Pentacle (The Virtual Business School)

Pentacle The Virtual Business School
Type Business school
Established 1992
Principal Eddie Obeng
Location Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Website www.pentaclethevbs.com

Pentacle (The Virtual Business School) is an independent business school providing bespoke executive education and executive development. Pentacle uses a teaching approach that makes innovative use of virtual technologies[1] coupled with a unique curriculum of practical business tools.

The UK office is at Burke Lodge (also known as Burke House), a landmark 16th century coaching inn[2] in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. Pentacle also has offices in France, the USA, Ireland, the Netherlands and South Africa.

History

Pentacle was established in 1992 by Eddie Obeng described by the Financial Times as "a leading revolutionary"[3] and by Abbey National as their "secret weapon".[4] It moved to its current premises, Burke Lodge, in Beaconsfield in 1994 and hosted its first training event on Project Management for Nuclear Electric (now part of British Energy) later that year. At the same time, Pentacle started to develop virtual reality business games on the now redundant Superscape platform [5] and used LearningSpace & Notes 3.0 from Lotus (now IBM) to deliver the first virtual business education sessions for Motorola. The following year Pentacle taught Lotus how to use its own product for delivering virtual learning. By 2003, Pentacle had established offices in France and, a year later in the Netherlands and South Africa; in 2009, Pentacle launched in Ireland.

Teaching approach

Obeng developed the core principle that underpins the work of the organisation: that the rate of change in the world now exceeds our ability to learn. As a result, the traditional structures and processes for doing business (the "Old World") have become ineffective. Success in an environment where the pace of change exceeds our ability to learn (the "New World") can only come if businesses adopt new ways of learning and implementing that knowledge. This is perhaps best summarised by Eric Hoffer‟s reflection that "In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists".[6]

Pentacle demystifies traditional business school teaching to remove unnecessary theory and focus on practical tools that can be applied in the real world in "a continuous link between learning and implementation".[7] It uses teaching techniques that ensure that skills are learned and can be applied immediately,[8][9] The approach has been published in the Gower Handbook of Management [10]

The Pentacle teaching approach is divided into five stages that are based around David A. Kolb's experiential learning styles.

Research, education and knowledge

Pentacle PETs (Performance Enhancement Tools)

Pentacle uses a range of tools to support managers to operate more effectively. These include:

Teaching methods

A variety of teaching methods are used at Pentacle which include case studies, lectures, peer-to-peer learning, tutorials, group work, simulations and role-plays.

Business simulation games

Pentacle uses a number of bespoke business simulation games to help stimulate and embed learning.

References

  1. ↑ The Daily Telegraph, Thursday 25 June 1998
  2. ↑ Beaconsfield Old Town Conservation Area Character Appraisal, November 2007, South Bucks Council
  3. ↑ Financial Times, Friday 12 July 1996
  4. ↑ Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, Volume 16, Number 1, 2002 , pp. 4–6(3)
  5. ↑ http://www.ukbusinesspark.co.uk/sue02685.htm
  6. ↑ Eric Hoffer, Reflections on the Human Condition [32], 1973
  7. ↑ Finance and Management, July 2000
  8. ↑ Roger Trapp, Financial Director 2 Jun 2004
  9. ↑
  10. ↑

Organisations

Coordinates: 51°36′08″N 0°38′06″W / 51.6022°N 0.6350°W / 51.6022; -0.6350

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