Review articles Outdoor challenge training for MBA students

摘要

Whatever the organization, when it comes to producing results the importance of effective teamwork is rarely questioned. Managers and human resource teams alike are constantly looking at ways of improving working relationships between team members. The reasoning is obvious: common sense says that increased trust and interpersonal communication between colleagues will ultimately lead to better performance. Not so simple is knowing quite the best way to go about teambuilding or how to analyze the effects of costly and time-consuming exercises. One increasingly popular method is known as outdoor challenge training (OCT). Such training is usually either adventure-based, outdoor-centered or a wilderness program. All of these have participants living indoors but taking part in a variety of structured outdoor activities, which aim to improve problem solving, trust and teamwork within group situations. Activities range from the relatively unstrenuous to mountain climbing and kayaking. Although OCT has been most commonly practiced in industry, it is a training method that is now often used with classes of MBA students.