Case Studies in Leadership (Getting the Evidence: Leadership Training Dilemma)

Developed by John R. Schermerhorn, Jr., Ohio University

Shane Alexander is the human resource director of the Central State Medical Center. One of her responsibilities is to oversee the hospital’s leadership training programs. Recently Shane attended a professional conference during which a special “packaged” training program was advertised for sale. The package includes a set of videotaped lectures by a distinguished management consultant plus a workbook containing readings, exercises, cases, tests, and other instructional aids. The subjects covered in the program include motivation, group dynamics, communication skills, leadership styles, performance appraisal, and the dynamics of planned change.

In the past Shane felt that the hospital had not lived up to its training goals. One of the reasons for this was the high cost of hiring external consultants to do the actual instruction. This packaged program was designed, presumably, so that persons from within the hospital could act as session coordinators. The structure of the program provided through the videotapes and workbook agenda was supposed to substitute for a consultant’s expertise. Because of this, Shane felt that use of the packaged program could substantially improve supervisory training in the hospital.

The cost of the program was $3,500 for an initial purchase of the videotapes plus fifty workbooks. Additional workbooks were then available at $8 per copy. Before purchasing the program, Shane needed the approval of the senior administrative staff.

At the next staff meeting, Shane proposed purchasing the training program. She was surprised at the response. The hospital president was noncommittal; the vice president for operations was openly hostile; and the three associate vice presidents were varied in their enthusiasm. It was the vice president’s opinion that dominated the discussion. He argued that to invest in such a program on the assumption that it would lead to improved leadership practices was unwise. “This is especially true in respect to the proposed program,” he said. “How could such a package possibly substitute for the training skills of an expert consultant?”

Shane argued her case and was left with the following challenge. The executives would allow $1,000 to be spent to rent the program with thirty workbooks. It would be up to Shane to demonstrate through a trial program, or pilot test, that an eventual purchase of the full program would be worthwhile.

There are 160 supervisors, team leaders, department and division heads, and executives in the hospital. The program was designed to be delivered in eight 2.5-hour sessions. It was preferred to schedule one session per week, with no more than fifteen participants per session. Shane knew that she would have to present very strong evidence to gain needed support for the continued use of the program. Given the opportunity, she wondered just how she could get evidence that would be conclusive one way or the other.

Endnotes