Blockchain Papers

Bretislav Hajek

Ph.D

Natalie Sarrasin, Monica Zumstein, Antoine Widmer

Due to emerging technological trends and the acceleration of change in society, today’s undergraduate students are facing a new reality concerning the requirements and types of skills necessary to succeed. New immersive technologies such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Metaverse, Gaming and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are opening new business opportunities and revenue streams across many sectors. These technologies and trends are transforming the way people communicate, socialize, learn, work, shop and play. Institutions of higher education must also adapt to this constantly changing environment to fully prepare students for future employment. This paper discusses a pedagogical framework developed to create value for learners by exposing them to emerging technologies followed by application of the new knowledge to a practical situation implemented within the context of a University of Applied Science marketing first year bachelor course. Crucial skills are developed such as managing team dynamics, design thinking, creativity, autonomous learning, and critical thinking skills to name only a few. The framework is divided into four phases with the aim to further improve the process for future iterations. The results show students progressed from having little to no knowledge about these new technologies to being able to propose innovative ideas and practical applications in these new fields.

Cory Campbell, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Kurt S. Schulzke

Abstract Rapidly evolving fintech and decentralized finance environments present an opportunity to reconsider how best to teach financial reporting, internal controls, auditing, taxation, and accounting information systems. Industrial firms have found considerable success in growing the customer value/cost ratio by applying “design thinking” (DT) to product and service innovation. DT may serve a similar, value-enhancing role in curriculum development and accounting pedagogy. The authors demonstrate the application of DT to the accounting curriculum using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as an illustration. This chapter defines NFTs and DT, proposes a DT-based curriculum development model, and offers specific recommendations for teaching about NFTs in the classroom.

Bonnie J. Knutson, Martin Malk, Raymond S. Schmidgall

Most directors of marketing intuitively know that accepting some business has an opportunity cost of not being able to accept potentially more lucrative business. The decision becomes particularly critical when the prospective contract is for a large event, such as a conference. Some hotels address this matter by, for instance, requiring executive committee approval for all large contracts or all business that involves function space. The decision can be made much earlier and more simply by individual sales representatives or sales managers, however, if they analyze the tradeoffs of any potential contract. An analytical approach can be built into a spreadsheet calculation that takes into account such variables as special room rates, potential banquet revenues and costs, and revenues and costs of other services (e.g., audio-visual support). The decision is more than quantitative, however, and must take into account such factors as the effect on other guests' perceptions of the hotel if, say, facilities are jammed by conventioneers. Those effects cannot be modeled on a spreadsheet and are subject to the marketing director's judgment.