I Was a Second Life B-School Student

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Companies that hire lots of MBAs, meanwhile, are already taking to the virtual world. IBM, for example, has built numerous islands on the site to train employees, offer speed mentoring, and break down barriers among staffers spread out across the world (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/15/06, "IBM on Second Life: More than PR").

In addition, the company has built a virtual recruiting center that lets potential applicants access the traditional Web site to apply online, take a train tour of the other IBM islands, or ask questions of current employees. The virtual recruiting center looks like an actual office with conference areas and a receptionist.

A Teaching Tool

IBM recruiters aren't giving up their frequent flier miles just yet. Ray Schreyer, program manager for Internet recruiting at IBM in Charlotte, N.C., says having online outlets available to anyone with an avatar levels the playing field for nontraditional candidates, but it will not replace typical avenues of recruiting such as in-person meetings on campus. Still, MBA students with interest in various companies can add Second Life to their list of resources when researching potential employers.

While B-schools are merely dipping a toe in the waters, colleges in general are offering Second Life events for students in the general population. Second Life veteran Kevin Werbach, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, rarely uses the virtual world directly in his teaching. But he includes it for illustrative purposes in his undergraduate course on the law of e-commerce.

A group of five students at MIT's Sloan School of Management are dedicating an entire semester to studying Linden Lab, creator and owner of Second Life. As part of a project for their Strategic Organizational Design course, these students will focus on how the company intends to sustain its internal, democratic structure amid such growth.

Thanks to Thomas Malone, professor of the course and author of The Future of Work (Harvard Business School Press, April, 2004), the students have already met with Second Life Chief Executive Officer Philip Rosedale and Chief Financial Officer John Zdanowski. The students also plan to organize a networking event for fellow students on Second Life.

Thinking Outside the Text

Indifference to Second Life could mean missed opportunities for schools, says Vatsal Bhardwaj, a first-year student at MIT and a member of the group. Reasons to pay attention include the site's unique marketplace and virtual economy and its potential to shape the next generation of the Internet, Bhardwaj adds.

Some educators agree that business schools may be missing the virtual boat. Megan Conklin, an assistant professor of Computing Sciences at Elon University in Elon, N.C., coaches educators interested in bringing Second Life into their classrooms. She says that business professors should think beyond distance learning, which isn't really Second Life's strength.

"Don't try to replicate the real world in Second Life," she says. "I can fly in Second Life. I can design something out of my imagination. I can buy and sell money without any risk. I can test crazy business plans."

Porous Barriers

But Joe Harder, an adjunct associate professor who teaches a "Spirit of the New Workplace" course at the University of Virginia's Darden School, isn't sure that Second Life is the right venue for MBA students. "There's a possibility to be someone very different from who you are in the first life," he says. "But in business school, it's probably more important to be who you [actually] are."

Yet architecture, foreign language, and computer science courses, among others, have already developed a presence in Second Life. In fact, 2,500 residents are on the education mailing list, says John Lester, director of Boston operations and academic program manager of Linden Lab. Academics are drawn to Second Life for the glorious potential the site hands to its users when they enter, say residents.

"The barrier between having a great idea and being able to create your vision is much thinner on Second Life," says Lester. So is the barrier between the virtual and real economies. If recent history is a guide, other B-schools will soon be testing the virtual waters, even if it means getting in over their heads.

Di Meglio is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in Fort Lee, N.J.