FIELD TRIPS

1. FIELD TRIPS • A field trip is a carefully planned visit or tour to a place away from the training activity. • The purpose of the trip is to provide firsthand observation of objects, processes, operations, and situations not transportable to, or reproducible in, the training facility. • The field trip may take less than an hour when it involves a visit to an adjoining plant, office, or shop; or it may consume several days or weeks, as would be the case with a visit to a distant plant or an overseas installation. • Field trips are used • 1. To provide firsthand observation of operations, • processes, or practices that cannot be readily • brought into the classroom, shop, or laboratory, • 2. To stimulate trainee interest and participation in • discussion or other types of follow--on learning • activities • 3. To gather information for later use in training • activities • 4. To relate theory to actual practice, and • 5. To introduce or summarize a topic.

2. Advantages - Information provided to trainees firsthand is real an concrete. - Objects, processes, and operations are seen in their true surroundings in three dimensions and in natural color. - Because the interest level is high and all the senses are used, the result is greater understanding and more permanent learning. Disadvantages - Trainees must be prepared for the field trip - Coordination must be effected with the manager of the facility to be visited to prevent interference with operations. - To ensure that trainees see what is intended and in the right sequence. - To make certain that safety precautions are taken. - Except for brief visits to installations close by, a considerable amount of time is consumed in travel. - Added to this are the expenses of transportation and living accommodations.

3. PRINCIPLES FOR ORGANIZING & CONDUCTING FIELD VISIT • Participative methods in classroom instruction only improve certain features of the training process. • These methods help to involve participants, arouse their interest in learning and sharpen their analytical capabilities; but they have little impact on some other important managerial skills. • The project work is essentially in-plant work on practical management problems, carried out for the common good of the organisation and the trainee. • Experience affirms that wherever feasible, implementation should be included as part of the training process. • Relatively simple projects, particularly when carried out in the trainees’ own enterprises, can usually be put into effect before the completion of the training programme. • Complex projects cannot be implemented in a short time and it is useful to determine the stage which the project should reach by the “cut-off” date of the training programme and to look for convenient ways of allowing the trainee to participate in the application of the project proposals after this date.

4. THE METHOD’S PLACE IN TRAINING PROGRAMMES • Alternative I • Training programme starts with a period of classroom study. • During this period the participants are prepared for successive project work and the projects are selected and approved. • This is followed by a period of project work. • Upon completion, the participants gather again for a brief discussion period on some or all of the projects. • This exchange of experience gives everyone an opportunity to learn about a number of interesting practical applications. • Alternative 2 • Similar principles with the exception of the final period of group discussion on the projects. • Projects are submitted by the students. • At the end of the programme an examining committee interviews each individual and evaluates his project. • Alternative 3 • A number of simple and short projects interspersed throughout the training programme.

5. Alternative 3 • A number of simple and short projects interspersed throughout the training programme. • Alternative 4 • A situation where formal classroom training is reduced to the minimum, and a complex project becomes the essence of the programme. • Additional instruction such as consultations, lectures, group discussions, etc. is generated by the project and made available to the participants as the need arises

6. TYPICAL PHASES OF PROJECT WORK IN MANAGEMENT EDUCATION AND TRAINING • Phase 1 - Problem Selection • Problem selection requires the collaboration of the trainer, trainee and host organisation. • A consensus of opinion on the urgency of the problem and the practical usefulness of envisaged work must be reached if the project is to succeed • If one party lacks interest or motivation, the entire project may be jeopardised. • Phase 2 - Scheduling • The overall structuring and scheduling of the project is itself a very useful training exercise. • Phase 3 - Working on Solutions • The trainee works out one or more solutions to the management problem which was selected for his project. • A sufficient amount of information must be collected and analysed to provide a solid base for successive work on solutions. • The findings ought to be synthesised by determining the main causes of difficulties and the main areas in which changes are needed.

7. This is followed by a period of studying solutions which were applied in other organisations and determining the methods or techniques which are best suited to solving the given problem. • The trainee then proceeds to elaborate on his proposals. • The trainer ought to keep in touch with the trainee, know how work is advancing, and see to it that the trainee obtains the necessary professional advice including help from external specialists in the case of difficult projects. • The receiving organisation should be continuously informed about the state of the project in order to avoid a situation where nobody in the organisation knows what the trainees actually do and whether their work will be of any use. • Project review meetings should be organised during this phase. • Phase 4 - Submitting and Defending Proposals • Generally a certain form of presentation for the project report is prescribed. • Proposals are examined and evaluated by the trainer and by the management of the receiving organisation.

8. Frequently, external specialists are requested to give their professional opinions. • If the student is not requested to implement the project, phase 4 will complete his work. • Proposals are then transmitted to the organisation concerned which will decide on further action. • Phase 5 - Implementation • The implementation is difficult for everybody concerned: unforeseen obstacles will arise, and changed conditioned may require modifications in proposals already worked out and accepted. • In many cases the trainee must return to his regular job and will have to implement the project while dealing with many other practical problems. • If he has to implement the project in another enterprise, he will face the problems that every outsider faces when trying to introduce changes.

9. Phase 6 - Evaluation of Results • We are concerned with the results of the project and the training programme. • If the training project proves to be beneficial to the receiving organization, management will support this method. • If the organisation has received benefits from the project implementation, this is a sign that the training Programme has helped the trainee to improve his competence. • The project method should not be viewed as a panacea for management training. • It is certainly useful, but like any other training method it is suited only to certain training programmes and objectives. • Project work requires a solid preparation on the part of the students, a careful selection of problems to be dealt with, and working arrangements convenient to all parties concerned.

10. FIELD VISITS • Field visits normally appear among the set of teaching methods currently in use with management schools all over the world. • There are two versions of field studies, namely, the industry field visit and management system field visit. • Industry Field Visit • The visit of a well-chosen company; • A well-prepared examination of the company’s annual reports, the environment in which the company operates; a preparation of the expected problems should precede the trip; • the participants must meet the policy-making level of the company; • The participants have to report on their studies in the field; • This report should not only record the situation in the company but should show the author’s opinions about the problems and the way of tackling them practically.

11. CRITERIA • The company must be an “interesting case” and the company assessed according to its openness and willingness to respond to questions. • The participants want to know more about the company when meeting the management, and they have to study the company’s situation before they visit it. • A series of sessions on the environment sectors, given by a guest lecturer - if necessary - premise the actual trip. • Small study groups analyse different aspects of the company and present them in class so that enough background material on the company is available. • It is absolutely necessary that the participants meet the top management people in the field. • If the participants only meet functional department managers, the discussion necessarily focuses on administrative and operational matters and just deals with strategic issues to a minor extent due to the position of the managers in the company.

12. At the end of an industry study trip, the participants come up with a report which reflects the visit in a strength and weakness balance after having had discussions with the responsible people. • This report is discussed in class and is also sent to the company. • Effectiveness • Preparatory phase (gathering of information on the company, the competitive situation and environment); • The actual visit to the company; • Preparation of a report on the company that has been visited; • Preparation and discussion of the reports. • Management System Field Visit • The limited range of topics (mostly one theme); • The number of companies, preferable operating in different environments; • Duration. • The pre-selection of a topic known to both the students and the company people well in advance guarantees a certain depth in the discussion between them.

13. The following topics could be chosen as areas interest at the particular point of time: • Factors contributing to company growth; • Control of international operations; • The effect of internationalisation, including foreign trade, on the organisation of the enterprise; • Technical innovation; • Motivation of man; • Training of managers and other personnel within the enterprise; • Practices and techniques in market research, sales promotion and distribution. • Timing of Field • Field visits are normally used in a longer management course. • It is our opinion that field should be placed towards the end of a course. • When students have enjoyed a classroom exposure for a longer time, they face some difficulties in applying the new knowledge, skills and attitudes to a practical situation. • Field studies can be a “re-entry vehicle” in this respect by timing them at the end of a course, just before the students return to their companies.