Edward W. Christensen

Organizational learning, knowledge and wisdom

To improve our understanding of the impact of organizational learning and knowledge on competitive advantage, we propose a framework that includes the constructs of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. Each of these constructs is then associated with a different type of learning. We further argue that wisdom is an important, albeit missing, construct in the knowledge‐based theory of the firm. A key to organizational wisdom is judgement and decision making, which requires an understanding of the complexity of a situation, but also requires the ability to make sense and simplify so that action can be taken. Three important drivers for the development of organizational wisdom are experience, a passion to learn, and spirituality. Processes for acquiring organizational wisdom such as transformational leadership, organizational culture and knowledge transfer are also discussed.

Receptivity to Distance Learning: The Effect of Technology, Reputation, Constraints, and Learning Preferences

AbstractRecent growth in distance learning (DL) represents a significant change to management education. Notwithstanding its importance, research on DL is at an early stage of development, particularly in understanding the effect of technology perceptions on students’ receptivity toward DL. This study of 399 students at two universities investigates the role of perceived technology usefulness, technological familiarity and accessibility, reputation, constraints, learning preferences, and demographic factors on prospective receptivity toward DL. The results reveal significant relationships between many of these variables and DL receptivity, suggesting new challenges and opportunities for educators. They also indicate that some traditionally held assumptions, for example those regarding accessibility, reputation, and constraints, may not be valid in the new high-tech DL environment. Implications of the findings are discussed.Abstract Recent growth in distance learning (DL) represents a significant change to management education. Notwithstanding its importance, research on DL is at an early stage of development, particularly in understanding the effect of technology perceptions on students’ receptivity toward DL. This study of 399 students at two universities investigates the role of perceived technology usefulness, technological familiarity and accessibility, reputation, constraints, learning preferences, and demographic factors on prospective receptivity toward DL. The results reveal significant relationships between many of these variables and DL receptivity, suggesting new challenges and opportunities for educators. They also indicate that some traditionally held assumptions, for example those regarding accessibility, reputation, and constraints, may not be valid in the new high-tech DL environment. Implications of the findings are discussed.

A Model for Reflective Pedagogy

This article argues that quality business requires rediscovering pedagogy as a professional calling and studied activity. The authors chronicle forces driving reform in business and higher education. They then explore both the growing importance of reflective learning in professional education and a model that they have developed and implemented for encouraging such practice. The results of their training program are discussed in terms of interventions that promote reflective pedagogy by capitalizing on the competencies that faculty professionals already possess as researchers.

A Source Accessibility Effect on Media Selection

Understanding information acquisition behavior is increasingly important because the amount of and access to information is growing at a staggering pace. Combining the media and source selection literature, we hypothesize that both task routineness and source accessibility influence media selection. The hypotheses are tested in an experiment where subjects selected among media to acquire the requisite information for a strategic task. Results show an interaction effect of task routineness and source accessibility on media selection. The implications of this effect and directions for future research are discussed.

Challenging Group Support Systems Research: The Case for Strategic Decision Making

Strategic decision making (SDM) often occurs in groups that can benefit from the use of group support systems (GSS). However, no comprehensive review of this logical intersection has been made. We explore this intersection by viewing GSS research through the lens of SDM. First, SDM is broadly characterized and a model of GSS-mediated SDM is produced. Second, we review empirical GSS research linking these findings to the characteristics of SDM. We conclude that GSS research has not produced sufficient knowledge about group history, heterogeneity, member experience, task type, time pressure, technology or tool effects, and decision consensus for a favorable evaluation of SDM in GSS groups. SDM in GSS groups challenges researchers to study the effects of group processes such as those just mentioned in a context that involves ongoing and established groups, political activity, and a multiplicity of tasks.

Educating a Modern Business Workforce An Integrated Educational Information Technology Process

This article reflects on the intersection of traditional and information technology- (IT-) mediated education and proposes the need to develop a revised teaching pedagogy that better reflects the skills required for success in the 21st-century business environment. Building on the premise that neither a homogeneous traditional nor IT-mediated workplace is prevalent, it is argued that educational institutions should provide both traditional and IT-mediated alternatives, not simply because they make education more accessible to their students but because of workplace demands and therefore student needs for proficiency in the use of these enabling technologies. The implications of this premise are discussed in terms of communication skills, pedagogical and curricular change, tacit knowledge, and outcome measurement.

Repository choice: an exploration of accessibility, satisfaction and usefulness

The article explores factors that may explain choices between the library and the Internet. The hypothesis that repository satisfaction, accessibility, and usefulness predict actual choice was tested using data from a competitive information acquisition task. It was found that repository choice was a function of library satisfaction and usefulness, but not library accessibility nor Internet accessibility, satisfaction, and usefulness. The findings suggest that these common predictors of use were inadequate. Research and practical implications are discussed.

Task performance using the library and Internet to acquire business intelligence

The Internet is increasingly being used as a potential library substitute for a wide variety of business information tasks. However, little comparative research exists on the impact of such uses on task performance. This study examined performance differences (perceived, actual, and temporal) for a strategic business information acquisition experimental task when subjects used a library or the Internet. It was found that task performance decreased and time to completion increased when using the Internet as compared to the library. This paradox of performance enhancement expectations and actual outsomes when using the Internet may be temporal or idiosyncratic, or it may signal that our assumptions about traditional and electronic repositories are invalid. In any case, it is imperative that research on task performance continues to be done in order to ascertain the viability of this repository for information tasks. Implications of these findings and avenues of future research are discussed.

Using metaheuristics and queueing models to optimize schedules in the academic enterprise

We develop a prototype system for enterprise-wide scheduling optimization in an academic institution. The system is built around a rule-based optimization engine, the Optessa MLS™, that has proved successful in complex scheduling applications in manufacturing. The engine utilizes metaheuristics with sophisticated accelerators for local search. A novel contribution is a consistent queueing model characterization, of key aspects of course schedules and commuter parking lot requirements, that can be used to quantify optimization benefits and predict how course schedule changes impact commuter parking lot efficiency. In a case study at Monmouth University, our course schedule optimization “frees-up” 20–23% of schedulable rooms for other uses and increases parking rate capacities by 25–35%, with a potential net annual revenue increase of about

DISTANCE LEARNING AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY: POTENTIAL USERS' PERSPECTIVE

12–17M.