Jean-François Stich

Knowledge and theories must be core to business practice. Evidence-based practitioners use scientific evidence to make better and more informed decisions.

My teaching thus gives much importance to learning theories and evidence.

For example, Janis' groupthink theory suggests that teams can make worse or extreme decisions when they start believing in their superiority, stereotyping opponents or minimizing internal conflict. Involving outsiders or encouraging people to air concerns or endorse a devil's advocate role can help to reduce groupthink and make better decisions.

The temptation is strong to forget all about theories once outside the classroom or graduated. Theories learned at university are supplies gathered for future use.

This is why I focus on using work based learning to help students use these supplies when needed:

• Internships are a way to immediately apply what has been learnt in the classroom. Students must seize this opportunity.
• Case studies and Business games can help students practice applying theories to real life business situations.

Learning is not easy, it requires focus and dedication. But I believe it can be made easier with passion and engagement.

As positive attitudes foster engagement, I do my best to share my passion for my discipline:

• Recommended extracurricular activities such as readings, visits, films or even video games related to the lectures help students engage with the theories outside of the classroom.
• Online learning serves similar purposes. Students can learn at their own pace and to the extent they desire using online material (such as MOOCs) or boardrooms.