Ordinary Boot Camp Case Study

Ordinary Boot Camp Case Study
Within his provocative case study entitled No Ordinary Boot Camp, management and organization professor Noel M. Tichy seeks to analyze the emerging field of corporate orientation programming, specifically the trend of corporate boot camps for incoming employees. Tichy filters his examination of this expansive aspect of modern industry through the prism of Trilogy University, a paragon of orientation programming devised and designed by the Austin, Texas-based Trilogy software company. To open his analysis, Tichy begins by positing that the modern corporate orientation is “modeled after Marine Corps basic training” and is specifically “designed to push new recruits to their limits” (2001) in an effort to simultaneously prepare employees for their duties and unite them as a cohesive workforce. These dual goals, to ready recruits for the rigors of their new positions while building a genuine sense of cohesion between them, are the central focus of any effective orientation program. When Tichy asserts that “those two goals – preparedness and bonding-are usually the whole focus of a boot camp, and achieving them is worth a great deal” (2001), his observation appears to be accurate, in the sense that these goals are fundamentally important to a recruit’s potential for success. To augment the application of these two primary goals, it may also be prudent for a corporation to institute morale-building exercises within their orientation programs, because an individual’s receptiveness to new information is enhanced by a positive and exciting environment.
Later in the case study, Tichy references how Trilogy University attempts to broker genuine trust between incoming employees, many of whom have never previously met, by encouraging them to exchange stories about extremely meaningful emotional experiences. During his recounting of a recent sharing session, the author observes that “technique worked its magic as people began to talk and listen,” while the exchange of personal information resulted in a genuine emotional experience in which “some people were crying; some people were making other people cry” (Tichy, 2001). The perceived benefit of this orientation technique lies in the mutual lowering of the guard which occurs between employees, because when colleagues are able to genuinely trust one another, their combined productivity increases by a significant measure. Allowing new employees to share personal details from their lives and experience emotions in a shared environment builds lasting bonds that will inevitably extend to the workplace.
While the promotion of employee bonding is indeed a necessary step during the orientation process, many employees prefer to maintain a level of professional distance between themselves and the company they work for. If the extremely personalized approach to team-building is perceived as overly intrusive by an employee, this may lead to a reversal in the improvements made during orientation, so it is crucial for corporations to respect their employee’s boundaries. To this end, there are several aspects of Trilogy University’s curriculum which are sufficiently balanced between personal introspection and the improvement of a new recruit’s skills. The threefold structure of Trilogy University would be transferrable to other major software developers, because each month involves the exposure to and the absorption of companywide technological trends, the existing chain of command, company value systems, and other critical aspects of the firm’s operations.
References
Tichy, N.M. (2001). No ordinary boot camp. Harvard Business Review. April, 2001. 63-70.
Noe, R.A. (1999). Employee training and development. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw- Hill/Irwin.