Managing Online Management Education: A Community of Inquiry upon Experience (Col-E) Perspective

The quote by T. S. Eliot in Four Quartets: "We had the experience but missed the meaning," is often used by Professor Hendry Mintzberg in the context of management education. Mintzberg argues that one of the shortcomings of management education is that learning becomes meaningless when removed from the experience of managing. Mintzberg (2018) contends that management is a practice and can seldom be taught in a classroom setting; it can only be learned by doing. This paper critically reviews Mintzberg's propositions in the context of online management education and proposes a refined approach called - A Community of Inquiry upon Experience, Col-E in short.