Management: Taught & Practiced

Is generative AI fundamentally changing what it means to learn and teach organizational behavior, or are educators simply cycling through familiar ed-tech panic?

In this episode of Management: Taught & Practiced, host Dr. Brandon Charpied sits down with author, scholar, and leadership pioneer Dr. Lee Bolman (Professor Emeritus at UMKC's Bloch School of Management, former Harvard faculty member, and co-creator of the Four-Frame Model) to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming management education.

From replacing vulnerable low-level reading quizzes with voice-based AI tutoring bots to shifting classroom assignments from content generation to genuine personal reflection, Lee shares firsthand insights from deploying AI tools in his graduate courses. Together, Brandon and Lee discuss the ethics of AI use, why the human connection in university education remains irreplaceable, and why educators must approach new technologies with curiosity rather than knee-jerk judgment.

Key Takeaways & Episode Highlights

• The Evolution of the AI Teaching Assistant: Why Lee moved from standard multiple-choice reading quizzes to building "Framy" - a 24/7 interactive audio chatbot built on real-time voice models that holds 1-on-1 reading reviews with students.
• Crutch vs. Collaborator: Framing the three stances on AI in academia: using it as an unthinking crutch, rejecting it outright out of fear, or partnering with it to augment high-level human thinking.
• Research Synthesis and the Grind: Brandon reflects on tools like Undermind and the balance between traditional literature sifting and focusing academic effort on research design and methods.
• Classroom Guardrails and Transparency: Practical frameworks for student AI use, including Brandon's "Golden Rule of AI" inventory and Lee’s approach to transparent citation and reflective personal writing.
• The Global Divergence in Higher Ed: A behind-the-scenes discussion from the MOBTS International Conference in Japan highlighting stark global differences in whether institutions prioritize human teaching or pure research output.
• Pacing Curriculum Change: Why higher education should remain steady, analytical, and intentional while technology continues its rapid initial evolution.