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: a software company learns that customers are unhappy with customer support and this is causing a

loss of customers. In order to improve customer support, the company decides to use team role playing. A
trainer brings together a group of 12 software developers and customer support representatives.

The trainer introduces the problem and encourages an open discussion in order to put all the relevant issues on
the table and get participants thinking about the problem in depth prior to the team role playing.

While discussion is still relatively lively, the trainer interrupts, divides the participants into two groups.
Participants should be randomly assigned to groups, such as by having each person pulling a paper, indicating
group membership, out of a hat. It is important that the participants do not divide themselves into groups.
Getting people who do not normally work together to do so creates new synergies which should promote
greater creative thinking.

Group A (playing the role of a customer support person) receives a card which states:

"This customer is very influential. To lose them would be highly damaging to the company. You must do
anything within reason to retain them"

Group B (playing the role of the customer) receives a card stating:

"You have seriously overspent your software budget and while you are not unhappy with the product, you must
convince the customer support person to take back the product and refund your money. Since you cannot
admit the actual situation (as it would clearly not be le gitimate for a refund), you must find problems with the
software sufficient to legitimise the return and refund."

The groups meet separately for five to ten minutes to discuss strategy and who will be the actor. Then the two
actors go to the centre of the room to perform the role play. At any time during the role play, the actors can
look to their teams for advice. Likewise teams can offer unsolicited advice. Normally the teams are physically
separated from their actors. However, each team can call one "ti me out" to have a private discussion of
strategy.

In a lively role-play, a team member may very well offer advice to the actor of the other team. There is
nothing wrong with this and the trainer should not prohibit it, although the teams themselves may do so.

Eventually, a solution of some sort will be found. If the conflict is not apparent to both sides and there is still
sufficient enthusiasm in the teams, the trainer may ask the teams to find another solution.

Once it is clear no more solutions are to be found, the groups are brought together and discuss the role play,
their strategies, their solution, relevance to real world situations, and alternative solutions.

Optionally, each team can draft a short "lessons learned" paper about the role play. The papers can be
combined an copies distributed to all role play participants and any other staff who might learn from the role
play.

In a situation similar to the example, there would probably be several team role playing sessions with different
people and different conflicts. In addition, some conflicts would be specific to the company's product or
procedures.

VV

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The computers during the period 1965 to 1971 are regarded as the Third Generation Computers. The
development of Third Generation Computers resulted in the end of the usage of first and second generation
computers. Though transistors used in Second Generation Computers were clearly an improvement over the
vacuum tube used in First Generation Computers, Second Generated Computers still generated a great deal of
heat which resulted in the damage of sensitive internal parts of the computer. This problem was later
eliminated by the use of quartz rock.
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In 1958, Jack Kilby who is an engineer with Texas Instruments, developed the Integrated Circuit (IC). The
Integrated Circuit combined three electronic components onto a small silicon disc, which was made from quar tz
rock. Scientist later managed to fit more components on a single chip, called semiconductor. As a result of it,
more components were able to squeeze onto the chip and thereby computers became ever smaller. Another
third generation computer development included the use of an OS (operating system) that allowed computers
to run multiple programs together with a central program that monitored & coordinated the memory of the
computer.

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Characteristics of Third Generation Computers in comparison with that of previous generation computers are «

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10.V The Third Generation computers started approximately in
this era. These computers were mainly characterized by
electronic models and were fully programmable.
11.V The first consumer game is published, diagramming
techniques for software development were defined, the Hewlett
Packard handheld scientific calculator HP35 is now available.
12.V In January Magnavox (USA), member of the North American Philips group, started selling a game
computer running "Odyssey".
13.V This game was already written in 1968(1) for a mainframe computer by the American Ralph Baer. But
as with most advanced ideas it was too early for consumers, not ready at that time to adapt
something like a video game. Commercially it meant a disaster and the 100 U$ game console
gathered dust.

14.V On 24 August 1972 INTEL released the 200 kHz 8008, an 8 bit version of the 4004.
15.V The speed was 300.000 instructions per second, could address 16Kb memory. It contained 3500
transistors based on 10 micron technology. It was the first processor able to recognize all characters
of the alphabet (letters and numbers).
The processor was originally built for Computer Terminal Corporation,- later called Datapoint. This
processor will instantaneously be popular with manufacturers of small computers.
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