Colleagues,
Can I ask your advise in an impossible (?) educational mission?
I teach in a social science department, rather than a business school
environment, in a program that focusses on strategy/policy, communication and
organisation of both profit and non-profit organisations. The program is
succesfull in attracting large numbers of students (every year some 150-200
will finish the program). We wish to do a case-based integration course in
which to combine and confront our strategy, OT and OB courses, but the number
of students limits our range of options. Alternative plans are called for. A
feasible plan (in terms of workload for the teachers) would seem to be the one
that I will explain below. However, before starting this course in Fall next
year, I wish to invite your advise on the course lay-out.
The integration course is to accomodate 200 students who have little
experience in case work. The course will be taught by three teachers of
respectively strategy, OT and OB. The course will take 8 weeks, 6 of which are
available for case analysis. The learning objective is to develop students'
skills in 'lateral thinking' and in understanding the possibility and value of
multiple perspectives on organisations. In order to meet this objective, our
intention is to offer two cases, one of which is used for class discussion,
the other as a parallel assignment on which the students receive their grades.
The students are split in three groups each of which takes one perspective
(strategy, OT or OB) for two weeks. These groups are further split up such
that about 20 student participate in a class discussion. After two weeks they
change their focus. After six weeks the three groups have applied the three
different perspectives on one single case. Parallel to the class discussion of
the first case, the students work individually on the second case.
Me and my colleagues would very much appreciate your advice on the following
questions:
1) Has anybody experience with such a course format or lay-out? If so, how did
it work and what preconditions are to be met for this format to be succesful?
2) How do you consider the chances of students to appreciate the format and to
learn something? Why?
3) Any suggestions for cases that are rich enough to be interesting from both
the strategy, OT and OB perspectives?
Please respond to me personally. I will put together a summary of your advice
and redistribute this to the list.
Yours,
Frank den Hond
Vrije Universiteit - SCW / P&B / BCO
De Boelelaan 1081c
1081 HV Amsterdam
the Netherlands
tel.: +31 20 444 6818 / 6805
fax: +31 20 444 6820