Organizational Learning and Performance Masters Students Place Second in Competition
Jan. 16, 2015
Team members Kathy Nolen, Katherine Green, and Lauren Davis recently placed second in the Midwest Training and Development University Case Competition. The three organizational learning and performance graduate students are all employed at Development Dimensions International, a nationally recognized talent management, talent acquisition and leadership development consulting firm. Nolen and Green are project mangers, while Davis is a consulting associate. They attend OLP courses through WMU’s Royal Oak Regional Center.
The Training and Development University Case Competition is a regional competition between graduate student teams of Midwestern universities and colleges. The main purpose of the Case Competition is to enhance and complement students’ in-class learning. It is designed to challenge student decision-making skills, create a collaborative team environment, provide meaningful feedback from real-world experts and practitioners, and further strengthen the relationship between research and practice.
Teams were presented with a case and created a solution based upon it. The case involved a fictitious organization with a perceived need communicated by the organization. The case was communicated through a document that outlined the situation from the perspective of the organization. Two follow-up phone calls with an “internal organizational training employee” were allowed for each team. Competing teams had five weeks to prepare and submit a formal solution. Additionally, the team delivered a 15-minute presentation of a portion of their solution on the day of the event.
A panel of six judges representing both practitioners and academics objectively evaluated each team’s solution, and trophies were awarded to the best teams’ work. The judges used standardized rubrics for both the proposal and the presentation. The case proposals were reviewed and scored prior to the event. The presentations were judged and scored at the event.
Competitor teams participating in the event are from academic programs that include, but are certainly not limited to: Organizational development, I/O psychology, human resource revelopment, training, instructional technology, instructional design and performance improvement.
The Case Competition is a collaboration between Oakland University and the Detroit Chapter of the Association for Talent Development. The location of the event was Oakland University, in Rochester, Michigan.