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Faculty
A COMPREHENSIVE ACTIVE-BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR MANAGEMENT EDUCATION: AN EVALUATIVE STUDY
(2017)
There seems to be a strong distinction between what most business schools prepare their students for and what practicing managers actually do in their professional life [1]. Business education, in general, sees management as analytical and scientific, when empirical evidences indicate that the practicing manager repertoire is comprised not only of analysis but mainly of the development of solutions to illdefined problems [2].
Moreover, the globalization of the economy and the shift from a manufacturing to an informationbased society have led to significant changes in the conditions of work; with post-industrial economies
living an era of continuous market change and creative destruction [3], [4]. This scenario increases the array of responsibilities of higher education institutions which, in addition to providing disciplinary knowledge, should develop in students non-disciplinary competences such as decision-making, problem-solving, interpersonal communication, etc. As argued by Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, et al. [5],
the development of such competences - sometimes referred as transversal or generic - are increasingly relevant in a society facing constant changes, since they are adaptable to various contexts enhancing the relevancy and the employability of students.
Under this perspective, a change in management education is needed. It should be oriented less on the training of business analysts and more on preparing future managers for solving the ill-designed
problems of real business practice. It is suggested that the focus of business education should move from ‘simply’ providing a body of domain-specific knowledge to give students the opportunity to apply
that knowledge under realistic contexts which better resembling management practice and foster the development of generic competences. In that respect, literature suggested that active-based learning
methods are best fitted for the ‘task’ [6]. More specifically, it points out to a series of ‘desirable’ elements that should be present if one wants to accurately replicate a management learning
environment. This author condensed those elements to form a theoretical proposition: that to build powerful management learning environments one needs to offer students the opportunity to
collectively engage in a series of continuous real-world experiences in a process permeated by careful reflection in and on the action.
This paper uses the findings from a literature review and series of expert interviews to develop a richer and Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) context-specific perspective of the different key techniques, tools and principles that can be used to develop gamified learning to enhance the skills required by PSM professionals in dealing with current and future challenges, such as the transformation to Industry 4.0. It also provides further details of the different stages of implementing gamified learning, which can enhance the success of any such provision.
For a long time, a large number of top managers in listed companies have regarded communication with their shareholders as a necessary evil and now, in times of activist investors, are faced not only with the great challenges of opening up to shareholders and revealing their own corporate strategy, but also at the same time have to withstand the massive external pressure from activist investors, who are rarely majority shareholders. To achieve this, it is essential that a complete rethink-ing of the communication strategy of those responsible for the company takes place.
This paper focusses on effective teaching and learning methods in the context of a larger project that aims to align objectives in higher education with employer requirements in the field of purchasing and supply management (PSM). The reason is that little is known about which specific skills and competencies of PSM professionals are needed outside academia and which learning objective higher education should incorporate to meet the practical PSM requirements of firms and organisations. Practice as well as literature share the understanding that PSM professionals need a well-balanced mixture of knowledge and soft-skills: the merely explicit know-what (codified knowledge), know-why (theory), know-how (method) and inter- & intrapersonal soft skills.
The use of augmented reality (AR) in outbound logistics is associated with potentially strong stimuli for cost savings and throughput time. Nevertheless, the benefits of AR compared to conventional methods require a holistic analysis for investment decision making. Until now, research has only assessed case-study-related potentials and selected aspects of the technology. This paper answers the following research questions: How can the economic efficiency of AR in the packing process be quantified by utilizing a holistic model of value drivers? How can AR be technically implemented for packing processes in outbound logistics? What economic profit results from the use of AR technology in a case company’s packing process?
The presented model enables the investment decision to be supported based on economic value added (EVA), thereby providing an assessment of value drivers in packing systems. Cost drivers are identified on the basis of the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) process model. The technical and economic validation of the model was carried out by means of an empirical study: Expert interviews were conducted for validating the model elements. Data collection by a prototype at a mechanical-engineering company was used to calculate the value contribution. The mapping of cause-effect relationships within the framework of EVA driver trees has proven itself in both the expert interviews and the prototype validation. The field experiment at the case company demonstrated a positive value contribution of AR, in particular regarding employee productivity, length and variance of throughput time, quality aspects, volume utilization, and quantity of packing material used.
BPMN-based Process-Driven Applications (PDA) require less coding since they are not only based on source code, but also on executable process models. Automated testing of such model-driven applications gains growing relevance, and it becomes a key enabler if we want to found their development on continuous integration (CI) techniques.While process analysts are typically responsible for test case specifications from a business perspective, technically skilled process engineers take the responsibility for implementing the required test code. This is time-consuming and, due to their often different skills and backgrounds, might result in communication problems such as information losses and misunderstandings. This paper presents a new approach which enables an analyst to generate executable tests for PDAs without the need for manual coding. It consists of a sophisticated model analysis, a wizard-based specification of test cases, and a subsequent code generation. The resulting tests can easily be integrated into CI pipelines.The concept is underpinned by a user-friendly tool which has been evaluated in case studies and in real-world implementation projects from different industry sectors. During the evaluation, the prototype proved a more efficient test creation process and a higher test quality.
Disruption, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Industry 4.0 and Rapid Prototyping are just a selection of the buzzwords that come up in connection with the rapid changes in the professional world and society brought about by digitalisation. As frequently occurs when buzzwords are used, their exact meaning is unknown, or remains unquestioned, but the use of them is nevertheless excessive. In this way, the buzzword ‘digital native’ assumes that an entire generation has a command of digital skills simply because they were born into this world and use digital media naturally. Which skills profiles this generation, and therefore a majority of today’s students, actually command, remains vague however, and is rarely explored systematically. The same is true of the specific formulation of necessary skills profiles in the digital world for higher education graduates. In the debate around higher education institutions, the description of the swift digital transition (with or without buzzwords) is not usually followed by a revision of existing curricula. This article describes strategic considerations for a better fit between the skills demanded of students and the challenges of the digital world.
This paper evaluates based on current literature, whether the versioning strategies “branch by feature” and “develop on mainline” can be used for developing new software features in connection with Continuous Delivery. The strategies will be introduced and possible applications for Continuous Delivery will be demonstrated and rated. A solution recommendation is finally given. It becomes evident that develop on mainline is the more recommendable method in form of “features toggles” or in case of bigger changes in form of “branch by abstraction” within the context of Continuous Delivery.