Student FAQs

aje on July 24, 2024

Why don’t you take attendance at the start of class?

The first 15 minutes of the class are very important and I do not want to devote them to administrative tasks. I also want to pretend that you turn up to learn something, and not purely because you require proof of being present. You are expected to be present for the entire duration of the session and therefore it shouldn’t matter when I take attendance, but I normally do so at the start of the break. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are marked as present before leaving the class.

 

Why don’t you make all of the content from your lecture slides available?

As a professional educator one of my main concerns with the prevalence of digital content is the impact it has on a student’s ability to gather, synthesize, and critically engage with content. I try to ensure that all of my live sessions are unique and generate content that requires attention and consideration. For this reason I strongly encourage students to take notes, and debrief with group members, instead of relying on the provision of solutions, punchlines, or board plans at some future date. There are three types of powerpoint content that I reveal in class and aren’t visible in the PDF lecture handouts. They are either:

  • Answers – these are intended to be a surprise and therefore I don’t want you to be able to see them in advance.
  • Images – for design reasons these often can’t be simultaneously shown alongside the text, and would also use a lot of ink if printed.
  • Confidential information – in these cases I don’t want the material to potentially circulate on the internet.

You should therefore treat this information the same as something I write on the whiteboard or say verbally, where the burden is on you to take notes rather than rely on handouts. Recognising what is pertinent and what is not is a key part of your obligations as a learner. This is also a reason why student attendance is important, since there is a necessity to be present in class to receive all of the necessary information. For the same reason that I don’t provide copies of my whiteboard plans or recordings of class, some powerpoint content is deliberately restricted.

Rest assured that I pay close attention to what is and isn’t within the PDF handout. If it is something relevant for an exam then it will be easy for you to fill in the gaps. If the information is relevant, but not necessarily important, you will be able to find out more either through a footnote or the additional resources on my website. In any case, if you feel that you didn’t capture some relevant information, whether it was communicated via powerpoint, on the whiteboard or verbally, just let me know and I’d be happy to help your revision. Part of my responsibility as an instructor is to ensure that you do not finish the course missing any important information. But your responsibility as a student is to be in charge of absorbing what happens in the classroom.

Is the final exam open book?

You will take the exam on your own laptop and are allowed to consult any notes. The exam is “open book” in the sense that you can use course materials. However, you may not use your laptop (or any other electronic device) to communicate with anyone (e.g. another student or a LLM such as ChatGPT). The purpose of the exam is to test your knowledge of the content, rather than your ability to use the internet to find answers to questions. Therefore obtaining help from someone/anything else during an exam (whether it’s a fellow student or an AI) is a serious offense and will result in disciplinary action. You can use your device to access course materials. You may not use it for communication.

How do I get full marks on a MCQ?

For full marks you need to select all of the correct answers. Depending on the intended difficulty level and the software being used it may not be obvious how many of the provided answers are correct. This is to ensure that you consider each one carefully. Partial credit will be available in some instances.

Milton Friedman and corporate social responsibility

aje on June 11, 2024

This web page contains resources related to this academic article:

  • Evans, A.J., 2024, “Is economic familiarity a necessary prerequisite for understanding Milton Friedman’s view of shareholder primacy? Reflections on a classroom exercise.” Journal of International Business Education, Vol. 19

It is based on the following opinion piece by Milton Friedman:

Sequence

The original sequence of interventions was as follows:

  1. Students took quiz 1 under exam conditions.
  2. Students were then asked to read the Friedman article before the next session.
  3. Students took quiz 2, which tested their comprehension of the Friedman article.
  4. Students received the “Concepts” and “Cases” handouts. They were given 20 minutes to read the handouts.
  5. Students took quiz 3, which included a reflection on the exercise as a whole.
Links:
  • Concepts
  • Cases
  • Cases (Solution) – an instructor resource, available on request
Quizzes:

Part 1 – this simply gathers information about the participants for the original study.

Part 2 – this graded quiz should be used after reading the Friedman article. It can also be used a standalone activity for instructors who simply want to test student comprehension.

Part 3 – this should be used after reading the Friedman article and the handouts. This is more focused on applying the Concepts to the Cases than the original reading.

Generative AI

aje on September 3, 2023

My policy on Generative AI (such as ChatGPT, Claude, or other other Large Language Models (LLM)) is a simple one:

Treat Generative AI as a helpful person, such as a parent or a friend.

***

What does this mean for class attendance?

❌ You are not allowed to ask it to attend class and take notes for you.

I can understand that having a parent or friend attend class with you to take notes might help your learning, but there are already policies in place for students that face difficulties with meeting basic expectations. Such requests should be made in advance and solutions found that take into consideration students that are capable of doing their own note taking. There is also a proprietary issue whereby class materials are not supposed to be made public or used for AI training purposes. In the same way that we don’t record live sessions, we don’t invite outsiders unless there’s a specific pedagogical reason.

 

What does this mean for studying?

✅ You are allowed to ask it questions for revision purposes.

❌ You are not allowed to upload course materials.

Course materials are proprietary content and unless explicitly stated should not be used outside of the classroom.

 

What does this mean for written assessments?

✅ You are allowed to ask it questions.

✅ You are allowed to get advice on writing.

❌ You are not allowed to submit any text that it generates as your own work.

❌ You are not allowed to submit any text into another piece of software that rewrites it.

The issue here is attribution and accountability. An attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, which cannot be effectively applied to Generative AI. When you submit a piece of assessment the aim is to establish your unique understanding, as opposed to the understanding of someone else. This means that while you can use a wide variety of inputs to provide help, any output needs to be generated, and “owned” by yourself.

If you have found a way to automate your work, such that anyone (or anything) else can follow the steps that you take and create the same output, you have succeeded in finding efficiencies. You have possibly even generated important knowledge. But you have failed to complete the assignment you were set. Your formal assessment is intended to establish your ability, as a human, to complete the task. Formal assessment is not intended to establish your capability to use technology to meet an objective. That is why submitting other people’s work (whether it’s your parents, your friends, or from Generative AI) is fraud.

An inaccurate analogy would be to treat Generative AI like software, such as Microsoft Word. It is obviously not cheating to type answers in a word processor, or use spelling or formatting advice to improve your work. Unlike Word, however, Generative AI goes beyond helping your writing to actually help with content. Also, the fact that you can use an integrated spell checker is a function of an assignment being digital. If it is a handwritten essay then you may be permitted to use a dictionary, but you may not. A finance exam may permit a formula sheet, it may not. A maths exam may permit a calculator, it may not. There are all choices made by the instructor based on the learning objectives of the course. If standard software becomes integrated with AI this may blur the line, but as things stand it seems clear to me that using AI remains a choice and therefore its use should be related to the instructors objectives.

It is clear that assessment design needs to be updated due to AI. But not because anything has fundamentally changed – contract cheating has always been a problem. Rather, the costs have become so much lower the practice has become much more widespread. Examples of good assessment methods in an age of AI include:

  • Oral exams or group presentations
  • Invigilation
  • Strict time limits
  • Use of images rather than text (for instructions as well as deliverables)
  • Handwritten exercises
  • Relating assessment to proprietary content (e.g. idiosyncratic or otherwise distinct course materials that differ from standard textbooks, group activities, or other events such as guest lectures that don’t have a transcript)
  • Requiring students to connect concepts to personal experience or original examples
  • Adopt a multi-stage approach where students submit preliminary drafts for feedback and build on their work over time
  • Good training and an honour code

Generative AI is more of an oracle than a piece of software, which is why I think it’s better to imagine it as a helpful person. Or, as Cowen and Tabarrok (2023) say in this very useful article about how to use ChatGPT,

“It resembles collaborating with a bright and knowledgeable research assistant, albeit one from a different culture.”

Their advice includes:

  • Be specific with your prompts.
  • Ask for comparisons and contrasts.
  • Ask for lists.
  • Ask follow up questions.

I also recommend developing some custom instructions. Here are Eli Dourado’s.

I recommend this article:

Writing is thinking. So don’t cheat yourself

AI should NOT be used for management decisions. Again, it comes down to accountability.

And I like this graphic:

Relevance for your thesis

If you decide to use Generative AI in your thesis you should be honest and open about it, and provide an appropriate discussion in the Methods section (or, if a Methods section is not used, a suitable alternative part) of the manuscript. That will allow your advisor and committee to establish whether your use is appropriate. If you decide to use Generative AI but don’t explain how, this is fraud. In some cases, it may be that use of Generative AI is so heavy it warrants being a co author. This is fine if you list Generative AI as a co author, and you can do this for other types of work, but a thesis or other formal assessment must be single authorship.

Finally, ethical behaviour is important. Therefore:

  • Just because other people are doing something wrong, this doesn’t mean that you should.
  • A thesis isn’t just about producing the best piece of work, it’s about demonstrating your knowledge of research methods (which includes ethical design and execution) as well as your ethical decision making.
  • If you’re not sure, ask for help.

Don’t forget that the original excitement about AI was how it quickly and easily helped mediocre students imitate good students. If this is your situation then I can understand why it is an exciting tool. But I am more interested in your personal development than your ability to mimic others. Therefore I resist pressure towards conformity and advocate authentic work that is accountable. I prefer Human Authenticity over Artificial Intelligence.

Updated May 2025

Writing a corporate memo

aje on November 21, 2021

Business school students often produce exams or other written assignments in an essay style, but in most business situations a memo format is more appropriate. This article articulates what constitutes an effective memo so that we can try to replace bad academic writing with good business writing.

The aim of a memo is to quickly inform the reader and explain any decision making. It should be easy to read and have a clear message.

  • The first few sentences should explain the purpose of the memo and any key background information.
  • The use of bullets or numbered lists to split up the text and separate key points is often appropriate.
  • Don’t be afraid to highlight important text.
  • It’s a good idea to finish a memo with a call to action or some other type of positive ending.

We tend to think of memos as an antiquated document but many emails are de facto memos. In fact, I would argue that any email sent to multiple people should be treated as a memo – they are an important part of a manager’s toolkit!

Addendum: Here the thoughts of Scott Adams on business writing (source):

And for a fascinating collection of corporate memos, see https://sriramk.com/memos.

The case method

aje on October 7, 2021

In August 2009 I attended Harvard Business School’s “Global Colloquium on Participant-Centered Learning“. As a result I have incorporated several cases into my courses (email me if you want advice and/or recommendations) and written some of my own. I found the experience transformative, and despite having some challenges with implementing participant-centred learning, it’s now a big part of how I teach. For general comments on the case method see my posts at The Filter^, or the Case Analysis Coach. Further resources to find learn about the case method:

This is a great insight into what an effective case discussion looks like:

And this is a very useful look what is involved in making the case method effective:

Longer training programmes include:

But my advice to business school instructors is simple: apply to the GCPCL!

Classroom technology

aje on July 10, 2019

For online teaching I use:

  • Mural – visual collaborative software that is easy to use and allows students to directly contribute to a discussion

Here’s a list of some websites/apps that I recommend for tests/quizzes/forms:

  • sli.do – very useful for quick feedback, generated wordclouds, anonymous Q&A, and doesn’t require students to log in
  • Kahoot! – a fun quiz template best for in class experience
  • Google Forms – easy to build and monitor, can be used as a graded quiz

These are options that I used to use, but switched to Google Forms:

  • Socrative – a nice way to present quizzes and measure student performance. Can be teacher paced so that you ensure all students have answered before moving on to the next question
  • Typeform – a way to generate longer forms that are tailored to student responses

Qualtrics and Survey Monkey are great for running a survey, and purport to allow you to create a quiz, but in my experience lack the functionality required to be used in a classroom setting. I am very keen to find an intuitive quiz builder that allows students to see their score, and allows instructors to batch grade open ended questions and then export the results. So far it seems that Google Forms are the best option.

Here’s a list of some resources that have been recommended to me, but I don’t currently use:

  • Nearpod – allows interaction and student participation
  • Mentimeter— presentation software to encourage fun workshops

Doing Business in Eastern Europe

aje on January 20, 2019

Course outline: Doing Business in Eastern Europe 2019

Part 1: Pre class activities

Participants should read all of the following and submit a One Pager on one of them:

Part 2: Lecture and quiz

The lecture slides will be made available here.

powered by Typeform

Part 3: Class Assignment

Participants should select one of the countries under study and identify a potentially internationally competitive cluster. Using the format provided in the lecture, and the East Belarus mechanical engineering article as a guide, participants will submit a written report. The report should contain diamond analysis and cluster mapping.

The following clusters are not permitted:

  • Ship & Boatbuilding in Croatia
  • Romania Apparel Cluster

Useful resources:

Making videos

aje on December 10, 2018

If an economics instructor requires students to submit work using PowerPoint, they can reasonably expect that those students will either possess the skillset required to do so, or recognise the need to develop it. And student’s wouldn’t feel that the choice of format is a source of disadvantage. In a few years time the same will apply to the creation of a video. We all need to become capable of producing videos with ease.

I see 4 options to create simple content:

  1. Normal video – the most obvious route is to use the video feature on a standard smartphone. Here’s an example. This can be done in a single shot without any additional resources. Here are some tips. This is the simplest way to record yourself, but I find it a little awkward when done as a lecture. If it’s more informal it’s more engaging, but slightly more complicated to plan. Using a light board is possibly the best way to do this. Social media platforms now have great video functionality. I like TikTok (here’s an example). Some important advice is (i) shoot the way you want it viewed (i.e. portrait for purely mobile content, but landscape for YouTube); (ii) upload directly from your phone (going back and forth via software like Photos can compress the file and reduce quality)
  2. Powerpoint with voiceover – this is probably the simplest, and I have several examples. I use Camtasia to narrate over a PowerPoint screen record. Here’s another example. It also allows relatively easy editing but it’s not cheap and I’m sure there’s plenty of other options. Here’s some instructions for screen recording on a Mac. Quicktime has a very simple audio + screen capture device and it’s baked into Mac OS. See Tom’s Guide for some more. It’s important to be careful about whether to put the slides online as well, since this can reduce the likelihood of students watching the video.
  3. Short video software – for shorter videos I like to use Adobe Express (previously known as “Spark”) that perform the same function as powerpoint with voiceover, but slightly slicker. The best part is you record the audio per slide, so much less pressure to make a mistake.
  4. Dual video and slides – this is a great way to convey detailed content but in a personalised way (e.g. Andy Field). I’m keen to find simple software that allows a presentation recording, webcam footage, and note space. In other words I want to know what these guys use. But here are some different options:
    • Loom – best for people who want a free solution that is intuitive and easy to use
    • Dropbox Capture – this is a new service intended to compete with Loom for very simple desktop based video. See a discussion of Dropbox vs Loom here.
    • ManyCam – best for people with a license, and willing to learn how to use it
    • OBS Studio – best for people who want a free, open source option that is slightly more complicated to use but allows a lot more functionality (here’s a tutorial)
    • Zoom – best for people that are used to using Zoom
  5. Interactive powerpoint – for my EMIB course we had an interactive green screen. This puts the presenter inside the screen and permits interaction (e.g. drawing directly on the screen). It’s basically reading the weather. It’s harder to plan but the final result can be quite effective. For lecturing, I don’t think that a green screen adds much value over a plain background. A virtual set though, may be worth investing in!
  6. RapidMooc – this is integrated camera and software that serves as a “plug and play” method. Our setup at ESCP is a green screen so you need to prepare lecture slides to serve as a background. It’s similar to the above, but requires a clicker and good quality audio.

Finally, it’s not always necessary to reinvent the wheel. I think there’s value added in giving students content that you’ve created, since it generates a student-teacher bond. But I also utilise high quality videos created by others.

Excellent sources for economics related videos are TED Talks, the St Louis Fed, Planet Money Shorts, and Learn Liberty.

Country Competitiveness Dashboard

aje on October 11, 2016

I am an Affiliate Faculty Member of the Microeconomics of Competitiveness program at Harvard Business School, and a big fan of Michael Porter – his work consistently reminds me of the importance of bringing clarity to management practice.

I also like his inclination for frameworks rather than models. If your goal is to interpret and assess, as opposed to measure and predict, a framework is a critical analytical tool. One that I especially like is his explanation for what determines competitiveness. For example, consider the following slide (which I believe originates from here).

screen-shot-2016-09-29-at-13-03-20

I’ve given this framework a lot of thought, but I don’t think it fits as neatly into the Diamond model as is often claimed. For example in this NBER paper Porter (and co-authors) present an enlarged version:

screen-shot-2016-10-12-at-13-49-00

This clearly shows that the Diamond model is intended to be a more detailed view of the “Quality of the National Business Environment” segment. But consider something like nutrient rich soil, or a large natural harbour. One might think that constitutes an endowment. But it is also a relevant “Factor input condition”. Indeed what’s the difference between the “Supporting and Related industries” and “State of Cluster Development”? I suspect this is why Figure 3 above has dropped endowments and clusters, and renamed it a “Foundational Competitiveness Index”. I think this is a shame, because the “What Determines Competitiveness” slide is clearer, and more coherent, than the FCI.

I think Porter’s attempt to force fit the Diamond model into the Competitiveness index creates an opportunity to take the “What Determines Competitiveness” slide in a new direction. Indeed I think it complements nicely the “Growth is Like an iPhone” analogy:

In my attempts to merge the three level analogy with a template that my students can use in class, and with all appropriate nods to Prof. Porter, this is the “Country Competitiveness Dashboard“:

Rather than viewing the Diamond model as a subset of the “Business environment”, I see it more as a strategic tool that cuts across the whole Country Competitiveness Dashboard. In other words step 1 is to populate the dashboard, and ensure that you are covering all bases. Step 2 is to conduct a Diamond analysis – which is better suited at the cluster level than the national level anyway.

The endowments above are rooted in economic growth theory, but I am always struck at how important they seem to be when reading geopolitical accounts. The list below shows some of the typical go to areas when trying to understand the starting position of a country.

I think it’s important to understand competitiveness but it looks toward the supply side of the economy, which is much more important for long term growth than either monetary or fiscal policy. Two recent articles on the rise of new supply side thinking include:

Some broader indices include:

Here is my application of some of these concepts to Belarus:

 

Finally, it is well worth reading Paul Krugman’s, Competitiveness – a dangerous obsession (Foreign Affairs, March/April 1994). When treated as a mercantilist trade “strategy”, or the conflation of corporate planning with national level decision making, attention to competitiveness can lead us down the wrong path. But when competitiveness is wedded to our understanding of economic growth, and the conditions required for entrepreneurship to flourish, the competitiveness framework is immensely beneficial.
In January 2025 the European Commission launched the “Competitiveness Compass“. The concept was roundly mocked and deservedly so. It is complicated and doesn’t make sense.
Alumni

Having attended the MOC programme in 2013 and 2015, I then utilised some of the concepts on a special programme for a small private business school in Sofia, in 2016 and 2018. Little did I know that two other graduates from the MOC programme were running the full course through the University of Sofia during this period. And in 2021 Kiril Perkov and Assen Vassilev became Prime Minister and Finance Minister respectively. This is a great example of the clear links between classroom knowledge and policy leadership.

Online learning

aje on March 31, 2016

Also see: Classroom Tech and Making videos

The covid-19 pandemic has prompted a mass transition from in class tuition to virtual learning. It’s an incredible pedagogical experiment, and I’m intrigued as to how it will play out. ESCP Business School was an early mover – our Turin campus made a complete switch online on February 23rd. I’m the Teaching & Learning coordinator for our London campus, and we have been anticipating and managing as smooth a transition as possible since then. We went fully online on March 16th.

This crisis situation has prompted an immediate action, but it reflects a deeper trend away from the classroom. I feel well placed to react because I’ve made online learning a key part of my professional strategy. In 2016 I launched an online Managerial Economics course as part of ESCP’s “Executive Master in International Business” (EMIB). Following that, I added a new online course every year, such that in 2019/20 my online teaching exceeded my in class instruction. I am a digitally minded person, and have loved the opportunity to develop courses that help me to recognise more clearly the value of being physically present. For me at least, those two forms of teaching are complementary and teasing out how they interact has been satisfying.

[This intro was written March 15th 2020. The rest of the article has been modified since then.]

It’s not obvious that teachers have the right skillset to create online courses.

The key skillset for a lecturer:

  • Knowledge of the content
  • Personable delivery
  • Ability to grade exams

The key skillset for an online instructor:

  • Ability to curate content
  • Aptitude with alternative technologies
  • Choice of assessment

So instructors should think carefully before attempting to move online. It takes preparation and experience, and may be detrimental to in class instruction.

I see a few basic models for online learning:

Model 1: Your own pace (on demand)

These type of courses remove students from the dreaded (and stupid) syllabus and allow us to package a course into engaging digital content. I think there are two types of on demand courses.

1a. Lecture video

The first is a simple ~30 minute lecture + quiz. The platforms that I use and recommend are Coursera and Udemy. I am also impressed by edX. I’ve built a course on Teachable, but it’s quite expensive. The good thing about this model is that it is simple to create and the time commitment can be easily calculated. The bad thing is that there can be a temptation to simply record existing lecture content, and this can be boring.

1b. Short content (bitesize)

The other on demand model is a mixture of different media, with much shorter videos. I used to think that the model for this was a simple process:

  • Read this
  • Watch this
  • Listen to this
  • Do this

However in my experience this sends the students off into too many directions. An advantage of an online course should be that they can consume the material in the same “sitting”. Either have extensive video content (e.g. the first option, above); use of articles (which are typically consumed on a tablet, or as hard copies); or everything audio based (so they can do things on the move via a podcasting app). Although I think it’s important to provide a range of content I believe that the course itself should be delivered through a single user interface.

For ESCP enrolled courses I use our existing learning management system, which is Blackboard, because it integrates with grading and students already have password protected access. Some courses I run are via Canvas, which is substantially better. I still find it surprising that it’s non-enrolled programmes that provide an effective user experience, and elite business schools that use glorified file management systems.

The way to incorporate short, mixed content through a traditional LMS is scorm packages. I have tried multiple versions (including iSpring and isEazy) but do not find them effective. They are hard to create and edit and don’t lend themselves to a clear user journey. I have recently experimented with LearnDash (which is a WordPress plug in) and I find it an effective way to present short digital content in a structured and visually appealing way.

For economics instruction, I like the Foundation for Economic Education, but by far the best options are run by Marginal Revolution University. In particular these courses:

You could also do a lot worse than simply watching Jacob Clifford’s YouTube channel.

For some non economics courses, consider:

Finally, my own course on Analytics (including Numeracy Skills Bootcamp; An Introduction to Game Theory; and Collecting and Presenting Data) follows a student led model. As does my Blended GMP courses on Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. A key thing to ensure is a structure, such that students pass through the modules on an appropriate timescale and remain motivated.

Model 2: Virtual classroom

When built well, student led classes can be very effective. But they can be a challenge to ensure consistent student engagement. It’s no surprise therefore that for many traditional courses that are having to transfer online, the prevailing course structure is important. The need to retain a timetable, and get students to interact, more closely replicates their previous experience. Don’t forget, one reason people pay for gym membership is the discipline of going to the gym. If students wanted a DIY alternative they’d already have chosen that, and they would have saved a large amount of money in doing so. So how do you keep the class together?

The main difficulty of live teaching virtually is:

  • Ease of distractions for students, and lack of physical cues around engagement
  • Lack of a decent sized whiteboard and physical representation of idea formation
  • Weird management of energy levels

The upsides of live teaching virtually are:

  • No commuting (making it possible/easier for people in different time zones)
  • Use of breakout rooms is quicker and easier than physical spaces
  • Easy integration of online polling or collaborative whiteboards (e.g. Mural)

Model 3: Remote classroom

Remote classrooms use the technology of the internet to distribute content but don’t fundamentally differ from a distance degree. The key value provided by the university is therefore the grading of assignments and student feedback. They are paying not for the content per se, but to have a professional instructor grade it for them. Automated quizzes don’t cut it in this context. Examples:

Model 4: The watcher

This is when a physical course is delivered as normal but participants receive remote access. This has a bigger emphasis on hardware needs (e.g. high quality cameras and mics throughout the audience) and editing. But it’s an easy way to grant access to those unable to attend physically. Some examples:

Of course some courses can combine the above within a single course. I think for all serious online courses (i.e. ones where students pay big money to a reputable institution), the key factors for success:

  • Strict schedule
  • Tough assessments

I see a major advantage for online courses being the opportunity to crowdsource and aggregate grading into quick, responsive, 360 feedback. I like to ensure that students are viewing, and critically engaging in each others submissions.

Here are some key resources that I have utilised:

Here’s a list of companies that I’m keeping an eye on:

I have taken, and recommend, the following online courses:

Also, I really like the look of these:

It’s never been easier to learn online, and it’s never been easier to teach online. Experiment and have fun!

Note: this article has been routinely updated since it was first published