ENGLISH FOR MARKET RESEARCH REPORT WRITING: COURSE DESIGN

At undergraduate and postgraduate levels in business schools, lecturers often provide students with a suggested structure for a market research report assignment. Thereafter, the students are left to independently master the appropriate register and the technique of writing for this genre. While many students may learn to be good at business studies, they might fall short in writing despite having to produce several reports at university level. One of the reasons for this shortfall may be that some of the students may lack the confidence to produce reports which meet academic or professional standards in the English language. A short English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course that addresses the technical writing needs of business students as an option or add-on course to undergraduate and postgraduate business curricula could provide the simple solution. It could even be formalised as a credit bearing course to motivate students to undertake it.With a view to the above, as a pilot ESP module, a 15-hour English for Market Research Report Writing Skills course was designed to try and meet the specific needs of undergraduate market research students at the Warwick Business School (WBS). It was intended to be taught under the auspices of the Warwick Skills Certificate Programme at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom (UK).

Teaching creativity in entrepreneurship: Embolden or discourage?

Entrepreneurship is taught in diverse settings addressed to various audiences. The role of creativity is generally thought to be beneficial for innovation; however, certain concerns may emerge depending on the context in which entrepreneurship is taught. For example, critical questions may arise in classrooms where entrepreneurship is encountered in business curricula. This article addresses a reflective activity regarding creative individuals and their role in business venturing. The instructional methodology is provided along with empirical results. Responding to the need for critical approaches in entrepreneurial teaching and reflection empowerment as effective mechanisms for entrepreneurial learning, the article offers an account of reflective practice for educators to consider and use further.

Gendering Sustainability in Management Education: Research and Pedagogy as Space for Critical Engagement

Gender issues have been well conceptualized in feminist organization studies. However, gender research has had limited practical effects, in part because it has not been well conceptualized in the sustainability in management education (SiME) scholarship; nor has it been adequately prioritized in management and business curricula. I argue that given the persistence of discrimination, segregation, sexual oppression, inequality, and lack of empowerment of women (to name a few . . . ), mandatory gender education is needed to equip management students as they enter diverse and equal opportunity working environments. Integrating SiME and Feminist Organization literatures, I develop a multidimensional framework for conceptualizing gender studies in the classroom. This theoretical framework offers faculty and students an evolving pathway to analyze gender and SiME with perspectives in feminist organization studies. I conclude by reflecting on integration strategies for creating space in research and pedagogy for the critical engagement of gender debates in our programs.

Making Management (More) Relevant: Breaking Down Disciplinary Walls and Pursuing Neglected Independent Variables

The Walls Project encourages educators to broaden management teaching beyond individual and organizational variables and outcomes to systemic variables and outcomes. Its focus is on discovering independent variables that have social and environmental impacts and are currently neglected. Founded by six individuals who met at a RMLE UnConference in 2017, the Project decided to share pedagogical materials, examine them for commonalities, and present their findings at the MOBTC conference in 2019. This article summarizes these materials with an eye to revealing several variables of consequence, such as socioeconomic status and belief in economic growth, which are studied and taught infrequently in business schools. We suggest that researchers examine business curricula for similar neglected variables, study their impact across systems levels, and then develop them pedagogically to enhance management education that has a social and environmental impact.

What is the Business with AI? Preparing Future Decision Makers and Leaders

With companies now recognizing how artificial intelligence (AI), digitalization, the internet of things (IoT), and data science affect value creation and the maintenance of a competitive advantage, their demand for talented individuals with both management skills and a strong understanding of technology will grow dramatically. There is a need to prepare and train our current and future decision makers and leaders to have an understanding of AI and data science, the significant impact these technologies are having on business, how to develop AI strategies, and the impact all of this will have on their employees’ roles. This paper discusses how business schools can fulfill this need by incorporating AI into their business curricula, not only as stand-alone courses but also integrated into traditional business sequences, and establishing interdisciplinary efforts and collaborative industry partnerships. This article describes how the College of Business and Public Policy (CBPP) at the University of Alaska Anchorage is implementing multiple approaches to meet these needs and prepare future leaders and decision makers. These approaches include a detailed description of CBPP’s first AI course and related student successes, the integration of AI into additional business courses such as entrepreneurship and GSCM, and the creation of an AI and Data Science Lab in partnership with the College of Engineering and an investment firm.

Exploring the gap between employers’ needs and undergraduate business curricula: A survey of alumni regarding core business curricula

This study examines alumni perceptions of the core curricula at the University of North Georgia’s College of Business to assess the gap between the skills employers need in new graduates and what the curricula offer. The research was conducted as part of the continuous improvement process for AACSB accreditation. The findings reveal that soft skills such as communication and problem-solving were highly rated as being useful, whereas the alumni rated calculus and international business skills as less important for daily job requirements. The study provides relevant information for colleges of business as they look to update their core curricula for business majors.

Reflections on Sustainability Issues in Learning Object Development

Data science is a relatively new requirement in business curricula. Historically many business students have shied away from business statistics. We describe a project to create learning objects to enhance business students confidence and capabilities in performing statistical and analytics business tasks. In this paper we focus on the content development process, rather than the impact of the learning objects on student learning outcomes.We reflect on the steps in the learning object design and implementation project and conclude that the Plan, Act, Observe and Reflect iterative cycle worked well for the project team. We include recommendations on how this framework could be augmented to improve the sustainability of learning objects.

Advancing STEM-Based Business Sustainability: Mending the Curricular Gap

Businesses are increasingly facing economic, social, and environmental sustainability challenges. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are needed to address business sustainability needs, yet such competencies are noticeably absent from academic literature and business curricula. To mend the curricular gap, we make the case for developing cross-disciplinary STEM-based business sustainability curricula that enhance students’ sustainability literacy and cognitive abilities related to STEM and sustainability. A literature review is provided that documents curricular gaps specific to STEM and sustainability in the academic literature and in business sustainability program offerings. We then present a framework that can be used to integrate STEM and sustainability across the curricula and to evaluate curricular implementation. This review provides timely and relevant information that can help business management educators, instructors, and administrators justify, design, develop, implement, and evaluate STEM-based business sustainability curricula.