What is Functional Conflict

The European higher education area (EHEA) aims at creating a climate of less traditional learning through higher levels of interaction between the professors and the students. In that context, the use of participative tools, such as case study discussions, can be especially useful. Nevertheless, the attempt of a group of professors to implement that methodology in their classes had to face some difficulties, with the the high number of students with different goals and needs the main one. In order to deal with this situation, the students were given the possibility to choose amongst three different evaluation methods: non-continuous evaluation, continuous evaluation, and business school – the last one focused on the discussion of freshly prepared case studies about business management. The results can be considered positive, both in terms of academic progress and competencies achievement, and led to the creation of an online version of this “business school.”