Jim Westerman asks "Does anyone have any suggestions for an "Introduction
to Business" text/materials that solicit a high level of student
involvement in the course?"
My experience has been that all texts have the potential: the issue is
transforming classes into dialogue and seminar situations. Takes time, but
it's worth it. It also involves guiding students through the challenge of
becoming responsible for their own reading and their own work. I observe
that most students are bewildered for the first six weeks of any course
that I teach, until they begin to see their way into the material and to
see their relationship to the material.
But any books will do. I've worked this way with materials as different as
Richard Daft's Organization Theory and Design Text and Shakespeare's Henry
V as a case study in leadership, used along with Branagh's film rendition.
Some of these issues are considered in the teaching notes for the Henry V
case. If you wish a copy, send me an email and I'll email the text back.
Ask for: Friedman, Ken. 1995. The Working-House of Thought. Using
Shakespeare's Henry Vin Management Education. Oslo, Norway: The Norwegian
School of Management.
Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Leadership and Strategic Design
Norwegian School of Management
Box 4676 Sofienberg
N-0506 Oslo, Norway
Phone: +47 22.98.51.07
Fax: +47 22.98.51.11
email: <
ken.friedman@bi.no>