In the subject MGMT1001, six individuals were grouped together to complete two virtual online simulation climbs on Mount Everest. Each individual was given goals to achieve and a role to play during the climb, except for the Observer who only observes the game. The first simulation consisted of team members playing the game within different locations and communicating through a Skype chat function. Whereas, the second simulation consisted of team members playing the game face-to-face and within the same location. The game consisted of six rounds, each representing a day of the climb. Teams started climbing from Basecamp and could end the climb at the Summit. However, if a team member confronted a fatal health issue during the game they were rescued by a ‘helicopter’ and stopped from climbing.
In the following report, it will analyse why managers should use simulations as a valuable method for developing management capability and learning soft skills. With the incorporations of theories and frameworks, this report will identify the communication and leadership issues that occurred in both simulations. It will also analyse the concepts of communication and personal leadership development and provide a self-reflection based on the events of Group 91 and my experience as the Marathoner during the climb. SECTION 1 Simulations are a valuable tool to develop management capability and learn soft skills as it replicates the communication and leadership issues that occur in the real work environment (Radovich et al. 2011). Everest 1 Issue 1: Information Overload In Li’s et al. (2013) research on social networks they found that under information overload, only a portion of messages attract the attention of social media users. Within this study, they also recognised the difficulty in finding useful messages due the user’s inability to process information. This occurred in the Everest climb as Group 91 overloaded the chat function with informative messages ranging from frostbite to temperature (as shown in Appendix 1). In particular, the extensive amount of numbers shown in the messaged ‘Wind-chill chart’ image had lead to team members disregarding the required formula (located at the bottom of the image) to calculate the wind-chill and weather conditions for Round 3. Issue 2: Developing trust and Filtering Ruhe and Allen’s (2008) study on trust development within international businesses has observed that in an individualistic society such as Australia, people tend to value individual objectives over group goals. This observation was evident in the Everest climb during team’s misallocation of oxygen canisters during Round 4. In this round, the Marathoner filtered information by sharing only a portion of the background information she received, to the team (As shown in Appendix 2). This was due to the lack of trust she had towards the team members as she believed that the full information would lead to the team compromising her individual goal …show more content…
1997). This communication method has induced empowerment to occur in Round 2, during a discussion over the Team Leader and Photographer conflicted individual goals. The Team Leader’s goal of ‘All (climbers) be at camp 4 (at the) same time’ conflicted with the Photographer’s goal of ‘stay at camp (for) 2 days’ (as shown in the diagram Appendix 4). Team members were empowered to participate in discussion of finding alternative actions to maximise these goals as team members were sitting in close proximity of each
In the following report, it will analyse why managers should use simulations as a valuable method for developing management capability and learning soft skills. With the incorporations of theories and frameworks, this report will identify the communication and leadership issues that occurred in both simulations. It will also analyse the concepts of communication and personal leadership development and provide a self-reflection based on the events of Group 91 and my experience as the Marathoner during the climb. SECTION 1 Simulations are a valuable tool to develop management capability and learn soft skills as it replicates the communication and leadership issues that occur in the real work environment (Radovich et al. 2011). Everest 1 Issue 1: Information Overload In Li’s et al. (2013) research on social networks they found that under information overload, only a portion of messages attract the attention of social media users. Within this study, they also recognised the difficulty in finding useful messages due the user’s inability to process information. This occurred in the Everest climb as Group 91 overloaded the chat function with informative messages ranging from frostbite to temperature (as shown in Appendix 1). In particular, the extensive amount of numbers shown in the messaged ‘Wind-chill chart’ image had lead to team members disregarding the required formula (located at the bottom of the image) to calculate the wind-chill and weather conditions for Round 3. Issue 2: Developing trust and Filtering Ruhe and Allen’s (2008) study on trust development within international businesses has observed that in an individualistic society such as Australia, people tend to value individual objectives over group goals. This observation was evident in the Everest climb during team’s misallocation of oxygen canisters during Round 4. In this round, the Marathoner filtered information by sharing only a portion of the background information she received, to the team (As shown in Appendix 2). This was due to the lack of trust she had towards the team members as she believed that the full information would lead to the team compromising her individual goal …show more content…
1997). This communication method has induced empowerment to occur in Round 2, during a discussion over the Team Leader and Photographer conflicted individual goals. The Team Leader’s goal of ‘All (climbers) be at camp 4 (at the) same time’ conflicted with the Photographer’s goal of ‘stay at camp (for) 2 days’ (as shown in the diagram Appendix 4). Team members were empowered to participate in discussion of finding alternative actions to maximise these goals as team members were sitting in close proximity of each