If you would like to learn more about Darden's multimedia cases and simulations or to schedule a visit to the Darden School to view more demos, please contact Kathryn McCann at 434-924-7596.
Darden Media is equipped to handle the multimedia production needs of the Darden faculty and staff, thereby enhancing the MBA and Executive Education initiatives at Darden. Below, you will find examples of recent work completed by Darden Media that embrace technology as a means for delivering meaningful resources to students and faculty. These examples highlight the various technologies, including Adobe Flash, Adobe Flash Video, and Windows Media Video, most used by Darden Media in the production of educational content.
The Good to Great Experience DVD-ROM, a multimedia companion to the international best seller Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t, can transform a good classroom experience into a great one.
The DVD-ROM features:
Click to view a preview of the Good to Great Experience
Turning Gears Inc.© is a web-based simulation in which students take on the role of a product manager in the highly competitive toy industry and make a series of decisions through five integrated case studies based on real business scenarios. Through the process students learn that "ethics" is not a specialized set of issues separate from other business functions – rather ethics issues are truly embedded in the day-to-day business decisions that managers and executives make. The simulation reinforces that successful companies and executives put business and ethics together every day.
Unique features of the simulation include:
The simulation enhances a school’s ability to equip its students to be tomorrow's leaders by drawing on the insight of today's business executives to actively engage students in:
Click to view a preview of the Turning Gears Inc. Simulation
The Beer Game is a fun, competitive simulation designed to elicit behaviors that are characteristic of many product supply chains. This game has been highly successful in business schools and in executive education programs around the world. Students learn firsthand about the bullwhip effect and the benefits of systems thinking. Managing supply chains is a complex task involving the coordination of companies involved in the manufacturing, distribution and retailing of a product. Managers within each firm in the supply chain make decisions that impact their own company's success, as well as the success of other firms in the supply chain.
Click to view a preview of the Channel Coordination Simulation
Click to view a video of the Channel Coordination Simulation being used in class
This case is set in the year 2001 and describes the operations of an Indian seafood restaurant and its expansion plans. The case can be used to familiarize students with the concepts of capacity, capacity utilization, bottlenecks, and process and wait times in the context of an easy to understand restaurant environment. Using the accompanying simulation, there are opportunities to evaluate the capabilities of the restaurant kitchen and the potential impact of increasing customer volume.
Click to view a preview of the OceanCove Simulation
This multimedia case is one of two Darden case studies on Black Entertainment Television (BET) and focuses explicitly on its complex people and human resources issues. The purpose of the case is to facilitate critical thinking and decision-making regarding people management in one of this nation's largest and most prestigious predominately black organizations. Students will explore and develop strategy for leveraging people as a competitive advantage; examine the challenges and opportunities of nontraditional (minority-owned organizations); and debate the need for change in an organization with a deeply rooted culture, leadership style, and human resources management system.
In addition, the case will provide students with an opportunity to identify appropriate change initiatives and discuss implementation of those initiatives as BET grows and changes ownership. The BET strategy case examines financial and strategic decision-making, and the market’s valuation of BET at various stages, and will enrich students' understanding of entering and exiting capital markets.
Click to view a preview of the BET: The Edge on Talent Multimedia Case
Can an entire community align on a vision for a sustainable future? What compromises are necessary? Who decides? Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, was widely known as one of the top four-season resorts in the world. It was also highly regarded for its commitment to a triple bottom line: Economy, community, and environment. The community used a systems approach to evaluate decisions affecting its future growth. In 2002, it was among the finalists chosen to host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Click to view a preview of Whistler: Blazing the Trail for Sustainability