Using e-collaboration to improve management education: three scenarios

Abstract

This paper explores the potential impact of collaborative technologies in improving management\neducation. The first goal is to expose students to tools and practices that not only assist them\nwith their current studies, but also serve to reinforce individual and team competencies that can\nfacilitate their entry into the workforce. In their positions as future managers they will be\nexpected to not only be familiar with common business practices but also to understand the\nimplications of information technology for business; in this case with emphasis on tools and\ntechniques that can help businesses flourish in the networked economy. With an ever-increasing\nrecognition that e-learning tools are important for (re-)training employees, these three scenarios\noffer examples of how business schools might expand the boundaries of e-collaboration to help\ntheir students. These experiments have been conducted in management programs. In the first two\nscenarios, students use collaborative platforms in some of their daily work. The third experiment\nis based on a student-centred design of a learning portal. Our experience reinforces a certain\nnumber of hypotheses influencing the impact of collaborative technologies in management\neducation. To begin with, information systems are often flawed mirrors of the managerial system\nthat they are designed to represent. Secondly, the potential value of collaborative technologies is\nstrongly influenced by organizational contexts, both in and between the university and the\nbusiness community. Thirdly, the effectiveness of collaborative technologies depends to a large\ndegree upon the depth and coherence of learning objectives fixed for learning and work places.\nFinally, improving the effectiveness of collaborative technologies requires aligning the design of\nlearning environments with the corporate cultures and visions we are trying to reproduce

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