Session 2 Using electronic networks in management and executive learning

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1 Session 2 Using electronic networks in management and executive learning The author is Associate Professor at the School of Business, State University of New York, Albany, New York, USA. Abstract This paper describes how a required MBA course used Lotus Notes and the Internet to provide an enriched learning experience. The class simulated a consulting firm that sent teams on five virtual projects and assignments. Virtual business China examined potential Internet business opportunities in China. ABB was a conventional case used to develop and apply an organizational effectiveness audit template but all discussions occurred through groupware. Global Electronics Corp. was an Internet-based case. The forum was in-basket exercise that provided students with an experience in managing the social, political, and ethical dimensions of business. Industry analysis was a conventional group project that examined the information technology industry. Conclusions are drawn from experiences with this approach To most students, MBA programs initially appear as a hotchpotch of more or less disconnected courses. Worse still, many courses seem unrelated to the basic task of managing a business. This paper reviews a six-week team-based course that used extensively information technology. It was taught at the end of the first year, so students would see how the topics in the first semester skill courses tie together. This course was the vehicle to integrate the basic functional areas of finance, human resources, MSI and marketing, with the social, political, and legal implications of doing business in an international environment. The emphasis was on developing informed executives, regardless of organizational responsibilities. This experience was also intended to expose students to the big picture that examines business issues from a total-firm perspective by providing a general orientation to the business environment and familiarizing them with the nature of business firms. So while we titled the course Global Business, we use the term global to mean a system-wide perspective rather than merely geographic in scope. Background We had the class simulate a consulting firm we named Global Organization and Environment Systems (GOES!) that comprised four principals (i.e. the instructors) and the newly-hired consultants (i.e. the students). Four Is form the foundation of our team: information, international, integration, and integrity. Retaining the roles, we set the firm up as follows: GOES! extensively utilizes information systems, particularly the Internet and Lotus Notes, in all our programs. GOES! has earned an excellent reputation as a center for innovation in conducting research in international business. GOES! takes a systems perspective in its cross-functional integration to business problems. GOES! insists all its members have a strong sense of personal integrity enabling them to make the right decisions. Volume 10 Number 6/ pp MCB University Press ISSN This article originally appeared in the Conference under the title Using technology to deliver a complete business experience.

2 Since this course is required during the last six weeks of the first year, during which time few other courses are offered, the GOES! work ethic required full-time effort and commitment from 7 April to 16 May. During their short internship, we provided the students with hands-on experiences in conducting research and presenting their findings both written and orally. Given the complexity of their task, they were placed in a team to complete a specific project and after ward rotated to their next assignment. This demanded considerable flexibility and willingness to adapt to the schedule and needs of other team members. Much of their work was to be accomplished outside of class time and on days when classes did not meet. Their success was based on how well they did as an individual and as a team member. An integrative course of this type serves multiple purposes. The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the major accrediting body for US business schools, believes group and individual problemsolving skills are critical for career success. This means being able to gather information, analyse problems, select a course of action, and carry out the decision. This course attempted to create an environment that permitted students to confront and resolve a variety of business problems. It began the process of developing their interpersonal skills and ability to work in groups. This course also provided an opportunity to understand and apply the tools and techniques developed in the traditional functional MBA courses. The challenge was to provide students with a variety of hands-on experiences that encompassed comprehensive cases, group projects, and experiential exercises. They also extensively used personal computers, made presentations, wrote up their results, and put the other courses into perspective. Students were randomly assigned to groups in (or just prior to) class, to prepare the case analyses and projects. Since the group composition changed, every student had an opportunity to make one of the presentations. We expected everyone to act professionally, particularly in instilling values of hard work and personal integrity. By exposing students to a variety of real world business problems, we hoped they 325 could integrate learning accumulated during the first year of the program. This should also improve their written and oral communication skills, as well as develop the thinking and interpersonal processes necessary for problem solving. As such, study groups were an integral part of this course. By the end of the first year, they should have been exposed to both an overview of business systems and details of their functional operations. This course attempted to create a variety of classroom experiences from defending the analysis of a business problem to getting a hands-on feel for such problems. The intent was to create a learning environment that encouraged students to take one risk: expose their thinking to their peers. Yet the ability to express their ideas and have them scrutinized is critical to successful leadership. In addition to the group and peer evaluations for the project deliverables, we attempted to objectively assess their individual leadership abilities, creativity and initiative. Group project deliverables There were five projects, each culminating in a written report and a presentation to the class. They include an initial research project, a conventional case write-up, a Web-based case analysis, an in-basket simulation, and a final industry study and presentation. We practiced just-in-time management by notifying students of their team assignment and giving them more explicit instructions immediately prior to the start of each group project. They were responsible for implementing total quality management (TQM) the quality of the course was highly dependent on their effort and the effort of their fellow team members. Project 1 Research activity virtual business China The first group was to examine a business opportunity in China, considering the ethical considerations and political risks. We offered lectures on: information and business research; and knowledge-based businesses and organizational effectiveness. They were then assigned to conduct research on one of the following sectors: insurance/finance; transportation; retail/wholesale trade; industrial manufacturing; or mining/

3 mineral extraction. They had only the following instructions: For your sector, select a product or service that can be delivered over, or used with, the Internet. Pick a US firm to be your partner that can offer expertise or resources needed in this overseas venture. Develop a strategy that includes expected investment, costs, and returns. Project 2 Case analysis ABB We first offered a lecture and exercise on functional integration and organizational effectiveness diagnosis. For the project, they were informed that GOES! had been hired by ABB. They want us to conduct an organizational effectiveness audit that will assist the company to further develop and integrate the many pieces that were created in 1988 when ASEA and BBC merged. As part of this project, the GOES! principals decided to organize the consultation around developing and applying an organizational effectivness audit template. Four GOES! teams independently developed and applied a template and presented their results. The principals decided which of the four recommended audit templates would be presented to the client. We also specified that the development of our audit templates would give GOES! a unique product that can be used on other consulting projects. There were three objectives for this project: (1) To create a clear understanding of the problems of managing a large multinational firm that was created from several quite different pieces, including a powerful subsidiary that was larger than its original parent. This understanding includes awarenes of the social and political problems entailed in operating in a multi-national environment, mostly in Europe. (2) To develop a template that assists their team in conducting an organizational effectiveness audit of ABB. Their template should organize the specific elements of their analysis and audit, and make clear the steps and issues they would consider. (3) To conduct the organizational effectiveness audit of ABB and present their observations and findings. Their audit should identify what the company has done in the time period covered by the cases, how they 326 have done it, and how effective they have been. Project 3 Case analysis Global Electronics Corp. We offered a lecture and short case on information planning and control. For this Web-based case, their team was to provide an overall evaluation of a joint venture proposal. It was based on an actual case but updated using Internet sites (available at albany.edu/~pm157/teaching/cases/gec.html) Project 4 The forum database This in-basket exercise provided students an experience in managing the social, political, and ethical dimensions of business. We conducted it via a Lotus Notes database designed specifically for this activity ( albany.edu/~pm157/teaching/forum/forum.- html) This project required teams to make ethics recommendations. Project 5 Industry analysis information technology The final project, worth double the others, had them examine the information technology industry and recommend courses of action ( topics/ind_info.html) Conclusions This approach was intended to be a rich experience for the students that would also expose them to the real business world activities as much as is possible in an academic environment. While they do not do any field work or visit companies, we use cases, exercises, simulations and other complex projects that replicate the real business world. We do less with theory since they are finishing up quite a bit of it and our intent is to apply their learnings. We go for variety and breadth of experience rather than focusing on any single organization, function, or issue. Occurring during a time when the MBAs are not very preoccupied with anything else is probably very similar to an intense corporate training experience. They learned a lot about who they do not want to work with and what business functions do not interest them. They also get very frustrated with the technology. In fact, technology (especially Lotus Notes), was central to the course and was received very

4 ambivalently. Simply put, we do not have an adequate infrastructure to support our ambitions. On the other hand, it did get students summer internships and some have a continuing interest in it. Still, it was a very timeconsuming course for students and the instructor team. And just as student teams have difficulties, we often do too we just camouflage the problems better. Further reading Anderson, M.D. ( ), Using computer conferencing and electronic mail to facilitate group projects, Journal of Educational Technology Systems, No. 2, pp Fukami, C.V., Clouse, M.L., Howard, C.T., McGowan, R.P., Mullins, J.W., Silver, W.S., Sorensen, J.E., Watkis, T.L. and Wittmer, D.P. (1996), The road less traveled: the joys and sorrows of team teaching, Journal of Management Education, special issue on Evolution and revolution in management education: the joys and challenges of change, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp Hawkridge, D. (1996), The next educational technology in higher education, Innovations in Education and Training International, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp Krile, T., Juell, P. and Vetter, R.(1996), Pioneering on the new frontiers of education, Computer, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp Leidner, D.E. and Jarvenpaa, S.L. (1995), The use of information technology to enhance management school education: a theoretical view, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 19, September, pp Mandinach, E.B. and H.F. Cline (1996), Classroom dynamics: the impact of a technology-based curriculum innovation on teaching and learning, Journal of Educational Computing Research, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp Mergendoller, J.R. (1996), Moving from technological possibility to richer student learning: revitalized infrastructure and reconstructed pedagogy, Educational Researcher, Vol. 25 No. 8, pp Oram, I. (1996), Computer support of learning from cases in management education, Innovations in Education and Training International, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp

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