During the Digital Initiative Summit at Harvard Business School on March 30, business leaders agreed that large, established organizations are wise to consider radically new approaches that address changing needs of consumers in today's digital age.
Byers Professor of Business Administration at HBS and faculty chair of HBX, the school's new online education program.
"How do you integrate between an established business that's been going for a while and a new business trying to shake that up?" HBX opted for active, edge-of-the-seat learning by including short video lectures and cases mapped out through videos in which people describe business problems while periodically challenging students with multiple choice questions and seeking other student input along the way.
A student could even be cold-called on the phone and given a minute or two to answer a question, with the answer and the student's picture visible to everyone.
"Women are asking more questions and answering more questions online," Anand said.
For instance, two weeks after students took an exam last summer, HBX leaders found a website selling the test questions.
It seemed a daunting task to think about devising an endless list of new questions, so now instructors are crowdsourcing by asking students to come up with questions.
Near the end of the discussion, Anand posed a question: Ten years from now, where would traditional ad agencies stand? Winsor said he wasn't sure, but he believed opportunities would likely still exist for agencies that found new ways to serve business needs.
Anand argued that the school's long history provides some comfort that it would remain a significant force in years to come, yet he noted that 100 years ago, the best universities in the world were located in Germany, and today few in that country are considered the top schools.