Sylvie Albert

Reflection in Strategic Management Education

Critiques of Masters in Business Administration strategic management education have centered on the failure to adequately integrate two core orientations of the strategic management process, that is, analysis and implementation. Thus, attempts to measure assurance of learning in strategic management capstone courses will inevitably reveal gaps in the degree of deep learning that has occurred in a business program. In this article, we argue that a linear or serial approach to case analysis is a prime culprit in contributing to weaknesses in deep learning and critical thinking. This approach encourages weak reflections, lack of innovation in generating strategic options, and poor implementation planning. We analyze various contemporary approaches to strategic management education in relation to deep learning outcomes and, relying on Bloom’s taxonomy, we propose an alternate, reflection-based framework for teaching strategic management culminating in a discussion on its implications for teaching and practice.

Smart community networks: self‐directed team effectiveness in action

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to study the governance of smart/intelligent community projects through an analysis of the level of team effectiveness of collaborative telecommunication networks.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a census of all Canadian smart community projects. A high‐performance team effectiveness instrument identified, through a performance score, whether smart community teams (board of directors or steering committees) are functioning as high‐performance teams. A total of 76 networks were found and 28 responded. Each network is managed by three to nine board members and therefore the researcher received 72 valid questionnaires.Findings – Teams, in highly innovative and transformational environments, and involving a variety of community stakeholders, face more challenges in their ability to perform as a high‐performance team. They tend to perform reasonably well in assigning roles and goals, but are having more difficulty managing feedback, establis...

Think Global, Act Local: How ICTs are Changing the Landscape in Community Development

Being able to connect high-speed computing and other information technologies into broadband communication networks presents local communities with some of their best chances for renewal. Such technologies are now widely perceived to be not just a nice amenity among corporations and such non-profit organizations as universities but a social and economic necessity for communities struggling to find their place in a rapidly changing world. Today, citizens want and expect their local communities to be “wired†for broadband digital transactions, whether for family, business, education or leisure. Such networks have become a necessity for attracting and retaining the new “knowledge workforce†that will be key to transforming communities into digital societies where people will want to live and work. Since the Internet is a global phenomenon, some of the challenges of globalization for local communities and regions are introduced in this article and suggestions for turning those challenges into opportunities are offered. To attain maximum benefit from the new wired and wireless networks, local strategies must be developed for its implementation and applications must be chosen with some sensitivity to local needs. New Growth theory is used to show why communities must plan their development agenda, and case studies of the Intelligent Community Forum are included to show how strategically used ICTs are allowing local communities to be contributors in global markets.

The Case for Open Access Networks

Efforts to keep the broadband Internet a free and open public utility are much in the news. In the context of the Network Society, the authors examine some of the publicly stated arguments and positions being taken in the articulation of “net neutrality†and “open source†practices and principles. The article explores the difficult technical challenges present in maintaining “open access†telecommunications networks using proprietary technologies. From a global perspective, industry groups have strong incentives to work together to adopt universal technical standards. With more open technical standards, open source applications and products can be accelerated and made more pervasive. Collaboration among businesses, national governments, and public sectors are seen as key to implementing policies that lead to public participation in economic and social development both locally and globally. The principal means by which all these approaches can be sustained is to keep the Internet accessible, free and open for all.

Collaboration Challenges in Community Telecommunication Networks

This article reviews the literature on networks and, more specifically, on the development of community telecommunication networks. It strives to understand the collaboration needed for innovative projects such as intelligent networks. Guided by a change management framework, collaboration within a community network is explored in terms of the formation and performance phases of its development. The context, content, and process of each phase is analyzed, as well as the interaction of the two phases. User involvement and technology appropriation are discussed. Collaboration challenges are identified and linked to the sustainability of the community network. Policy makers are presented with a model that gives some insight into planning and managing a community network over time.