21 December 2012
Using video in the business classroom
Anna uses some short cases or vignettes in her teaching, around a couple of pages long, but it's her use of video that she finds particularly exciting and given the interest in using video and other media in case teaching I thought it would be interesting to share Anna's thoughts:
"I have used a number of different television programmes to support 'case style' teaching. For example, I've used a couple of Alex Reily's programmes (Britain's Really Disgusting Foods and Secrets of the Superbrands) as the basis for discussions on marketing ethics and new product development. I've also used programmes such as I'm running Sainsbury's, Mary Queen of Shops, Inside John Lewis, Business Nightmares, The British at Work, Made in Britain, The Tube and Coppers as the basis for seminar and workshop discussions and tasks (as well as for examples in lectures).
I have found that often the advantage of video over written material is that students can watch the footage together in the room at the same time and then have a discussion or undertake a task. It seems to bring things to life more than a written case alone, and for undergraduate students who often have little or no work experience, it can help them understand the context more easily. I have also found that the quality of material from national broadcasters tends to be far higher than material made specifically for educational purposes, and this does seem to matter to the students.
There are also times when I have tried to combine a short written case with video material. For example, I teach a final year elective on Services Marketing and part of the course looks at public sector services, so students have a short written case to look at how service quality is measured in public sector services, but I have combined this with material from other sources such videos from BBC news programmes, and even comedy clips from programmes such as 10 o'clock live which often has a different perspective on current affairs. Sometimes this material is all provided to students in a lecture or seminar environment, but I have also used the VLE to provide additional material, or if I have used a video clip in a lecture or seminar, I may make the whole programme available to students online, so they can revisit it and gain a deeper understanding."
All of the off-air recordings that Anna uses are available to UK educational institutions under an initiative called Box of Broadcasts. BoB is a fantastic resource for UK teachers, making it simple and cheap to access the entire recorded output of all UK broadcasters for use in the classroom. Follow the link to get full details.
I have two questions. Firstly, given how easy it is to use this resource and the benefits it brings to teaching, why are media resources not used more often? Secondly, for copyright reasons the service is able to operate only within the UK - are similar services available elsewhere?
16 November 2012
Technology, innovation and how to avoid snake oil
Their findings suggest that engagement and interaction with the instructor and fellow students is what most determines student satisfaction and perceived learning in online courses.
Both papers suggest that the best way to take full advantage of technology is to start by really understanding the characteristics of each technology and medium and asking how best to use them to deliver learning objectives. Each technology, each medium, each approach will be stronger or weaker in one area or another. Let's avoid being dazzled by technological bling.
I'm looking forward to reading those Innovation in Case Teaching Submissions.
10 July 2012
Is the case method passé?
The question is a good one and deserves more than the case proponent's (my) insolent defence that any identifiable weakness in the case method is actually, were the critic only insightful enough to realise, a strength. Thus, judo-like, we overcome our opponents by using their own strength to unbalance them.
The pressure of too many cases results in naive and superficial analysis? It's how the world works. We all take decisions based on too little time and understanding.
The data used for case analysis are limited to what is supplied? So? We're talking exercising technique and classic management skills here. The facts may change but the fundamentals go on for ever. We're not actually running the company, you know, it's a classroom.
There is no 'right' answer. Ain't that the truth.
And so on until either the opponent or the defender grows to weary or bored to continue the argument, leaving the dojo, honour intact, to fight another day.
But I want to raise not a defence but a variation on the theme raised by Ronald Yeaple in the Forbes article. Which is that the alternatives he proposes and illustrates in his own teaching practice are themselves developments, improvements, improvisations on the theme of the case method. That what he is proposing is not that the case method is passé but that the prescriptive approach to how the method is captured and expressed (it must be written like this, taught like this, and so on) constrains innovation and restricts the full expression of its strengths in an age of universal, portable access to digital information and communication.
The question is, what do we talk about when we talk about cases? Is the classic case format the only possible expression of the ideal? If we don't draw a distinction between the method itself (the approach, the pedagogy) and the means by which the ideal is captured and expressed (the written case, the physical classroom) then I think there is a real threat that the method will become more easily dismissible by students coming to it for the first time, "- leaving them wondering what are the takeaways from the exercise."
This is something that concerns us at ecch, which is why we've added to our Awards this year a competitive category recognising innovation in case teaching
I'm looking forward to writing another blog about how much innovative case teaching we've been able to uncover and share as a result.
1 May 2012
Women entrepreneurs
The UK's richest woman is Kirsty Bertarelli, whose £7.4 billion comes from her husband's family's pharmaceuticals company, and the pattern of wealth acquired through birth, marriage or divorce is repeated until we reach Dame Mary Perkins, 8th woman and 84th in the overall list, sharing £870million with her husband with whom she co-founded Specsavers.
Karen Gill, of the Everywoman network supporting women entrepreneurs says that while it is nice to see the list include women who have made their own money, there are still questions about why there aren't more women in the list, and why are they generally retracted to the creative (JK Rowling) or retail (Linda Bennett - shoes) industries? The list is still dominated by men who have risen to the top of sectors where the really big money is found - industry, oil, pharmaceuticals, property and construction.
Initiatives like Everywoman are obviously a wonderful thing but they face huge challenges. Only 15% of UK businesses are started by women compared to roughly 50% in the US and the British generally are less likely to take the entrepreneurial plunge.
Here are two upcoming events that might help.
The Bettany Centre Venture Day for entrepreneurs on 10th May.
The ecch one day workshop on Cases and Entrepreneurship on 28 June
28 March 2012
Cases, research and teaching: what goes around...
In his most recent blog Grandon outlines a very clear model of the relationship between research, classroom teaching and practice. It's a view of the benefit of cases that I think is at the heart of the method something that ecch is committed to supporting. Last year we published an article on our website featuring an interview with Cranfield professor Mark Jenkins www.ecch.com/researchvsteaching
Grandon's blog prompted me to write something again but in fact, as I agree entirely with what Grandon says, why not just go to his blog and read it for yourself? http://grandon.com/blog/?p=187
And take some time to explore his other postings about using cases.
20 February 2012
Our Annual Case Awards
Case writers are often under recognised in comparison with colleagues of similar stature publishing in refereed journals. So it's always a pleasure and a privilege for ecch to play some part in redressing that imbalance through our annual Case Awards. We took the decision only two years ago that the Awards should reflect our global presence by being open to entries from around the world, so it's such a pleasure to see our winners this year represent thirteen schools, seven countries and four continents.
This year’s Awards demonstrate the widespread excellence in case writing and teaching taking place around the world and the relevance to the current economic climate of subjects being taught. The era of cases originating predominantly in only the historically most well known business schools is past. Relevant and effective cases are being demanded, used – and produced, worldwide.
Congratulations to all our winners and especially to James A Erskine, Michiel R Leenders and Louise A Mauffette-Leenders of the Richard Ivey School of Business who were awarded the Outstanding Contribution to the Case Method award in recognition of their work in bringing the case method to thousands of faculty worldwide through more than 400 case writing and case teaching workshops in more than 50 countries over the past 40 years.
Full details of the Awards may be found here: www.ecch.com/awards2012.
As the Olympics approach, the Hot Topic for next year’s awards is The Business of Sport.
13 February 2012
What We Mean When We Talk About the Digital Classroom
19 January 2012
Pears Business Schools Partnership case studies and lectures
18 January 2012
Barriers to developing schools adopting the case method
6 January 2012
Entrepreneurship? It ain't worth a thing if it ain't got that swing
Seems that business academics and practitioners can learn some wider lessons from jazz and how it's organised and led. Research into entrepreneurial leadership at Warwick University says that entrepreneurs and leaders of entrepreneurial teams can learn a lot from how the jazz greats lead their ensembles. Entrepreneurial Teams: Insights from Jazz by Deniz Ucbasaran, Mike Humphreys and Andy Lockett (any relation to the sax player Mornington Lockett?) won an award for best paper at the 2011 ISBE conference.
Now the story is running in the jazz press
A jazz setting would make for a great case study, maybe in the style of Raymond Chandler:
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark little clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed entrepreneur ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars. (adapted from the opening paragraph of The Big Sleep)
Now that's an opening.