Welcome

Organising Business Field Trips for

Operations Management Students

1. Share the learning from an evaluation of over 40 Business Field Trips organised over the last 5 years

2. Provide a model for other tutors who want to organise their own trips3. Show how active learning such as Business Field Trips can enhance

learning and teaching in the class room 4. Show how Business Field Trips can provide opportunities for primary

research and work based assessment 5. Show how business trips can build links with employers, help students

make career choices and enhance the employability of students and vice versa

Workshop Aims

We hope you will ‘Take Away’ your own plan!

HBS Operations Management Team: Veronica Earle, Ross Jordan,

Desmond Kapofu, Nilesh Lathia, Amanda Relph

HEA Discipline lead Business and Management: Richard Atfield

Welcome

Agenda

Welcome from the HEAIntroductionIcebreaker Activity to Build Links and Facilitate Networking 11.00 BreakPresentation of model Industrial Partners and Student input12.30 – 13.30 LunchBuilding Research Links and the Relationship 14.30 BreakDeveloping creative assessments 16.00 Close

Higher Education Academy: routes to funding and support

• Richard Atfield, • Discipline Lead – Business and Management

Introduction:What are BFTs and why do we do them?

Veronica Earle

What are Business Field Trips (BFTs)?

Our working definition:• The BFT is an educational visit to the

workplace to observe the live operation of business in the private, public or third sector. Typically these visit last from 1 hour up to several days, but on average they are 2 hours long

The objectives of the BFTs are to provide opportunities to:• enhance students’ understanding of business operations• allow students to see the application of theory in

practice• enhance classroom learning and discussion through a live

case study• engage in work related assessment• undertake primary research through direct observation

and discussions with the operations managers

Why do we do it?

Who have we taken?Topics:• Operations Management

– Manufacturing – Service – Events

• Supply Chain Management• Managing Quality• Consultancy ProjectIn total 9 different modules – 5 this calendar year

Students:• Undergraduate

(years 1 to 3)• Masters• MBAIn total: 1428267 this calendar year

What is the outcome?• Visits are well attended visits with an average attendance of

94%• More engaged students, better class attendance rates• Pass rates improvedQuestionnaire feedback 2009/2010 (75 responses)• Students found the visits helpful for assignment work and

helpful for understanding the module but not for exam preparation

• Trips were rated as more useful than guest speakers but similar in usefulness or slightly less useful than lectures/ tutorials

What is the outcome?Qualitative feedback 2011-13 via discussion board posts:• Firstly I must say that I really approve the practical orientation of the

assignment. By applying the theory from the lectures to a specific company and visiting the premises one engages much more with it

• The tour helped me get a deeper and more comprehensive understanding about the supply chain and how they were operated. …….it was a good opportunity for me to translate the knowledge I learned from the textbook into practice!

• I really want to join as many relevant trips as possible. That’s why I choose to study aboard

• Not going to lie, the visit wasn't that helpful

What are the benefits?

We will hear from students and employersafter the break

Icebreaker Activity to Build Links and Facilitate Networking:

Who, what, why?

Amanda Relph

Appreciative Inquiry

In groups of three:1. Introduce yourself and your organisation2. Outline your involvement with BFTs in your

organisation3. What are your objectives for attending today?• Each group member to present answers in turn

to 1, 2 and 3

Define Activity

Presentation of model

Amanda Relph

Model

Appreciative Inquiry

• What have you done or experienced?

• What works well?

Discovery Activity

Student experience and Industrial Partners

Building Research links and Relationship

Dr Desmond Kapofu

Research versus Teaching

• Should research and teaching be considered separately? Some notable constraints:• With reduced government funding and increased

University fees• Emphasis on Research Exercise Framework (REF) to

boost league table standings• Increased culture of “student as consumer” in

Universities

Our Approach: Research-informed teaching

• A business school cannot teach business if it is not business facing

• Research keeps our teaching content contemporary

• Visual learning through company visits demonstrate concepts better than classroom learning

MSc BAC: Filling a gap in the market

• The MSc Business Analysis and Consultancy is a bespoke programme aimed at developing the following skills:– Practical problem-solving – Analytical skills– Project management– Managing people

• Most generic Masters courses simulate these in the classroom

Research on the MSc BAC• Group project in Running a Consultancy

Project• Individual consultancy project (main

dissertation) • Collecting and analysing a primary data set as

part of both projects• Maintaining a mutually beneficial link with

business

Developing the links with business

• Business trips• Partnership days• Student-led consultancy projects• Lecturer-led consultancy projects• Industry guest lecturers

Appreciative Inquiry

Dream Activity

• What would be your ideal BFT?

Be creative and positive with these ideals

Development of Creative Assessments

Ross Jordan

Kolb, D.A. (1984) Experiential Learning; Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs

Dale, 1969Audio-visual Methods in Teaching, 3rd. Ed. Holt, Reinhart, & Winston: New York.

Appreciative Inquiry

How could you link your ideal BFT to your assessment? 1. List your module/programme learning outcomes2. What active learning is already included in achieving these

outcomes?3. What further active learning could be included?4. With your chosen active learning what are the;

a) Benefits.b) Implications.c) Risks.

Design Activity

Appreciative Inquiry

Deliver Activity

Returning to the dream phase – what plans and preparations are needed to successfully deliver this?

What actions will you take:– this semester– next semester– next academic year