EagleRacing Overview - INSEAD CALT

EagleRacing Overview

EagleRacing: Objectives & Context
Introduction Video:
http://www.calt.insead.edu/eis/EagleRacing/EagleRacingIntro.wmv
YouTube video about the origins of EagleRacing at
Ferrari in Maranello, Italy:
http://www.youtube.com/v/XOw_xYty8eM

Description of the “Story” (1)
Role-playing Storyboard
Collaboration
Experiences
addressed
Learning
Levels
addressed
Face-to-face
Simple Email
Exchange
Advanced
Collaboration
Technologies
Web 2.0
Collaboration
Environments
Individuals
Small Teams
Large Groups
Virtual
Communities
See the first Episode (use keyword “test”):
EPISODE 1

Description of the “Story” (2)
The videos trace the story of Gianluca Paranelli, a high-level decision maker of EagleRacing, a car racing
company, as he faces several crucial dilemmas. For instance:
•He must decide between two very different, mutually exclusive sponsors, desperately needed in
order to guarantee his company’s future.
•He must face a complex and critical management decision, such as deciding whether or not to pull
out of a race at the last minute, given a possible risk of car engine failure, top management
pressure, experts’ disagreements, and the fact that the potential sponsor is present and plans to
sign the contract after the race.
•He must decide whether to share problems openly with the prospective sponsor, or hide
potentially damaging information.
In addition to the videos, supplementary information is made available online for each dilemma
including graphs, data and newspaper articles.
See the first Email used to activate the Participants online:
Starting Email

Example: EagleRacing @ Nissan. How does it
contribute to the Integration
Overview of Competencies and Contribution Areas
addressed:
There are 7 cells which are particularly addressed by the
EagleRacing experience (Red X)
•There are 2 Red X in the “Operational Decision Making”
competency row
•There are 2 Red X in the “Developing Strategic
Relationships” Competency row.
•There are 2 Red X in the “Shared Vision & Global
Thinking” Contribution Area column
•There is 1 Red X addressing particularly the “Business
Acumen” row and the “Profit Consciousness” column
Beyond these 7 Red X, there are also a number of Blue X.
These are cells that are addressed by the EagleRacing
experience, but instead of being the subject of an extensive
focus/debriefing, can be handled in less depth (e.g. without
providing additional conceptual framework), but by asking
the participants to use what they have learned in other
courses and then stimulate self-reflection / self-assessment
in the light of how successfully these competencies have
been used by each manager during the EagleRacing
experience.

Additional Dimension
The EagleRacing experience also involve the participants with
online video viewing and email exchanges (in teams)
before they even start the Program. This means that the first
part of the experience starts online and on–the-job, and it is
then completed and debriefed at the end of the Program as an
Integrative Experience.
The online component of EagleRacing is important to engage the
participants in advance and help them address/experience
their Business/ Management, Leadership, and Interpersonal
Skills in both traditional and distributed collaboration
settings/situations.

Vignette 1 & Related Conceptual Models
After viewing the first Episode online (see previous slide & video), participants are asked to express their
intuitive decision and send them individually to the professor (see Email link in previous slide).
After this first step, Teams are created in order to maximize Diversity (Different Perspectives on the
Dilemma, as well as cross-cultural differences) on the dilemma represented in the first Episode. The Teams
now, rather than the individuals, need to reach a consensus, using exclusively email as a way of
communicating.
This virtual team experience, together with the teamwork following the other 3 dilemmas (and in particular
Dilemma 2, which is modelled on the well-documented group decision which lead NASA to launch of the
Challenger in 1986) , provides a very rich opportunity to experience effective vs ineffective team decision
making processes on- and offline, addressing particularly the Competency “Operational Decision Making”
in the two Areas “Innovation and Flexibility” and “Acc. & Decision Making”.
A number of concepts and guidelines addressing Group Decision Making in Distributed and Diverse
Management Teams can now be introduced and discussed, using the protocols of the teams exchanges to
illustrate:
•Decision Making Traps both on- and off-line,
•The characteristics of successful/high-performance teams,
•The need to acknowledge and address cultural differences,
•The emergence of innovative ideas/solutions
•The challenge of reaching consensus
•The different processes supporting the team to be both efficient and effective
Specific references to articles describing the conceptual models discussed, can be found in:
http://www.calt.insead.edu/eis/EagleRacing/ERDebriefingSlides.mht

Vignette 2 & Related Conceptual Models
During the different stages of the simulation, participants experience different types of collaboration
technologies and media. This experience is followed up naturally with the introduction of concepts
addressing important Trends related to New Forms of Collaboration:
-Enhanced collaboration & Innovation among distributed groups (or internal communities) of managers
through Web 2.0 environments concept of “Entreprise 2.0”
-New forms of collaboration (“mass collaboration” reaching to customers and other players beyond the
organizational boundaries) concept of “Wikinomics”
This dimension of EagleRacing facilitates hence the introduction and discussion of concepts and trends
addressing particularly the Competency “Developing Strategic Relationships” which are particularly
relevant for the two Areas “Customer Focus”and “Innovation and Flexibility”.
Specific references to articles describing the conceptual models discussed, can be found in:
http://www.calt.insead.edu/eis/EagleRacing/ERDebriefingSlides.mht

Vignette 3 & Related Conceptual Models
After the Racing-NotRacing Dilemma (Episode 2) we always experience a big diversity between the
decisions of the different teams - some insist vehemently to race (even if the internal experts do not
agree) whilst other teams decide that the best decision is not to race.
This diversity of views enables to introduce a further Dilemma: Shall the teams proceed individually on
their path, or shall they try to collaborate and reach a global consensus Typically teams prefer to
proceed individually, rather than to collaborate towards a joint, and potentially better, decision.
At this point the experience becomes the basis for a fundamental discussion of:
-Benefits and drawbacks of collaborating (rather than proceed individually/
silos mentality)
-Barriers and Breakdowns to increased collaboration in organizational
contexts
-Collaborative vs Competitive cultures in organizations (example: PWC)
-Stimulating and sustaining productive collaboration and knowledge
exchange in organizations
- Factors determining success or failure of Collaboration initiatives
This dimension of EagleRacing facilitates hence the introduction and discussion of concepts and company
experiences addressing particularly the Competencies “Business Acumen”and “Global Acumen”
which are particularly relevant for the Area “Shared Vision & Global Thinking”
Specific references to articles describing the conceptual models discussed, can be found in:
http://www.calt.insead.edu/eis/EagleRacing/ERDebriefingSlides.mht

Vignette 4 & Related Conceptual Models
All the dilemmas represented which the EagleRacing experience are complex and multi-dimensional.
The simulation stimulates therefore the discussion of relevant management trade-offs, such as:
‣Ethical issues vs Financial opportunities
‣Intuition vs Rationality
‣Information retention vs honest/transparent approaches
‣Integrating the insights of technical experts in management decision making
The richness of the management dilemmas typically generate a great diversity of responses, also
because all the decisions can have potentially very serious consequences (bankrupt or acquisition by
other company). It is here that participants are likely to contribute with their own experiences in
addressing such trade-offs during their daily business life, supporting everybody to appreciate the
diversity of perspectives (e.g. depending from functional or cultural background) and reflect about ways
to combine different perspectives and identify solutions to the trade-offs presented.
This dimension of EagleRacing facilitates hence the introduction and discussion of concepts and company
experiences addressing particularly the Competency “Business Acumen” which is particularly relevant
for the Area “Profit Consciousness”
Specific references to articles describing the conceptual models discussed, can be found in:
http://www.calt.insead.edu/eis/EagleRacing/ERDebriefingSlides.mht

Some References
‣IEP INSEAD First Deployment
(Prof. M. Pich testimony)
“Having seen this from the standpoint of a Programme Director, I would say that this was seen by the
participants as very innovative and engaging. We sprung this on them at the last minute without any warning,
but they became immediately engaged once they saw the “story” being developed in the video. Having seen
many of the email exchanges, I can tell you that they were passionate about their positions and about the
effect of the group decisions on the over development of the story… the value-add from this is high,
especially in terms of innovation and “new” technologies for communication, team building and on-line
communities: all hot topics for this group. I highly recommend it.”
Company Specific:
Prof. Michael Pich, INSEAD IEP 2008 Programme Director
‣Havas Media (CEDEP Programme)
‣Bhavna Karani - Global Talent Management Director
‣Luca Boer - Head of Global HR
‣Novartis International (Global Learning Meeting)
‣Dr. Frank Waltmann - Head of Learning