B2C Mass Customization in the Classroom

The purpose of this article is to describe an internet‐based mass customization assignment in Operations Management/Supply Chain Management classes where students utilize the Web site of a company that offers a customized product. Students evaluate the user interface, judge the value proposition of the product they demonstrate, and discuss issues of product design, process design and scheduling, inventory management, Supply Chain Management, marketing, and competitors. The students learn about mass customization from both the producer's perspective and the consumer's perspective. Through their own research and the class presentations students are able to develop a better understanding of the implementation requirements and challenges of mass customization. The assignment is highly interactive and has been successfully used in Operations Management and Supply Chain Management courses at under‐graduate and graduate levels and at multiple universities. In addition, practitioners interested in implementing a mass customization process can use the assignment as a brainstorming or benchmarking exercise.     

A Comparison of Student Persistence and Performance in Online and Classroom Business Statistics Experiences

As universities extend their distance education offerings to reach more time‐ and place‐bound students, the degree to which online students are successful, as compared to their classroom counterparts, is of interest to accreditation review boards and others charged with assessment. Teaching faculty use information about the effectiveness of their instruction to evaluate and improve the learning experience. By comparing persistence and performance measures from the author's five semesters of online and traditional sections of a required undergraduate business statistics course, this paper provides evidence that while there are significant differences in persistence between the two cases, accomplishment of the learning objectives, as measured by the final grade in the course for those students who persist, is independent of the mode of instruction.     

加强高职商务英语课堂教学和管理——以《商务职场英语》课程为例

高职学生商务英语技能的培养有赖于高职院校良好的教风和学风,尤其是良好的课堂教学与管理。文章以台州职业技术学院商务英语专业核心课程《商务职场英语》为例,分析了商务英语课堂教学和管理的现状和原因,并提出了有效进行课堂管理的建议,以改善和提高商务英语课堂教学效果。     

Teaching Supply Chain Management Complexities: A SCOR Model Based Classroom Simulation

The SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) Model Supply Chain Classroom Simulation is an in‐class experiential learning activity that helps students develop a holistic understanding of the processes and challenges of supply chain management. The simulation has broader learning objectives than other supply chain related activities such as the Beer Game. Competing supply chains work to produce and sell two products, each experiencing differential demand. Seasonal demand, time delays, quality defects, and disruptions offer complexities that are part of actual supply chain management. The behavioral dynamics of collaboration between various functional nodes is illustrated through students’ interactions as they try to achieve their role's objectives. Through their decisions and actions, students develop a practical understanding of the processes and complexities of supply chain management. The classroom simulation actively engages students, and has been used successfully in multiple courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at multiple universities and by a major corporation during a manager training session. Assessments indicate that the simulation is an effective experiential learning activity. While it offers learning outcome flexibility, common debrief themes are SCOR model processes, supply chain relationships, information flow, seasonal demand, quality defects, reverse logistics, and supply chain disruptions.     

Teaching with the Case Method Online: Pure Versus Hybrid Approaches

The impact of hybrid classroom/distance education approaches is examined in the context of the case method. Four distinct semester‐long treatments, which varied mixes of classroom and online discussion, were used to teach a graduate MIS survey course. Specific findings suggest that by using Web technology, college instructors may offer students the option of participating in high‐quality courses using the case method pedagogy in an online environment. Students not only appear to do as well as in the traditional classroom, but the data suggest that students in the online environment may perform better at multiple levels of learning outcomes, especially when using a blend of classroom and online technologies. Furthermore, the precepts of the case method pedagogy may be enhanced by the use of online discussions. Instructors employing the technique may find their own importance devalued, while the time demands of the approach can be much greater than for traditional classes. The findings infer that it is the model of learning and its fit with supporting technologies, rather than the presence of technology per se, which enhances learning outcomes.     

高职商务英语专业人才的商务能力培养

商务英语专业是一门语言与国际商务技能相结合的专业,其技能型人才培养不仅是英语听、说、读、写、译各项能力的拓展过程,而且更是商务知识的获取和应用的过程。笔者通过问卷调查,了解企业对高职商务英语专业人才商务知识和技能要求情况,并对调研结果进行深入分析与研究,结合自己多年的教学经验,探讨了教学中商务英语专业人才商务能力培养的策略。     

高职商务英语专业人才的商务能力培养

商务英语专业是一门语言与国际商务技能相结合的专业,其技能型人才培养不仅是英语听、说、读、写、译各项能力的拓展过程,而且更是商务知识的获取和应用的过程。笔者通过问卷调查,了解企业对高职商务英语专业人才商务知识和技能要求情况,并对调研结果进行深入分析与研究,结合自己多年的教学经验,探讨了教学中商务英语专业人才商务能力培养的策略。     

合作学习模式在高职国际贸易实务课程的实证研究——基于社会互赖理论视角

立足于社会互赖理论,将合作学习模式应用于高职国际贸易实务课堂,用实证研究的方式证明互赖互助的合作学习模式比传统的强调个人竞争的学习模式更具优越性:1)促进学生的成绩提高;2)促进学生沟通能力的培养;3)促进学生团队精神和协作能力的培养。     

高职院校工商企业管理人才培养课程体系研究

以某高职院校工商企业管理专业为例,抽样部分应届毕业生和在校学生,使用访谈法和问卷调查法进行调查研究。分析当前工商企业管理专业人才培养课程体系和教学内容,并对存在的问题进行剖析,从专业建设和人才培养模式的方向出发,提出课程体系和教学内容的改革建议。     

Assessing the Impact of a Business Communication Simulation on Students' Self-Perceptions

This article examines whether participation in a business communication simulation significantly influences students' perceptions of their business communication behaviors. Results revealed several significant differences between students' pre- and post scores. Students reported significantly higher post scores in 4 of 5 of the examined categories, including message construction, message delivery, critical analysis, and collaboration. These findings suggest that participation in the simulation positively impacts students' estimations of their business communication competencies. Possible explanations and implications behind these findings are discussed. Future research directions are proposed.     

企业管理理论的新发展对我国企业管理的影响

全球化使地球从空间上变小，信息化使经济现象的发展从时间上变快。这两个变化使企业处的环境更具有多变性和风险性，同时使企业管理的手段发生了深刻的变革，因而带来了企业管理的战略、组织等一系列的变化。诸如，“第二曲线”、“虚拟企业”、“企业群落”和“利润地”。这些理论的新发展对我国企业管理产生了一定的影响。     

Operationalizing Design Thinking in Business Intelligence and Analytics Projects

Design Thinking has been applied successfully in many fields; however, in Information Systems research most early studies focus on applying the specific toolsets to developing product and system designs to solve strategic, managerial, and operational problems. There is little research on how Design Thinking can be embedded in the learning processes in design‐oriented IS research and enabled in the context of business intelligence (BI) and business analytics (BA). How can Design Thinking be embedded in the learning processes and enabled in the context of BI/BA projects in the classroom environment, especially in the proof of concept stage? A practical view on integrating the mindset and toolset of the Design Thinking approach and in the learning process as a case based in‐class experience is presented along with a guideline for coaching the Design Thinking team and the lessons learned from each stage of Design Thinking. The results of this study show that Design Thinking practices can be enlisted to help students frame their creations and that these practices have a valuable contribution as alternatives when designing curricula for teaching and learning.     

The Flipped Classroom of Operations Management: A Not‐For‐Cost‐Reduction Platform

By delivering lectures online using screen capture technology, students can learn course material at the time and location of their choice, when they are in control to pause, rewind, and fast forward the professor. Class time is no longer spent teaching basic concepts, but rather focused on more value‐added activities such as problem solving, systems thinking and active learning, as well as potential collaborative exercises such as case studies, web‐based simulation games, and real‐world applications. A flipped classroom is an online course because its online components must compete with the best of the online courses. It is also a traditional course since not even a single class session is cancelled while all the lectures are delivered online. This core concept is reinforced by a network of resources and learning processes to ensure a smooth, lean, and synchronized course delivery system. Our pilot statistical analysis indicates that a flipped classroom, when implemented in a quantitative and analytical course, can outperform its alternatives.     

Sink or Swim: Learning by Doing in a Supply Chain Integration Activity*

Studies show that supply chain integration (SCI) is important to organizations. This article describes an activity that places students in the middle of an SCI scenario. The highly interactive hands‐on simulation requires only 50 to 60 minutes of classroom time, may be used with 18 to about 36 students, and involves minimal instructor preparation. Through the activity, students learn the basics of SCI and then analyze an SCI event to better appreciate the need for collaboration and information sharing. In courses that address supply chain management, instructors can use the activity early in the semester to introduce students to the complexities of supply chain networks. Alternatively, instructors may use the simulation later to provoke a more nuanced discussion.     

Beat the Instructor: An Introductory Forecasting Game

This teaching brief describes a 30‐minute game where student groups compete in‐class in an introductory time‐series forecasting exercise. The students are challenged to “beat the instructor” who competes using forecasting techniques that will be subsequently taught. All forecasts are graphed prior to revealing the randomly generated actual demand. Experiential learning and forecasting exercises are reviewed before detailing how the game is administered and debriefed. Student survey results (n = 247) provide evidence of teaching effectiveness, including that 78% of students said that playing the game increased their interest in learning the forecasting techniques that were used by the instructor.     

商务礼仪实训课程设计探究

近年来,随着礼仪教学团队对商务礼仪理论及其课程教学方法的深入研讨,各种新颖和先进的教学方法,为学生创造了更为生动形象的实践性教学环境,商务礼仪课程教学也从简单的理论结合实践的教学模式,逐步发展成为“理论教学——案例教学——模拟教学——实践教学”相结合的互动式多方位的教学新模式。结合商务秘书专业特点,联系教学实际,从商务礼仪实训的课程目标、能力训练项目等方面进行了探索。     

浅谈案例教学法在商务英语教学中的运用

案例教学法以具体的典型案例为出发点和主线索,在教师的指导下,以学生为主体,运用多种方式启发学生独立思考,对案例提供的客观事实和问题进行分析研究,提出见解,做出判断和决策,从而提高学生分析问题和解决问题的能力,是一种理论联系实际的启发式教学方法。本文介绍了案例教学的特点和优势,并探讨了案例教学法在商务英语教学中的运用。     

加强理论学习和专题调研工作开创高校思想政治教育工作新局面

从新形势下，特别是进入全面建设小康社会的新世纪院校思想政治教育工作所面临的新形势出发，对如何以“三个代表”重要思想为指针，树立高校思想政治教育新理念、新思维、新体制，开创院校思想政治教育工作新局面进行了阐述。     

Course Design Process to Create a Coordinated,Experiential, Integrated Core Operations Management Course for Business Majors

We describe our process for transforming a traditional, core operations management/supply chain management (OM/SCM) course into an experiential, integrated, and coordinated course. We developed a vison to create a course that all business majors would find engaging and relevant and that faculty would teach consistently and at the same level of rigor. A primary result was three new learning outcomes that focused on concept integration across operations, the supply chain, and the business. We specifically focused on decision trade‐offs and the effects of OM/SCM decisions on other parts of operations, the supply chain, and the business. The redesigned course has been implemented for three semesters. Our experiences offer new insights for redesigning and coordinating an OM/SCM core course and a process that can be implemented in other redesign efforts.     

Why McNemar's Procedure Needs to be Included in the Business Statistics Curriculum

In business research situations it is often of interest to examine the differences in the responses in repeated measurements of the same subjects or from among matched or paired subjects. A simple and useful procedure for comparing differences between proportions in two related samples was devised by McNemar (1947) nearly 60 years ago. Although the technique has enjoyed widespread usage in both behavioral and medical research, it has unfortunately not received proper attention in marketing, advertising, consumer research, public relations, operations management, or organizational behavior endeavors—disciplines wherein it is particularly desirable to evaluate the significance of changes in attitudes, opinions, or beliefs regarding some campaign or strategy. Perhaps the major reason for this obscurity is simply a general lack of awareness as to its value and practical power. The McNemar test is generally not currently being taught to business statistics students. It is the purpose of this article to demonstrate the usefulness and applicability of the McNemar procedure to these aforementioned disciplines so that it may be more appropriately employed as an important confirmatory data analysis tool within the basic business statistics curriculum.