=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-3728/Paper5
|storemode=property
|title=Enhance Students' Resilience: A Case Study in Educating Data Design Programs within Traditional Business Academia
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3728/Paper5.pdf
|volume=Vol-3728
|authors=Yuichi Washida,Wenzhen Xu,Nanami Furue
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/persuasive/WashidaXF24
}}
==Enhance Students' Resilience: A Case Study in Educating Data Design Programs within Traditional Business Academia==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3728/Paper5.pdf
Enhance Students' Resilience: A Case Study in Educating
Data Design Programs within Traditional Business
Academia
Yuichi Washida*, Wenzhen Xu, and Nanami Furue
Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract
This study introduces a case of a small national university in Japan that launched a new
experimental education program, the Data Design Program (DDP), by integrating design thinking
and data science into traditional business academia. Results from a survey conducted over the
initial three years indicate that DDP students have been able to achieve significantly higher levels
of resilience capability development and maintenance of self-efficacy compared to students in
conventional business management programs.
Keywords
data science, design thinking, emergence school 1
1. Background and Program Outline
Hitotsubashi University is a small-size university in Tokyo, Japan, with a focus on social
sciences. Established by Eiichi Shibusawa, one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in the
industrial revolution and modernization of Japan during the Meiji era, it is set to celebrate
its 150th anniversary in 2025, characterized by its traditional academic atmosphere.
Initially founded as a university specializing in commerce and accounting, it later expanded
to include faculties of economics, law, sociology, and data science.
In 2021, its largest faculty, the Graduate School of Business Administration, spearheaded
the initiation of the Data Design Program (DDP), a new education program for
undergraduate students. This paper reports on its objectives and progress, aiming to
discuss the future of business management education.
The DDP is a three-year program for undergraduate students from their second to fourth
year, comprising a total of 90 students and 7 faculty members. Students are selected
annually through essays and interviews towards the end of their first year. Competition is
In: Kiemute Oyibo, Wenzhen Xu, Elena Vlahu-Gjorgievska (eds.): The Adjunct Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on
Persuasive Technology, April 10, 2024, Wollongong, Australia
∗ Corresponding author.
EMAIL: b101348r@r.hit-u.ac.jp (Yuichi Washida); wenzhen.xu@r.hit-u.ac.jp (Wenzhen Xu); nanami.furue@r.hit-u.ac.jp (Nanami
Furue)
ORCID: 0000-0003-3969-337X (Wenzhen Xu)
© 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)
CEUR
ht
tp:
//
ceur
-ws
.or
g
Works
hop I
SSN1613-
0073
Pr
oceedi
ngs
CEUR
ceur-ws.org
Workshop ISSN 1613-0073
Proceedings
intense, with typically 120% to 150% of the capacity applicants. Faculty expertise lies in
data science, design thinking, cognitive science, engineering, marketing communication,
and innovation management.
The DDP offers nine lectures and three workshops per academic year. Lectures include
foundational courses in collaboration with nearby art universities for learning design basics
and omnibus lectures where journalists from leading newspapers explain issues in their
respective fields. Workshops are conducted in a Project-Based Learning (PBL) format,
collaborating with companies and local government offices to address actual issues towards
social innovation. Currently, 17 projects are operational, with students forming teams and
engaging in their projects for over two years.
2. Former Research
The post-war development of corporate management was initially centered around
"planning" studies. Drawing from modern accounting, financial management, and process
management from engineering operation research, the focus was on devising superior
management plans [1]. While there were differences among various schools regarding
whether the focus of planning should be on management resources [2] or positioning within
the business flow [3], the common goal was assessing the quality of plans. Technology was
also interpreted as part of such management resources or as part of the business flow.
However, having excellent plans didn't guarantee success for all companies. Therefore,
the discussion shifted towards absorptive capacity [4] to adapt to new management
environment changes and towards understanding and utilizing environmental changes
themselves. The emergence school, advocated by Mintzberg et al., represents this shift. A
powerful method of grasping environmental changes is through data science. The
advancement of sensor technology and the internet enabled the verification of existing
theories with empirical data. Moreover, to leverage environmental changes, attention
shifted not only to productivity but also to creativity, leading to the emergence of new
methodologies like design thinking [5], which began to be utilized in corporate management.
3. Program Characteristics and Motivation
The characteristic of DDP is to integrate data science and design thinking to foster the
development of new business leaders. Design thinking is not only a method aimed at
utilizing design as a management resource but also a technique to explore statistically
potential "outlier" needs through the process of empathy with extreme users. Additionally,
it is distinctive to utilize participatory observation and ethnography as means to achieve
empathy. The "outlier" needs brought by extreme users, unlike statistically dominant latent
needs brought by marketing activities, are considered to be needs that may manifest in the
near future if society undergoes changes.
In DDP, by combining data science and design thinking, it is possible to cultivate a flexible
capacity to absorb towards the near future in today's highly uncertain social environment.
In other words, DDP aims to learn a new management approach beyond conventional
optimal planning. In the core PBL workshops of DDP, under the guidance of supervisors,
students themselves experience participatory observation. On the other hand, in
programming lectures using Python or R, students learn basic statistical analysis techniques
and the use of Artificial Intelligence systems, thus experiencing evidence-based social issue
resolution. Additionally, students engage in prototyping using short animations and
challenge themselves to propose solutions to real-world problems.
4. Student Survey and Results
During the summer of 2023, a questionnaire survey regarding their daily learning activities
and outcomes was conducted among fourth-year, third-year, and second-year students
enrolled in the DDP (n=79).
As a comparative measure, the same questionnaire survey was administered to students
enrolled in Hitotsubashi University but not in the DDP (n=57). All questions were conducted
using the 5-point Likert scale. By comparing the results of these two surveys, the
educational effectiveness of the DDP was assessed.
The results revealed that overall, students in the DDP demonstrated better learning
outcomes compared to students not enrolled in the program. Particularly noteworthy was
the finding, as illustrated in Table 1, that DDP students exhibited significantly higher
effectiveness in their ability to adapt to changes in social environments.
Table 1
Student’s Self-Evaluation
D D P s (n= 79) N on D D P s (n= 57) t-test
I can search for necessary
information related to 4.03 3.47 p < 0.01
business (or work) from
various sources.
I can discover issues inherent in
traditional ways of doing 4.11 3.46 p < 0.01
business or operating within an
organization.
I know how to secure the
necessary resources and 4.1 3.61 p < 0.01
cooperation from others to
realize ideas and achieve goals.
Furthermore, in the case of Hitotsubashi University, it was discovered, as shown in Table
2, that DDP students were significantly better at curbing the pronounced decline in
"entrepreneurial motivation" that tends to occur as students progress through their
academic years.
These survey findings serve as evidence that the DDP has successfully provided high-
quality learning opportunities in line with its initial objectives.
Table 2
Student’s Future Vision
D D P s (n= 79) N on D D P s (n= 57) t-test
I believe that if I challenge 4.06 3.67 p < 0.05
myself, I can surely succeed.
I have the ambition to start my
own company within the next 3.29 2.19 p < 0.01
decade or so (or perhaps have
already done so).
5. Conclusion and Further Challenge
This paper examines the case of DDP as a new educational program in traditional business
academia, explaining its managerial background, educational objectives, lecture content,
and structural features. DDP can be seen as an experimental attempt within the emergence
school, and it was considered an important indicator whether students' resilience capability
towards social changes could be developed. The results of a comparative survey conducted
on DDP students over the initial three years confirmed that, as intended, students' resilience
capability was significantly developed.
As a result, it was confirmed that DDP students tend to maintain a high level of self-
efficacy during their enrollment and significantly exhibit a tendency to maintain a vision of
starting their own business in the near future. Moving forward, it will be necessary to
continue measuring changes over time and verify the contribution of DDP education to the
overall revitalization of business academia.
References
[1] H. Mintzberg, B. Ahlstrand, & J. B. Lampel, (2020). Strategy safari: The complete guide
through the wilds of strategic management. Pearson UK.
[2] J. B. Barney, (2001). Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: A ten-year
retrospective on the resource-based view. Journal of management, 27(6), 643-650.
[3] M. E. Porter, (1996). What is strategy?. Harvard Business Review, November–
December 1996
[4] W. M. Cohen, and D. A. Levinthal, (1990). Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on
learning and innovation. Administrative science quarterly, 35(1), 128-152.
[5] L. Leifer, H. Plattner, and C. Meinel (Eds.). (2013). Design thinking research: Building
innovation eco-systems. Springer Science & Business Media.