HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL CASE WINS CODIE AWARD
Multimedia Case Study on Shuttle Columbia Named Best Postsecondary Education Instructional/Curriculum Solution in the “Oscars of the software industry”
BOSTON - The Harvard Business School multimedia case, Columbia's Final Mission, has been named the Best Postsecondary Education Instructional/Curriculum Solution in the Software & Information Industry Association's (SIIA) 21st Annual Codie Awards. The award was announced on May 16, 2006, at the 21st Annual Codie Awards Gala at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.
Developed in 2005 by former HBS Professor Michael Roberto and HBS Professors Amy Edmondson and Richard Bohmer, in partnership with Melissa Dailey, Senior Multimedia Producer, and Chris Lamothe, Senior Multimedia Flash Developer, of the HBS IT Group and Research Associate Erika Ferlins, Columbia’s Final Mission examines the Columbia space shuttle disaster from the perspective of six key managers and engineers associated with NASA's Space Shuttle Program. The case is taught in the School’s MBA and Executive Education programs.
The Codie Awards Program, which was established in 1986, is based on peer recognition and is the only one of its kind in the software, digital content, and education technology industries. This year’s Codie Awards finalists were chosen from more than 1,000 nominations submitted by more than 500 companies, breaking the nominations record set in 2005.
“Within Harvard Business School, the IT Group works closely with faculty, students, and staff to make the best use of emerging technologies that will enhance all aspects of the learning environment,” said Harvard Business School CIO Judy Stahl. “The fact that Columbia’s Final Mission enriches students’ learning experience gives us great satisfaction, but to win our category in the Codie Awards is exceptionally rewarding for our team.”
Columbia's Final Mission puts MBA and Executive Education students in the shoes of one of six real-life managers or engineers involved in the decision making process prior to Columbia's re-entry. Students are assigned a particular role and through a password-protected system, enter a software application that replicates the desktop environment of their particular protagonist. They then review actual e-mails, transcripts, and space agency documents, and have the opportunity to listen to audio re-enactments of crucial Columbia shuttle meetings. The challenge for them is to be prepared to play their role in a classroom reenactment of a critical Mission Management Team meeting that took place on Flight Day 8 (January 24, 2003).
The goal of Columbia’s Final Mission is to enhance pedagogy around the organizational causes of the Columbia shuttle tragedy rather than focus on technical issues. As with all HBS cases, the experience teaches MBA students how they can behave as leaders. In addition, the multimedia dimensions of this case help them to better understand how they can reduce risk in their own organizations and effectively manage crises when they do occur.
Harvard Business School is responsible for creating 80 percent of the management and leadership cases that are taught in business schools, companies, and other organizations in this country and around the globe. Some seven million cases are sold each year.
For more information about the Columbia’s Final Mission case study, please visit: http://www.hbs.edu/it/courseware/teaching/columbia.html. To purchase Columbia's Final Mission, go to HBS Publishing.
About Harvard Business School
Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School (www.hbs.edu), is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 200 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and doctoral degrees, as well as more than 40 Executive Education programs. For almost a century, HBS faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching to educate leaders who have shaped the practice of business around the globe.