Enriching Global Marketing Education with Virtual Classrooms an Effectiveness Study

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Marketing Education Review, Volume 13, Number 3 (Fall 2003).

ENRICHING GLOBAL MARKETING EDUCATION WITH VIRTUAL

CLASSROOMS: AN EFFECTIVENESS STUDY

Bernd Simon, Parissa Haghirian, and Bodo B. Schlegelmilch

Global marketing education is embedded in an increasingly global high-tech business environment. Business practicesand marketing education are strongly influenced by these developments. New technologies are successfully implementedin university curricula to improve the effectiveness of teaching and the cooperation between universities in managementteaching. This paper deals with the usage and effectiveness of virtual classrooms in the global marketing curriculum andempirically investigates the antecedents of successful teaching in such an environment. The investigation is based oncase teaching endeavors connecting up to three university classrooms in various countries. All together, some 90students participated in the joint teaching sessions. The study presented was conducted in four countries (China, France,Spain and Austria) over a one-year period. The results of the research indicates that instructor empathy and classroominteraction have the highest impact on teaching effectiveness in the virtual classroom.

Introduction and Research Motivation

Marketing education is currently faced with a busi-ness environment that is becoming increasingly global.New technologies are not only influencing global mar-keting practice, but also education in this field (Bell etal. 2001). Thus, teaching mediated by information tech-nology (IT) is becoming an important option withinmarketing education, because it facilitates the sharingof costs, information, and expertise among multiple siteswhile providing additional educational opportunities

in a multi-cultural context (Meier and Simon 2000; Websterand Hackley 1997). As many of these technologies arebeing rapidly adopted by businesses, exposure to themprovides the added advantage to improve the levels oftechnical competence and communication skills of learn-ers (Bell et al. 2001). Another advantage, particularly per-tinent for global marketing education, is the potential forcommunication, collaboration and the exchange of knowl-edge between learners and instructors beyond the bound-aries of one country, or continent. This enables the cre-ation of new opportunities for learners and instructors bypermitting interdisciplinary and international collabora-tion (Scheuermann, Larsson and Toto 2001).

This paper discusses technology-enabled marketingteaching in an international, virtual classroom. In thevirtual classroom, two or more universities that aregeographically dispersed use electronic links (e.g., videoconferencing) to improve learning and teaching pro-cesses by combining faculty expertise, learners perspec-tives, and technological resources (Alavi, Yoo and Vogel1997). It has been widely accepted that virtual class-rooms add value when it comes to providing interna-tionally enriched learning environments (The COHEREGroup 2002; Bell et al. 2001; Pallab and Kausiki 2001;Webster and Hackley 1997; Alavi, Yoo and Vogel 1997).Consequently, we do not attempt to provide yet an-other comparison of the effectiveness of traditionalteaching with approaches involving virtual classrooms.Instead, we focus on how the effectiveness of virtualclassrooms can be enhanced. Specifically, this paperexamines the effectiveness of virtual classrooms usedfor the purpose of enriching global marketing educa-tion in traditional universities and other campus-based

BERND SIMON (Ph.D., Vienna University) is a researcher in the NewMedia Lab of the Department of Information Systems atWirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna University of Economics andBusiness Administration). As a member of the research consortiaUniversal (http://www.ist-universal.org) and Elena (http://www.elena-project.org/), he is leading the development of cutting-edge technology for e-learning and knowledge management. Berndhas published various research papers and a book examining thedependencies between information technology and organizationalchange. (email: bernd.simon@wu-wien.ac.at)

PARISSA HAGHIRIAN (Ph.D., Vienna University)is Assistant Pro-fessor at the Department of International Marketing and Manage-ment, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna University of Economicsand Business Administration). (email: parissa.haghirian@wu-wien.ac.at)

BODO B. SCHLEGELMILCH (Ph.D., University of Manchester) isProfessor and Chair of International Marketing & Management at theWirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna University of Economics andBusiness Administration). He is also Academic Director of the ViennaExecutive MBA Program, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Market-ing and Adjunct Professor of International Business Studies at theUniversity of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. (email:bodo.schlegelmilch@wu-wien.ac.at)

This work was supported by the UNIVERSAL project (http://www.ist-universal.org) and is partly sponsored by the European Commission(IST-1999-11747). Trials within the project where supported by theDepartamento de Ingeniería de Sistemas Telemáticos, UniversidadPolitécnica de Madrid using its video conferencing tool ISABEL (http://isabel.dit.upm.es/). The authors would like to thank two anonymousreviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier draft.

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training institutions. It analyzes factors influencinglearner satisfaction and perceived teaching performancein virtual classrooms.

The integration of IT into marketing education is byno means trivial, and it is not simply a matter of pro-viding computer access and training. Effective use andintegration of IT into classroom requires a departurefrom traditional interaction modes so that a technol-ogy-mediated learning environment becomes pedagogi-cally effective and even superior to alternative modesof learning and instruction (Alavi, Yoo and Vogel 1997).With this paper, we aim to contribute to this objective.Therefore, the paper targets global marketing educa-tors and managers of education and training institu-tions interested in using IT for enriching their market-ing curricula by the means of virtual classrooms. It pro-vides insights for those who are involved in organizingsuch teaching events and gives specific guidelines tothe instructors involved.

The remainder of this article is structured as follows:First an introductory definition of virtual classrooms ispresented. Secondly, pertinent IT and distance educa-tion literature is reviewed and discussed in terms of itsrelevance to virtual classroom teaching. Next, design di-mensions of virtual classrooms are presented and sum-marized in an effectiveness model. Furthermore, the meth-odology applied in our experiments is described. Finally,the findings are discussed; recommendations for globalmarketing educators are presented and used to identifyfuture research and teaching challenges.

The Virtual Classroom inGlobal Marketing Teaching

Definition

This paper deals with a special form of e-learning,i.e., the virtual classroom. Virtual classrooms are learn-ing environments consisting of learners and instructorswho take advantage of IT in order to overcome dis-tance. In our case virtual classrooms are used for carry-ing out collaborative IT-mediated global marketingteaching. This is said to have the following properties:

• Two or more learner-instructor teams are geo-graphically dispersed.

• Knowledge and content are available from manysources, not just from the local instructor.

• Direct, symmetric interaction is available betweenall combinations of remote and local instructorsand learners.

• A combination of media may be deployed. (Multi-site) Video conferencing supports symmetric, synchro-

nous communication. Additional educational mate-rial such as slides, printed case studies, and videorecordings may be incorporated in the lecture.

A virtual classroom may be set up for a whole semesteror just for one or two lesson. Herein, we examine theeffectiveness of virtual classrooms embedded in tradi-tional courses. In the virtual classroom activities de-scribed below, case studies were used as primary edu-cational material supporting an interactive discussionamong the various sites.

Relevance of Virtual Classrooms forEnriching Global Marketing Education

The AMA (American Marketing Association) definesmarketing as the process of planning and executing theconception, pricing, promotion and distribution ofgoods, services, and ideas to create exchanges that sat-isfy individual and organizational goals (AMA 1985).Global marketing can be viewed as an extension of thisdefinition in the context of a global environment andprimarily addresses challenges arising from marketingwithin diverse economic, socio-cultural, demographic,legal and technological environments.

The virtual classroom offers great potential for en-riching courses teaching global marketing skills.

• Exploring Cultural Aspects of Global Marketing. Glo-bal dimensions can be easily incorporated by ex-ploring cross-cultural perspectives utilizing thevirtual classroom (Bell et al. 2001). Teaching globalmarketing in the virtual classroom can thus broadenlearners’ perspectives and increase their cross-cul-tural effectiveness (May 1997). It provides oppor-tunities for making learners more aware of inter-national issues and for developing a greater knowl-edge and understanding of the global business en-vironment. Creating international awareness andinterest is an important prerequisite for develop-ing knowledge, understanding and skills in thecontext of global marketing education.

• Interaction with International Partners. Learnersand instructors with different socio-cultural andeducational backgrounds bring a host of differ-ent ideas, experiences, and distinctive manage-ment assumptions and practices to the (virtual)classroom (Ashamalla 1999).

• Increasing Students’ Skills in Global Marketing Com-munication. When teaching global marketing, alearning environment should focus on enhanc-ing communication skills and training culturalsensitivity (Lundstrom and White 1997). Virtualclassrooms can provide a valuable teaching re-

Figure 1 Workflow for Setting Up a Virtual Classroom (Simon, Haghirian and Schlegelmilch 2002)

source for achieving this educational objective (Green and Gerber 1996). Students learn to read, critique, and actively cultivate the ability to determine the relevance of emerging trends; in short, their critical-thinking skills are increasingly demanded and enhanced through interaction with multiple sources (Celsi and Wolfinbarger 2002).

• Understanding the Role of Technology in a Global Business Environment. In the corporate world marketing departments increasingly take advantage of IT to perform their communication tasks. Marketing professionals increasingly assume responsibility for sophisticated database marketing or tools for customer relationship management. Thus, marketing professors must not only teach these technologyinfused topics,

they must also model active learning and flexibility by effectively using technology in their own extended classrooms. Since the marketing profession as a whole is undergoing rapid change, marketing educators must not only understand and use technology-enabled innovations to stay current in the field of marketing, they must learn effective new pedagogies for teaching these new developments (Celsi and Wolfinbarger 2002). With video conferencing increasingly becoming available on everybody‘s desktop, the technology provides a new flexible tool for communicating with international clients. Hence, marketing educators need to incorporate this tool in the classroom to familiarize learners with this kind of tool already at the campus.

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• Marketing of Universities. Finally, the global pres-ence enables universities to promote their cul-ture and their courses and content throughoutthe world (Tsichritzis 1999). In Europe, Frenchbusiness schools (e.g., HEC Paris) take advan-tage of virtual classrooms between institutions inFrance and in the former French-African coloniesas a means for tapping new markets. Similar ef-forts are evidenced in Spain (e.g., UniversidadPolitécnica de Madrid) and Latin America.

Organizational Processes andInteraction Patterns

Setting up a virtual classroom involves various ac-tors, such as learners, instructors, teaching assistantsand IT personnel (Guth, Neumann and Simon 2001).The following paragraphs outline how these actors par-ticipate in a series of activities. A summary of this inter-action pattern is shown in Figure 1.

Organizing a collaborative, IT-mediated teaching ac-tivity such as a virtual classroom starts with an agree-ment between the actors to undertake such an endeavor.Of course, the earlier this takes place the better, sincealigning each participant’s teaching schedules with theother parties’ semester holidays and course agendasconstitutes a major obstacle for such an endeavor ifsites from more than one country are involved. Ideally,in this finding and co-ordination phase, web-based com-munity platforms support the search for, and co-ordi-nation of, dispersed partners. Such tools might evenprovide scheduling support so that parties can findappropriate dates more efficiently. They also maintaina basic communication infrastructure for a communityof scholars anxious to engage actively in internationalresearch and teaching projects.

After a certain number of parties have agreed on set-ting up a virtual classroom, the planning and preparationphase starts. Within this phase, instructors exchangeteaching objectives and specify the educational mate-rial they intend to use. Educational materials typicallyspecified in global marketing teaching include case stud-ies, slide presentations and short videos that will beused during delivery. In this phase, intellectual prop-erty rights are asserted and related questions addressed,such as “May others record the teaching activity andreuse the video?” or “Under which conditions may Ireuse the other parties’ educational material?” At thesame time, the parties have to agree on whether theyintend to evaluate the teaching and, if so, whether theywill exchange and publish the results. The IT personnelmust identify and test a communication infrastructurewhich is available at all sites involved.

The delivery and collaborative learning phase starts onthe date of the first delivery event. At this point of timethe technology must be ready, and the teaching activityfully prepared. The instructors hold lectures to the localand remote audiences, and moderate discussions amongthem. Learners and/or instructors present propositionstatements and give summaries of the discussions.

The delivery phase may optionally be followed by anevaluation and reflection phase, during which the partiesinvolved are asked to judge each others’ performances:learner’s presentations are assessed, data on learner’sperception of the event is gathered, and reflections onthe technology and organizational setting can be made.

Design Dimensions of Virtual Classrooms

The previous sections have outlined the unique in-structional opportunities that virtual classrooms pro-vide for global marketing teaching and which organi-zational process marketing educators are recommendedto go through when setting up virtual classrooms. Inthis section, we aim to determine key influence factorsfor the effectiveness of a virtual class room-based learn-ing environment.

Learning environments combine learners, instructorsand educational artifacts such as books, case study de-scriptions, etc. They are created in order to facilitatelearning. Learning can be defined as a continuous pro-cess of transition of a human being’s knowledge, skills,attitudes, disposition, and values (Morrison 2003).

In this paper the effectiveness of a virtual classroom-based learning is measured along two dimensions:learner satisfaction and perceived teaching performance.In our model, we assume that learner-specific, technol-ogy-specific and instructor-specific variables have a di-rect impact on the effectiveness of virtual classrooms.

Effectiveness

Effectiveness refers to “doing the right things”whereas efficiency refers to as “doing things right”(Sassone 1987). Efficiency is perceived as an internalmeasure taking costs and benefits into account. Effec-tiveness tries to determine the degree to which a speci-fied goal has been reached (Gumport and Sporn 1999).Effectiveness has historically been measured in termsof learners’ achievement (Piccoli, Ahmad and Ives 2001)and satisfaction (Jiang et al. 2003).

Perceived Teaching Performance

It can be argued that learners’ achievement is an in-herently biased performance measure, since previous

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Figure 2A Snapshot Taken from a Virtual Classroom Session Held Between ESADE Barcelona, HEC Paris, and

Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU Wien)

knowledge can hardly be taken into account. As a con-sequence, the proposed model tries to determine theeffectiveness of a virtual classroom set-up not on alearner’s achievement level, but tries to consider allfunctions of teaching such as motivation, communicationof information, information processing, informationstoring and recalling, information application and trans-fer, controlling, and supervising learning (Klauer 1985).This is measured by perceived teaching performance.

Learner Satisfaction

Pearson and Chatterjee (2000) used the met-unmetexpectations of learners to evaluate the satisfaction ofteaching and learning. Learner develop value attributesconcerning the outcome of the teaching experience.These attributes might not be met by the perceivedoutcome of the actual experience. This gap causes dis-

satisfaction with the experience and the smaller thisgap, the higher the level of satisfaction.

Antecedents of Teaching Effectiveness

The teaching effectiveness model proposed consistsof three dimensional areas: the learner, the technologyused and the instructor-controlled environment (seeFigure 3). Each design component comprises a numberof influence factors. Learner-specific influence factorsare involvement, motivation, language proficiency, andattitude towards IT. It is assumed that a high quality ofthe technology used has a positive influence on thevirtual classroom effectiveness. The instructor-con-trolled environment with a prospective impact on vir-tual classroom effectiveness comprises interaction de-sign, empathy, and quality of educational material used.

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Figure 3Effectiveness Model For a Virtual Classroom

LearnerInvolvementMotivation

Language ProficiencyAttitude towards IT

TechnologyQuality

Instructor-controlledEnvironment

Interaction DesignEmpathy

Quality of Educational Material

Effectiveness

Perceived Teaching PerformanceLearner Satisfaction

Learner-specific Influence Factors

Involvement. Being exposed to a complex learningenvironment such as a virtual classroom, learners areconfronted with new challenges: technology is morepredominant and requires learners to focus, languageproficiency and presentation skills of actors vary, etc.McKeachie (1994) stated that involving students activelyleads to a positive learning experience. It has also beenobserved that learning in a more challenging environ-ment is more effective for highly involved learners thanfor less motivated ones (Hiltz 1993). Involved learnersshow a fair understanding of the purpose and the ex-pected benefits in education and training events theyconsume. We therefore expect that those learners whoshow a high level of involvement benefit more from avirtual classroom.

H1: Involvement of the learner will be posi-tively associated with the effectiveness ofthe virtual classroom.

Motivation. Learners’ motivation plays a crucial rolein a learning environment (Mumford 1997). The impor-tant relationship between motivation and learning haslong been addressed in classroom teaching and appliesto IT-mediated learning just as well. It can be assumed

that learners’ motivation is linked to their satisfactionwith the learning environment. Moreover, technologycan become a motivational tool when used in education(Guzley, Avanzino and Bor 2001).

Previous research indicates that lack of learner inter-est decreases the effectiveness of the case study as alearning method (Ashamalla 1999). Motivation itselfhas many influence factors such as the instructor teach-ing the subject, curricula design and personal involve-ment, which go beyond the scope of this study. Thevirtual classroom setting itself can have a positive in-fluence on the motivation. In fact, for more mature andmotivated learners studies have shown that collabora-tive learning is more effective than the traditional class-room (Leidner and Jarvenpaa 1995).

H2: Motivation of the learner will be positivelyassociated with the effectiveness of the vir-tual classroom.

Language Proficiency. When the virtual classroom takesplace in a multi-lingual setting, participants are requiredto express themselves in a foreign language, mostlyEnglish. Presenting solutions in a foreign languagemight cause problems for the learners, both in talkingand in understanding (Simon, Haghirian andSchlegelmilch 2002). Different accents and culture-spe-

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cific modes of argumentation can make it difficult forthe learners to comprehend the messages of instructorsand peers. Consequently, it is assumed that the lan-guage skills of the learners have a positive impact onthe effectiveness of virtual classrooms.

H3: Language proficiency will be positively as-sociated with the effectiveness of the vir-tual classroom.

Attitude towards Information Technology. Clarke,Flaherty, and Mottner (2001) suggest to investigatelearner’s previous exposure to educational IT and ex-pect an influence on the effectiveness of learning envi-ronments. It is known from previous research that learn-ers who are comfortable with technology and who havepositive attitudes toward it should thrive due to lowlevels of anxiety and likely excitement with the learn-ing environment (Piccoli, Ahmad and Ives 2001). Also,Sturgill, Martin and Gay (1999) and Hong (2002) statethat learners who are lacking IT skills are more likelyexperiencing frustration when using IT-mediated com-munication. In a virtual classroom communication isalso mediated by IT, although the main interaction part-ners are human beings (as opposed to a machine in caseof an online tutorial, for example). With hypothesis fourwe investigate the influence of the learner’s attitudestowards IT on the success of teaching global marketingvia a virtual classroom.

H4: A positive attitude towards informationtechnology will be positively associatedwith the effectiveness of the virtual class-room.

Quality of Information Technology Used. Effective useof technology is of significant importance in an IT-me-diated learning environment, because the technologycan operate decrease the distance between learner andinstructor, thus enhancing the learning environment (May1997). Lower audio and picture quality are a source ofdistraction for the learners (Tsichritzis 1999). However,good picture and audio quality, good lightning, and cam-era work require professional equipment.

Hence, technology quality and reliability are impor-tant determinants of the effectiveness of a virtual class-room (Webster and Hackley 1997). Yet reliability ofhardware or equipment are regarded as one of the ma-jor disadvantages in IT-mediated teaching (Alavi, Yooand Vogel 1997). In computer-mediated discussions aparticular emphasis is put on the sound quality. Theeffectiveness of a discussion is reduced when individu-als have a hard time understanding the remote sitesbecause of poor sound quality. Having a high qualitypicture that allows following the mimics of the indi-viduals at the remote sites increases discussion qualityas well. Students‘ comments support these aspects.

“Sometimes the sound was not very good and we haddifficulties to listen. The technical standards should bemore developed, cameras should move faster. Audioand video quality need to be improved.”

H5: The quality of the technology used will bepositively associated with the effectivenessof a virtual classroom.

Instructor-Controlled Environment. The instructor-con-trolled teaching environment is characterized by sev-eral factors: virtual classroom interaction, empathy andeducational material used.

Virtual Classroom Interaction

The interaction taking place in the virtual classroomis relevant for students’ performance and satisfaction(Fulford and Zhang 1993; Driver 2002). Students pointout that discussing with students from other countriesis “very exciting and a new experience.” The differingaspects of the topics discussed by students at the re-mote sites were positively perceived by most inter-viewed participants. However, when three classroomsand three lecturers discuss with each other, debatingalso includes waiting periods and a lot of listening. It isvery obvious that lively interaction keeps a higher levelof interest among students.

The various instructors at the different sites are there-fore a dominant feature of the virtual classroom, be-cause they play a vital role in leading the class discus-sion. They have to coordinate contributions from thelocal audience as well as from the remote sites. Thedialog between the various instructors itself adds to thedynamics of the educational activity and helps to holdstudents’ attention (Tsichritzis 1999). The interaction ofa distributed case study discussion is concerned withelaborating on the problems identified and emphasiz-ing key findings.

An important influence factor for interaction designis classroom size. Whereas in classroom-based discus-sions it is easier to address all learners, this is very hardto achieve when additional sites join a discussion—anatural effect caused by the increased number of learn-ers. There is danger that a larger number of learnerswill not participate in the discussion and consequentlybecome increasingly less interested observers of thescene (Rosenberg 2001). If the group is relatively small,it can be seen as a major advantage (Guzley, Avanzinoand Bor 2001).

The increase in audience size can result in a strictplanning of classroom interaction, since instructorsmight fear a chaotic conversation flow or too few vol-untary contributions from the sites involved (Simon,Haghirian and Schlegelmilch 2002). As a consequence,

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free discussion, a cornerstone of interactive teaching,becomes impossible. For example, one student com-mented: “I wish there was more debating and fasteranswers to question. Listening to all the presentationwas a little tiresome at times.”

The technology influences the interaction design,when switching between different sites is not possiblewithin a very short timeframe. Experiments in grouplearning have shown that sometimes technology inter-feres with rather than promotes interaction, leaving stu-dents unsatisfied with both interaction and the learn-ing process (Driver 2002).

H6: A high degree of interaction will be posi-tively associated with the effectiveness of avirtual classroom.

Empathy. In an IT-mediated learning environment, theinstructor’s empathy plays an important role (Piccoli,Ahmad and Ives 2001; Fredericksen et al. 2000). Empathyrefers to the instructors’ skills in sensing the students’needs and responding to issues that might arise during adiscussion. Early research suggests that timely responsesto learners’ questions and high personal involvement ofthe instructors contribute to a higher effectiveness of thevirtual classroom (Piccoli, Ahmad and Ives 2001).

H7: Empathy of the instructor will be positivelyassociated with the effectiveness of a vir-tual classroom.

Quality of Educational Material Used. The quality ofthe educational material used for preparation and de-livery is another factor influencing virtual classroomeffectiveness. Incomprehensible teaching materials with

unclear work assignments reduce the motivation oflearners to prepare and participate in a discussion(Tsichritzis 1999). Writing on blackboards or overheadtransparencies may be clearly visible to classroom par-ticipants, but extremely difficult, if not impossible, toread for remote participants.

H8: The quality of the educational material usedwill be positively associated with the effec-tiveness of the virtual classroom.

Method

The study was conducted over a one-year period dur-ing which students from five different sites in China,France, Spain and Austria were interviewed. The coursesaddressed topics of global marketing management, in-troducing marketing principles and marketing strate-gies to students. Case study discussions and lectureswere used as primary teaching methods. A total of 90students participated in two virtual classroom sessions.Overall, students had moderate interest in IT while theirEnglish skills were above average. In general, student’smotivation for solving case studies was high. After eachof the respective marketing classes students’ experi-ences were captured through questionnaire surveys.

With the exception of one variable (language profi-ciency), all measures were assessed via a 5-point-Likert-type scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “stronglyagree.” These scales were reverse-coded where appro-priate. Please refer to Table 1 for further detail on themeasures applied.

Table 1

StandardMeasures Items Range Mean Deviation Variance Alpha

LearnerInvolvement 4 1 to 5 2.12 .72 .53 .73Motivation 3 1 to 5 1.6 .61 .37 .71Language Proficiency 1 1 to 5 1.92 .81 .65Attitude towards IT 4 1 to 5 2.8 .85 .73 .74

TechnologyQuality 4 1 to 5 2.6 1.03 1.07 .85

Instructor Controlled EnvironmentDegree of Interaction 5 1 to 5 2.4 .73 .53 .72Empathy 7 1 to 5 1.8 .61 .38 .75Quality of Educational Material Used 3 1 to 5 2.6 .81 .66 .70

EffectivenessPerceived Teaching Performance 6 1 to 5 2.04 .46 .21 .91Learner Satisfaction 5 1 to 5 2.43 .73 .54 .84

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Effectiveness was captured by two indicators: Learnersatisfaction, based on “satisfaction with activity” byFischer and Price (1991), and perceived teaching perfor-mance, developed by the authors and the teaching evalu-ation team of the author’s university. Involvement wasmeasured by four items based on the “Involvementwith Education” scale by Arora (1982). Motivation oflearner was captured by three items based on a scale byAndrews and Smith (1996). Language Proficiency wasmeasured through a direct question asking respondentsto rate their English skills from poor to excellent. Fi-nally, Attitude towards Information Technology was mea-sured by four items based on the “Domain SpecificInnovativeness” scale by Goldsmith and Hofacker(1991). The quality of technology, degree of interaction,empathy, and quality of educational material used weremeasured by scales developed by the authors. Examplesof items from the various scales are presented in Table 2.

Results and Discussion

Table 3 shows the correlations between the factorshypothesized to impact on satisfaction and perceivedteaching performance, respectively. Hypotheses 1 and2 predict that involvement as well as learner motiva-tion is positively associated with virtual classroom ef-fectiveness. Hypothesis 1 was not supported by thedata, whereas hypothesis 2 shows that motivation ispositively associated with perceived teaching perfor-mance only (the means of the various cultures concern-ing motivation differed significantly from each other).

Hypothesis 3 predicts language proficiency to be posi-tively associated with virtual classroom effectiveness.Results indicate that learner’s own lack of languageproficiency has no impact on the perceived teachingperformance, but influences satisfaction. Thus, languageproficiency is an important prerequisite for involvinglearners in virtual classroom endeavors.

Hypothesis 4 predicts a learners‘ positive attitude to-wards IT would be positively associated with virtualclassroom effectiveness. This hypothesis can neither beaccepted for the satisfaction component of virtual class-room effectiveness nor for perceived teaching perfor-mance. The fact that the novelty aspect of the technol-ogy deployed is rather low provides a potential expla-nation for this result. Learners watch their internationalpeers and the remote teacher in windows similar towatching TV and speak into a microphone as they areused to doing when they have interaction with instruc-tors in a large classroom. Arbaugh (2000) came to asimilar result when he tried to associate Internet usagewith satisfaction in web-based learning environments.

Hypothesis 5 states that the (audio and video) qualityof the technology is positively associated with virtualclassroom effectiveness. Interestingly, not only a posi-tive association between quality of technology andlearner satisfaction was supported, but also with per-ceived teaching performance. Sufficient audio and videoquality seems to be perceived as mandatory infrastruc-ture for making virtual classrooms work.

Hypothesis 6 suggests that classroom interaction ispositively associated with virtual classroom effective-

Table 2

Learner

Involvement: I believe in studying hard to get good gradesMotivation: I feel a real sense of accomplishment when I come up with a good solutionLanguage Proficiency: How would you rate your English skills?Attitude towards IT: In general, I am among the first in my circle of friends to know about a new technologicaldevice when it appears

Technology

Quality: I felt comfortable with the technology used

Instructor Controlled Environment

Degree of Interaction: There was adequate interaction among all participantsEmpathy: The instructors paid enough attention to the classQuality of Educational Material Used: The educational material used provided excellent support for learning

Effectiveness

Perceived Teaching Performance: The academic staff was able to stimulate interest in the subject areaLearner Satisfaction: This educational activity was satisfying to me

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ness. This is also supported by previous studies, wherea high degree of IT-based interaction ultimately leadsto improved student recall and an increased enjoymentof learning (Ueltschy 2001).

Hypothesis 7 states that instructors’ empathy has apositive impact on satisfaction and perceived teachingperformance (the means of the various cultures con-cerning empathy also differed significantly from eachother). Here, the study aimed to test whether the ten-dency that the traditional “teacher role,” characterizedprimarily by directed learning, and position-based au-thoritative respect, has given way to a “learning facili-tator role,” wherein the instructor is moderator andcoach as observed by many authors (Celsi andWolfinbarger 2002; Smart, Kelley and Conant 1999).The hypothesis was supported by the data.

Hypothesis 8 predicts that quality of educational ma-terial used is positively associated with virtual class-room effectiveness. The hypothesis was supported, al-beit with different degrees of significance. Interestingly,the quality of the teaching material provided seems tohave a weaker impact on satisfaction than on perceivedteaching performance.

A striking result of this study concerns the overwhelm-ing importance of the instructor-controlled influenceon satisfaction. A regression analysis revealed a highlysignificant relationship between the dependent vari-ables satisfaction and perceived teaching performance onthe one hand, and the independent variables empathyand virtual classroom interaction on the other (Table 4).

The regression analysis indicates that instructor con-trolled environment has the most dominant influenceon the effectiveness of a virtual classroom used in glo-bal marketing teaching. Even though technological de-velopments allow classrooms to become more open tothe world and integrate completely new aspects intothe curricula, teachers‘ empathy and the virtual class-room interaction with the additional sites are still themost important factors to increase teaching effective-ness. These results show very clearly, that even thoughthe virtual classroom offers new technical opportuni-ties in interacting and communicating with new par-ticipants, the technological aspects are not the mostdominant when setting up a virtual classroom.

Table 3

Virtual Classroom Effectiveness

Perceived TeachingSatisfaction Performance

LearnerH1: Involvement .135 .078H2: Motivation .256* .174H3: Language Proficiency .228* .024H4: Attitude towards IT -.007 -.06

Technology

H5: Quality of Technology .213* .347**

Instructor-controlled Environment

H6: Degree of Interaction .373*** .459***H7: Empathy .430*** .415***H8: Quality of Educational Material Used .209* .277**

*p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001.

Table 4

Dependent Variable Dependent VariableIndependent Variable: Satisfaction Perceived Teaching Performance

Empathy t=3.37 t=3.62Degree of Interaction t=2.46 t=2.92Adjusted R2 .22 .26

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Recommendations for Global MarketingEducators

Whereas in classroom-based discussions, it is rela-tively easy to address all learners, this is very hard toachieve when additional sites—and thus students—joindiscussion on issues in global marketing. As a consequence,new instructional settings in collaborative, IT-mediated teach-ing have to be designed, deployed and tested to assure aneffective knowledge transfer to all learners.

Involving learners in new teaching endeavors – suchas global marketing teaching via virtual classrooms –requires instructors to identify “pioneers” within theirclasses (Simon, Haghirian and Schlegelmilch 2002). Ourfindings suggest that only those who are motivated toparticipate in such an undertaking should be put at theforefront. However, if instructors were to divide classesinto active and passive learners, they might impose anew two-tier role-distribution, reinforced by technology,with negative effects on overall learning effectiveness.

When principles of global marketing are taught in amulti-lingual setting, many participants are forced topresent their solutions in a foreign language. While thissupports the development of communication skills itmight also cause problems, since participants mightnot be familiar with presenting in a foreign language. Ifstudents are not prepared or carefully selected, thecourse can easily be perceived as too demanding. Forother non-native-tongue participants the usage of a for-eign language might cause difficulties in understand-ing their peers. However, at the same time it provides alearning environment within which international expe-rience can be gained.

In our trials, all instructors would have preferred moretime to coordinate the preparation of the delivery. Inthe finding and co-ordination phase a (IT-mediated)meeting of the instructors is recommended to discussquestions of course outline, presentation styles, con-tents and discussion processes. Academic portals suchas EducaNext (http://www.educanext.org/) can be used toexchange course materials and schedule meetings as wellas actual course delivery. Enhanced coordination before-hand should improve the quality of the teaching endeavor,especially when teaching in a virtual classroom takesplace for the first time. The number of participating sitesshould be limited to two or three. If more sites are in-volved, co-ordination becomes too cumbersome.

There is a danger that instructors push learners to-wards developing a “perfect solution” beforehand inorder to guarantee a good performance in front of theinternational audience. However, also in a virtual class-room an open and flexible approach to discussionshould prevail. Instructors should put additional em-

phasis on motivating learners to deliver creatively,which should help them to get additional attention de-spite an IT-centered environment. At the same time,instructors and teaching assistants are required to coachlearners in order to reduce the pressure perceived whengiving an IT-mediated presentation in front of an inter-national audience.

Before delivery instructors should explain the prop-erties of the media “virtual classroom.” Learners fur-ther would like to be informed about the differentcompetences of the participating schools, in order tounderstand the value of exchanging knowledge in acollaborative environment.

Instructors are advised to select the teaching materialvery carefully. Especially case studies describing globalmarketing issues which impinge on specific countries(e.g., a required product adaptation in France), differ-ences in consumer behavior (e.g., different shoppinghabits in Spain) or cultural differences influencing ne-gotiations (e.g., high-context culture in China) can beused very efficiently in the virtual classroom.

It is also recommended to familiarize learners in ad-vance with the use of the IT involved. Familiarizationshould focus on providing training in the new skillsrequired (e.g., microphone handling, addressing twoaudiences simultaneously). Additionally, backgroundinformation on the kind of IT used should be providedto instructors and learners. Users do not only prefer tobe familiar with the usage of this technology, but alsowant to be informed about the educational and busi-ness opportunities it offers.

Concluding Remarks

Virtual classrooms are perceived as a strategic meansfor enriching global marketing curricula and tapping intonew educational opportunities. However, applying newtechnologies in education is by far not trivial. This paperset out to test the impact of key variables on the effective-ness of IT-mediated joint teaching in global marketing.

Learner-related influence factors, such as involvementin education and attitudes towards technology, seem tohave no impact on satisfaction and perceived teachingperformance. This is surprising, as scientific literature(Piccoli, Ahmad and Ives 2001; Hiltz 1993) suggeststhat both involvement and attitudes towards technol-ogy would positively impact on satisfaction and per-ceived teaching performance. A possible explanationmight lie in the lack of variance we captured in thesurvey. Case study teaching via virtual classrooms isstill a novelty for most students, and hopefully thisnovelty factor resulted in all students being highly in-volved and holding positive attitudes towards technol-

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ogy. In any event, before the significant impact of thesetwo variables can be dismissed in general, more re-search on the issue would be warranted.

Language proficiency and learner motivation weredirectly associated with satisfaction. Not only are theseresults supported by the literature, they also have highface validity. When teaching with case studies, students’interest in solving them is imperative as an importantprerequisite for an interactive class in front of an inter-national audience.

The technology for virtual classroom teaching mustprovide a sufficient level of audio and video quality inorder to make the experience effective. Choppy pic-tures and noisy sound have a negative impact on thelearners’ perceptions of their instructors’ teaching skills.

Perhaps most strikingly, the results appear to sug-gest that the quality of the instructors by far outweighsthe importance of technology. Put differently, instruc-tors cannot hide behind technology since technologydoes not compensate for a lack of teaching quality. Con-sequently, marketing educators involved in virtual class-room endeavors should put special emphasis on givingstudents at all sites a maximum amount of individual-ized attention during the case discussions. In globalmarketing, this can be achieved by selecting cases and/or teaching materials which are highlighting countryspecific differences and allow plenty of discussion and,whenever possible, create an emotional involvementamong the students. In any event, a highly structuredapproach appears to limit the instructor’s ability to man-age virtual classroom interaction at a satisfactory level.

On issues of future research, the paper offers at leastfour potentially promising avenues. The role of studentinvolvement as a factor impinging on teaching effec-tiveness of virtual classrooms should be revisited. Fur-ther, objective measures of teaching effectiveness shouldbe developed. Other interesting aspects of future investi-gation are cultural differences among students partici-pating in the virtual classroom. The results of our analy-sis showed two variables (motivation, empathy) differedacross the nationalities of the students. This suggests thatvariables influencing teaching effectiveness may vary ac-cording to national culture. Finally, additional experi-ments need to be designed that contrast different degreesof structure in teaching approaches to develop normativerecommendations on how best to approach global mar-keting teaching in the virtual classroom.

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