Category — Business Education

Do you really need that business degree? Or could you make due with the knowledge alone? If you’re a self-motivated learner, OpenCourseWare lets you get quite a business education using nothing more than a good library and a computer.

OpenCourseWare is free and open online publication of high quality educational materials offered by some of the top universities in the world. Many high ranking schools are putting entire courses online. You can easily download syllabi, reading lists, labs, assignment, and exams online. Streaming video lectures are even available for some courses.

It’s all free for the taking. No pesky registration or prerequisites required. [Read more →]

I’ve written that a business internship is really one long interview. Here are some tips to make sure you make a good impression before, during, and after your internship so that your experience can be more than just a summer job.

The Bare Necessities

These may seem basic, but reminders never hurt. You don’t want anything to detract from your job performance. What your boss an coworkers should remember about you is that you had a great attitude produced quality work product, , not your edgy shoes, chronic tardiness, or that bout with mono.

[Read more →]

Ink and paper is so 20th century. New MBA and undergraduate business students are accustomed to living, working, and socializing online. Because they’ve grown up on computer games it’s a logical progression for business schools to incorporate computer-based simulations into the curriculum.

Business education is catching up with simulated business models where students get to apply classroom learning to a set of real world variables. With virtual workplace scenarios and computer-based simulations, students practice choices they’ll have to make in the real world. By some estimates, more than half the business schools accredited by AACSB are using online business simulations.

What’s a Business Simulation?

The case study has long been used in business school to simulate real business situations and illicit practical responses from students. Online simulations allow students to oversee operations management of a virtual factory and network with other executives. They apply theory to a virtual workplace. The game aspect of business simulations stimulate even more competition among students. And what’s B-School without some cutthrouat competition?

[Read more →]

Paul Edmondson knew he had a great idea, but even he didn’t expect such rapid growth. Edmondson is the CEO and Founder of online publishing site HubPages, which launched in August 2006 and now has over 100,000 registered users. It gets more than 5 million hits a month, mostly from search engines like Google and Yahoo. Authors create content-rich pages with easy to add text, photos, videos, and RSS feeds and earn money from Google Adsense, Amazon, and Ebay. To reach the masses, Edmondson and his colleagues have created the site so that no technical knowledge is required. And it’s free. Definitely a killer startup.

In this interview I ask Paul Edmonson how he knew he was on to something and what prepared him to go out on his own.

LD: What gave you confidence that HubPages would be successful.

E: We thought if we made a great product and built a community that people would use the service. We had a simple plan. To try things. To do more of the stuff that worked and to stop doing the things that didn’t. Nearly 6 million people visited HubPages.com last month. One of the things we did well was monetize Hubs, so we introduced a new ad optimization product called YieldBuild that served nearly 200 million ads last month as well.

[Read more →]

As the world’s largest corporation, Wal-Mart is famous for the influence they have over their vendors. And if you’re going to work for a Wal-Mart supplier, you need skills. Solid understanding of the retail business and cutting edge data analysis skills are required. And who better to school you? Smiley himself.

High Tech Retail Requires Special Skills

Wal-Mart suppliers use sophisticated software programs to access to sales data online in real time. Suppliers need account reps who can make constant decisions about the information they receive. Under-performing sellers must be replaced with new items based on the numbers.

Basic category management skills for Wal-Mart suppliers include the ability to work with software programs like RetailLink and ProSpace as well as the analytical skills to use the date received. Students use technology to optimize allocation of products, identify inventory problems, design displays, and instantly see the effects of changes.

[Read more →]