When America’s businesses adjusted to COVID-19, Duke MMS Instructors adjusted their business courses too.
As Duke switched to remote learning for the remainder of spring 2020, many of our MMS instructors adapted their course content to reflect changing businesses as well. One of those such courses is MMS 210, Managerial Effectiveness with professor George Grody.
Professor Grody often utilizes business simulations in his courses. This semester, upon switching to remote teaching, he added the Harvard simulation “Judgment in a Crisis.” The simulation had students go through the process of manufacturing a pharmaceutical product and making quick decisions when the product failed after reaching the market. We talked with 3 students about their experiences working through this simulation during remote learning and their overall lessons from this season.
Sophomore Psychology major Emma Hirschkop shares that working through this simulation has helped her see the value in being a problem-solver. She points out that much of what is required in the simulation is problem-solving. As someone interested in the field of consulting, she points out that “consultants are problem-solvers” and even now, businesses will still need them to help work through a crisis.
In addition to the course simulation, students also weighed in on how switching to remote learning and adapting the course to talk about COVID-19 related issues has been beneficial.
“Definitely these last couple of weeks have shifted to a coronavirus discussion,” Robert shares. He goes on to talk about what it was like to adapt from doing formal class presentations to online presentations and working on projects with classmates across time zones. Professor Grody, he explains, helped them navigate these ever-changing dynamics, making challenging situations more attainable. Daisy also adds that the remote environment forced her to think more about what material is most relevant to people to keep their attention.
All 3 students pointed to the necessity of adaptability, both in the lessons they learned from the simulation and in how they have had to adjust to learning in this new environment. Markets & Management Studies has been impressed and thankful for the flexibility of students and professors to adjust so quickly and keep learning and teaching.