数字革命成商学院新案例

Case studies are a favourite teaching tool of many business schools as a way of delivering their message to their MBA students. Case writers are always on the look out for topical events which can be used to illustrate the changing face of business.
案例研究是许多商学院钟爱的教学工具，通过它们把信息传递给工商管理硕士学员。案例撰写者总是在寻找可以用来说明不断改变的商界面貌的热门事件。
　　
A recent case study by Spanish academic Josep Valor, who was inspired by Sports Illustrated's digital venture, is now being taught in Iese Business School's MBA programme. It is being used to illustrate how the current digital, technological revolution is changing the face of traditional business models
在《体育画报》网络版的启发下，西班牙学者何塞普巴洛尔最近撰写了一份案例研究，如今已经纳入西班牙IESE商学院的MBA课程，用以说明当前的数字技术革命正在如何改变传统商业模式的面貌。
　　
The case centres on the US sports magazine, which in 1997 moved online. Eleven years later in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a debate over whether US swimmer Michael Phelps won the final of the 100m butterfly was, in part, settled by Sports Illustrated photographs, taken by a fixed underwater camera. The pictures showed the US swimmer touching the finish a fraction of a second ahead of Serbian contestant Milorad Cavic.
案例的核心内容就是这份美国体育杂志。该杂志于1997年推出网络版。11年后，在2008年北京奥运会上，围绕美国游泳选手菲尔普斯是否赢得了100米蝶泳决赛冠军的争议最终尘埃落定，在一定程度上要归功于《体育画报》借助水下照相机拍摄的照片。照片显示，菲尔普斯比塞尔维亚选手米洛拉德早0.01秒触线。
　　
Pundits, bloggers and other news services linked their commentary on the event to the sequence, amplifying the magazine's decisive role in the post-match debate.
专家、博客作者及其它新闻机构把他们的评论与那组连拍镜头放在了一起，放大了该杂志在赛后辩论中发挥的决定性作用。
　　
For Prof Valor - and many at the magazine - that polemic served to vindicate Sports Illustrated's decision a decade earlier to go online and was the inspiration for the professor and Sandra Sieber, associate professor of information systems, and a team from Iese Business School to document the magazine's experience as a case study for MBA students.
在巴洛尔教授以及该杂志的许多员工看来，那场争议证明了，《体育画报》在10年前做出走上网络的决定是正确的。受此启发，巴洛尔、信息系统学副教授桑德拉以及IESE商学院的一个团队决定，将该杂志的历程记录下来，作为MBA学员的一份案例研究。
　　
Prof Valor, associate dean and expert in information systems at the school, says he chose the magazine partly because it was an easily recognisable brand.
IESE商学院副院长、信息系统专家巴洛尔表示，他选择这份杂志的部分原因在于，它是一个人们耳熟能详的品牌。
　　
“We didn't want to be spending time and energy introducing the business to students,” he says.
他表示：“我们不想花时间和精力向学员介绍业务。”
　　
More important however, was the strategy adopted by the magazine and its decision to enter the digital fray in a joint venture with cnn, its sister Time Warner news service and produce topical commentary and photos, shorter articles, video feeds and new media features.
但更重要的原因在于该杂志采取的策略，以及它通过与cnn建立合资企业进军数字领域的决定。其姊妹公司cnn是时代华纳旗下的新闻服务商，制作时事评论和照片、短文、视频内容以及新媒体节目。
　　
“What impressed me was Sport's Illustrated's willingness to go full-fledged digital,” says Prof Valor.
巴洛尔表示：“给我留下深刻印象的，是《体育画报》走向全面数字化的意愿。”
　　
“The alliance with cnn, for instance, meant they didn't have to compete against an established around-the-clock news channel.”
“例如，他们与cnn的结盟意味着，他们不必与一家成熟的全天候新闻频道展开竞争。”
　　
Feedback on the case study has been extremely positive. The MBA students find the case very useful he says, especially in terms of keeping up to date with the real technology that is being used in the business world. The case also demonstrates to the students how they need to be aware of these changes when entering the workplace.
这项案例研究获得了极其积极的反馈。巴洛尔表示，MBA学员认为这个案例很有用，尤其是可以帮助他们跟上形势，了解企业界正在使用的实际技术。该案例还向学员展示了，在进入职场时，他们应该警惕这些变化。
　　
For Prof Valor, the Sports Illustrated story provides a classic “illustration of what companies - and not just media operations - go through when they adopt new technology”.
在巴洛尔看来，《体育画报》的故事提供了一个经典“演示”，说明“公司——不光是媒体公司——在采用新技术时的经历。”