. In summary:
1. Team Constitution. Invariably, and perhaps especially among friends, tension is likely to build during the team simulation experience. Experience shows the best way to help you manage any such conflict is by spending time to create a sound understanding of the parameters by which you wish to manage your working relationships in the team. In Seminars 1 and 2 you will spend time on developing the ground rules for your team and at the end of Seminar 3 you will submit a copy of your team’s Constitution, signed by all team members.
2. Passenger Bill of Rights. As you begin developing your view of what your company stands for, you should produce a short bullet point list of how your vision translates into service levels for your passengers. This is not mandatory, but is advised.
3. Decision Logs. For each Airline Decision (other than the Practice Decision) your team is required to complete a Decision Log and submit this, signed by all team members. Decision Logs are due in the week following the decisions, so Seminar 4 onwards. The Decision Log is intended to help you identify key issues and capture key decisions as you progress through the simulation. The purpose is to provide you with a record you can then draw on in developing your presentation. If you decide to alter the core thrust of your strategy or any major policies after you have developed your strategic plan, these should be recorded.
The Airline Manual suggests you make notes of the rationale of key decisions (and any disagreements) in areas such as significant changes in fares, aircraft purchases or routes, major shifts in advertising, promotion, or training budgets, major changes in employee compensation or training, as well as your team’s stance on the Critical Incidents (special decisions) that you will face. In particular you are expected to reflect on the implications of each Critical Incident for change in your organisation.
4. Strategic Plan. To help guide your overall approach to running your company, each team is required to develop a simple outline plan (see Appendix IV) and to submit this to your seminar tutor in Seminar 5.
[Show Less]
