The Operations Management team at the University of Hertfordshire has successfully run 40 Business Field Trips as part of its modular programme in the last 5 years. This full day HEA session was designed as a workshop built around appreciative enquiry to share best practice and identify/address issues with the wider HEA Operations Management group. This presentation is part of a blog post about this event, which can be accessed via http://bit.ly/18m8F7f For further details of HEA Social Sciences work relating to employability and global citizenship please see http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/disciplines/Soc_Sci/Strategic_2013/EmployabilityAndGlobal

1. Welcome
Organising Business Field Trips
for
Operations Management Students

2. Workshop Aims
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Share the learning from an evaluation of over 40 Business Field Trips
organised over the last 5 years
Provide a model for other tutors who want to organise their own trips
Show how active learning such as Business Field Trips can enhance
learning and teaching in the class room
Show how Business Field Trips can provide opportunities for primary
research and work based assessment
Show how business trips can build links with employers, help students
make career choices and enhance the employability of students and vice
versa
We hope you will ‘Take Away’ your own plan!

3. Welcome
HBS Operations Management Team:
Veronica Earle, Ross Jordan,
Desmond Kapofu, Nilesh Lathia,
Amanda Relph
HEA Discipline lead Business and
Management: Richard Atfield

4. Agenda
Welcome from the HEA
Introduction
Icebreaker Activity to Build Links and Facilitate Networking
11.00 Break
Presentation of model
Industrial Partners and Student input
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch
Building Research Links and the Relationship
14.30 Break
Developing creative assessments
16.00 Close

5. Higher Education Academy:
routes to funding and support
• Richard Atfield,
• Discipline Lead – Business and Management

6. Introduction:
What are BFTs and why do we do
them?
Veronica Earle

7. 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

8. Why do we do it?
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

9. Who have we taken?
Students:
• Undergraduate
(years 1 to 3)
• Masters
• MBA
In total: 1428
267 this calendar year
Topics:
• Operations Management
– Manufacturing
– Service
– Events
• Supply Chain Management
• Managing Quality
• Consultancy Project
In total 9 different
modules – 5 this
calendar year

10. What is the outcome?
• Visits are well attended visits with an average attendance of
94%
• More engaged students, better class attendance rates
• Pass rates improved
Questionnaire 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

11. 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

12. What are the benefits?
We will hear from students and employers
after the break

13. Icebreaker Activity to Build Links
and Facilitate Networking:
Who, what, why?
Amanda Relph

14. Appreciative Inquiry

15. Define Activity
In groups of three:
1. Introduce yourself and your organisation
2. Outline your involvement with BFTs in your
organisation
3. What are your objectives for attending today?
• Each group member to present answers in turn
to 1, 2 and 3

16. Presentation of model
Amanda Relph

17. Model

18. Appreciative Inquiry

19. Discovery Activity
• What have you done or experienced?
• What works well?

20. Student experience and
Industrial Partners

21. Building Research links and
Relationship
Dr Desmond Kapofu

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. Developing the links with business
•
•
•
•
•
Business trips
Partnership days
Student-led consultancy projects
Lecturer-led consultancy projects
Industry guest lecturers

27. Appreciative Inquiry

28. Dream Activity
• What would be your ideal BFT?
Be creative and positive with these ideals

29. Development of Creative
Assessments
Ross Jordan

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

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

32. Appreciative Inquiry

33. Design Activity
How could you link your ideal BFT to your
assessment?
1. List your module/programme learning outcomes
2. 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.

34. Appreciative Inquiry

35. 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