Online Business Education During Crisis in Developed and Emerging Countries : A Comparative Study Between Linköping University and University of Dhaka

Abstract: Background: The growing importance of online mode as an effective alternative was accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Considering the differences of experiences that teachers and students of online Business education of in developed and developing countries faced during the pandemic, there is a need for a comparative study of the experiences in this field to point out the challenges and opportunities in using online Business education during crisis like Covid-19 and guide countries. The significance of sensemaking in online education during crisis and the role of Experiential Learning in making sense of online education and its lack of emphasis in Business discipline calls for discussing the role of Experiential Learning in sensemaking of the online educational experiences of teachers and learners of Business programs in countries of different developmental context, identifying the best practices to provide them with necessary guidelines and help use online mode effectively during crisis. Aim: The main purpose is to compare between developed and developing countries regarding the role of Experiential Learning in the sensemaking of the experiences of teachers and learners in online business education during crisis in order to provide guidelines to for using online mode effectively during crisis. Methodology: This is a qualitative study conducted through semi-structured interviews for primary data collection. Primary data was collected by interviewing teachers and students of Business programs of Linkoping University in Sweden and University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. 13 interviews were conducted from Linkoping University and 12 interviews were conducted from University of Dhaka. Thematic analysis method was used to analyze the findings. Findings: Findings indicate that teachers and students of Business Programs can effectively use online Business education during crisis by adapting Experiential Learning Cycle for retrospective learning when no knowledge or resource is available, Converging learning when knowledge is available and accommodating style when support for resource skill or knowledge is insufficient. The main difference in experience between developed and developing countries are the availability of resource, training and knowledge.