La pédagogie

1. Project details
   
   

Project title

A winning approach: Students / Senior Executives 

Project summary (100 words) 

The innovative pedagogy of the « Introduction to marketing and governance” course gives the opportunity to each of the 300 Bachelor’s students from the Geneva School of Economics and Management (GSEM) at the University of Geneva, to interview several top executive managers on a predefined annual theme on a challenging managerial topic. The course content is co-constructed between faculties and top executive managers. Throughout the course and the interviews, students can integrate different sources of the knowledge and have a better understanding of the managerial challenges that goes beyond the silo mode of teaching the management.  

2. Project synopsis
   
   

Area 1: Approach  

“Who is your target audience? What problem is your project attempting to solve for that audience? (200 words)” 

This course targets the second-year students of the GSEM. At this stage of their studies where the teaching is often delivered on large classes, they have only a vague idea of the context in which managerial concept are used, how decisions are taken and what their future professional environment will look like. Therefore, this pedagogical project was created to bridge the gap between the theoretical teaching of marketing management and the reality of the business environment that is constantly changing. The aim is to allow the students to acquire solid theoretical foundation but also to be able to project themselves into the future challenges by listening to top executives during their weekly guest lecture but also by interacting with them face to face during the interview they must run during the semester that is part of their evaluation. Moreover, the students acquire several social and interpersonal skills by working in a group, writing a managerial report where the best students are invited to present the results of their interview in front of a top executive managers. This course, through its innovative pedagogy, allows students to acquire skills on several levels, thus favoring and preparing them better for their future professional environment. 

“How does your project solve this problem for the audience? (200 words)” 

To achieve a personalized, hands-on education with such a large group of students, a group of business leaders have created a non-profit association named The Observatory of the Values of Strategy and Management (OVSM) as an independent body of the university, but a partner of the GSEM. The OVSM is conceived as a think tank that aims to bring together three worlds that are usually separated: economic, academic and student. The OVSM is aiming to co-create value for the three parts by involving top executive managers into the teaching and the research activities of the GSEM.  

As part of the course, students complete an action-research assignment. The topic of the year is chosen by a panel of companies from the OVSM the interview guide is validated by the members of the OVSM, and then each student conducts an in-depth interview with a senior executive of their choice or proposed by the teaching team (the executive must hold or have held management responsibilities at the C-level) (Appendix 7). 

The interaction between students and executives, combined with the theoretical framework provided by the course and its guest lectures delivered by top managers, provides students with skills that will serve them for their professional and personal life. 

“In what ways is your project truly innovative? Please explain as clearly and thoroughly as possible. 

Various types of innovation category might include: (a) product innovation, (b) process innovation, (c) audience innovation, or (d) technology innovation. Is your project primarily ‘exploitative’ – that is, exploiting existing resources in a new way – or ‘exploratory’ – that is, exploring new resources, technologies, or methods? (200 Words)”  

The 6-step pedagogical process of action research is a unique process innovation. From the creation of the year’s theme to the public presentation of the results (Appendix 3). For example, the theme for 2020-2021 was « Between climate emergency and profitability: what decisions for the leader? » and the one for 2021-2022 is « Future of Work ». Step 4, which consists in a meeting between student and senior executive, is true learning by doing. The students first learn qualitative analysis with the support of the course assistants. Then, in groups of 5, they submit a full transcript and analysis of their interview. In parallel of this fieldwork, a series of conferences is given by the founding leaders of the OVSM, detailing their company’s approach to different topics (innovation, corporate responsibility, etc.). Step 6: The dean invites the best groups to present their results at an evening event. During this event, a master student who coached the bachelor students presents a broader analysis that includes all the aggregated interviews (more than 200). Highly recognized experts are invited to a round table discussion where they give their feed-back about the student’s presentation and answer questions from the audience composed of managers and students. 

Area 2: Competitor comparison & uniqueness 

“How does your project replace, and/or improve existing pedagogical practice or theoretical approaches? Please outline what makes your project superior to similar or existing practice. (200 Words)” 

The project does not totally replace traditional learning as students still have access to the ex-cathedra part of the course, in person or by distance learning (Appendix 2). Within this part, a series of lectures allows the top management leaders to explain through their experience the theoretical aspects of the course, in a more pragmatic way than any case study. The reason for this success could be explained by the passion that drives these 8 leaders and their desire to help students to understand the realities of their world. Of course, the teaching team guarantees the link between theory and practice, and between concepts and the students’ soft skills. Another important difference between this project and traditional teaching practices lies in the « learning by doing » approach they develop to grasp the real challenges of a company and then leads students to develop ideas and recommendations that are as close as possible to the decision-making process of a manager. A final advantage is that the students’ career path over the course of the year allows them to acquire the conceptual and personal skills expected in internships and in their first jobs.  

“In what ways is your program unique, and/or superior, to existing alternatives? Please explain. (200 Words)” 

The flexibility to combine mass Bachelor teaching with fieldwork or subgroup methods (e.g.: the case studies methodology) is reinforced here. This includes: interactions (students can discuss with the manager after the lecture), full transcription of the interviews by the student thus avoiding any superficiality or temptation to plagiarize, coaching of the tutorials by Master trainees working on the same knowledge base. During the interviews, managers observe and report to the teaching team that some students find it difficult to interact, simply reading the interview guide, either out of shyness or lack of empathy. On the other hand, it has happened that a student was offered an internship after the interview! In fact, this type of pedagogy is usually reserved for small groups of Master or PhD students. 

Area 3: Engagement 

“How many students have participated in your project? (200 Words)” 

Since 2014, 2,400 Bachelor’s level students have participated in this course, which has been increasingly popular with students from various faculties (sociology, medicine, pharmacy, etc.). Also, this mandatory course of the Geneva School Economics and Management (GSEM) faculty of the University of Geneva has been recently opened to all faculties. On the Master’s side, each year, two Master’s students can choose to do their compulsory end-of-study internship in the framework of this project. Twelve Master’s students had the opportunity to learn about coaching and to complete their thesis by analyzing the database collected from the region’s leaders, thus improving their employability. All of these Master students found a job within 3 months after completion of their studies. Finally, at the doctoral level, two graduates have kept a direct link with this course, one by participating in the sessions of the Association of leaders, the other by becoming the teacher responsible for this course from the beginning of the academic year 2021. 

“How many universities/schools/corporations has your program reached? How many nations or cities has your program reached? (200 Words)” 

The city of Geneva being very international, students of more than 40 different nationalities attend this course. Moreover, students from the ERASMUS program can also enroll in this course. As for the companies, among the 330 executives interviewed, 35 have chosen to join the association « OVSM – Observatory of the Values of Strategy and Management » in order to coach students as informal mentors. Among these, 8 officially represent their companies, which cover complementary and non-competitive fields in order to offer students the broadest possible vision of the working world. Nestlé, Credit Suisse, Caterpillar, Labcorp, Hermès, Richemont, Migros, Pharmacie Principale. These companies, in addition to the personal involvement of their representatives, sponsor the remuneration of the Master’s students and the prizes awarded to the best students, through the OVSM Association. They regularly co-opt new companies to join this think tank. 

The annual summary document of the action-research published jointly by the Faculty and the OVSM Association, is distributed during the final evening event hosted by the Dean and is available on free access from the Association’s website. 

“Has research pertaining to your project been published in peer-reviewed journals, non-peer-reviewed journals, newspapers, or any other public source? (200 Words)” 

We have chosen so far not to publish the annual research content from the course in peer-to-peer journals to focus resources on serving the faculty, students and host companies. If we can increase funding and visibility (see « 2-5 year projects »), then a pool of young researchers could publish in interaction with the faculty member delivering the course.  Regarding the pedagogical approach and its agile relation between faculty student and managers, we were able to overcome the constraint of the sanitary situation (Spring 2020) to be able to switch quickly to an online survey in the early months of Covid on the topic of the “future employability of students”. The results were published, in 2021, in a chapter of a management book.  

“What evidence can you put forth to demonstrate that students are engaging enthusiastically with your project? (200 Words) ” 

The theory part of the course, with the attached executive lecture series, excites students who are encouraged to ask questions. When the course was forced to go online in 2020-2021, we found that many more students asked questions online than they did in the classroom. This seems to indicate to us that, for students who might be more shy, online expression can be an advantage. Also, we have decided to allow students in the room to ask their questions directly or online. This last innovation has been a growing success. Moreover, word of mouth ensures the enrolment of students from various faculties and facilitates the recruitment of Master degree trainees. Finally, students who have taken the course respond favorably to invitations from companies to meet them at the final evening or at other OVSM Association events. 

Area 4: Impact 

“What evidence can you put forth to demonstrate that improved learning and/or employability outcomes are occurring as a result of your project? (200 Words)” 

The feedback from this course has been so positive that the faculty made it mandatory in 2014. In addition, the faculty awarded it 6 credits instead of 3 given the very high level of involvement and work that the students themselves are willing to provide. Despite this heavy workload, the course’s reputation has attracted students from outside the GSEM faculty, bringing it to inter-faculty status. 

Students are evaluated on three criteria: individual work, group work and a final exam in the form of MCQs. To pass the course, students must obtain an average of 4 out of 6. Very few students do not reach this average, which means that the required level of knowledge is achieved. 

Thus, the course has grown in a few years from 120 to 290 students, then 333 in 2020-2021. Therefore, the number of managers involved in the interviews has also risen to 333, thus increasing the visibility, the professional network and the employability of the students. The possibility for students to talk with managers about their future plans, their doubts, and the sector in which the manager works creates links, which can lead to an internship or even a future job. 

“Has your project received authoritative third-party reviews or research citations? (200 Words)” 

This is the first year that we have submitted this project to an international competition. Nevertheless, when Professor Michelle Bergadaà and Dr. Samad Laaroussi created this teaching, its innovative character earned them the 3rd prize for pedagogical innovation at the Agoratic-2000 congress, Grenoble (France). Of course, at the time, this panel of 300 leaders passionate about pedagogy and action-research did not yet exist. In 2019, the same team, animated by the same pedagogical springs, obtained for another teaching course based on the same principles – « Responsible Projects » – they earned the Grand Prize for Pedagogical Innovation from the International Conference of Leaders of Institutions of Higher Education and Research in Management of French Expression (CIDEGEF), the National Foundation for the Teaching of Business Management (FNEGE) and the University Agency of the Francophonie (AUF). The university attaches great importance to the valorization of the teaching presented in this file, which it has made inter-faculty. 

“Do you have any projections for your program growth? (200 Words)” 

“Please provide a brief outline of your intentions for your project over the next (a) 6 months, (b) 12-24 months, and (c) 3-5 years”: 

– 6 months (200 words) 

Following the pandemic and the uncertainty of the job market, the leaders from OVSM have decided to act to support the students by creating, within the next 6 months, regular coaching to support 15 of the most motivated students that have a limited access to personal network. The roll-out will include a one-to-one meeting, once a month for 9 months, where they can exchange with a senior executive who will help them formulate their professional project and advise them. Other students, wishing to become entrepreneurs, are encouraged to join the 2nd inter-faculty course « Responsible Projects » built with the same team of faculty and with the support of the founding members of the OVSM to they create a micro-company in the field of social entrepreneurship to support an existing NGO active in the field of education as a unique experience to acquire the necessary skills to be an entrepreneur and to give back to the community in the field of education. 

– 12-24 months (200 words) 

Within 12-24 months, the database of interviews (nearly 3000 pages) will become accessible to Master and Doctorate students. Its analysis could be done in free access with the software available at the university. This unique database made up with words and speeches from current management leaders held promising innovative research work in the future. 

– 3-5 years (200 words) 

At 3-5 years, the distance learning imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that, if the face-to-face/distance balance is maintained, this course can become multi-site or multi-country. This implies that students from other sites or countries can follow the course on a distance mode but make the interview and the action-research rooted in their environment. Therefore, we can give them the opportunities to follow guest lectures from recognized top managers while adapting the research-action to their local environment. meet with senior leaders. Furthermore, given the experience gained, we believe that this course will become a hybrid online/ face-to-face course. The visibility of winning such a prestigious award will definitely help us to gain more visibility and to be able to involve more universities and students from developed countries to adapt our pedagogical project. 

« Please outline what factors make your project scalable, and/or applicable to new contexts (200 Words)” 

The course, under certain conditions, could be taught in countries that do not benefit from the Geneva conditions. It is advisable to meet with senior executives and mobilize them on the concept of student/company exchange to organize their interviews and illustrative conferences. The topics of the latter are not setting specific problems, but rather generic of marketing and corporate governance in all countries of the world. Moreover, the target companies are international (e.g. Nestlé, Caterpillar, etc.), or solidly locally established (e.g. Pharmacie Principale) and therefore used to adapting and applying concepts and best practices. The themes of the action-research are also of universal societal scope (climate change, future of work, etc.). The pedagogical tools, such as the Interview Guide, can easily be adapted by the teaching team to local practices and challenges. For our part, we would be happy to meet with universities or business schools willing to work on these pedagogical models. 

“How much funding and revenue has your project received? Please outline how much extra funding you anticipate your growth intentions requiring.” 

This project is entirely supported by the top management leaders and their respective companies. The OVSM Association was created by the managers to invest in this purpose. Typically, a manager acting individually pays a contribution of 350 CHF per year (320 EUR) and if he or she officially represents a company, the company pays a contribution of 10 000 CHF (9 500 EUR). These funds contribute to the salaries of the assistants, the logistics of the 300 interviews and the activities structuring the 6 steps of the action-research model. Over the years, the project has thus provided the GSEM Faculty with support of about CHF 100 000 per year (EUR 95 000). It is not an understatement to conclude that the project has proven to be effective, flexible and ethical, both financially and in terms of educational support. Future developments do not exclude support from local or international, public or private contributions or cooperation.