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Web 2.0 is becoming increasingly popular in mainstream culture; blogs, wikis and social networking sites are springing up rapidly. Businesses are now adopting this suite of technologies and practices to improve the connectivity of their employees and derive benefits from increased employee engagement. Innovapost has recently started to investigate the use of Web 2.0 in a number of ways. The purpose of this case study feature is to report the results of a number of initiatives.

This paper uses the experiences of Innovapost as a case study.

Early experiences with a CEO blog were very positive and provided the impetus for additional experimentation. Forums provided mechanisms for employees to contribute to the development of the strategic business plan and to engage in ongoing discussions of Innovapost business and HR topics. The most ambitious foray to date has been InnovaConnections, which is a social networking tool that allows project managers to post opportunities and have interested employees “bid” for the work.

These initial experiments have led employees to suggest new and exciting possibilities for Web 2.0 at Innovapost and continued developments in this burgeoning area are anticipated.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of how our internal HR team overcame a number of hurdles and achieved 100 percent success in the transition of 85 targeted employees into Innovapost on a timeline that left barely five weeks from start to finish.

In July 2006 Innovapost found that it needed to plan for the transition of 85 new employees from epost and Borderfree, two members of the Canada Post Group of companies that would be dissolving on 1 November. Despite a timeline that left barely five weeks for the transition activities, the HR team was able to develop the transition approach, present it to the new employees, answer their specific questions and get 100 percent positive response to the offers of employment with Innovapost.

Although organizational and prioritization skills are critical for the success of this type of activity, having a clearly defined transition philosophy to guide you is critical. Decisions have to be made quickly and consistently to ensure that employees have faith in the success of the transition. It is also vital that the HR transition team establishes a visible presence among the transitioning employees and reiterates the message that they are seen as valued new additions to the parent company. There is no such thing as too much communication when dealing with employees, especially when the timeline is short and they are required to make decisions affecting their careers with very little notice.

The paper presents a methodology of how to successfully integrate employees from outside the company.

The purpose of this paper is to encourage the use of simulations early in a semester, rather than as a course capstone activity, in an effort to utilize simulations as a foundational experience. The intent is to support teaching and learning, as opposed to using simulations as a capstone assignment or assessment tool.

A comprehensive literature review synthesizing higher education business simulation effectivity and evaluation methods provides support for the analysis of 60 undergraduate supply chain management students and 96 surveys conducted over two years. The research question explores effectiveness based on the point of time during a semester a simulation was used.

The analysis of simulation effectiveness, based on the impact of course enjoyment and assistance with learning key course competencies, showed no significant differences for simulations used early in a semester or as an end-of-semester capstone event.

Simulations are effective tools regardless of when they are employed, but there may be significant benefits to using a simulation early in a semester by capitalizing on the tool’s inherent experiential learning functionality, active learning theory and the Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle. Early use of simulations provides common student experiences and creates a foundation for educators to develop a deeper understanding of course concepts. Additional instructor effort is needed to develop external, course specific student work to supplement and enhance the simulation experience. Early use also creates post-simulation debriefing benefits that may be precluded by the end-of-semester simulation events.

Evidence suggests that simulations are primarily utilized as course capstone events and/or serve as comprehensive tools to integrate/assess a semester’s worth of conceptual learning. This work fills a gap in the research concerning time frames within a semester when simulations are traditionally employed, presenting a paradigm shift toward early utilization.