Online Versus On-Campus Strategic Management Course: A Case Study
Implications for Future Research
This was the first known study to break out and evaluate the component parts of an online strategy course. Several important issues for faculty were discovered. However, this study was limited to a single data set — and, therefore, was a case study. To compare the online and traditional environments more thoroughly, future research possibilities include:
- Replication of this study for additional online strategy courses. As was stated above, this was the first time this online strategy course was offered. There may have been some "first-time" anomalies with this data set. Additional data sets are now being collected and will be analyzed similarly to the processes in this study.
- Replication of this study with additional guidance/requirements for virtual teams. Don't allow face-to-face meetings after the initial class kick-off. Require teams to use the chat room and monitor to see the quality of the teams' decision-making process.
- Replication of this study with fewer points awarded for discussion board participation. This would give insight as to whether the online students really liked the discussion board or were just "filling the square" to get participation points.