On the Line

Anshuman Khare is Professor in Operations Management at Athabasca University, Canada. He joined Athabasca University in January 2000. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and has completed two post-doctoral terms at Johannes Gutenberg Universitat in Mainz, Germany. He is also a former Monbusho Scholar, having completed a postdoctoral assignment at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan. He has published a number of books and research papers on a wide range of topics. His research focuses on environmental regulation impacts on industry, just-in-time manufacturing, supply chain management, sustainability, cities and climate change, online business education, etc. He is passionate about online business education. In 2003, Anshuman was awarded the Craig Cunningham Memorial Award for teaching excellence by Athabasca University as a testament to his commitment to exceptional online education and in 2015, he was awarded Athabasca University Graduate Students' Association (AUGSA) Outstanding Distinction Award (2015) which acknowledges and honors faculty members who display exemplary leadership, support, and engagement with graduate students. Anshuman serves as the Editor of IAFOR Journal of Business and Management, Associate Editor of "International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education" published by Emerald and is on the Editorial Board of International Journal of Applied Management and Technology. Deborah Hurst is Dean, Faculty of Business and Associate Professor Organization Studies, Athabasca University, Canada. She joined Athabasca University in 1995 as an academic coach in the world's first online MBA. She later joined AU full time as an Associate Professor in January 2001 and since that time she has held various roles including Associate Dean, New Business Development and MBA Program Director. Deborah obtained her BA from the University of Toronto, and her MA and PhD from the University of Alberta. Prior to obtaining her graduate education, Deborah worked for General Motors of Canada Limited. Her time over a ten-year period included experience within the departments of material control, parts distribution, export operations, and traffic. During her MA studies, she worked for a summer at the non-profit, Edmonton Social Planning Council as a research assistant and later during her PhD for the Alberta Public Service as a human resources consultant and manager over a four-year period. All of these private, non-profit and public sector work experiences continue to inform Deborah's research, teaching and administrative duties. Deborah's guiding career vision and goals have always been focused on improving the human experience of workplaces through a better understanding of the cultural aspects of organization life. She is interested in how to best design online learning to develop excellence in graduate knowledge and professional skill as leaders and in business disciplines to directly support and mirror current workplace requirements. In her role as Dean, Deborah draws from her background in organization behavior/theory, work & organizational sociology, leadership development, and management education to lead the creation and provision of highly relevant, transformative and accessible online management education.

Section 1: "WHY?" - The business case.- Chapter 1. Online Business Education - the Drivers of Supply and Demand (Brian Stewart & Anshuman Khare).- Chapter 2. A Service-Dominant Logic and Value Co-Creation Approach for Online Business (Terry Beckman & Anshuman Khare).- Chapter 3. Education Data Mining (EDM): Researching Impact on Online Business Education (Kriti Khare, Anshuman Khare & Helen Lam).- Chapter 4. Emergent versus planned assessment and tuition strategies for online postgraduate teaching of technology and innovation management at the Open University, UK (Alison Bettley & Ivan Horrocks).- Chapter 5. PERSPECTIVE: An Online MBA: Effort, Investment and ROI (Larry Berglund).- Chapter 6. PERSPECTIVE: Online Business Education: Self-Directed and Peer Learning in a Flexible Format Designed to Meet the Needs of Today's Busy Professional (Terri Hinkley).- Chapter 7. PERSPECTIVE: Work-Study-Life Balance (Ivo Kreyenbühl).- Chapter 8. PERSPECTIVE: But It's Online....(Dana Coble).- Section 2: "HOW?" - Building Knowledge and Skills.- Chapter 9. Online Student Engagement and Success in Graduate Studies (Kay Devine & Deborah Hurst).- Chapter 10. Enhancing Digital Intelligence through Communities of Learning (Madelaine Kineshanko & Kam Jugdev).- Chapter 11. Development of Personal Learning and Social Networks: Strategies for Knowledge Creation and Sharing in Online Learning Environments (Natalie Solveig Mikhaylov).- Chapter 12. New Approaches to Assessment of Learning: New Possibilities for Business Education (Madelaine K. Befus & Kam Jugdev).- Chapter 13. Implementation of a next generation course architecture for blended learning (Rodney Beard).- Chapter 14. Relevance of digital learning cultures within online business education (Kristina Lahl, Lana Plumanns, René Vossen & Sabina Jeschke).- Chapter 15. The use of explainer videos as a learning tool: an internal and external view (Andreas Krämer & Sandra Böhrs).- Chapter 16. Social media usage in higher education in online business programs (Gracia Castillo & Abubaker Haddud).- Chapter 17. A PRACTITIONER PERSPECTIVE: Pushing the Limits of Online Learning (Gyula Julius Dobos).- Section 3: "SO WHAT?" - Outcomes and Impacts.- Chapter 18. Measuring the impact of student satisfaction on academic performance in online programmes (Fotios Misopoulos, Maria Argyropoulou & Dionisia Tzavara).- Chapter 19. A Renaissance in Skills: The Future Place of Online Learning for Skills (Stephen Murgatroyd).- Chapter 20. Building Adaptive Capacity in Online Graduate Management Education (Deborah Hurst, Ana Azevedo & Pamela Hawranik).- Chapter 21. Professional Accreditation: An investigation into the case of online (Iain Reid, Alan Southern & Maria Argyropoulos).- Chapter 22. PERSPECTIVE: Online program unlocks opportunities which are not possible in traditional work models (Tanja Haller).- Chapter 23. PERSPECTIVE: Online Supply Chain Education in a Digital World (Mark Morrissey).- Chapter 24. PERSPECTIVE: Online Education as an Enabler of Equal Opportunity for Education (Anna Stocker).- Chapter 25. PERSPECTIVE: The Capstone Project - Opportunity for the Company? (Michael Stein).- Chapter 26. PERSPECTIVE: The Unexpected 51-Hour Conversation: An emphasis on the importance of in-person encounters (Deborah Dull).