BREAKING: Temple Fox Business Dean Moshe Porat Resigns
Months after U.S. News & World Report officially removed the Temple University Fox School of Business from its annual rankings, dean Moshe Porat has been officially asked to step down from his role.
How Online MBAs Use Technology to Enable Authentic Connections
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Technology has dramatically blurred the line between the digital and offline worlds; we can do almost anything online these days, ranging from ordering groceries to exploring Africa to attending college. However, one of the points of debate across nearly all fields is how the online experience compares to the parallel offline one; this has been especially true in online degree programs: Can online degrees provide the same value as their face-to-face counterparts?
The challenge of engaging and preparing students is two-fold for online degree programs. They need to cover the same key topics and transfer the same volume of knowledge as their on-ground counterparts. However, another part of the attraction of top MBA programs is that they not only develop students’ business acumen, they facilitate long-lasting connections that can lead to career opportunities and professional connections. That level of engagement presents a much bigger obstacle than catching someone’s attention long enough to complete a simple e-commerce transaction.
Technology in the Online Classroom: Two Major Lessons Learned
One of the things that makes a great online MBA successful is technology. Of course, if it were just an issue of investing in the latest and greatest tech solutions, every university would have successful digital learning programs. Further complicating things is the boom in technology built to solve this problem; which solution is best for the online classroom, and which will help build skills that will carry over into students’ careers.
After looking at some of the technology decisions at the University of Southern California’s Online MBA program, we found two major lessons for how to be successful with the kind of engagement these programs need to facilitate.
1. Innovate With Purpose
It’s easy to see the concerns over rapid technology evolution, whether you consider this 2015 New York Times article about innovation happening too quickly for businesses to keep up, or William Smith’s Morley, in which he wrote that widely available news and faster travel options would destroy relaxation as we know it, in 1886.
The technology we use will always be changing, whether it’s 1886 or 2186. One of the things that is hard to admit, though, is that the thinkers who said it would be impossible to keep up were right. Particularly at an organizational level, it really is impossible to stay current with every technology innovation that emerges.
The difference between success and failure—in the virtual classroom and in global business—is how they adapt new technologies to their environments.
One example of this in action comes from the University of Southern California’s Online MBA program. There are countless options for encouraging deeper collaboration and facilitating connections in an online setting, including a growing list of business collaboration tools as well as universities who opt to build their own social collaboration platforms. Sometimes, though, the answer is much simpler.
One of the things that stood out from USC’s Online MBA is that, in addition to the classroom sessions and videoconferencing, students chat and connect over WhatsApp. One of the biggest lessons from this experience is the fact that, sometimes, the best solution for a given problem is something students or employees are already using; it just needs to be embraced in a way that supports desired outcomes.
Why it Matters: Both businesses and universities may be reticent to allow important work and collaboration to exist outside of the platforms they control; and, there are certain instances (i.e. regulation) where allowing consumer-grade technology is a poor choice. However, embracing a student or employee-driven approach to collaboration is essential to making it work, particularly in a virtual setting. Rather than try to force students off the tool they’re comfortably using, USC can focus on smarter investments in other areas that are critical to online learning, like high quality video conferencing and learning management systems.
2. Outcomes First, Technology Second
It may seem counterintuitive at first, but the best strategies for utilizing technology don’t start by considering technology—they start by considering desired outcomes. If the goal is to facilitate the creation of real connections in a virtual space, using technology to enable this will need to feel natural and incorporate features that bring some of the same qualities of face-to-face interaction.
For online MBAs, there is a second and critical part to solving this challenge: Increasing students’ familiarity with tools that they will need to use in their professional lives.
For both businesses and higher education institutions, approaching this problem primarily from a technology perspective is the wrong approach. By thinking about desired outcomes, organizations can better guide their technology choices.
For example, with software for videoconferencing, there are myriad options. From a purely technical standpoint, many schools might first consider a solution like Blackboard Collaborate or Canvas’ built-in conference tools because so many already have Blackboard or Canvas for their Learning Management Systems.
These platforms may be enough from a functional standpoint, but, for developing true connections in an online MBA, user experience is an even more critical element of software used for video and teleconferencing. Considerations like these led USC’s Online MBA program to leverage Zoom, a dedicated communications platform, for conferencing in addition to the Canvas LMS for facilitating learning. Zoom lets students see the instructor, as well as their fellow classmates on live video, making it closer to face-to-face interaction than many alternatives. It’s also easier to schedule meetings on short notice with the ability to send calendar invites, offering similarity to the spontaneous brainstorming sessions that might happen in a classroom or office.
Why it Matters: The best solution for a given problem isn’t always the one that comes integrated with the rest of the software organizations already have. Especially for an online MBA, it’s also important to consider technology that has value beyond the classroom, as this will better equip students to succeed in their careers. The second component of this is to think about software that readily integrates with platforms people use in their daily lives anyway. Even if it is just the ability to send a meeting invite over Google Calendar, individual features can make the difference.
The Results: When Technology is Used Effectively
The biggest result of USC’s smart use of technology is that students can and do form real connections that lead to face-to-face interaction. For example, many students organize meet-ups in their area, so that those who live away from campus can still participate in the Online MBA community.
The deeper social connections, coupled with classroom learning and group discussions, also create unique opportunities that would not be as easily made without digital engagement. In USC’s case, one team of students in the recent cohort is planning to open their own business together.
The Bottom Line: Universities have historically struggled to keep pace with technology adoption. Regardless of whether a program is online, offered on-campus or uses a hybrid approach, though, the best MBA programs will stay ahead of the curve by considering outcomes first and avoiding the temptation to innovate without a clear purpose.
To learn more about the USC Marshall School of Business Online MBA, visit the Marshall website.
The Best Healthcare Management Programs in Washington DC
Healthcare management is among the fastest growing jobs in the United States today. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a 20 percent increase is expected for jobs the field of medical and health service management over the next ten years. Given that the average growth rate for all other occupations is just 7 percent, this reveals a significant boost expected within this field.
Given how quickly this field is growing, jobs in healthcare management can be competitive. One of the best ways to set yourself apart in the job market is with a specialized degree in healthcare management, demonstrating to employers that you have the specific skill set the job requires. If you are eager to join this growing industry, or looking for a career path that allows you to combine a passion for business with a love of medicine, you may want to pursue a degree in healthcare management.
Many business schools offer MBAs with specializations in healthcare management, or offer other options for customizing your degree to gain credentials in the field.
The Top Washington DC Healthcare Management MBA Programs.
George Washington University School of Business
The School of Business at the highly ranked George Washington University offers an online healthcare MBA program, which combines the generalized business foundation learned during the school’s MBA program with healthcare focused electives. The program explores the most important concepts in business and healthcare amidst a rigorous and hands-on educational environment. In addition to earning an MBA in healthcare management, students may also choose to pursue an additional certificate in fields like Clinical Research Administration, Clinical & Translational Research, Health Care Quality, Integrative Medicine, and more.
The online healthcare MBA at George Washington is 55.5 credit hours, divided among core courses (31.5) and healthcare focused electives (24), offered through the university’s School of Medicine and Health. Students may also petition to have 12 of their elective credits made up of GWU graduate-level healthcare courses outside of the medical school.
Just a few of the many healthcare elective courses offered through SOMHS are listed below:
- Patient Safety Systems
- Issues and Trends in Health Systems
- Introductions to Global Regulatory Affairs
- Regulatory Strategy in the Development of Drugs and Biologics
McDonough School of Business – Georgetown University
The McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University takes their healthcare and business education combo to a new level with the dual MBA and MD program. Within just five years, students will graduate with two degrees; one in medicine and one in business.
The program is broken down with different requirements each year, focused primarily on MD courses at the start, but including at least one MBA core course during the evening each semester. Students will take MBA elective courses throughout the fourth and fifth years, eventually completing the Global Business Experience in the final year. Students interested in the joint MBA/MD program at McDonough must be accepted both by the School of Medicine as well as McDonough before enrolling.
Georgetown University’s precious mascot, Jack, shortly after earning his degree at the School of Medicine / Photo via Georgetown
Student testimonials comment on the way the program has shaped their way of thinking and creatively problem solving. “I am confident that much of what I have gained at the business school will aid me in my career as a physician and will certainly enhance opportunities to improve the healthcare system as a physician-leader,” commented Mark Matza, MD/MBA 2014.
University of Maryland R.H. Smith School of Business
While the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland does not offer an MBA concentration in healthcare management, they offer students the opportunity to jointly pursue an MBA and a Master of Science (MS) with a Health Services Leadership and Management specialty. The degree is designed to prepare students for a role as an administrator within a health care system, with the ability to make management-level decisions on a variety of fronts, including strategic planning, governance, and finance. The business education provided by the MBA will also provide students with a strong foundation in leadership and innovation that will allow students to take the lead in designing new approaches to healthcare services. Students with this degree could serve in a variety of roles within the healthcare field, such as a chief nursing officer, consultant, finance officer, and more.
The 68 credit program will be completed over the course of four years, with the MBA requirements mostly being completed in the first two years, and the MSN courses in years three and four.
June MBA Deadlines You Need to Know
Don’t be left behind, and get a jump on the MBA application process this June! Here’s your guide to this month’s MBA admissions deadlines in our top metros. Continue reading…
How Virtual Work Can Learn from the Virtual Classroom
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How do you connect a workforce spread across different cities, countries and continents?
Finding the answer to that question is among the biggest challenges and opportunities for modern organizations—businesses, non-profits and academic institutions alike. Virtual collaboration and telecommuting are nothing new, but the technology that supports these practices is evolving faster than it ever has before. In fact, the first trend in Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends report indicates that the constant pressure to adapt to digital transformation and create “the organization of the future” is the most important challenge facing executives around the world.
Virtual collaboration is rapidly becoming important in the academic world as well, with leading schools like USC Marshall offering mostly online education programs, including its top 10 online MBA program. These programs challenge and teach students to learn, collaborate and communicate more effectively in virtual classrooms as well as in business settings.
Deloitte also makes the point that individuals usually adapt to technology quickly, while organizations take longer to adapt to changes in technology. As a result, there is considerable demand for business leaders and professionals who are not only familiar working and collaborating within virtual environments, but who can also lead and manage virtual teams.
Of course, this is more than just a distance problem. Global businesses face culture and time differences, and many offices may even operate with different technology and processes from each other. The organizations that pull ahead in the new digital age will be those that can continuously look forward to how they can effectively utilize technology to overcome distance, cultural and various other barriers to true collaboration in a virtual space. Fortunately, many of the technology limitations that inhibited remote collaboration are disappearing.
The Future of Virtual Collaboration: Already Here in the Classroom
There is still a lot of room for both software providers and businesses to grow. Although the future of virtual collaboration looks promising, the best practices for using virtual collaboration tools may not be where you think: Instead of businesses, it may actually be universities leading the charge.
In 2017, for example, the USC Marshall School of Business collaborated with IBM to teach students virtual collaboration skills. Students were given a group project with one big caveat: They would never meet other members working on the project in person. USC worked with IBM to create an online collaboration platform, so that students could work together remotely.
“Once we moved to a single collaboration platform using the IBM Connections tool … all of a sudden, they’re in this single space,” said Peter Cardon, Academic Director and Professor at the USC Marshall School of Business. “They’re integrating their work. There’s this level of accountability. And they can see what one another are doing to really contribute to the project, and that dramatically improves their ability to produce really quality results.”
According to Cardon, the success of the initial project created demand for similar initiatives designed to encourage collaboration among students across the world and from different cultures. This in turn shows how the skills taught by these initiatives as well as learnt intrinsically in top online MBA programs are critical for solving the challenges that inhibit the adoption of enterprise virtual collaboration.
USC’s Online MBA (OMBA) program provides additional examples of how virtual collaboration can be used successfully to solve real-world business problems. Courses are structured so that students participate in two live video sessions each week; this gives them opportunities to ask questions and more actively engage with faculty. The program also includes a one-unit course that focuses entirely on virtual collaboration, including best practices and technologies for enabling successful collaboration in the workplace. According to Miriam Burgos, Academic Director of the OMBA program, students are given opportunities to reflect on how the skills they learn through virtual collaboration influence their leadership and business expertise.
Students in the online MBA program must also work together to analyze and solve real-world business problems. In one of the first semester-long group projects, for example, students analyze data-driven business strategies. All the data and analytics for these projects are done and coordinated remotely by students from around the world. Each group must then virtually present their findings at the end of the semester.
“It’s incredible to see … how students from all over the world—from the U.S. to England to Dubai—are actively networking in an online environment,” Burgos told MetroMBA. “The live class sessions get them engaged with the coursework and each other, and they can take these skills outside the classroom. Students often tell us that what they learn in the classroom makes them stronger leaders in their workplaces … they start seeing an immediate impact on their careers.”
What Businesses Can Learn from the Virtual Classroom
Encouraging the use of virtual collaboration in business settings has historically been an uphill battle. For instance, many collaboration tools face limited user adoption because they do not offer a seamless transition between employees’ workflow and the collaboration tool; this will change as pressure mounts on businesses to embed collaboration functionality with existing tools and processes. Furthermore, a new generation of business professionals will have already gained proficiency in leading and managing online, collaborative projects; these professionals will be able to shift business processes to be more accommodating of virtual collaboration. At the same time, enterprise virtual collaboration will evolve due to several key industry trends, including:
• Communication channel variety: The number of potential channels for collaboration will grow. Some employees shine in face-to-face meetings, but others will shine most in virtual environments. The businesses that master digital transformation will provide a mixture of synchronous collaboration, such as real-time video meetings, and asynchronous collaboration tools, such as file sharing or cloud-based content management.
• Collaboration integrated with content and workflow: The best collaboration tools are only effective if users adopt them. This will push businesses to seamlessly integrate collaboration tools with project management and workflow tools so that collaboration can take place within existing business process and tools.
• Spontaneous Virtual Collaboration: One of the central challenges of virtual collaboration in the past is that it is difficult to mimic in-person experiences like spontaneous brainstorming sessions around the water cooler. Technology integration will help facilitate this; for instance, when chat and video call functionality is integrated with file sharing, it is much easier to discuss designs, plans or other documents while making changes in real time.
In the long-term, businesses will also have access to technology that dramatically alters the virtual collaboration landscape by placing emphasis on more realistic immersion and connection between employees. This is already starting to take shape in technology solutions. For example, platforms such as Cisco Spark VR allow teams to collaborate in full virtual reality environments. Many of these solutions remain in early access or beta testing stages. The solutions’ potential to connect employees across the world, however, is limitless. In the case of Cisco Spark VR, the platform creates virtual rooms where people can meet to share 3D images and documents.
Yet, the potential for these platforms extends far beyond meeting in VR spaces. Imagine a future where artificial intelligence makes video calling remote employees a seamless experience, with AI providing virtual name badges and getting rid of background noise automatically. It may be a while before we see full VR conference rooms, but if you want leaders who are at the cutting edge of virtual collaboration, it’s time to look inside the virtual classroom.
To learn more about the USC Marshall School of Business Online MBA, visit the Marshall website.
Babson Reveals New Scholarships, Rankings, for Blended Learning MBA
What if you could earn your MBA with minimal time in the classroom? That’s precisely what the Blended Learning MBA program at Babson College’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business offers. It’s a unique MBA program that combines online classes with face-to-face instruction to provide students with flexible scheduling and the ability to continue working full-time. Continue reading…
