Finnigan, VB

English

Leeds Beckett Repository

700 into 3: your first day in BusinessVal FinniganWe set out to model something of “the dynamismand vibrancy of the business environment” (QAABusiness and Management benchmark statement2007) and to develop an activity and context in whichincoming Level 1 undergraduate business studentsembarked on their journey as business studentsand as creative potential professionals in a businesscontext: “Self aware, confident, interested and excited.These people [creative potential professionals]perform higher, persist longer and demonstratemore creativity”  (Ryan and Deci, 2000, cited inGeorgianna, 2007).The activity we developed was a business game:‘Paper Chasers’. The students were to work inteams to form a ‘company’ to ‘produce’ A5notebooks. The product was chosen as it had auniversal recognition factor and the raw materialsto produce it could be researched. Each companyhad to work through business concepts in relationto Production, Marketing, Finance and HumanResource Management and each team was given anotional £100,000 of start-up funds. Our keyobjectives were to allow students to spend timewith their fellow students, spend time with theirpersonal tutor and embark on their learning. Thegame is underpinned by what Atkins et al (1993)would describe as “authentic tasks in ‘realistic’settings”. Brown et al (1989) emphasise theimportance of authentic activity for potentialpractitioners: “Authentic activity is important tolearners because it is the only way they gain accessto the standpoint that enables practitioners to actmeaningfully and purposefully.” Modelling both theactivity and language of business is an attempt toauthenticate business learning. We aim to providean initial experience of business terminology fromthe functional areas of business, especially forthose students who have not previously studiedbusiness subjects.Discussions in early 2006 with colleagues within theFaculty of Business and Law centred on changingthe induction experience for our students. Ourobjective was to enhance the induction experiencefor our Level 1 undergraduates during their firstweek at university. We appreciated that potentialentrants had a very positive experience at opendays and arrived at Leeds Met with anticipation andexpectations. An additional consideration was to tryto provide early feedback to students within theirfirst few weeks at university on an inductionassignment.We wanted to achieve a sense of ‘being launched’into a university life and a potential life as abusiness professional by creating a sense ofoccasion, inclusion and fun. We were aware that nolecture theatre on campus could accommodate theLevel 1 cohort of our largest course. We neededmuch more space. The marquee on the HeadingleyAcre gave us the opportunity to accommodate all600 students in 2006 and 700 in 2007 of the Level 1students on the Business, Marketing andAccounting courses. It made some sense to connectthe induction event to the Personal DevelopmentPlanning (PDP) element of the student programme,as developing the student experience and personaldevelopment should start right at the beginning ofthe course. PDP is interpreted in the Faculty ofBusiness and Law as PACE: Personal Academic andCareer Effectiveness. The module is integrated withanother module and the personal tutor scheme. The challenges were immense. What activity, withany pedagogic sense, could we do to keep the 700actively engaged for three hours? An event of thisduration could give time to develop relationships,provide a sense of occasion and allow students towork through business-related tasks. How wouldwe, by 9:00 am, seat them all at specific places attables so they would find themselves with theirtutorial group and personal tutor? Our Faculty marketing, admissions and studentsupport teams took up the logistical challengeswhile my colleague Siobhán Alderson and I turnedour attention to planning the ‘learning activity’. Wasthis the largest class that had ever taken place atLeeds Met? The prospect was alarming.10 ALT JOURNAL NUMBER 4: SUMMER 200836257 New ALT Journal:Layout 1  19/8/08  16:28  Page 10I returned to study as a mature studentafter a 17-year gap, and it was with greattrepidation that I awaited the return of my firstassignment. On the morning in question, thelecturer came into the lecture theatre with anarmful of scripts. He put them on the table andbeamed at the class. “I’ll give these out at theend of the lecture. Most of them are OK.”  Idon’t know how many other students rememberas little about the lecture as I did. My eyes keptbeing drawn back to the pile, my heart raterising.  I was increasingly convinced mine was one ofthe few that weren’t OK – a feeling compoundedwhen the lecturer moved the pile and I realiseda few were bundled separately. I could seemine, covered in red and comb-bound amongthis tiny collection of obvious failures.The lecture ended. I was now shaking withnerves, heart pounding, sweat beading on mybrow. My assignment was returned. It wasn’tthe one in the small pile, nor were they failures;they had just been the last to be marked. Myworries were groundless. Not only had I passed, but I’d passed comfortably.  Relief!Mark Palmer2nd year MA in Town and RegionalPlanningFor our ‘Day in Business’ we also engaged thesupport of a real management consultant, CliveWilson from Primeast Consultants who adviseinternational companies in areas of globalleadership, team working and strategy. Clive is alsopart of the Speakers for Africa network, raisingfunds for development projects in Africa. In 2006Clive gave a keynote speech and in 2007 heintroduced each phase of the game to talk about,for example, the company’s vision, the need forclarity in objective setting in business and theeffectiveness of team working and leadership. This model of learning draws on a pedagogicalprinciple of process dominance rather than contentdominance (Rogers, 1986).Teacher controlContent dominant Process dominantLearner controlAs the game formed part of the first PDPexperience, we wanted to underpin the approachwith a real focus on student ownership of learning.Students were sent briefing notes with their joininginstructions about their ‘first day in business’ inwhich it was specified that some research on thepaper industry (e.g. paper and card prices, bindingcosts etc) would support their company. Studentswere also informed that the induction activity wouldfeed into their induction assignment. Theadvantages of preparatory research meant thatindividual students might gain information for theirfirst assignment and student companies did nothave to incur additional costs to their companyfunds by having to ‘buy’ expensive managementconsultancy to ascertain prices etc. In 2006, weemployed student guides through the Leeds MetJob Shop to act as consultants, and by 2007 wewere able to employ the students with the highestmarks in their PACE module for 2006-2007 to act as‘management consultants’ who would ‘sell’ theresearch information which the business gamedevelopers had undertaken to those who had notdone the research themselves prior to their arrival. The student company output from the game was aposter identifying the name and logo of theircompany, the essence of their product, its uniqueselling point, their financial analysis, theirmarketing approach and their HR statement inrelation to key factors in successful team working.The posters were judged against criteria by tutorsand the top three teams were awarded prizes.11ALT JOURNAL NUMBER 4: SUMMER 2008““36257 New ALT Journal:Layout 1  19/8/08  16:28  Page 11The next scheduled ‘First Day in Business’ is onWednesday 24 September 2008. All observers arewelcome.ReferencesAtkins, M.J., Beattie, J. and Dockrell, W.B. (1993)Assessment Issues in Higher Education. Journal ofProgrammed Learning and Educational Technology22, 116–124. In: Tolley, H., Greatbatch, D., Bolton, J.and Warmington , P. The validity and transferability ofNVQS in the workplace. Available from:http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/education/centres/cdell/pdf-reports/v-tcomposite1and2.pdf [AccessedFebruary 2006]Brown, S., Collins, A. and Duguid, P. (1989) SituatedCognition and the Culture of Learning. EducationalResearcher 18 (1) Jan–Feb, 32–42.Georgianna, S. (2007) Self-leadership: a crosscultural perspective. Journal of ManagerialPsychology 22 (6), 569–589.Quality Assurance Agency (2007) Honours DegreeBenchmark Statements. Available at:http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/honours/business.asp [Accessed January2008]Rogers, A. (1986) Teaching Adults. Milton Keynes:Open University Press.Ryan, R.M and Deci, E.L. (2000) Self determinationand the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, socialdevelopment and well being. American Psychologist55, 68-78.Val FinniganTeacher FellowFaculty of Business and LawOnce the event was over, students were given fourweeks to complete their 500-word inductionassignment, which formed 10% of their mark forthe PACE module.  During the four-week period,PACE tutorials focused on academic writing and theuse of the Harvard referencing system. Studentshad a choice of topics, e.g. the businessenvironment for the paper industry, team working,marketing, etc. The work had to incorporateappropriate academically acceptable literature andbe properly referenced. In addition, the studentsadded a 100-word reflection on their experience.This was often sufficient for students to crystallisebriefly the essence of their reactions to theinduction event. In this way we gain a valuableinsight into their perceptions and so are able toadapt the business game and the event logistics forthe next year. The activity was generally positively evaluated byparticipants: “I think that the Paper Chasers day was veryeffective for team building as you can see what thepeople in your group are like and what theirstrengths are.”“… when I attended Paper Chasers, I thought that itwas very well organised and presented excellently.It could have been more orderly on entering anddeparting the marquee. I would have taken morecharge in the group and adopted a moremanagerial approach.… I think the induction activitywas useful in allowing me to become more friendlywith the members of my tutorial group and overall Ithoroughly enjoyed the day.“I believe that the Paper Chasers event was asuccess due to various factors. I think that theorganisation of the event was done fantastically asit gave me a chance to meet other members frommy tutor group and develop good team workingrelationships with them. I enjoyed the fact that itgave me an insight in working with a productionteam and how a business works. If I was to rewindthe clock I think I would have done a little moreresearch into the product we were making to givethe team more of an informative boost.”12 ALT JOURNAL NUMBER 4: SUMMER 200836257 New ALT Journal:Layout 1  19/8/08  16:28  Page 12

Assessment Issues in Higher Education.

Quality Assurance Agency

Self determination and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development and well being.

Self-leadership: a cross cultural perspective.

The validity and transferability of NVQS in the workplace. Available from: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/education/centres/c dell/pdf-reports/v-tcomposite1and2.pdf [Accessed

700 into 3: your first day in Business

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