Roger Ebert once said: ‘Doing research on a web is like using a library assembled piecemeal by pack rats and vandalized nightly’.

As a supervisor of Bachelor Works and Master Theses, I have become familiar with the attitude of many students, who would rather avoid the using of books when carrying out a research, and prefer Cyberspace instead. One creates the impression that many are not aware of the true difference between research on the Net and traditional library research. Despite the fact that the Net is a tremendous source of information, this information as such needs to be used very critically and carefully.

But what became of books?

Brilliant ideas, inventions, discoveries, imagination and much more have been turned into simple letters that matter. The entire panorama of our world, being that present or past becomes varied, interesting, and breathtaking, while our mind keeps running and our reflections are constantly being strengthened. It’s books which sharpen our intelligence, improve our vocabulary, promote our knowledge, and spark our imagination and creativity.

For thousand years books have been fundamental for acquisition of knowledge. While searching on the Internet for an answer, you might find 100.000 of them, while in a book you aim at the well defined and right one.

Then why is it that we have become so averse towards using books (?) Is the Internet the only source of valuable information (?) Where does all this commitment towards the Internet come from? Why do we trust the Internet as the only source available? Is the Internet the only answer to a question we have? Or did we simply become lazy to walk into a library, find a book, and search what we are looking for?

Did the use of the Internet become a trend, or simply a cultural syndrome?

Reading is an art that must be mastered with a lot of patience and ambitions; a more human and tangible source of knowledge you get while trying to outlive the technological age.

Shouldn’t we start challenging ourselves and practice once again the thrill and excitement of reading a book…it is never too late to start practicing and being fascinated by the good habit of investigating further with the help of books. (RM)

If I were in charge of either of these tasks, my responses were quite clear. As much as one has to be critical of post-WWII Western liberal democracy, I nevertheless consider the European Convention on Human Rights as a most basic reference point not only for societal but also for my proper individual behaviour. Rejecting discrimination on grounds of gender and sexual orientation, I would confront the homophobe with his/her behaviour and place the woman with the delegation.

It is safe to assume that my decisions could attract two quite distinct strands of criticism. From a business-case perspective, I am prone to decrease the admonished employee’s motivation or, referring to the second case, jeopardise the negotiation outcome rather than change the mindset of any of the parties involved. Conversely, my insistence on so-called universal human rights is allegedly but a sign of disrespect and feelings of Western superiority.

In a recently published essay, Princeton-based intellectual Jan-Werner Müller offers some inspiring thoughts on how the EU institutions should act vis-à-vis Hungary in light of semi-authoritarian tendencies and popular anti-minority sentiment. On one hand, Müller warns to treat new EU member-states as if they were somewhat retarded apprentices to democracy. On the other hand, he encourages the EU to emphasise its legal foundations and normative achievements, of which pluralist democracy, the rule of law and anti-discrimination are key. Where EU economic governance readily encroaches on national sovereignty, one cannot turn a blind eye to constantly eroding cornerstones of liberal democracy. After all, the common market should conform to democracy, not vice-versa.

Müller is wary of neo-colonialist attitudes in asymmetric power-relations. Consequently, both sides should sit at the negotiation table and create an environment where stronger and weaker partners can exchange arguments but also convince each other. This forum for debate is inclusive, but convictions can be rigid, and thus exclude certain opinions and actions.

Though addressing a different sphere, I found Müller’s approach instructive for diversity management across national and cultural boundaries. Perhaps this is a daring analogy. But it teaches us to delegitimise standpoints (such as, inter alia, homophobia and misogyny) but not the people who voice them. On the contrary, opponents should be invited to debate and convinced by better arguments. This is possibly not the worst prerequisite for sustainable business and work relations either. (EK)

Recommended reading: Müller, J. (2013). Wo Europa endet: Ungarn, Brüssel und das Schicksal der liberalen Demokratie. Berlin: Suhrkamp

“Different programmes and networks are tailored to geographical areas but they all share the same ultimate goal: to ensure the reputation and revenues of the firm and the retention of high-flying staff. Retaining and promoting women is not just the right thing to do but makes hard commercial sense”, Ms Bothwick says. In my opinion, this is really good news – companies of the might of the Big Four have realized the commercial perspective of diversity.  Programmes such as Globnal Next Gen or the Navigator, for career planning; sponsorship programmes targeting high potential women; internal diversity score cards are used in the sense of diversity and inclusive leadership as defined by Ernst&Young:

“Diversity is the demographic mix in a given environment which includes both seen and unseen differences and Inclusiveness is how we make the mix work by creating an environment where all people feel valued and are able to achieve their potential”. (MaS)

The full article can be retrieved here.

General courses are rooted in the traditions of the Oxfordian tutoring model, the American liberal arts colleges, and allegedly also in the Humboldtian ideal of Allgemeinbildung. They do away with narrow disciplinary boundaries and authoritative introductory courses, in which professors take a compulsory break from their more prestigious research endeavours to teach a subject’s foundations to a large number of freshers. If we transpose this idea to the three-cycle Bologna degree system, students should primarily gain philosophical, methodological and interdisciplinary training during their bachelors. Only then they choose a specialisation for their masters, and possibly embark on a research track during a PhD. In equivalence, professional law and med school degrees in the U.S. can only be commenced after undergraduate studies.

 A recently published tome by renowned philosopher of science and former CEU president Yehuda Elkana and junior scholar and entrepreneur Hannes Klöpper emphasises the significance of general courses; for they foster an encounter with humankind’s most pressing problems and the difficulty to solve them. Whereas a limitation to discipline-bound theories suggests that any challenge from starvation to cyber war can be tackled by means of linear models, Elkana and Klöpper deliberately wish to expose first-year students to the complexity of the world. Accordingly, re-designed bachelor curricula would have science students take classes and do project-work together with future historians and economists.

 Throughout their book, Elkana and Klöpper do not cease to stress that processes of learning and acquiring/producing knowledge have to be adapted to the context they take place in. By promoting universal theories, we create the false assumption that problems can be solved uniformly irrespective of locality and time. A bachelor student should, thus, be aware of the chaotic world s/he lives in, get tools to look at it from various angles, and grow curiosity to confront these intricacies in his/her role as an educated and engaged citizen.

Having read Elkana’s and Klöpper’s piece, my first thought was that given the constraints of European higher education policy the general-course approach were tempting but illusionary. Students, whether self-sustaining or funded by their families or bursaries, have to find a job. Likewise, many universities are evaluated by the employability of their programmes.

We are currently in the stage of planning the upcoming academic year, which gives us both leeway and the responsibility to set up a rewarding and impactful course offer. On a second thought, a general course could be worth the effort. (EK)

Recommended reading: Elkana, Y. & Klöpper, H. (2012). Die Universität im 21. Jahrhundert: Für eine neue Einheit von Lehre, Forschung und Gesellschaft. Hamburg: Edition Körber-Stiftung

Human beings, be they male or female, are both orderly and rebellious.

However, in our everyday working life we might encounter an ordinarily unremarked scenario of working twice as hard to get half as far and yet enjoying the novelty of being a woman. We have the tendency to show empathy, compassion, understanding, sensitivity…the so called ‘feminine’ label.

At the age of 18 we decide to choose our study path, which is followed by 30 when we strive to achieve a good managerial position. While we are surrounded by male and female colleagues, we strive to position ourselves well enough in that certain workplace. We are faced with the so called masculine syndrome which teaches us that in order to succeed; we would mostly show some ‘masculine’ approaches, such as being determinant, decisive, tough and authoritarian. But what is the reason for it?

We try to repress our female qualities, and face challenges by somehow losing our own identity, striving to develop masculine characteristics in order to ‘fit-in’.  On the other hand we have qualities that a ‘masculine’ approach could ignore and reject, such as nurturing, intuition, empathy…So, why is it then so hard to benefit from them?

Yet, by suppressing certain ‘female’ qualities, we end up being tired and unsatisfied with the ways a certain task is accomplished and a result is somehow achieved (?)

While encountering certain stereotypes, such as ‘women are too sensitive and compassionate’, I am asking myself whether it is not about time to find a balance for the well being of all workforce.

It is certainly not easy; however despite the fact that it is considered as a challenge in choosing among ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ approaches, we aim at reaching a certain serenity that will help us keep our confidence and nurture our values and characteristics.

Or perhaps, should we simply draw back and live with the existence of the thought that ‘feminist ideas are much less threatening when they come from a man’?(RM)

Projektgruppen gehören zum Standardrepertoire der Lehre an Business Schools. In der Regel findet ihr Einsatz didaktisch überlegter statt als die Verlegenheitslösungen meiner Schulerfahrung, wenn partizipatives Ideal und frontale Routine wieder einmal weit auseinander zu klaffen drohten. Der Druck vor der Deadline scheint aber die Jahrzehnte und die Lernumgebungen zu überdauern. Und auch typische Rollen in Projekten beziehungsweise der darüber artikulierte Unmut erweisen sich als konstant.

Bei einer Recherche zur Trittbrettfahrerproblematik in Projektteams stieß ich auf eine Typologie an schwierigen Projektmitarbeitenden und allfällige Bewältigungsstrategien (Handelsblatt und Wirtschaftswoche 2008, http://www.karriere.de/startseite/so-klappt-es-mit-dem-teamwork-6746/). Der Harmoniesüchte entgehe jeder Konfrontation, die Schlafmütze belaste die Gruppe aus bekannten Gründen (O-Ton: “Das ist ja alles so unglaublich anstrengend.”), das Alpha-Tier beklage sich alles allein zu schupfen. Die Trittbrettfahrerin müsse man einfach immer als erste zur Antwort auffordern. Und den Klassenclown solle man doch auf den Stänkerer ansetzen, um letzteren zu entlarven.

Nun, ich könnte mich beruhigt zurücklehnen, der Staubsauger, der das Projektchaos um fünf vor zwölf aufräumt und in geordnete, wenn auch vom Optimum entfernte Bahnen lenkt, gehört offenbar nicht zu den schwierigen Typen. Ich hätte den Staubsauger sehr wohl inkludiert. Denn auch er oder sie hat ein typisches Teamarbeitsprofil, einen Lieblingssatz (“Gut, was soll’s, schickt mir eure Teile, ich schreibe bis morgen alles fertig.”) und auch er oder sie gehört in ein Gruppenunternehmen anders, besser eingebunden. Vor allem ist sie oder er in gleichem Maße zu Selbstkritik angehalten wie der unproduktive Trittbrettfahrer oder die nervige Alleinunterhalterin.

 Reflexionsberichte und gegenseitige Beurteilungen der Projektperformance sollen daher immer die Auseinandersetzung mit der eigenen Rolle vis-à-vis einer in Bezug auf Verhalten und Arbeitsweisen mehr oder minder diversen Arbeitsgruppe einfordern. (EK)

Reviewing the didactical approach of my classes I decided to consider a form of diversity which might not be so obvious at first sight.

They way people can express their knowledge and thoughts best.

We know from many publications as well as our own experience,  that some people feel more comfortable in an oral face-to-face conversation and other people prefer to communicate in written form, the recipient of the message not being available for immediate personal  face-to-face feedback.

An analysis of my students’ educational background and the school systems they come from made me aware that the majority has not experienced oral exams, other than short quizzes and their A-levels (school-leaving) exams.

Therefore I decided to evaluate student’s performance in the course Marketing I (an introductory lecture for first-semester Bachelor students) with a written mid-term exam and an oral final exam.

The written exam does not deviate from formats used by colleagues:

Open-ended questions that ask for presentation of theory and application in form of (business) examples.  The main challenge I have faced with such exams is that some students’ ideas, and statements, especially in the first year of their studies at LBS, lacked structure and a detailed line of reasoning and thus it would have been helpful to have the opportunity to ask clarifying questions. The setup of a written paper-pencil exam does not provide such a feature. Furthermore I have realized in the many years teaching  undergraduate and graduate students, that a fair share of them can present their knowledge very well in a face-to-face oral conversation. To overcome this deficit I decided to replace the second written exam, the final exam, with an oral exam.

The oral exam is held in the last session of the term and is set up as a discussion of two questions by a group of two students with the examiner at a time. One student will be assigned with a question and is asked to elaborate on that. After he/she has finished with his/her presentation the other student can earn points by adding to the question. Then the other student receives the question and proceeds like the first student. The students are randomly assigned to the respective group. The implementation of an oral exam in that form bears the risk, that an extroverted, talkative student might dominate the discussion.

The oral exam exceeded my expectations in a positive way. Students realized the opportunity of this discursive approach. Even students, whose classroom participation had been below average (in frequency and quantity) and had been perceived by me as their lecturer as introverted and sometimes shy did not leave the impression, that they were not able to contribute during the oral exam. I was surprised by their performance, even if one could detect, that presenting ideas face-to-face puts them outside their comfort zone.

I am fully aware that not all types of course content and material and the related learning objectives can be assessed by a combination of oral and written interrogation, but I would recommend integrating such a mixed-method assessment also in business courses if applicable. The ability to express knowledge and skills in oral form is an integral part in language teaching contexts. Why shouldn’t that also be beneficiary to reach learning objectives in other disciplines? The next step of refining this approach is asking for structured feedback from students, taking intro- respectively extroversion into consideration. (MaS)

Among the remedies Steele suggests is heightened attentiveness to negative cues and their transformation to more neutral or encouraging signals (e.g. re-naming a diagnostic test into a quiz or even a learning opportunity, presenting role-models of the same disadvantaged background). Moreover, Steele’s propositions include new modes of providing critical feedback to minority students, influencing a group’s set-up, promoting intergroup conversations, supporting students in valuing their own identity and finding channels to express their frustrations.

If put into practice, this is quite an ambitious list. Certainly, stereotype threat theories have reached a high level of recognition. Thus the most recent diversity management strategies precisely seek to tackle the challenges of threatening settings by creating more inclusive learning environments. We know that teams in student projects should be allocated wisely. We are aware that what is feedback for person A, can be harsh criticism for person B or personally insulting for person C. We have learned our lesson on fostering active classroom participation of, for instance, female students. We variegate coursework and examination procedures to address the needs of different learning types and cultures. We promise to have an open ear to problems of any kind. 

Do we really know? Honestly, are we aware of this? Have we truly learned a lesson? Do we actually variegate course requirements? Do we keep our promises and live up to the ideals following from Steele’s seminal insights – once we have to take decisions in stressful day-to-day management or in front of a discomforted class, with the final exam around the corner?

Steele’s suggestion sound straightforward and are evidence-based. Their implementation, however, needs enormous management efforts and constant self-reflection. First and foremost, it requires a clear commitment that high student performance is a success for the achieving individual as well as for the education provider. Perhaps worth a thought in light of massive knock-out exams (EK)

 Recommended reading: Steele, C. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us. New York: Norton

Bei der Lektüre eines Deutschen Wochenmagazins ist mir diese Werbeeinschaltung der Aktion Mitmensch aufgefallen.

Im Printmedium verstärkt der Text “Alle Menschen sollen gleichberechtigt am Leben teilnehmen – mit oder ohne Behinderung. Damit gemeinsames Lernen selbstverständlich wird.” die Botschaft.

Die Kombination aus Bild und Text zeugt einerseits von aussergewöhlichem Geschick der Marketingagentur und spricht andererseit für den Zugang zu und Umgang mit Diversität – in diesem Fall körperliche Behinderung – der Organisation Aktion Mitmensch. Bevor ich als Mitarbeiter für das Mobiliversity Projekt ausgewählt wurde, wäre mir die gelungene Arbeit der Agentur sicher positiv aufgefallen und ich hätte diese Einschaltung wahrscheinlich auch als Beispiel in einer meiner Lehrveranstaltungen eingesetzt. Heute, durch die tägliche Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema Diversität, ist für mich die Botschaft des gemeinsamen Lernens über Barrieren hinweg mindestens genauso wichtig.

Danke an die Verantwortlichen von Aktion Mitmensch für die gute Einschaltung aber noch viel wichtiger für die Arbeit, die diese und alle anderen Institutionen in diesem Bereich täglich leisten. (MaS)

www.aktion-mensch.de

Charles Dickens once said: ‘Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with his soul encourages another person to be brave and true’.

With each passing day I get the feeling that we are becoming slaves of the so called electronic devices… e-mails, sms, MMS, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and many more – but what about face to face communication – what about an eye contact – did it already become old fashioned?! Where is the feeling of human togetherness gone?! Is it respectful in every culture around the globe to make eye contact with whomever is speaking or does this happen occasionally?!

When we talk to someone it is not always enough to say just words; we need eye contact, through which we can see more, understand and feel better… Eyes, such a wonderful gift…a gift which gives us the ability to express love, fear, respect, acceptance, hope, anger… without a single word.

I started to give a thought of its importance and became aware of people ignoring its value quite recently.

One of these days I was sitting in an office, and while approaching a lady working there asking her questions for assistance, I realized that her answers were given shortly while she was constantly staring at the floor, avoiding the slightest eye contact. Feeling offended I was wondering whether this refuse of an eye contact conveyed a message of arrogance or a contempt communicating that I was simply regarded as an insignificant person… Who knows (?!) (RM)