The purpose of this article is to present an instructional innovation called the Structure-Culture Alignment Activity, which leads students through the process of aligning cultural values pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness (DEI) to two important structural elements, formalization and centralization. Using decision making, team…

This paper introduces a facilitated co-constructed action learning approach with a narrative account of the author's own learning on designing and delivering an executive education programme. Action learning has double inference in this context as the author developed and improved teaching design and delivery through action learning. He also…

This exercise aims to familiarize students with the underdiscussed topic of the role of context in coaching through a physical activity. It consists of a group sculpture--a combination of socio-drama, systemic constellation, and social presencing theater--drawing from a coaching case of an ethical dilemma, using the placement and arrangement of…

This in-class, 75-minute exercise creates a context for students to observe some of the challenges to cross-functional collaboration and offers insight into processes to achieve more successful outcomes. By demonstrating how a failure by compliance and business operations to work cross-functionally negatively impacts outcomes in the form of…

In this article, we outline an experiential exercise designed to teach students about cognitive schemas (what they are, how they are developed, and how they may influence us). Drawing on the literature related to implicit followership theories, the exercise encourages students to explore their perceptions related to the role of followers, thus…

Amid the backdrop of the global pandemic and other complex societal and organizational challenges, the demand for proficient people management skills among managers and leaders has become increasingly urgent. The ensuing narrative offers an account of a leadership development initiative tailored for line managers and delivered amid the pandemic.…

The Arena activity is an in-class, experiential learning exercise that requires student teams to navigate and assist a blindfolded team member through a maze-like setting. The goal of the activity is to seek and find all of the team's assigned objects. However, only the blindfolded team member can collect these objects in The Arena. This activity…

This essay frames design thinking (DT) as a form of experiential learning and describes what we, as DT educators, have come to consider its "shadow side." We are concerned that, through uncritical promotion of instrumentalist approaches to creativity, DT classes unwittingly marginalize from the curriculum other forms of creativity, such…

As the prominence of experiential learning (EL) increases in management education, so do pressures on educators to adopt new, and less defined modes of classroom instruction. The incorporation of hands-on practice with standard pedagogy places expectations on educators to include assignments with emotional or ethical aspects. It is often assumed…

Business schools and graduate business programs have struggled since their inception to ensure that what students learn in their courses will resonate with the skills needed in their careers. To date, there has been limited attention paid to cocurricular experiential learning opportunities to assist with this challenge. In this article, we discuss…

Just as there is a tension between business professors' practice of assigning team projects, especially in capstone courses, and students' inclination to avoid them, there is also a tension between students' desire to choose their own teammates and professors' belief that they can do a better job of team creation. Professors have learned that when…

Using the premise of a fictional earbud company, "EarWorm," students in an introductory management course become EarWorm managers who problem-solve and make decisions about the best choices for their company. This article outlines this engaging and participatory exercise in detail. Students are able to directly connect course concepts to…

Storytelling is an important skill in management education for leaders. However, even though students learn about storytelling, they do not often practice it. When students do practice storytelling, they frequently prepare speeches that they deliver in front of a class. Interacting with theater students can help management students convey a…

Providing hands-on experiential learning opportunities to supplement hypothetical classroom lessons involving macro social work often presents challenges for educators. Applying theoretical lessons to real-world settings has the potential to significantly boost student critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities. Skill acquisition in these…

This article is based first-person experience with experiential learning (EL) practices in an undergraduate introductory management course. We consider how a challenging EL activity, based on volunteering during recovery from a catastrophic flood event, exposed three shadow sides of EL. These shadow sides of EL, which often remain hidden to…