Phd Final Exam - Management Seminar

MANAGEMENT SEMINAR

Question No. 1

* Why does it make sense to review the status of all the aspects in the seminar?

Answer

At the outset, a seminar is a small group of people who meet to discuss together a particular subject. It is, first and foremost, a conversation among people who share a common interest in expanding their understanding of idea, a book, a painting, or some other specific topic.

The seminar session has a number of specific purposes. First, it is designed to create a situation where the participants share their views about something very specific, so that understanding of everyone is expanded, improved, and deepened. Second, a seminar seeks to promote the skills of conversation, a complex set of habits and attitudes which, in large part, determine our abilities to deal with others in a group setting. And finally a seminar tries to foster an on-going discussion which will continue outside the classroom (in the cafeteria, over dinner, in the pub).

In the setting of an educational institution, the rationale for seminar-style learning rests on the well-known fact that students learn far more from talking and listening to each other than they do from listening passively to a lecturer. And, more importantly, they remember what they learn in a seminar far better than they do with lectures. In addition, the seminar seeks to enrich the student's social experiences at the institution, to make sure people have the best opportunity for forming friendships of various kinds and for discovering others with whom they can carry on meaningful conversations (and not just about school work).

Successful seminars, however, do not just happen. Because of the complex nature of the social interactions, those participating have to work to create and sustain a conversational setting in which, individually and collectively, the aims of the seminar are realized as fully as possible.

Seminars are conducted in various stages. Based on the size and organizational...