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AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE BUSINESS CASE APPROACH
EXPERIENCES FROM USING SHORT ACTION LEARNING
PROJECTS FOR UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS
LEARNING AND ASSESSMENTS.
Dr. Gerry Edgar
Sn Lecturer
Stirling School of Management
Motivating Factors
■ Observation of the lack of preparedness of students to undertake the early stages of
field-work (dissertation). No opportunity to practice during taught phase.
■ Pragmatic need to nurture consultancy/investigative skills on two related modules:
– Business Improvement (process innovation)
– Innovation Management (product innovation
■ Unsatisfactory experiences with Business Games, Simulation and Case Method.
Missing the “live” engagement and messy problem structuring phases.
■ Staff involved in the module delivery have wide experience in business consultancy.
Action-learning
■ Revans’s (1982) original in-situ learning concept, has been the
credible, if logistically problematic, alternative to enabling an
experiential learning loop (Pedler, 1991).
■ Limitations perceived about engaging in action-learning has been the
association with the longer term projects expected to demonstrate a
change to the performance or outcomes for an organisation.
■ This work is an exploration of an alternative to case study approaches
for assessment on Management undergraduate and postgraduate
taught modules.
The Case Method
Booth, C. Bowie, S. Jordan, J & Rippin, A. (2000),
Argyris, C. (1980),
Advantages
■ Choice - The scale and variety of situations accessible. cases are big business – number
and usage figures?
■ Massification – appropriate to large UG and postgraduate classes - cost effectiveness
and equitable – all information sets and context information provided to all student
groups is identical.
■ Longitudinal and decision making exploration.
■ Known outcomes as validation.
Problems
■ Disconnected from the rich information in a company, context knowledge required,
management experience and plans,
■ Scope to collect primary data to explore the problem information in a direction relevant
for the pattern of the investigation.
■ Academic quality of the outcomes - the scale of the case study essay writing industry.
The Case Method – Typical Start Point
• Company/Organization has been preselected
• Scope and scale of the data collection has
been established.
• Key system actors have been
identified/selected
• Key actors interviewed – selected information
provided.
• Operational processes identified and
evaluated.
• Problem issues outlined
• Decision point/issues of response identified.
Drivers and Problems with Action Methods
(O’Hara 1996)
Advantages
■ “Closing the learning loop”(Pedler’s (1991) – an extension to Revans’s (1982) original insitu learning development.
■ Nonaka’s learning processes (Nonaka equire an explicit-tacit testing cycle to create
genuine knowledge.
■ Combine the merits of both case and experience approaches.
■ Opportunity for academic plagiarism is much reduced.
Tension inherent in the action learning approach
■ In a class situation - asymmetric context/problem situations presented to different
groups/individuals. Equity concerns.
■
Assessment based on outcomes where there are many uncontrolled variables compared
to a case study approach.
Evaluation Criteria
■ Avoid using Performance Improvement – criteria need to reflect the limited
engagement and potential to enact and/or realise the effect of the proposals for the
business.
■ Front-end Client Negotiation/Context. Sources of information and decisions relationships in organizations, live gossip, management bias/style, cultural “fit”.
■ Criteria similar in form to that of a dissertations approach. Emphasis on establishing
the key information sources, problem structuring and in-context feasibility evaluation
(testing loop).
Action Learning – problems of diffusion
■ Limitations perceived about engaging in action-learning has been the association
with the longer term projects expected to demonstrate a change to the performance
or outcomes for an organisation.
■ For the purpose of the “micro-innovation” approach adopted for these modules,
need to assume the following:
■ No demonstrable improvement is expected (or implied to the client)
■ Intention is a win-win short term experience/knowledge transfer.
Short Action Learning Projects
2011-2016 Action Learning/Research projects has been included as module-based
assignments, by facilitating small groups of students (up to 4) to engage with either
small companies or small entities within larger organisations - mostly local.
Modules
■ UG Innovation Management (2011: 26 students, 2013: 23, 2015: 31)
■ UG Business Improvement (2012: 29 students, 2014: 31, 2016: 26)
■ The theoretical framework design intention was to expose students to the richer,
unstructured, open-ended and live problem situations.
■ The required grounded theory based iterative processes of testing and discovery
were expected to challenge students’ methods-based and solution oriented thinking
about business challenges (Zuber-Skerritt, 2001).
Service Quality Exercise & Plans of Action
Examples of BI Project
■ Company: Pharos Parcel Ltd. (Perth)
■ Business Improvement Objective:
– Service Improvement Analysis
Some Collaborating Companies/Organizations
■ NRG Computing (Stirling): Service Quality Analysis and Gap Closure
Recommendations
■ Campus Pharmacy (Stirling University): Stock Control Process Analysis and
Improvement Plan
■ Study Abroad Programme (Stirling University): Performance Evaluation and
Improvement Areas.
■ Buono Chocolate (Qatar): Customer Service Process Improvement
■ Port Customs Bar (Stirling): Stock Control and Staff Rota Analysis/Improvement
■ Vecchia Bologna (Bridge of Allan): Benchmarking Restaurant Performance
■ Brightwork Recruitment Agency (Glasgow/Edinburgh): Registration Process
Improvement.
■ Strathcarron Hospice (Central Scotland): Systems analysis and improvement of
donation and fundraising processes.
Responses - Clients
■ “Fantastic. Can I have another group to implement the
changes?”
positive
■ “A set of well developed alternatives – we will take our time
reviewing their application.”
■ “Useful and will be implemented (stock control system)”
■ “Many great suggestions, A real eye-opener for me personally”
■ “Good ideas but the investment costings given in report were
way-off”
negative
■ “Proposals too complex for such a small enterprise.”
■ “Not sure what the report meant – were they suppose to come
back to explain it?”
Responses - Students
positive
■ “By far the best module I have taken and has changed my mind for a career.”
■ “Learning the module material became more relevant with the real world
application
■ Major positive - the assignment had a high connection to real practice.
■ Best part of the module was using real life situations in the assignment and
having opportunity to apply the theories learnt in the class.
■ Best element was the group work on real life events.
■ Great getting to use what we learned practically by investigating a real
business.
■ Enjoyed learning practical skills I can take into my job.
■ I liked he practical assignment.
negative
■ No peer assessment (most negative feedback related to this issue).
■ Group assignment should be worth more of the module due to the workload.
Responses - General
■ The feedback from clients and students has been largely positive in the immediate
period of work.
■ The qualitative responses will be discussed, but the longer term critical value gained
from the experience on subsequent modules, dissertations and management roles
have yet to be discovered.
■ This exploration of experience in using action-learning is intended to challenge the
assumption that meaningful grounded theory approaches to learning are limited to
larger works such as dissertations.
Issues of Concern
■ Limited scalability - modules are relatively moderate sized electives.
■ Resources – supervision of the groups throughout the project phase. More intensive
than dissertation supervision.
■ Mechanism of company engagement – mostly personal networks either students
(mostly) or staff (emergency back-up).
References
■ Argyris, C. (1980), Some limitations of the case method: Experiences in a
management development program, Academy of Management Review, 5, 291-298.
■ Booth, C. Bowie, S. Jordan, J & Rippin, A. (2000), The Use of the Case Method in
Large and Diverse Undergraduate Business Programmes: Problems and Issues, A
report to the European Case Clearing House and The Foundation for Management
Education, ECCH, UK.
■ Pedler, M. (1991), Action Learning in Practice, 2nd edition, Gower Publishing
Company.
■ Revans, R.W. (1982), The origin and Growth of Action Learning, London, Chartwell
Bratt.
■ Zuber-Skerritt, O. (2001) “Action Learning and Action Research: Paradigm, Praxis
and Programs: Chapter in Sankara, S., Dick, B. and Passfield, R. (eds) (2001)
Effective Change Management through Action Research and Action Learning:
Concepts, Perspectives, Processes and Applications. Southern Cross University
Press, Lismore, Australia, pp. 1-20.