Harvard Business School publishing launches new media group

Business Wire, Jan 12, 1995

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 12, 1995--Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP) has launched a New Media Group to develop groundbreaking multimedia products for learning, management development, and reference. "The New Media Group has been formed to combine our wealth of editorial content with emerging technological innovations; we are creating rich and engaging products that will help improve the practice of management," says HBSP President Linda Doyle.

The New Media Group seeks to satisfy an emerging need for management training materials that combine state-of-the-art technology with the latest thinking on best practice from the Harvard Business School and beyond. Drawing on a wealth of material from the Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Press, and HBS cases, the Group creates products that will transform the presentation and delivery of educational information in the workplace.

"By working with authors, customers, developers, and technology providers, the New Media Group will introduce highly visual, experiential, and engaging interactive business titles," says Ruben Pinchanski, the group's director, who will work in partnership with editorial director Cinny Little to identify new products and develop their content.

The New Media Group's first release is Becoming an Effective Manager - Interactive (BEMI), a CD-ROM-based multimedia program that provides just-in-time training and reference on demand for first-line and middle managers in topic areas critical to successful "people management." This innovative cross-platform program presents management scenarios in full-motion video, enabling the user to select material and to learn from an array of alternative outcomes. The program also encourages users to explore the full background of each scenario in depth by accessing phone calls and e-mail messages to assemble a multidimensional view that simulates the real-world complexity of the business environment more closely than any previous teaching tool. BEMI's "personal trainer" assesses the user's current management expertise and then recommends a customized learning program for growth and enrichment.

BEMI includes interactive case studies with video vignettes, audio commentary accompanied by slides, quick-reference question-and-answer sections, self-assessment tools, and a database of topical Harvard Business Review articles linked to program content. Topics covered in BEMI include managing change, managing performance, team work, power dynamics and exercising influence, and managing your boss. BEMI will also have an Internet interface, and users of the program will be encouraged to brainstorm new management techniques via a BEMI bulletin board.

Professor Linda A. Hill of the Harvard Business School is the program's content expert. Over the past decade, Hill has researched the experiences of managers as they master new job assignments, consulted with organizations about the selection and development of managerial talent, and designed and taught courses at HBS. From her accumulated experience, she has developed a broad framework that helps managers create the conditions for effective management in today's flatter and increasingly diverse organizations. BEMI's conceptual underpinnings originated in Hill's best-selling book, Becoming a Manager, published by Harvard Business School Press in 1992.

BEMI will be implemented beginning in March 1995 by a number of pre-selected site partners, including AT&T, Coopers & Lybrand, McDonald's, Morgan Stanley, and Apple Computer. Parker Llewellyn, manager, learning and education at Coopers & Lybrand Consulting comments that "in professional service firms, knowledge transfer is the main source of competitive advantage. At Coopers & Lybrand, we see BEMI as an important enabler for our transfer of intellectual capital from which we expect dramatic results... and we will use it with clients to demonstrate the impact of our services on their businesses." Dr. June Maul, director of worldwide product development for AT&T School of Business, believes that "multimedia is a critical component of the training and development forum. BEMI offers an innovative and engaging way to deliver consistent, high-quality leadership and business education to employees all around the world at a significantly reduced cost." Tom DeLong, managing director and head of human capital at Morgan Stanley, says of BEMI, "This endeavor brings together two essential dimensions of our organization, namely technology and the development of our people." Sherri Rose, manager of training at Apple University, adds that "BEMI fits well with Apple's vision of enabling learning through technology and of moving learning from the classroom to the desktop. This exciting program gives managers more control over their learning. It enables users to choose their own topics, offers them a personal map through the information, and encourages just-in-time learning." Catherine Martin, assistant vice-president, training, at McDonald's Corp. agrees, saying "McDonald's recognizes that multimedia interactive training is a very effective way for people to learn - both in cost per learner and transfer of learning. We hope to capitalize on the potential power of multimedia training programs, and feel that BEMI gives us a step in that direction.