McDonough’s First Massive Open Online Course

Through the edX platform, anyone in the world is able to get an overall view of the increasingly complex challenges of global business from the insights, perspectives, and experience of Georgetown faculty and senior executives currently working in multinational companies and organizations. The MOOC features lessons from professor Ricardo Ernst and fellow Georgetown faculty, as well as interviews with prominent global business leaders, including Baratta Center Board members Joe Baratta, global head of private equity for Blackstone; Mark del Rosso, executive vice president and COO of Audi of America; Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO of Estée Lauder Companies; Franck Moison, vice chairman at Colgate-Palmolive; and Stephanie von Friedeburg, CIO at the World Bank, among others.

Global Business in Practice – current events site: this site is the source of ideas and discussion about current issues in global business. Globalization implies multi-dimensional all-inclusive problems and a global-ready business leader needs to understand them. Curated by the Baratta Center, this site was launched to accompany the Global Business in Practice MOOC.

New MBA Module, MOOC Prepare Global-Ready Leaders (Aug. 26, 2016)

This fall, two innovative initiatives will bring the best of technology enhanced business education to Georgetown McDonough MBA students and anyone in the world.

As Georgetown MBAs prepare for their capstone Global Business Experience consulting projects, they will now complete an online module titled Global Business in Practice. A modified version of the module also will be offered as the school’s first massive open online course (MOOC).

Global Business in Practice combines classroom lectures from Georgetown faculty, interviews with global business leaders; and interactive assessments to prepare both MBA students and MOOC participants to become global-ready business leaders.

“Today’s graduate students want to embrace technology as part of the classroom. They expect a more enriching and dynamic experience. They want to learn about theory from academics, but also real-world challenges from the most successful business leaders,” said Ricardo Ernst, professor of operations and director of the Baratta Center. “Our new hybrid MBA course and its corresponding MOOC required us to envision the future of higher education and deliver it now.”

All Georgetown MBA students are required to take Global Business in Practice, a core component of the Global Business Experience course that concludes with a global consulting project. For the first time, this module will be offered through a digital platform created by the Baratta Center in collaboration with Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship. This hybrid model includes high-production lecture videos and interviews with industry executives; activities intended to provide interactive, enriching opportunities to apply what students are learning to simulated real-world contexts; and assessments of student learning.

At the same time, Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business has harnessed the opportunity to share a modified, slightly abbreviated version of the online module worldwide to anyone interested in learning more about global business through a MOOC on the edX platform. The MOOC will include high-quality lecture videos, poll questions, discussions, peer assessment exercises, and sources for further learning. More information about signing up for the MOOC can be found at https://www.edx.org/course/global-business-practice-georgetownx-gbex-650-01x.

“We want Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business to become known as the premier destination for global business education,” Ernst said. “By utilizing technology to enhance our on-campus classroom experience, we have created an easy way to share our knowledge and expertise with anyone in the world. I hope we can reach emerging and established business leaders alike to expand their understanding of global business.”

Both the required MBA course and the MOOC will feature lessons from Ernst and his colleagues, as well as interviews with prominent global business leaders, including Joe Baratta, global head of private equity for Blackstone; Mark del Rosso, executive vice president and COO of Audi of America; Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO of Estée Lauder Companies; Franck Moison, vice chairman at Colgate-Palmolive Company; and Stephanie von Friedeburg, CIO and vice president for information technology solutions at the World Bank, among others.