TRAINING ENTERPRENEURIAL BEHAVIOUR, INTENSIVE COURSE

SYLLABUS

For the training from February14TH – 21TH, 2015In Bucharest, ROMANIA

Dear colleagues,

In the following pages you will find information that can be useful for your full participation in this training in Bucharest.

Part I offers an overview of what will happen during the training. In this part you will find generic information about content and the process of the training, and also direct references for further information.

In Part II you will find information of the simulation that we will practice in the training. The manual describes the main aspects related to a HR man-ager role, as well as a description of the events (incidents) that will need your attention.

And Part III consists of necessary forms and documents you will require in order to play the simulation game. Please feel free to make copies. They will NOT be provided by the trainers.

We hope you will enjoy the full experience and make new entrepreneurial learning steps.

Joop Vinke Loredana Orhei

Arnhem Business School, HAN University of Applied Science,The Netherlands, 2015

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Program for visit to Bucharest from February 14 till February 21, 2015

Saturday February 14th…… Arrive in Bucharest from Amsterdam and settling in hostel in Bucharest Free time after settling in dorm till 18.00 hour18.00 - Meeting students from University (Location to be determined)

Sunday, Feburary 15thFree day in which we will discover Bucharest From 10.00 a.m. – Walking tour Bucharest including the Parliament Palace Visit1

Monday, February 16thFirst day of Management simulation with students of Bucharest University of Economic StudiesMorning – 09.00 – 12.00 Meeting with students from Bucharest University and introductionAfternoon – 13.00 – 17.00 Play simulation (2 rounds) Evening – 19.00 – 21.00 diner at …………………………..

Tuesday, February 17th Afternoon –13.00 – 18.00 Simulation (2 rounds)Evening - 19:00 - Theatersports

Wednesday, February 18th Morning – 09.00 - 12.00 Simulation (2 rounds) Afternoon – 13.00 – 14.00 Simulation (1 round)Evening – 15.00 – 17.00 Planned …Visit His Excellency Ambassador of the Kindom of the Netherlands

Thursday, February 19thMorning – 09.00-12.00 Simulation (1 round and preparation MT meetings) Afternoon – 13.00-17.00 MT meetingsEvening - Free

Friday, February 20th Morning – 10:00 – 13.00 planned visits…. Afternoon – 14.00 – 17.00 Evaluation Simulation and presentationsEvening 19.00 - Final evening of visit (to be planned where)

Saturday, February 21th ……… Depart dorm for airport……… Departure flight Bucharest – Amsterdam ……… Arrival in Amsterdam at 14.00 hour

Places to go in BucharestThe Open Lucht Museum/National Peasant’s Museum Bucharesthttp://www.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro/home.htmlOther placeshttp://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g294458-Activities-Bucharest.html#TtD And about food http://www.tourism-bucharest.com/romanian-traditional-cuisine-in-bucharest.html

1 Palace of Parlament / Palace of the People http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?id=10&idl=2http://www.cdep.ro/pls/cic/site.visits?idv=2&idl=EN

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PART I – TRAINING OVERVIEW

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Training overview

In today’s business environment an HR department is more than a mere administrator and partner in a company. HR professionals can also be players within the organization they work for and in that way “improvising” professionals.The authors Sabouring and Pratt wrote in an article in Harvard Review:”There is not much willingness to listen and to explore new or unexpected outcomes.” (Sabouring and Pratt, 2007, p.1) These authors published a study in which they made a clear distinction between what they call “executive” professionals and “improvising” professionals. They write that most (new) managers, according to their research, get trainings in solving problems and taking charge with a focus on “Playing to win”. They also explain that the business is in a great need for professionals that have the specific competence of accepting situations as they are and then improvise on them, with, as we like to call it, with a focus on “playing to play”!.

This upcoming intensive training will offer you as participants a unique experience in training your en-trepreneurial behaviour (in a larger and personal sense) in the business and management field. Using a computer simulated program, participants will have to perform as the HR manager of a (new) made up company, with over 600 employees. Just like in real life situations, these managers are faced with on the spot decision making, taking risks, opportunity recognition and taking actions in order for the company to achieve its goals. Participants in the training will get to experience these aspects of the business while stimulating an entrepreneurial mindset / behaviour (improvising).

TRAINING OBJECTIVESA. To create learning environment wherein everyone in the training can learn from each other and experience and react on each other's thinking.B. To apply critical thinking skills to a variety of advanced HR issues.C. To run a (Human Resource) Department so as to meet the most critical needs of the organiza -tion while operating within a predetermined budget.D. Develop an enterprising mindset and observable entrepreneurial behaviour as a starting profes-sional

TRAINING APPROACHES In order for the participants to make a next step into becoming more entrepreneurial in their beha-viour as starting professionals, the trainers will encourage the use and practice system thinking, impro-visation and “gyroscopic management”. A brief description of the approaches is offered in the following section.

I) System thinking. This approach is different from traditional analyses (didactical styles). Instead of focussing on separating the individual pieces and elements, the systems thinking approach focuses on how things interact with the other parts of the system.2 All parts are connected and can influence the strategic focus. Instead of analysing in a deductive way, it gives opportunities to explore in an inductive and creative way and see the total overview.

II)Gyroscopic management. The aim of “gyroscopic management” is to create situations that are like the professional field, using real life situations, professional products, and processes. This is not the same as making use of study cases. In the interacting with other people, the other individual “gyroscopes” collide and each has to find a new balance. This process represents the learning process. The frustration that occurs when I do not understand what is going on makes

2 http://www.thinking.net/Systems_Thinking/systems_thinking.html

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my way to understanding. Kolb (1984) already described this process in his famous book “Experimental learning”3. The process is a development from a state of confusion towards full understanding. This approach is already successfully used in a special study program at Arnhem Business School in the Netherlands. For further reading about this, please consult the Reference list (Vinke, J.,Orhei, L. ,2011), (Vinke, J., Orhei, L. ,(2010)

III) Improvisation. Keith Johnstone (1981) developed “theatresports” as a special approach of improvising in acting. In his book “Impro”, he explains that he worked as teacher and used several new and interactive methods to get students and pupils “out of the box”. The principle he used was simple. There is no text or script, there is just a “floor”, the “actors” volunteer, and start acting pure based on improvisation. He came up with original ideas for teaching. For example, he would instruct students to make faces at each other and to be playfully nasty to each other. In the training of his instructions, he would tell his students, "Don't concentrate”, "Do not think", "Be obvious," and "Don't be clever!" Nowadays, theatresports is a practice that can be found all over the world. Moreover, the principles and exercises are used in business trainings also. The basic philosophy behind this approach is not to “block” situations, but to “accept” all things that are there. To listen and to be aware and using of what already is there, non verbal and verbal to adapt on situation and to create new things out of the existing elements that the actor find.

TRAINING THEMES

The business world requires more and more individuals with enterprising behaviour. In order to pre-pare for the business life, we have to first recognize that we can not plan the future nor foresee more than only today. Therefore, we will apply this business philosophy for this course. The training will fol-low each day a theme, and practice the slogans and activities, constructing each day the program, with the participants, improvised and adapted to the learning needs of the participants. As starting professional, participants will be encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and assess their own (learning) needs. This we consider the first steps to practice a more enterprising behaviour.

Themes1 Slogan ActivitiesLISTEN “Listening with your eyes and seeing with your ears!” Observation

FeedbackAWARE “You can’t manage things that you can’t describe.”

and“If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got!”

Time managementReflecting

ACCEPT “Don’t prepare, just show up”/ “There is no fun in doing some-thing, when you are sure you fail”And“Feeling for dealing starts with dealing with own feelings!

Making mistakesAccepting vs. blocking

ADAPT Don’t try to motivate people, just try to reward their motives!” (Intercultural adaptability)Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making some-thing out of it after it is found

CreativityConflict management

3 Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall

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ADVANCE “Practise what you preach.”And“Practise as the worst and act as the best!”

Cultural awarenessTeam building & letting the other succeed

DURATIONThe contact and study hours for this training of 6 Days (February 14 till February 21, 2015), containing a total of 30 – 40 hour

REQUIREMENTS Adequate level of English (conversational, written, comprehension) Willingness to learn new things about themselves and the business Full participation to all the separate sessions Basic understanding of an organization

TRAINING FORMATThis training will focus primarily upon the application of knowledge and skills that the participants have acquired in their study so far. The training will be comprised of the following elements

1) Integrated training to give a strategic, tactical and operational perspective on HR issues, 2) The analysis of what companies do and have done in meeting needs of their employees, 3) The hands on experience of running a department.4) Training based on 5 (five) themes and stages in entrepreneurial behaviour

ASSESSMENT

STUDENT EVALUATION 1. Self reflections. As part of the training, the participants will be asked to write reflections of the day,

focusing on elements like own behaviour and own feelings. These reflections help the participants to evaluate their own changes and improvements. On the long run, the process of reflection helps the participants become self aware of their own self management. Some question can guide the process of reflection:a. What was my behaviour? b. What actions did I take? c. How did the action/behaviour feel? d. What do I want to do with it?

2. Management team meeting. Project teams will be formed consisting of maximum 3 students. The objective of this project is to give all team members experience in managing a (HR) department. Teams will have to make de-cisions about actions they should take and programs that they should initiate while operating within the budget and dealing with various labour market constraints.

The teams will produce MR’s (Management Reports with an evaluation of a period). Every MR will be judged by the CEO (trainer) on the base of the actions that the team have taken during the total period to reach the goals of the management contract. The results of the actions that teams take are based on a computer based simulation.

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At the conclusion of the whole project each team will present the annual report in the manage-ment team meeting, at the end of quarter 8. During the meeting, the individual members of the project teams will be assessed according to their roles. For a clear description of these roles, see annex 1.

TRAINING EVALUATION 1. Forms. Participants in the training will be asked to fill in an evaluation form, handed in by the trainers at the end of the training. The forms can be completed anonymous2. Trainer notes and daily reflections. The trainers will also reflect on the activities and actions taken every day during the training.

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TRAINING SCHEDULE Project team meetings and supporting training

Session Subject1 Theme: LISTENING

Introduction to the game, formation of project teams , project practice decisionOutcome decision 2 and preparation decision 3

2 Theme: AWARENESSDiscussion IncidentOutcome decision 3 and preparation decision 4

3 Theme: ACCEPTINGDiscussion IncidentOutcome decision 4 and preparation decision 5

4 Theme: ADAPTINGDiscussion IncidentOutcome decision 5 and preparation decision 6

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6 – final

Theme: ADVANCINGDiscussion IncidentOutcome decision 6 making decision 7 and outcome and preparing decision 8

MT MEETING – EVALUATION

This is the basic structure for the whole training. The rest will be improvised!

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Simulated game description

In this project you will develop your knowledge of the complexities of strategic thinking in the context of changing socio-economic climates. The special project builds on the roles and activities by examining the impact, which internal and environmental factors have in management, with a focus on HR practices and policies in an organiza-tion. You will also be provided with an understanding of the different attitudes which employees bring to work.

The project You will be a member of a team in the training that will be managing a department in an organization that your team will choose (see overall scenario). You will be competing with other teams (up to 15). The project simulates a profit or non-profit organization. Each organization in this simulation will be managed by a team of three parti-cipants. The organizing of the team will be left up to each team. Teams are expected to establish objectives, plan their strategy, and then make the required decisions dictated by these plans. Decisions are submitted to the CEO (trainer) periodically in a written MR. (forms)

OVERALL SCENARIO The team is to assume the position of a newly appointed HR manager of the organization. The organization now exists of approximately 660 employees. The organization has grown rapidly, and the Human Resource depart-ment (and functions) have not kept pace with this growth. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (trainer) has instructed the department now to get the human resource function organized and build a strong HR function. Currently there is no union involved, but the industry is slowly becom-ing unionized.

At the lower levels there are both semi-skilled and skilled workers (about 500). The firm has no policy on promo-tions and has hired into the upper levels of management from the outside as well as promoted from within. Re-sponsibility for training now resides primarily with department heads and is strictly on-the-job type training. The economic conditions in the region are good and unemployment rates are average.

KEY PROJECT OBJECTIVES The team's performance will be judged against the goals the team sets (formally or informally) in terms of the abil-ity to manage budgets, unit labour cost, quality, morale, grievances, absenteeism, accident rate, and turnover. After making their goals every team will make a management report for the next period and give this to the CEO. The teams have a budget but will not have enough to do everything that is needed in the organization. The teams must make choices as to what is most important to them and concentrate the budget on those factors. Every team will, in a sense, be competing with all other teams on the items mentioned above. However, in terms of direct competition, the team is only competing with other firms in the local labour market for new employees. The other firms (teams) in the class will comprise the local labour area.  

DECISIONS TO BE MADE 1) Wages 2) Hiring 3) Promotions 4) Training Budget 5) Safety & Accident Prevention Program 6) Establish and Maintain Quality Program 7) Grievance Procedure 8) HR Information System 9) Performance Appraisal System

In addition, players may purchase survey research from the following choices: Industry Average Quality Morale Grievances and Absenteeism Industry Average and Local Comparable Wage Rates Average Industry Training budgets, Safety and Quality Budgets Number of organizations with Employee Participation Programs

 DESCRIPTION There are difficult decision factors that affect certain outcomes. Every team will have a tutor. It is not meant that the tutors will advice students what decisions to make in a "real world" situation. An outcome like employee mor-ale is difficult to describe due to its complexity. A natural response by the teams will be, "but we do not have the budget to increase all the outcomes." This is true in the project as in the real world. Budgets are finite. That is why

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the trainers will urge the teams to establish what they feel is important and concentrate on those selected factors. Other outcomes may suffer but that is to be understood.

In the list below a few rationales are given as to why a certain factor is included. The factors in the management contract that are not specifically defined will require the team members chosen reason why they are a factor, and if they are a minor factor or a major factor.

1. Optimum Training Budget: Enough to train all promotions per the suggested amounts plus some amount above this figure to train others.

2. Quality: Consists of Quality budget, safety of the work environment, training budget, employee participation policy, lack of grievances, and a high regard for performance appraisals.

3. Productivity: Sufficient training, plant safety, employee participation in generating more efficient production function, orientation of new employees. Productivity is shown in an indicator as productivity per employee. The use of fewer employees to produce the level of production required in a given period will have the effect of lowering production cost per unit.

4. Grievances: Presence of an effective grievance procedure, a HRIS system, employee participation (if employees participate in operations they will be less likely to file a grievance)

5. Absenteeism: Training (workers feel they are better equipped to be promoted and to be retained should a downturn occur), safety, quality of the product produced (pride in what one is doing increases job satisfaction and willingness to be at work every day), employee participation policy.

6. Accident Rate: Training, safety, employee participation, turnover.

7. Morale: Wages and fringes compared to other firms and to the industry as a whole. (If an employee is a part of a firm that produces a high quality product, he/she should have a higher level of morale), employee participation, and griev-ance level. 8. Success of minority and female hiring: As students may notice, just because they would like to hire a certain percentage, that percentage may be difficult to achieve. This is because all firms are competing for the available pool of qualified people in these groups.

Given some of these factors involved with the project outcomes will encourage teams to discuss other factors which may be involved.

DISCHARGING EMPLOYEES In the first year projects the firing/ discharging of employees was an important issue to influence the costs of an organisation. In this project it is important to set a standard for the affection of discharging /firing employees. Standard: Morale will be hurt somewhat by firing / discharging employees. But if it is just a few people, morale should be back to normal within the next period.

However, it is also a good time to discuss social responsibility to employees. It is more interesting if teams not fire any employee, but keep them and let attrition bring it down to probably what they need. This would give the employees one period notice, lets them begin to look for new jobs, and they can always clean up, paint up, fix up the plant or facility....or loan them out to a social service agency while paying their salary. The cost will increase the cost of production per unit for a MR but it is not a huge cost.

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PART TWO – SUMMARY MANUAL

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