Integration of a human risk module into a risk management software

In the scientific literature and in practice, many questionnaires based on a myriad of measures have been designed and tested to measure and evaluate perceived work stress or employee involvement. The objective of our research is to identify the most significant elements of human risks and to combine them into a single score at the level of teams and departments. Indeed, for companies, what really matters are the stress or dissatisfaction factors that lead to harmful behavior that prevent managers and their teams from achieving their objectives. Based on this research, we are developing a module that will be incorporated into the Oxial software and will also be available as a stand-alone module. This module will collect and analyze the data to calculate a single score measuring the level of human risk. This aspect is very innovative, because no risk management software currently includes a module dedicated to human risks

Video and course content discussion on Massive Open Online Courses: An exploratory research

This paper deals with the ways in which Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) participants use course related forums and the contribution of those forums to the learning experience of their virtual students. We focused on the comparison between, on one hand, video content provided by the course organizers and on the other hand, the content provided by user discussions in the forums. Our methodology frame is based on natural sociological inquiry. Video Lectures, as well as the most active forum threads and their posts were collected during a 6 weeks long xMOOC that took place in fall 2013 on a well-known MOOC platform. Content analysis was performed and the study concludes that the forum included a very high level of interactions involving mostly course related exchange of information amongst students, placing this course at the intersection between a constructivist MOOC (cMOOC) and a classical information transmission based MOOC (xMOOC)

Can a green mobile telephony operator succeed in Switzerland ?

A very entrepreneurial intuition happened to be at the source of this project. The intuition that the Swiss mobile telephony market is a “green-able” one, meaning a new virtual operator whose value proposition relies on the ethics of its functioning and offer could be launched: a green mobile operator. Thus, this document aims at inquiring whether such an operator would actually be relevant, industry-wise and consumer-wise. It only constitutes the very first step towards the hypothetical actual creation of a green mobile operator and, as a consequence, only addresses the very major elements needed to form an answer. These list as follows: · Is the Swiss mobile telephony market limp enough to allow entrance to a newcomer? · What is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) and how can it create value? · Do the ethics of the functioning and offer of a green mobile operator represent valid core competences? · How do consumers perceive ethical companies and how frequently do they purchase from them? · What are consumers’ decision factors and means of comparison when choosing their mobile operator? · How do consumers value the green mobile operator concept and are they willing to switch for it? The first three questions were treated through desk research. First, I analyzed the market situation and evolution. Then, I went back to the very definition of an MVNO and observed various existing ones and I ended up by submitting the green mobile operator concept to a viability test using a mix of strategic analysis methods. The last three questions were addressed using a field market study in order to get the consumers’ feeling about ethical companies and consumption, mobile telephony and the combination of both. Firstly, it was essential to understand how consumers perceive ethical companies and how they relate to them. Secondly, I needed to understand how consumers proceed when they choose their mobile operator and get a hint of how they would choose their operator today. Finally, the consumers’ response to the green mobile operator concept and their hypothetical willingness to sign up were questioned. Then, by combining the results of the analysis of the mobile telephony industry and those of the survey, I was able to assess whether the green mobile operator concept is a commercial opportunity that should be considered or not. The first answer this research brought is that the Swiss mobile telephony market is not limp enough to allow entrance of a newcomer. Reasons for this are the declining progression rate of revenues, a penetration rate that reached saturation, the maturity of the market and a fierce competition. Secondly, I demonstrated that the ethics of the functioning and offer of a green mobile operator are elements not clearly sufficient to survive on the market. Indeed, the underlying competences are not solid enough. An operator relying on these elements only could then probably not hold a defendable position on the market. Thirdly, the survey unveiled that the respondents have a very positive perception of ethical companies and are used to consume their products or services. The respondents clearly identify companies that, in their own opinion, integrate sustainable development principles and perceive their added value. Moreover, such companies are often considered more attractive and a majority of respondents like the fact that they share similar values and principles. Fourthly, when it comes to choosing a mobile operator, respondents said the price, network quality as well as the offer & services are the key elements (offer & services includes the applications and the matching with one’s needs). Besides, more respondents would make a formal comparison before choosing a new operator and a large majority of them uses several sources of information to form an opinion. Finally, the respondents are clearly satisfied with their current mobile operator but a large proportion declared to be ready to change, even more if they could change for a green mobile operator. The results are overly enthusiastic but it does confirm the genuine interest of the respondents for such a mobile operator and it shows that they do perceive its value. Consumers say yes, the industry says no. In the end, launching in Switzerland a new mobile operator relying on the ethics of its functioning and offer is a commercial opportunity I recommend not to pursue

De l’initiative solidaire et éphémère Kariyon à une nouvelle façon de consommer

Juin 2022. Oliver Price, co-fondateur de Kariyon, sort perplexe d’une réunion organisée par l’État de Fribourg, en Suisse, avec des acteurs de l’économie locale. Cette réunion devait porter sur la filière agroalimentaire régionale, mais la discussion avait surtout tourné autour des nouveaux comportements des consommateurs qui avaient émergé lors de la pandémie de la COVID-19. Après la crise, on s’attendait à ce que le consommateur moyen revienne très vite à ses anciennes habitudes : il revient au supermarché, il se précipite en France ou en Allemagne pour faire ses courses dès l’ouverture des frontières, bref, il ne semble motivé que par les prix et la facilité. Si c’est vrai, se dit Oliver Price, que deviendra Kariyon3, sa plateforme Web de soutien aux commerces et services locaux ? Le consommateur n’aura-t-il rien appris de cette crise sanitaire ? Que restera-t-il de ce magnifique élan de solidarité ? Oliver Price est pourtant convaincu qu’il existe là une réelle occasion de favoriser une économie plus locale et plus responsable

Students’ perception of the flipped classroom ::teaching consumer behavior and market research classes in two Swiss Universities

Marketing instructors have traditionally sought to use experiential and active learning methods in their teaching. The flipped classroom is a learner-centered innovative pedagogical approach that moves the delivery of class material outside the classroom to focus on collaborative activities during class sessions. This qualitative exploratory research aims at understanding how students perceive their experience and the outcome of flipped classroom marketing courses in two Swiss universities. The analysis shows mixed results depending on the student population involved, as well as on the format of the preparatory material provided

The forum community, the connectivist element of a marketing xMOOC

The marketing education community is well suited to be a leader in online education and the internet has proven a powerful tool in teaching a variety of marketing courses. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are one of the fastest growing approaches to teaching and learning in the new digital paradigm. They are categorized either as cMOOCs following a connectivist approach, or as xMOOCs based on behaviorist principles. In xMOOC environments, forums, if they function as a community, may however play a real connectivist role. This paper builds on the criteria of Herring (2004) in order to determine the existence and dynamics of a community in a Marketing MOOC. In a connectivist approach, forum participants request help, answer questions, discuss concepts and techniques and suggest application and additional learning material, thus co-creating knowledge. In today’s online teaching methods, users are included in multi-way processes which are not well accounted for in the literature often describing one-way processes. These dynamics may be key in ensuring a strong and well-functioning learning community. This research questions the existence of a clear distinction between cMOOCs and xMOOCs. It also observes that equal gender roles in marketing classes don’t seem to be replicated in MOOC environments, i.e. female participants appear to adopt lower profiles in MOOC forums

Can any marketing instructor turn case studies into a gamified experience for students ?

Marketing educators often use case studies as it is a form of experiential learning. However, successful case-study teaching requires students to be prepared. Yet, research shows that students are becoming more and more reluctant to reading assigned class material and their motivation is lower when teaching is done with traditional media. Students have become the virtual generation who plays games every day and games can keep them motivated several hours at a time. But the development of teaching games is costly and instructors are reluctant to use games that have been developed by others as they rarely completely match their expectations and teaching styles. This paper describes two case studies showing that a marketing professor with no previous experience in Second Life and not particularly technology-savvy can gamify a case study into a sandbox virtual world

The forum community ::the connectivist element of a marketing xMOOC

The marketing education community is well suited to be a leader in online education and the internet has proven a powerful tool in teaching a variety of marketing courses. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are one of the fastest growing approaches to teaching and learning in the new digital paradigm. They are categorized either as cMOOCs following a connectivist approach, or as xMOOCs based on behaviorist principles. In xMOOC environments, forums, if they function as a community, may however play a real connectivist role. This paper builds on the criteria of Herring (2004) in order to determine the existence and dynamics of a community in a Marketing MOOC. In a connectivist approach, forum participants request help, answer questions, discuss concepts and techniques and suggest application and additional learning material, thus co-creating knowledge. In today’s online teaching methods, users are included in multi-way processes which are not well accounted for in the literature often describing one-way processes. These dynamics may be key in ensuring a strong and well-functioning learning community. This research questions the existence of a clear distinction between cMOOCs and xMOOCs. It also observes that equal gender roles in marketing classes don’t seem to be replicated in MOOC environments, i.e. female participants appear to adopt lower profiles in MOOC forums

The forum community, the connectivist element of an xMOOC

One of the fastest growing approaches to teaching and learning in the new digital paradigm is the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). They are categorised either as cMOOCs following a connectivist approach, or as xMOOCs based on behaviourist principles. However, in xMOOC environments, forums may play a real connectivist role if they are functioning as a community. This paper builds on the criteria of Herring (2004) in order to determine the existence and dynamics of a community. Forum participants, in a connectivist approach, create knowledge together by requesting help, answering questions, discussing concepts and techniques, and suggesting applications and additional learning material. This research questions the existence of a clear distinction between cMOOCs and xMOOCs. It was also observed that gender roles in STEM classes are replicated online. Online teaching nowadays is no longer based on one-way processes but includes users in multi-way processes. These dynamics may be effective in ensuring a strong and well-functioning learning community