SCHOLARSHIP MATTERS Inspiring Innovation in Management Education Scholarship and Innovation in Management Education
2 Contents 6 Christine Eastman & Kath Houston New Horizons in Professional Knowledge Creation 8 Neil Ralph Fostering Educational Partnerships 10 Marian Iszatt-White Co-constructed coaching for leadership learning 12 Lisa Gunther Transformational Management Education 14 Anthony Hesketh, Neil Ralph, Less Hot Air, More Fresh Air: The Art of Management Learning Lucas Introna 16 Mike Ryder & Anna Galindo Lessons from teaching mixed-sized cohorts 18 Bingbing Ge An engaged scholarship route - case writing, teaching, and research 20 Niki Panteli, Ling Xiao & Lucy Gill-Simmen Promoting Inclusivity in IS Education Through the Case Method 22 William Tayler & Sofia Izquierdo Sanchez Instagramming Economics: A fresh take on research-led teaching 24 Elena Luchinskaya Becoming a Broadcaster! Cultivating Creativity in a Data Analysis Module 26 Jennifer Scrivener Video Exemplars as a Feed-forward Tool 28 Stephen T. Homer The final examination is dead, long live the final assessment! 30 Josiane Fernandes Teaching the cyborg student: Promoting critical reflection on the use and role of AI 32 Jekaterina Rindt & Radka Newton Civicness in the Ivory Tower 34 Emma Watton Do you see what I see? Increasing opportunities for reflective and reflexive practice. 36 Phil Devine Surfacing the ‘speculative’ in management education 38 Radka Newton Service and education in one sentence… 40 Paula Ainsworth & Rose White Quality and accreditation mechanisms as an enabler for enhancement
3 Scholarship Matters A Message from the Pro-Vice Chancellor Education In the realm of academia, the pursuit of teaching excellence stands as a cornerstone of our profession, driving us to continuously evolve and innovate in our pedagogical practices. At the heart of this pursuit lies the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: research that advances our understanding of teaching and learning processes. The work of colleagues in the Centre for Scholarship and Innovation in Management Education is creating a space for educators and professional services staff to come together, share best practices, and collaborate on curriculum innovation. By fostering a community of scholars dedicated to advancing disciplinary-focused approaches to teaching, we enrich our collective knowledge and promote excellence in education. Scholarship underpins Lancaster’s Curriculum Transformation Project, through which we envision a future where our curriculum is a dynamic reflection of cutting-edge research, robust pedagogy, and intellectual rigour. This transformation isn’t just about what we teach, but how we teach it and why – it is about inspiring students to explore, innovate, and become the leaders of tomorrow. Central to our approach is the ethos of enquiring into teaching and learning in partnership with our students. We recognise the invaluable perspective they bring as active participants in the learning process, and thus we strive to involve them as partners in our research endeavours. By empowering students to become active researchers, we ensure that their voices are represented authentically in our scholarly discourse, enriching our understanding of effective pedagogy. This publication represents Lancaster’s commitment to excellence in teaching and emphasises the importance of systematic enquiry into our pedagogy. The breadth of topics and their insight is both a credit to the authors and a reflection of their rigorous inquiry, through which we seek to adapt and refine our teaching practices to meet the evolving needs of Higher Education. Wendy Robinson Lancaster University Pro-Vice Chancellor Education Wendy Robinson Editor’s Introduction Welcome to this first edition of Scholarship Matters in which we showcase advances in teaching and learning being researched and implemented by colleagues at Lancaster University Management School. This journal provides a platform to distribute their research findings, share best practices, and engage in meaningful dialogue about the future of management education. Our mission is not only to showcase cutting-edge research but to inspire collaboration, foster interdisciplinary perspectives, and catalyse positive change in the field. Members of the Centre for Scholarship and Innovation in Management Education are passionate about the role that scholarly enquiry plays in advancing how we teach and learn in and for business. It is fundamental in advancing our understanding of teaching and learning in Higher Education and in shaping the landscape of management education. Our scholarship in this field serves as a catalyst for innovation, driving forward our understanding of effective pedagogy, management development, and the contribution we as educators make to address the myriad challenges facing today’s managers. Through rigorous research, critical analysis, and reflective practice, our colleagues contribute invaluable insights that not only enrich our theoretical frameworks but also inform practical approaches to teaching and learning in management education. At the heart of our mission is a commitment to making scholarly research accessible and applicable to those working in management education. We believe that everyone, from seasoned academics to practicing managers, can benefit from the latest research and ideas in the field. Whether it is exploring new teaching methodologies, investigating emerging trends in leadership development, or examining the impact of technology on learning outcomes, this issue covers a wide range of topics relevant to the ever-evolving landscape of business education. We are committed to advancing scholarship and innovation in management education by shaping and sharing good practice for the benefit of students and educators. If you are interested in challenging your own practice, having greater impact, and reshaping Higher Education, I encourage you to contact our authors to continue the conversation. Neil Ralph Editor-in-Chief Neil Ralph
Welcome to SIME 4
Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) has a strong tradition of innovative management education. Originating in the Management Science Department and anchored in the work of globally recognised scholars such as Professor Peter Checkland, this strong belief in high-quality, innovative management education widely influenced the development of learning across the School. Within LUMS we have constantly moved forward through the passion and expertise of outstanding scholars such as Professor Mark Easterby-Smith, who pioneered management learning in LUMS; Professor John Burgoyne, who dedicated his research to theories of learning and teaching; and Professor Vivien Hodgson, who made a significant contribution through building knowledge and understanding in the field of networked learning. Building on this track record, we now have many prospective scholars and rising stars, in the area of learning and management education, who continue to work to accelerate our excellence and make ‘the Lancaster approach’ a tangible asset that will contribute to global talent recruitment and retention. To support this work, there is a need to further our management education infrastructure and to establish supportive mechanisms for those colleagues who have expertise to contribute to the advancement of scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL), which we distinguish from academic research enquiry. Establishing SIME In 2022, an informal network was established to raise awareness of SOTL and identify colleagues’ needs and aspirations. The network has recorded a significant impact in terms of an increased aspiration to progress Advance HE Fellowship status, advance scholarship to the public domain, and develop collaborative crossdisciplinary teams to address areas of scholarship such as experiential learning, reflective practice, digital education, and decolonisation of management education. This informal network has now developed into the Centre for Scholarship and Innovation in Management Education (SIME). Autumn 2023 saw the official opening of the Centre, attended by more than 40 colleagues from different departments, roles and responsibilities. The Centre has been supported by our Associate Deans for Research and Education, Professor Maria Piacentini and Professor Pete Thomas, both of whom acknowledge strong links between scholarly pedagogical inquiry and the educational excellence essential for great student and staff experience. It has been our honour to gain endorsement from Simon Allan, the Head of Curriculum and Education Development Academy, whose support and guidance have been essential for the Centre to come into being. The Centre’s inauguration was sealed by Jo Telfer, our Leader in Residence, who shared a very clear industry message: “everybody has to become a life-long learner, there is no other option.” Moving forward, the Centre is providing many new opportunities as well as responsibilities. We aspire to influence the transformation of Higher Education and contribute to global educational excellence through internal and external lobbying impacting on education policies. This inaugural edition of our online journal is a first testament to our scholarship excellence and commitment to curriculum transformation. We believe we have the expertise and talent to make a difference. Radka Newton and Marian Iszatt-White Co-Editors 5 Scholarship Matters Radka Newton Marian Iszatt-White The Centre for Scholarship and Innovation in Management Education.
6 Christine Eastman is Senior Lecturer in the Business School at Middlesex University and Teaching Fellow in Lancaster University Management School. In her role as Teaching Fellow, she drives the writing and publication agenda for students and alumni. Her previous roles include Director of Applied Professional Practice at the University of Kent. Kath Houston is a career coach, Teaching Fellow and researcher. Within her academic role, she has investigated career decision-making tipping points and how to prompt a career epiphany. She believes that everyone can find career happiness by focusing on innermost strengths and values and purposeful action. c.eastman@lancaster.ac.uk; k.houston@lancaster.ac.uk New Horizons in Professional Knowledge Creation
Launched in December 2023, the postgraduate module Writing for Publication focuses on how students, alumni, and lecturers can target their writing to professional and academic journals to showcase their workplace and role innovations, through unique access to acclaimed fictional literature. Taught online over 10 weeks, the module learning process (a balanced mixture of online self-directed learning and regular facilitated webinars) presents students with carefully selected literature sources. Works of literature can help us to understand our identities, experiences, and lives, key aspects for leadership and professional development. Introducing literary works offers students “a more colourful and vivid palette to use when attempting to undergo the academic writing process, making such a process hopefully less of an endurance test and more of an exciting challenge” (Eastman, 2016). What’s so different about the course? We offer designated pre-reading of a different literary source to precede each webinar. Students experience immersion in a short story or novella which is often a compelling contrast from usual academic or professional sources. We facilitate discussion in the webinar to encourage deep learning with a focus on structure, style, and the mechanics of skillful writing. Students are surprised to discover how reflection on, and interrogation of, fictional texts, offer resonance and alignment to real world leadership and professional development challenges. How does this learning approach help? We offer designated pre-reading of a different literary source to precede each webinar. Students experience immersion in a short story or novella which is often a compelling contrast from usual academic or professional sources. We facilitate discussion in the webinar to encourage deep learning with a focus on structure, style, and the mechanics of skillful writing. Students are surprised to discover how reflection on, and interrogation of, fictional texts offer resonance and alignment to real world leadership and professional development challenges. How does this learning approach help? We believe that reading fiction helps us to imagine lives other than our own as well as making us more sensitive to language, behaviour, and motivation. The very act of examining a fictional text helps us to become more aware, reflective, and capable of addressing emotional blockages and discovering different perspectives. Literary fiction enhances our ability to empathise with other people and connect with something larger than ourselves. (Jenefer Robinson (2005) makes a persuasive argument that our emotions can be educated by literature. Integrating the Arts into Business Business schools need to recognise the evidence that reading fiction improves our social abilities, stimulates our minds, and helps us to navigate others’ worlds. It can also help us write in ways that expand our thinking and trigger better dissemination of our success in leadership and management. This process of reflective imagining provokes deeper learning and gives us permission to cross the boundaries and restraints of standard business thinking to discover fictional inspiration for current challenges. (Warren Bennis and James O’Toole (2005) have argued that academic shortcomings can be rectified by offering a study of works of imaginative literature “to exemplify and explain the behaviour of people in business organisations in a way that [is] richer and more realistic than any journal article or textbook.” Building on the strength of these imaginative narratives, we are now in the process of creating a multi-authored book, The Reinvention of Self. This process of reflective imagining provokes deeper learning and gives us permission to cross the boundaries and restraints of standard business thinking to discover fictional inspiration for current challenges. A Project informed by Knowledge Creation This book will form a collection of reflections on identity, a common yet perplexing aspect of leadership. In the context of a world which assumes a conventional retirement age and an acceptance of “winding down”, it seems timely to make a Quixotic tilt at the fixed identity windmill. With contributions from lecturers, alumni, and students, The Reinvention of Self aims to promote visionary ways of thinking about reinventing one’s identity in professional life and beyond. It offers the revolutionary perspective on retirement that old roles and behaviors need not be abandoned but instead modified, and that new sources of identity can be found. Many of the chapters will use fiction as a device to examine the formative psychological influences on our personalities. One contributor intends to explore how Charles Dickens’s (Martin Chuzzlewit) embodies the authors’ attempt to face deception and duplicity in his own life. The character of Tom Pinch represents Dickens’s examination of what it means to be true to one’s values, to oneself in a world of deceit and artifice. She was motivated to feature Martin Chuzzlewit in the context of reinvention and retirement, because she wanted to find “instances of less puritanical representations of retirement that don’t end in abject failure or miserable death” [book contributor, 2023]. Literary fiction can stimulate thinking through its emotional pull. We believe that these two initiatives signify illuminating alternative application of fictional literature for innovative knowledge creation and professional development. 7 Scholarship Matters Communities of practice (Wenger-Tayner, 2015) in which professionals create and share knowledge, are a driver for continued learning. We have developed two new initiatives which aim to transform how professionals create and share their knowledge through published writing.
8 Fostering Educational Partnerships Neil Ralph is a Senior Teaching Fellow in Leadership and Change at Lancaster University Management School. As an educator, coach and coach supervisor, he is passionate about developing a pedagogy and practice that empowers learners, enables change, and enhances impact. neil.ralph@lancaster.ac.uk
In the dynamic landscape of Higher Education, fostering meaningful connections between students and educators is essential for cultivating a thriving learning environment. The development and implementation of a coaching-style contract provides a structured framework to negotiate this relationship and the resulting learning environment and opportunity to reimagine the partnership between students and educators, aiming to enrich and enhance the educational experience for both parties. Contracting for learning A coaching contract establishes productive expectations among the parties involved, clarifying the business arrangements, intended outcomes, and methods the coach will be using (Lee, 2013). This contract establishes a framework conducive to learning by clarifying the parameters, boundaries, behaviours, and goals of the coaching relationship, whilst surfacing any assumptions and expectations. These principles equally apply in establishing an effective and enriching learning environment in Higher Education, contributing to a holistic and empowering educational experience. They promote the creation of a positive and inclusive culture that celebrates diversity and creates a safe space for all, where individuals feel heard, valued, and respected. Such contracting between educators and students creates an open and transparent environment that is more conducive to learning and establishes clear roles and responsibilities, leading to greater autonomy and clearer accountability, and thus an empowering educational experience (Lemieux, 2001). The literature surrounding studenteducator relationships underscores the pivotal role they play in shaping the learning journey and student engagement (Thornberg et al, 2022). Traditionally, these relationships have been characterised by a unidirectional flow of information, with educators imparting knowledge and students receiving it. However, recent educational paradigms emphasise the importance of collaboration and active engagement, requiring a renegotiation of the student-educator contract. The coaching contract emerges as a promising tool to formalise this shift, empowering individuals to reach their full potential. Shifting perspectives Positioning the educator as collaborator and coach, rather than teacher and expert, changes the expectation from teaching to learning, the approach from didactic to dialogic, and shifts responsibility from the educator to the learner. Through my own practice as a coach and coach supervisor, I have developed the attitudes, personal behaviours and social supports that are key to a coaching pedagogy as they underpin sustainable, resilient learning, and support the development of transferable skills, such as problemsolving, self-sufficiency, and collaboration (Akkerman, 2017). My contracting with undergraduate and postgraduate students takes the form of an interactive session at the start of the first lecture, in which I share my expectations and invite students to share their hereto covert psychological contract, for them to be shaped as a shared contract that underpins the module, clarifying what each party commits to the relationship and their expectations of what they might receive in return. The true value is in what is contracted for. I aim to balance power dynamics to foster a sense of equality, and establish attitudes and behaviours that empower learners, enabling them to attain higher order thinking through questioning, reflecting, reasoning, discussing, and arguing (Hardman, 2009). Whilst this approach is typically unexpected, most students respond positively to the invitation and develop a more engaged and engaging approach to their learning in the classroom as they have been given permission to challenge some deep-rooted norms. Beyond the norm There are challenges inherent in this approach. In a coaching context, coach and coachee meet as equals and although endeavours to replicate such parity in the classroom may be conceivable, the entrenched influence of the conventional power dynamic often experienced by learners is likely to inhibit the effectiveness of this approach. Consequently, a key strategy is the cultivation of an institution-wide coaching culture, aimed at augmenting academic achievement and fostering a uniform student experience. There are also questions regarding scalability of this approach to meet the demands of increasing class sizes, though dialogic approaches “can produce significant gains in cognitive learning as well as social and emotional benefits through more personalised forms of learning.” (Hardman, 2009) Challenging convention The implementation of a coaching contract in the student-educator relationship represents a significant step towards fostering a collaborative and empowering educational environment. This approach seeks to challenge extant beliefs and assumptions made by students and educators alike, to redefine traditional classroom dynamics, and promote shared responsibility for learning. While challenges such as power dynamics exist, educators can navigate these hurdles through open communication, clear mutual expectations, and distinct responsibilities. As the educational landscape continues to evolve, contracting presents an opportunity for transforming studenteducator relationships into partnerships that empower and inspire. My research is exploring the broader application of this approach, and the benefit it will bring in the classroom and in academic supervision. 9 Scholarship Matters How can a coaching contract between students and educators enrich and enhance the educational experience?
10 Co-constructed coaching for leadership learning Marian Iszatt-White is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership. Her research interests revolve around ‘aspirational’ forms of leadership (such as Authentic Leadership) and leadership development. She has published four books, including a postgraduate leadership textbook, and is currently working on a book entitled Stewardship as leadership: Honouring our past while securing our future for the Edward Elgar New Horizons in Leadership Studies book series. This approach was developed in collaboration with Professor Steve Kempster. m.iszattwhite@lancaster.ac.uk
Finding novel and effective ways of harnessing this resource, at the same time as ensuring the learning is transferable back to the participants’ workplace, is an ongoing challenge. Co-constructed coaching (Kempster and Iszatt-White, 2013) offers an academically robust and practically engaging leadership learning intervention that meets this post-experience need. What’s it all about? Co-constructed coaching brings together the four elements of experience, theory, reflection, and discussion to create an effective learning process. The process, which can be run in an online, face-to-face or hybrid format, rests on the following stages: Experience. The process starts with some kind of activity designed to surface recollections of past experiences relevant to the theme of the module. In using coconstructed coaching in an Executive MBA leadership module, we asked participants to develop a timeline of their leadership journey to date, including role models (positive and negative) and memorable experiences or periods. This work can be undertaken prior to attending the face-to-face or synchronous elements of the intervention. Theory. Either face-to-face or via online resources, the tutor provides theoretical inputs that can be utilised as sensemaking frameworks by participants. This could be a single theoretical model – for example, Authentic Leadership or Resonant Leadership – or a series of mini inputs from which participants can select whichever feels most appropriate. This phase also requires some input on basic coaching skills, such as questioning, listening, summarising, and sense-making. Discussion. In co-coaching pairs, participants take turns to share one or more of their experiences with a partner, who then ‘coaches’ them in deconstructing the experiences using a theoretical framework as a sense-making device. The aim here is not to ‘resolve’ any issues or failings, but to ‘surface the implicit knowing lying within action and articulate it in such a way that [her/his] actions can be more knowledgeable’ (Cunliffe, 2008) in the future. Reflection. Subsequent to this discussion, participants take time to make notes on how their understanding of the experience has changed and how the insights gained can be applied to future challenges/situations. This stage can also be developed into a reflective assignment if this is appropriate to the format of the module/programme. Enhancing engagement In bringing together these four elements, co-constructed coaching is an amalgamation of co-constructed autoethnography (Kempster and Stewart, 2010) – a process in which research participants bring their experience and academics bring their theoretical expertise to the process of knowledge development – and executive coaching, which aims to improve manager performance through reflexive dialogue (Cunliffe, 2001) around a specific agenda. The advantages of this as a learning intervention include the high degree of engagement it evokes for both coach and coachee; the direct transferability of the learning and insights produced back into the workplace; and the rebalancing of tutor/student power relations towards an equilibrium which better reflects the needs and intentions of management education. Variations can include a) creating a leadership experience through an in-class activity as the basis for subsequent coaching; b) repeated iterations of the cocoaching conversations, drawing on different theories and/or different experiences extracted from the timeline, and; c) co-coaching trios, where the third person provides feedback on the coaching skills utilised by direct participants. Whilst the educator offering this intervention will, of course, need to be able to present relevant theory in a clear and accessible way, they will also need facilitation and coaching skills to support students through the process – and a willingness to take the role of ‘guide on the side’ rather than ‘sage on the stage’! Conclusions and recommendations We have found that co-constructed coaching has considerable potential to contribute to effective leadership/management development when working with experienced participants, through a focus on situated leadership and management practice (Reynolds, 1999). Participants have developed deeply reflexive insights into their past experiences and used these to create action plans and strategies for future practice. Codifying this learning through a reflective written assignment has also been shown to help embed the learning and support transference into workplace practice. We would recommend coconstructed coaching as an intervention for any students with sufficient personal experience to support the process of bringing theory and practice together through peer coaching. 11 Scholarship Matters As modern management educators, we are increasingly required to be a ‘guide on the side’ of self-directed learning, rather than the more traditional ‘sage on the stage’, imparting expertise to a willing audience. This is particularly the case when working with postexperience management education participants, where there is always a huge amount of knowledge and experience in the room – and not all of it resides with the academic leader!
12 Lisa Guenther is a Doctoral Student in the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology. She is particularly interested in evaluating and enhancing pedagogical frameworks used in management education, whilst also advancing approaches to qualitative methodologies which enable educators to showcase the ‘impact’ of their teaching. l.guenther@lancaster.ac.uk Transformational Management Education
Yet my own experience of working on the Lancaster MBA programme led me to question the cynical, pessimistic, and apathetic notions within management education narratives for one reason in particular: the students I worked with frequently reported impactful transformations in both personal and professional contexts. To better understand which elements of the programme might be linked to driving these changes, and to explore whether the changes lived on beyond the MBA, I enrolled on a part-time PhD. The MBA Experience I conducted a qualitative case study which examined MBA students’ lived experience during their time at Lancaster and looked at the long-term impact of the programme’s pedagogic methods. To this end, I selected 30 students from a cohort of 138 in total (classes 2016 to 2018) with whom I arranged two interviews: one during the programme, and one several years after they had graduated. Before I outline the results of the research, let me briefly explain what the Lancaster MBA was trying to achieve. According to Dr Peter Lenney, the MBA Programme Director between 2014 and 2018, the MBA’s main objective was to cultivate three capabilities that would help improve managers’ chances of making ‘good’ choices in the testing circumstances of managerial life: dialogical skills (the ability to find concordance amongst people with opposing or differing opinions, perspectives and assumptions); reflexive skills (the ability to evaluate one’s prejudices, habits and assumptions); and reflective skills (the ability to evaluate one’s cognitive, collaborative and emotional conduct). So, what did I find? Advantages of Diversity The Lancaster MBA’s use of cohort diversity as a pedagogical tool was extremely successful in cultivating students’ long-term dialogical skills. In their extensive collaborative work, MBA students faced the challenge of coming to terms with a diverse and contrasting range of perspectives, beliefs and values many times over during the programme. As a result, students became more culturally aware, and better able to collaborate and to navigate the political nature of managerial work with more ease than before. The programme’s use of reflexive practices as a pedagogical tool was remarkably successful in cultivating students’ long-term reflexive skills. Not only did MBA students learn to periodically question their personal, educational, and cultural trajectories, but many continued with their reflexive questioning years after the MBA. However, my research indicates that even though most of the students came to appreciate reflective practices, they did not maintain them in the long-term. As a result, few students continued to hone their reflective skills after they graduated, with almost no-one making a habit of structured reflection such as journaling. Recommendations The research findings have resulted in the following recommendations for educators: • Maximise cohort diversity by recruiting from as many nationalities as possible and then rotate team members for each group assignment to increase the likelihood that by the end of the programme each student has had the chance to work with every student in the class. • Facilitate the genuine questioning of prejudices, habits of attention and interpretations in lectures, workshops, and assessments, and encourage students to reflect on their reflexive output periodically using essays, drawings, and coaching sessions. • Draw on reflective practices, outdoor and experiential learning, and 360 feedback to encourage students to regularly pause, analyse and evaluate their emotional, cognitive, and collaborative conduct emphasising that it is the capturing of the reflective output that will drive changes in behaviour. So, what comes next? I aim to share my findings to inform pedagogic interventions of other programmes because I believe management education, despite what the critics may say, does have the potential to be transformative by broadening students’ perspective, enhancing their self-awareness, and nuancing their understanding of managerial practices (Hay and Hodgkinson 2008). 13 Scholarship Matters Mainstream management discourses tend to paint a cynical picture of management education, with Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes often bearing the brunt of the critique. Some scholars blame MBA courses for churning out unethical and inadequately trained managers (Bennis and O’Toole 2005), whilst others claim management students “learn the wrong things in the wrong ways because they are being taught the wrong things in the wrong way” (Küpers and Gunnlaugson 2017).
14 Less Hot Air, More Fresh Air Ant Hesketh is a Senior Lecturer in Lancaster University Management School. Ant’s research largely focuses on how organisations can better understand the value they have under their management. He is the author of books on performance (Cambridge University Press), labour markets (Oxford University Press) and leadership (Palgrave). Neil Ralph is a Senior Teaching Fellow at Lancaster University Management School with a passion for harnessing the power of reflective practice. His work with groups and individuals draws upon nature to help them gain perspective, explore possibilities, make choices and see results. Lucas Introna is Distinguished Professor of Organisation, Technology, and Ethics at Lancaster University Management School. His research focus is the phenomenon of technology broadly defined and information technology more narrowly defined. Specifically, his focal concern is how information technology transforms social spaces and practices (both individual and collective spaces and practices). a.hesketh@lancaster.ac.uk; neil.ralph@lancaster.ac.uk; l.introna@lancaster.ac.uk
15 Scholarship Matters In his 1973 Harvard Norton Lectures, the conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein outlined how the best way to a know a thing was in the context of another discipline. Intradisciplinarity is now common practice in management development circles. On the International Masters Program for Managers (IMPM), we have for over 25 years used different contexts to deepen management learning through various lenses, including the dawning of modern capitalism in Lancashire cotton mills, the origins of responsible capitalism at the Lever brothers’ original Port Sunlight, and the landscape-inspired writings of the English Lake District art critic and social commentator John Ruskin. The pedagogical underpinning of the IMPM is that there is no learning without reflection, which we achieve through intramodality (various methods) as well as intradisciplinarity (various contexts). Different reflections Programme participants reflect upon their managerial practice through the lenses of Romantic English literature, Quakerism, as well as more conventional management theories. They have envisaged their futures whilst gazing on a Lakeland vista, itself the inspiration for William Wordsworth’s choosing to be a poet, and transformed their careers reflecting on the positive power and shaping of key moments or ‘spots of time.’ Students have reported near-religious experiences as they “let nature be their teacher” in boats on the surface of Grasmere. But what if all this intradisciplinary and intramodal “opening up” was itself still limiting to explanation, understanding and management learning? Can we break free from the tightly defined parameters of Schon’s established reflective processes and, instead, embrace a more pragmatic, Deweyan-inspired understanding of our location in the challenges of things expressed through the alternative modality of art? A new approach Our novel pedagogy, drawing on practices stretching back over a millennium, takes inspiration from the ancient Chinese artistic practice of shanshui painting – literally mountains and water – to decouple managers from the Western tendency of attempting the accurate depiction or computation of the empirical form which lies before them. As an antidote to the “hot air” of management theory, which perpetuates the tendency of organisations to imitate others, we breathe the “fresh air” of shanshui. Shanshui rejects the exactitude of forms (xing), seeking the bigger picture (xiang) beyond form (dao) to grasp the sense (yi) of the subject under scrutiny. Where Western art seeks the sublime, Chinese art offers an initial blandness. But this same blandness dissolves the subject by ‘recursively throwing it into broader realities which allow the subject to recognise its own significance and appreciate its existence not as master of nature but rather as part of dao (Hui, 2023). Before we can let nature be our teacher, we must first be aware of its existence beyond our conventional ontologies and experiences. The techniques underpinning shanshui offer managers such an opportunity. Unexplored horizons The IMPM affords the opportunity to take participants to hereto unknown places to engage in unique experiences. It is in disrupting participants’ perspective that we provide the chance to gain new insights into management and leadership practice. It is in making connections with their own context and experience that participants grasp the sense (yi) of a situation and can apply new thinking to otherwise intractable problems. Arguably, the English Lake District provides too much stimulus and is anathema to shanshui so we are developing learning opportunities that build on our established impactful pedagogy. Drawing upon Bernstein’s Artful Learning Sequence, practitioners make connections between seemingly disconnected ideas. This builds higher level thinking skills in students and collaboration between educators, through the vehicle of a masterwork that “awakens ideas, emotions and new understandings through visual, auditory and kinaesthetic modalities.” (Bernstein, 2024). This experience causes participants to engage in inquiry-based investigation leading to an Original Creation. How Wang Wei or Dong Yuan (Chinese artists of the Tang Dynasty) may have painted the Lake District, or, stretching our imagination even further, captured the xing, xiang, dao and yi of Unilever’s balance sheet, business model or future strategy, for us represents an enticing departure point. How we feel as well as think become visually expressed, as artists have been demonstrating for millennia. Far from painting by numbers, or being restricted by mere convention, management learning can be set free and limited only by its own artistic imagination.
16 Lessons from teaching mixed-sized cohorts Mike Ryder is a Lecturer in Marketing. He currently leads the Digital Marketing pathway on the MSc Advanced Marketing Management programme. His research explores impact of new technologies, and the philosophical relationship between humans and machines. His website is www.mjryder.net. Anna Galindo is a Senior Teaching Fellow in Marketing, and Programme Director for BSc International Business Management. She has more than 10 years’ experience teaching in Higher Education, where she shares industry insights into the use of technology in business, alongside emerging trends in the field. m.ryder@lancaster.ac.uk; ; a.galindo@lancaster.ac.uk Lancaster Leipzig
17 Scholarship Matters The teaching of large cohorts can be extremely challenging and has been widely discussed by the likes of Hornsby and Osman (2014), Maringe and Sing (2014), and Clarke (2011), to name but a few. However, there is very little advice available for those required to deliver modules to both large and small cohorts at the same time. This is a pressing challenge for teaching teams, as the internationalisation agenda has led many universities to offer the same courses across a diverse campus network where enrolment numbers can vary widely. Teaching context MKTG234 Social Media Marketing is one of the largest modules taught in the Marketing department in Lancaster University Management School. Cohort sizes vary by year, but we typically have up to 400 students in their second, third, or in some cases, fourth year of study. These students come from a range of different disciplines, from Marketing and Management to the likes of Sociology and Cultural Studies. The sheer size and diversity of the cohort poses many challenges – not least in terms of the varied experiences and expectations of the students enrolled on the module. To add to these challenges, the module is now taught concurrently at our sister campus in Leipzig, Germany. The module is still led by the UK campus tutors, but the same lectures and seminars delivered in the UK are also then delivered in person by a colleague based in Leipzig. The material is delivered in English, however, the teaching context is quite different. The first three cohorts at our German campus have been significantly smaller than that in Lancaster, with the total number of students enrolled (13), smaller than a single UK seminar class. Lessons from practice At the time of writing, we are in our third year of running the module across two international campuses. From our experience, we have identified four areas of focus that allow us to succeed. Planning and preparation: The core teaching team plan the module together to ensure leaders of both cohorts can shape the content year-on-year. This helps us identify where the difference between large and small cohorts needs to be reflected and adjusted for the benefit of students. Working with Leipzig-based colleagues, we can also adapt for any specific cultural differences. Examples include lecturerstudent communication channels and assessment questions reflecting the local market. Assessment: Students are required to conduct a social media analysis of a local business, which we tailor each year to the cohort and campus. This way students can observe social media practices in the country in which they are based, and reflect on any differences where appropriate. Assessment support: To create an equitable experience, we use a shared Google Doc where all students can post their questions anonymously and can also read the answers already given. This has proven to be a most effective way of handling questions as students receive the same experience no matter where they are studying. This also reduces the workload for seminar tutors and removes the risk of students receiving differing advice. Lectures and seminar activities: Even though the core module content is identical for both cohorts, we have introduced localised differences for the optimal learning experience. Capitalising on the benefits of small group learning (Steinert, 1996), more interaction and dialogue is used with the smaller cohort in our German campus; while these approaches tend to be less effective with the large lectures of our UK campus, where students are often more unwilling to interact (Saunder and Gale, 2012). We have also introduced other located differences, such as invited industry guest speakers, to ensure that both cohorts receive content relevant for their local industry market and feel equally valued with in-person speakers. This approach has proved quite effective so far, with both campus module teams receiving positive evaluations from students. Conclusion As a result of our work on this module, the module leadership team won Lancaster University’s Pilkington Award for Teaching in 2023, demonstrating our commitment and contribution to the University’s internationalisation agenda. This has also proven a major boon to our colleagues in Leipzig, as at an institutional level at least, it can sometimes feel as though each campus exists in isolation.
18 Writing, Researching, and Teaching Cases Bingbing Ge is a lecturer at Lancaster University Management School. She had a case writing scholarship (Case Centre) and the Paul R. Lawrance Fellowship (North American Case Research Association). She was co-chair for the Entrepreneurship track for the 2023 NACRA Annual Conference and published two teaching cases. b.ge1@lancaster.ac.uk
19 Scholarship Matters Havard Business School is renowned for its business education globally. On their website, they say “Through the rich case- and experience-based curriculum at Harvard Business School, students build deep general management and leadership skills, setting the foundation for lifelong impact on how they lead.” (HBS, 2023). Why cases? Based on personal reflections, I have investigated the benefits of case writing, research, and teaching for scholarship development. It has been 103 years since the first case study was published by Harvard Business School (HBS, 2017). Arbitrary to discussing the impact of such an old method, exploring the role of teaching cases and writing and researching cases for such purpose in initiating scholarship development was not simple. The approach While there are always questions about how we can teach a practice, entrepreneurship in my case, teaching case is a scholarly endeavour to provide a rigorous reply to the questioning. Here, I make an initial endeavour to unpack how all participants in HE institutions – students (at all levels), educators (both research- and teaching-oriented), and the business community – benefit from the wider use of case writing, researching, and teaching. Firstly, as an effective teaching approach, cases, especially ‘decision-making’ cases, allow students to be embedded in many different business scenarios covering a broad range of industries, topics, and (academic) themes. Taking Harvard Business School as an example, their MBA students are educated using case studies throughout their degrees. These graduates go on to have successful careers in business as if they had lived through many business scenarios (cases) that one can experience in a career. The added benefits of the various levels of available teaching cases, ranging from undergraduate to executive-level that is reflected in the teaching notes, helps learners receive suitable support for their level. As an educator who writes and uses case studies, I have gained many benefits. As a user of cases, I have access to a wide range of (most often timely) teaching materials that are presented in a ‘lived experience’, creating opportunities for more engagement and providing a practical way of teaching academic theories (Anderson & Schiano, 2014). As a writer, this is not only a way of putting down the interesting research I have done, but also a serious scholarship development method (e.g., Scholarship award for LUMS family business researcher, 2022). Teaching cases requires a good depth of knowledge and engaging writing that has helped me to reflect on my research and impact on both students and business. Additionally, cases are increasingly recognised as a way of improving scholarship, and case journals are recognised in important academic outlets (e.g., Currie & Pandher, 2013). Lastly, the business community enjoys a range of benefits, including a valuable reflective experience, gaining academic insights, and collaboration with academics. This allows businesses to adopt a much more engaged role in this process, changing from ‘being researched’ to active co-researchers. For example, Kevin Shaw, co-author of a teaching case and an entrepreneur for 33 years, highly praised our engagement project as it provided an opportunity to reflect on his entrepreneurship journey, and he was excited to be involved in his first collaborative academic research project (Ge & Shaw, 2023). This case has been used widely in teaching entrepreneurship and family businessrelated topics in Lancaster University Management School and has inspired both undergraduates and postgraduates. It is worth noting that the case writing, researching, and teaching process is also very helpful in building much-needed rapport and engagement with businesses, and establishes mutual respect between academic knowledge and practical knowledge. During the Entrepreneurs in Residence Conference at Lancaster in 2023, a session was designed to speak about the purpose and use of teaching cases to about 50 entrepreneurs. After this session, a team (composed of four Early Career Researchers from the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy) was formed to advance their scholarship development through writing teaching cases. Many interesting insights generated through this process could inspire truly impactful research. Value for all My experience is that a good case study must engage the student’s interest through a clear focus and decision point. It should be factual and tell a clear and concise story as well as being well researched and well written. While they indeed take time and patience (and repeated practice), they provide a valuable opportunity for all parties in Higher Education.
20 Niki Panteli is Professor of Digital Business in the Department of Management Science at Lancaster University Management School. She is the President of the UK Academy of Information Systems (UKAIS) and the recipient of the 2022 Mentor Award from the international Association of Information Systems (AIS) Women’s Network. Ling Xiao is a Senior Lecturer from Royal Holloway, University of London. The overarching theme of Ling’s research is empirical finance: time-series modelling of higher moments in financial markets. Ling also has specific interests in pedagogic research into inclusive education and education for sustainability development. Lucy Gill-Simmen is Vice Dean of Education and Student Experience and a Senior Lecturer in Marketing in the School of Business and Management at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is the Chair for the Academy of Marketing, Marketing Education SIG. She has also been awarded the Global Women in Marketing Award for her role as a marketing educator. n.panteli1@lancaster.ac.uk Promoting Inclusivity in IS Education Through the Case Method
21 Scholarship Matters With digitalisation on the rise, it is not a surprise that the IT industry has become central to economic growth, contributing more than £82bn to the UK economy annually (McDonald, 2023). Despite this, the industry has remained white and male-dominated, a phenomenon that is also evident within HE programmes on Information Systems (IS). In this article we ask: How can IS educators promote inclusivity with the purpose of enhancing the career and employability prospects of students from diverse backgrounds, including female students? The Gender Gap In their Editorial of a Special Issue on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in IS education, (Lang et al. (2022) identify that IS education suffers from inequality and barriers due to gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, and socio-economic status. This article is driven by an interest to overcome some of these barriers, and to identify effective inclusive pedagogical practices in the field of IS education. The ultimate goal is to increase gender representation and promote female students’ enthusiasm in IT-related careers, including leadership of digital transformation programmes. We argue that educators play a significant role in promoting (inclusivity) and examine a specific teaching practice, specifically the case method, and its role as an inclusive pedagogy. Inclusivity through case (re)-writing and teaching To promote inclusive IS education, a case study that was written by the first author for use in a session on ‘Leading Digital Transformation’ was revisited and elements of it re-written. The case sought to explore the challenges that digital leaders experience in their efforts to promote digital transformation in their organisation. Following recommendations made by the second and third authors, two particular aspects of the case were modified: 1) the female protagonist was presented as a female IT professional from an ethnic minority group, and 2) alternative employment options other than the traditional permanent and full-time posts for leaders within the IT profession were introduced as a way for encouraging students to rethink alternative, yet fulfilling careers, especially in maledominated sectors such as IT. The revised case was taught in two separate sessions with undergraduate and postgraduate management students from diverse backgrounds and provoked discussions on digital transformation in the organisation, as well as the lack of diversity in the IT industry. Students’ feedback following the class pointed to evidence of two types of belongingness, a key feature of (inclusivity). Firstly, there was an increased sense of belongingness with the class: “The case study did give a sense of belonging socially… you are always sharing ideas … and similar understanding”. The second type of belongingness which was specific to the amended case version related to the connection that students felt with the case scenario, and in particular the case protagonist: “it was … relatable, like it’s kind of you put yourself in their shoes and being a woman … I could be in that situation … it could be me, and I’m thinking what would I do …?”. Conclusions and recommendations We posit that since the case method provides opportunities for students to foster a sense of belonging and a connection to the class and case scenario, female students can develop confidence, interest and passion in developing careers in traditionalyl maledominated sectors. Importantly, the study reveals how the main feature of inclusive education, namely a sense of belonging, can be achieved during our daily teaching practice. This will extend our role as educators beyond just delivering content, but also by writing teaching cases that showcase characteristics of inclusivity and diversity, such as reference to female protagonists and other case participants from ethnic diversity groups. The study opens up the agenda on inclusive education within IS education. It is our strong position that it is not enough to admit students into our programmes from diverse backgrounds, but we also need to reconfigure our teaching to encompass inclusive education and increase female representation in IT employment and digital leadership in particular.
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