edge 2.0: Mobilizing Action in a 1.0/2.0 World (Tuesdays, 1 – 4 pm, starting April 1, 2008)
Snapshot:
edge is a course taught by Prof. David Obstfeld and Dr. John Seely Brown, in which students
examine how technology and globalization are reshaping business. Edge will host a world-class
set of speakers to engage students in an ongoing dialogue around issues that leading business
schools have just begun to address. This year, we will feature a quarter-long group project
competition around the creation of fully operational Web 2.0 businesses through Amazon.com’s
easy-to-use WebStore function. The course will also be supported by a custom website to
facilitate student exchanges of ideas, videos, and other links (see edge.merage.uci.edu).
Course Description:
Organizations and the roles of individuals’ within them are undergoing a radical transformation.
Mobilizing action—whether in the form of internal innovation, new business formation, inter-
organizational networks, or emerging web-based network communities—is critical in the
evolving 1.0/2.0 world. This transforming context, reshaped by technology and globalization,
involves connecting, coordinating, communicating, and persuasion. While these factors have
been important in the past, they are now crucial.
edge will prepare graduating FTMBA students to initiate and manage innovation in dynamic
business environments by examining trends that are reshaping business such as technology-
enabled entrepreneurship, flattened international competition, digitally savvy consumers,
accelerated social coordination, and new forms of marketing. Throughout the quarter, edge will
place an emphasis on the practical action and skills associated with this newly emerging context
for business and social action. Led by UCI Professor David Obstfeld, in collaboration with
technology guru John Seely Brown, edge will assemble thought leaders and students to
collaboratively explore this business transformation.
Planned list of speakers and topics (subject to final confirmation)
April 1: Introduction April 29: Mobilizing action in a 1.0/2.0 world
John Seely Brown, former Chief Scientist, Cheryl Contee, Online social media strategist,
Xerox PARC Fleishman-Hillard Public Relations
David Obstfeld, UCI May 6: Mobilizing outsourced networks
April 8: Tools for a 2.0 world George Wu, CMO, hiSoft
Gary Goldhammer, new media expert, Professor Leonard Lane
Edelman Public Relations May 13: Mobilizing microfinance networks
Tim Young, CEO, Socialcast Donna Callejon, COO, Global Giving
April 15: Class projects kick-off May 20: Managing and mobilizing/Wrap-up
Amazon WebStore Stephen Gillett, CIO, Corbis
Kiva.com microfinance investment May 27: Growing up in the net generation
April 22: Improvisational action in a 1.0/2.0 world danah boyd, mySpace expert, UC Berkeley
Mike Bonifer & Virginia Kuhn, GameChangers June 3: Final class presentations on projects
Group Project: Amazon WebStore “Engaging in 2.0 entrepreneurship” After gaining first-
hand experience with interactive online tools such as social networking sites and blogging,
students will initiate the course’s primary group project: setting up and driving web traffic
toward their team-built Amazon WebStore. The Amazon WebStore will be the central means by
which students will be asked to incorporate lessons about Web 2.0 commerce and mobilizing
action. Student teams will first be asked to use their marketing savvy to set up a unique retail
WebStore profile based exclusively on existing Amazon products. For the remainder of the
spring quarter, student teams will be tasked with creatively applying a variety of Web 2.0 tools
(e.g., YouTube video, social networking software, and e-mail campaigns) to drive traffic and
business to their WebStore. Students will be asked to draw on course materials, course speakers,
and their own unfolding experience to experiment with a variety of digital campaigns lessons
while keeping a record of their efforts and their impact on web traffic. Each group will be asked
to document and reflect on their Web 2.0 retail experience as their final group project.
Teams will also compete on the success of their WebStores, based on their creativity and success
in driving traffic to their site. Product sales will be one measure, but teams will be compared on
how well they applied lessons from the course on how to mobilize action, reach long-tail
markets, generate buzz, and trigger a viral marketing response.
Kiva Project: “Be your own World Bank.” In addition to running your own business through
Amazon WebStore, you will also have an opportunity to become an investor in a business
somewhere else in the world. Kiva.org is a microfinance website that provides small loans (in
$25 increments) to subsistence entrepreneurs all over the globe. Loan requestors indicate how
they will use the funds (to repair fishing nets, buy milking cows, or build a well). Once the loan
is funded, you can track their repayment progress. Your team will select a project for funding,
and you will be measured on your ability to leverage your network for maximum coverage, both
geographically and economically. At the end of the course, you will be asked to report on why
you selected the particular loan recipient, why various requests appealed to you, how your team
selected among the potential loanees, and how you leveraged your network.
(see http://www.kiva.org/about/what/ )
Final Team Presentations and Individual Write Up. At the end of the course, each team will
present the results of their experiences with Amazon WebStore. In a 20-minute team
presentation (using media of their choosing), teams will provide highlights of their experiments
to mobilize action. Teams will be asked to summarize what worked, what didn’t, and why.
Teams will also be asked to describe their most creative idea and how they determined its
effectiveness. In addtion, each student will prepare a 2-part summary of your experiences in the
class. One page should reflect on what you’ve learned: what was the biggest surprise? the most
important lesson? the most challenging aspect of mobilizing action? This should be followed
by a two-page Web 2.0 resume, which lists the skills gained in the class and what value you
could bring to an employer who may not fully appreciate the power of Web 2.0.