Presentation by Tina Saksida and Blake Jelley - University of Prince Edward Island

1. Teaching Evidence-Based Management at the
University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI):
Initiatives and Reflections
CEBMa Jamboree
June 10, 2020
Tina Saksida, Ph.D.
UPEI Faculty of Business
R. Blake Jelley, Ph.D., CPHR
UPEI Faculty of Business

2. Overview
• Teaching EBMgt at UPEI
• Three stages of curriculum development
• Incorporation into courses
• Undergraduate – Bus 2880
• Graduate (EMBA) – Bus 6010, 6080, 8010
• EBMgt case competition
• Reflections
• Successes and challenges

3. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
A History
• Three stages
1) Executive MBA (EMBA) Program (launched in 2008)
• EBMgt theme inspired by Denise Rousseau’s 2005 Address to
the Academy of Management1
2) Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) curriculum change
(started 2012; effective 2014)
• More closely align core curriculum with competencies required of
managers in practice
• Managing decision-making processes competency2
• Deficiencies in the areas of research methods and managerial
decision-making in the BBA
3) EMBA Capstone Course (first offered January 2017)
• More detail provided in Saksida & Jelley (2018)
1 Rousseau (2006) 2 Rubin & Dierdorff (2009)

4. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
Undergraduate
• Research and Evidence-Based Management (Bus 2880)
• Introductory research methods + EBMgt
• “Pull” approach to EBMgt1
• Search for, appraise, and use research evidence
• Designed to promote information literacy, critical thinking,
and an evidence-informed approach to practice
• Notable course components
• Literature search library session
• Rocket Cycles “running” case2
• EBMgt case competition3
1 Barends (2012) 2 Dietz et al. (2014) 3 Gamble & Jelley (2014)

5. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
Graduate (EMBA)
• EMBA student profile
• ~10+ years work experience; varied backgrounds
• EMBA orientation
• Introduction to research and EBMgt
• Library workshop
• Managing People and Organizations (Bus 6010)
• Primarily focuses on “push” approach to EBMgt1
• “Pull” approach components
• Critically appraised topic (CAT)2
1 Jelley & Carroll (2012) 2 Barends et al. (2017a)

6. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
Graduate (EMBA)
• Research Methods for Evidence-Based Practice (Bus 6080)
• “Pull” approach to EBMgt
• Notable course components
• CEBMa EBMgt modules (through Carnegie Mellon’s OLI)
https://oli.cmu.edu/courses/evidence-based-management/
• Rapid evidence assessment (REA)1
• EBMgt case competition
• Business Research in Practice (Bus 8010)
• Signature Project, or
• EMBA Capstone Course
• Two EBMgt case competitions; one CAT
• 5-week timeline for each project
• Peer and instructor feedback
1 Barends et al. (2017b)

7. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
EBMgt Case Competition
• Traditional approach to teaching with cases
• Research findings not a priority
• Our (EBMgt-focused) approach
• Challenging the “anti-research” position1
• Why use cases in research methods courses?
• Research proposals can challenge novice researchers
• Need to consider design, measurement, and analysis, but
also topic, field, etc. → extraneous cognitive load2
• A case-based approach to research proposals provides
(subtle) guidance and is realistic (applied research settings)
→ germane cognitive load3
1 Gamble & Jelley (2014) 2, 3 Goodman & O’Brien (2012)

8. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
EBMgt Case Competition
• Foundations of our approach
• AMLE (Sept 2014): Change the World: Teach Evidence-Based Practice!
• See also: The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Management (2012)
• Chapters by: Goodman & O’Brien; Jelley, Carroll, & Rousseau

9. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
EBMgt Case Competition
• Undergraduate (Bus 2880)
• Rocket Cycles1 working case to prepare
• Project timeline
1 Zehnder & Dietz (2013)

10. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
EBMgt Case Competition
• Undergraduate (Bus 2880)
• Rocket Cycles1 working case to prepare
• Project timeline
• Teaching cases (unpublished)
• Jelley & Saksida (2015). Compensation Contraction in Houston.
[An adaptation of this case was Jelley & Saksida (2017), Communicating
Pay Cuts in Canterwood.]
• Saksida & Jelley (2016). Fully Loaded.
[An adaptation of this case was Saksida & Jelley (2017), Truckin’
Trouble.]
• Jelley & Saksida (2016). Pension Promise in Peril.
[An adaptation of this case was Jelley & Saksida (2018), Retirement Plan
at Risk.]
• Saksida, Yao, & Jelley (2018). Team Play at Zelda.

12. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
EBMgt Case Competition
• Graduate – EMBA
• Research Methods for Evidence-Based Practice (Bus 6080)
• Case competition similar to Bus 2880, but all teams present
• Original (instructor-authored) case provides less guidance about
relevant literature OR use published (Harvard/Ivey) case
• EMBA Capstone Course (Bus 8010)
• Case competition #1
• Work with published (Harvard/Ivey) cases
• EBMgt analysis and short- and long-term EB recommendations
• Case competition #2
• Student-developed cases (since 2019)
• Company field case, fictitious case, or published info case
• Students also develop a teaching note
• Incorporation of EBMgt

13. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
EBMgt Case Competition
• Published cases used in Bus 8010 (2017-2020)
• OB/HRM/general management cases
• BoldFlash: Cross-Functional Challenges in the Mobile Division
• Calveta Dining Services Inc.: A Recipe for Growth?
• C&S Wholesale Grocers: Self-Managed Teams
• Ferio Pugliese: Leading WestJet’s New Regional Carrier Encore
• Jess Westerly at Kauflauf GmbH
• L’Oréal S.A.: Rolling Out the Global Diversity Strategy
• National Pharmaceuticals: The Art of Employee Retention
• Performance Management at Vitality Health Enterprises, Inc.
• RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams
• Scotiabank: Collaboration across Business Lines
• The Army Crew Team
• The Treadway Tire Company: Job Dissatisfaction and High Turnover at the
Lima Tire Plant

14. Teaching EBMgt at UPEI:
EBMgt Case Competition
• Published cases used in Bus 8010 (2017-2020)
• Strategy/finance/marketing cases
• 401 Games
• ASOS PLC
• Bigbelly
• Baabuk’s All Wool, No Bull: Choosing the Best Next Step
• Caffébene: Master Brewer of Growth and Global Ambition
• Calveta Dining Services Inc.: A Recipe for Growth?
• Chocolate Remedies: A Healthy Twist
• Coco-Mat: The Spartan Mattress Revolution
• Delta Air Lines: The Low-Cost Carrier Threat
• Emotiv Systems, Inc.: It’s the Thoughts that Count
• Is Yoox’s Strategy a Little Farfetched?
• Lufa Farms
• Time Out: A New Global Strategy to Bring Back Profit

16. Reflections on Teaching EBMgt
• Challenges
• Lack of student engagement (especially undergrad)
• Lack of research methods knowledge
• “Pull” approach
• Systematic review skills; PICOC
• Superficial application of EBMgt principles
• “No time” to apply in the workplace
• Acceptance of peers/co-workers
• Evidence for EBMgt?
• Successes
• Understanding levels of evidence
• EMBA exit surveys and alumni testimonials
• Reputation in the local community

17. Thank You!
R. Blake Jelley, Ph.D., CPHR
UPEI Faculty of Business
bjelley@upei.ca
Tina Saksida, Ph.D.
UPEI Faculty of Business
tsaksida@upei.ca

18. References
Barends, E. (2012). The 5-step pull approach. In E. Barends, D. M. Rousseau, W. R. Carroll,
& R. B. Jelley, Evidence-Based Management: Three New Approaches to Teaching the Practice of
Management. Professional Development Workshop at the Annual Conference of the Academy of
Management. Boston, MA.
Barends, E., Rousseau, D. M., & Briner, R. B. (2017a). CEBMa guideline for critically
appraised topics in management and organizations (version 1.0). Amsterdam: Center for Evidence-
Based Management.
Barends, E., Rousseau, D. M., & Briner, R. B. (2017b). CEBMa guideline for rapid evidence
assessments in management and organizations (version 1.0). Amsterdam: Center for Evidence-Based
Management.
Dietz, J., Antonakis, J., Hoffrage, U., Krings, F., Marewski, J. N., & Zehnder, C. (2014).
Teaching evidence-based management with a focus on producing local evidence. Academy of
Management Learning & Education, 13, 397-414.
Gamble, E. N., & Jelley, R. B. (2014). The case for competition: Learning about evidence-
based management through case competition. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13,
433-445.
Goodman, J.S., & O’Brien, J. (2012). Teaching and learning using evidence-based
principles. In D. M. Rousseau (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Management (pp. 309-
336). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

19. References (cont.)
Jelley, R. B., & Carroll, W. R. (2012). Teaching EBMgt: The “push” approach. In E. Barends,
D. M. Rousseau, W. R. Carroll, & R. B. Jelley, Evidence-Based Management: Three New Approaches to
Teaching the Practice of Management. Professional Development Workshop at the Annual Conference
of the Academy of Management. Boston, MA.
Jelley, R. B., & Carroll, W. R., & Rousseau, D. M. (2012). Reflections on teaching evidence-
based management. In D. M. Rousseau (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Management
(pp. 337-355). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Rousseau, D. M. (2006). Is there such a thing as “evidence-based management”? Academy
of Management Review, 31(2), 256-269.
Rubin, R. S., & Dierdorff, E. C. (2009). How relevant is the MBA? Assessing the alignment of
required curricula and required managerial competencies. Academy of Management Learning &
Education, 8(2), 208-224.
Saksida, T., & Jelley, R. B. (2018). A decade of teaching evidence-based management:
Initiatives and future directions. Workplace Review, April, 103-120.
Zehnder, C., & Dietz, J. (2013). Rocket cycles: Does money make messengers pedal faster?
– Part A. Unpublished case study, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne. Used
with permission. [See also Dietz et al. (2014) AMLE.]