MOOCs: the (Loch Ness) Monster of Higher Education?

 “MOOCs are the monster under the bed!” boomed a Dean at an academic conference just over two years ago. “And soon, they are going to come out and get us all!” Two years on and the idea of revolutionary change in higher education seemed to have been mitigated somewhat. The 2014 EFMD Annual Conference in Vienna brought out a more moderated view suggesting that they would make a contribution to teaching and learning, but they would in not way replace the traditional university. Sense at last. If MOOCs are the monster, perhaps they, or at least their underlying business model, are more of the Loch Ness variety. Talked about by many, but very difficult to find.

EFMD Annual Conference 2014: Closing remarks

Rather than do a traditional closing speech, Barbara Sporn began her closing address by asking the audience the one key question from the conference: could they pronounce “WU” properly?! She then thanked the team members of WU for their dedication and effort in setting up the conference as well as Diana Grote and Eric Cornuel of EFMD. Ms. Sporn went on to outline the difficulty in summarizing such a rich conference, adding that EFMD conferences are like stock taking exercises that give time for reflection on issues in management education. 

Access all GlobalEd conference articles here.

EFMD Annual Conference 2014: Breakout sessions- A4 – Roundtable on New Technologies & Accreditation

At the Roundtable Martin Schader the Associate Director, Quality Services, EFMD, and Rebecca Taylor, Dean Open University UK, spoke during the breakout sessions on Roundtable on New Technologies & Accreditation. Discussing how MOOCs are now becoming more prevalent in education as well as how different technologies can be embedded in the learning experience.

 

Frank Chin, Elastic Path, Vancouver, talks to GEM & SFU students about the history of the company during Innovation Business Week

On February 12^th, 30 students from Grenoble Ecole de Management in the Transcontinental Vancouver Program visited Elastic Path with their fellow SFU classmates. You might wonder what this company does, so here is a brief summary of their past.

Stephen Lazenby and Kelvin Ng, Global Relay, Vancouver, talk to GEM & SFU students about IT during Innovation Business Week

The transcontinental class was lucky to visit Global Relay on this Wednesday, 12^th of February. Based in an entire building of Gastown, the students were welcomed by the director of business operations, Kelvin Ng, and the global head of product management, Stephen Lazenby. Created in 1999 their mission remains the same: “to be the number one provider of message and archive services to broker-dealers, investment advisors, hedge funds and banks globally, measured by total users, customers, and revenue”.

Kelly Bennett, Netflix, Vancouver, talks to GEM & SFU students about marketing during Innovation Business Week

Grenoble EM and SFU students on the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme in Vancouver attended a Q & A discussion with Chief Marketing Officer of Netflix Kelly Bennett. Bennett is an alumnus of Simon Fraser University that has made his way into the world’s fifth most innovative company, Netflix. The event was organized by Beedie School of Business and chaired by the Dean of the business school, Daniel Shapiro. 

Ian Warner and Federico de Giuli, APRIO, Vancouver, talk to GEM & SFU students about business during Innovation Business Week

Ian Warner and Federico de Giuli, respectively CEO and CIO at APRIO, gave a talk about their business to GEM and SFU students as part of the corporate visits co-organized by both schools on the 11^th of February 2014.

Peter Drucker Forum 2013: “Cyber Security” panel contribution by Mikko Kosonen

Mikko Kosonen, the President for the Finnish Innovation Fund (Sitra) since 2008, with experience in companies such as Nokia, TeliaSonera Finland Oyj, The Foundation for Economic Education, Kuntien Tiera Oy, Technology Academy Finland, Fifth Element Oy, Kesko, Itella Corporation and Hewlett-Packard Corp, concentrated in a short talk, on one main problem, that of cyber security.

Peter Drucker Forum 2013: “The Top Mangement Perspective: Is Complexity on the Agenda?”

 

Lynda Gratton, Professor, London Business School; Founder of the Hot Spots Movement, a research and consulting team melding both business and academia; and a well known organizational theorist, led a Q&A session outlining whether complexity is really in the minds of top business leaders when managing their companies.  Two top business leaders, Rick Goings, CEO of Tupperware Brands, and Natarajan Chandrasekaran (Chandra), CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy, gave her their take on complexity in organizations.

Peter Drucker Forum 2013: “Managing complexity by understanding multiplex networks” by Stefan Thurner

“To manage a system means that you are able to predict the possible outcomes of actions you take. If you cannot predict the outcomes of management actions, you neither manage nor control the system: you are subject to luck, fate, external events and developments.”