Undergraduate Programs in the U.S

Given the importance of human resource management skills both in management education and business in general, an empirical review of undergraduate human resource (HR) curricula and programs is needed. In this study, the authors provide an investigative analysis of the content taught across HR programs in the U.S. and the context in which HR programs operate. Specifically, data across 179 undergraduate “SHRM-aligned” HR programs were collected and analyzed to identify common as well as unique content and contextual attributes at the university, business school, and program levels. Against the backdrop of the study's findings, the authors step back and purposefully comment on how they believe HR education can best be moved forward. In total, this study seeks to inform stakeholders in HR education through a clearer picture of the current and potential future states of HR curricula within U.S.-based undergraduate management programs.

Reshaping Education for the New Labour Market in Sub-Saharan African Countries

This chapter examines the vital role of education and training in the new labour market. It explores the relative importance of technical education and computer literacy for all able working citizens in sub-Saharan African countries. It states that heavy investment in education and training has a great return on productivity and has the potential to change societies for all citizens. The literature on new labour market documents that sub-Saharan African countries that have changed their educational system to reflect technical competency have been able to develop their workforce productivity and national economic development. It asserts that government policies on education and training should be of utmost priority to governance in order to enhance the labour market in the 21st century.

Complexity Framework for the Project Management Curriculum

Universities' core project management courses address the key principles and best practices of project management methodologies, while elective courses are utilized to introduce alternative project frameworks. The concept of project complexity can be taught to strengthen competency in project managers and enhance the success of the projects they manage. Previous instruction methods were evaluated to determine the key concepts that pertain to project complexity. This article proposes a preliminary framework for the development of an elective course on project complexity.

The Role of Business Schools in Marketing Education

Business schools play a key role in training marketing professionals. However, there is a strong divide between the expectations held by marketing professionals and those held in academia. This article considers this phenomenon from a theoretical point of view and explores its causes. The author argues that business schools are able to play a key role in bridging theory and practice in marketing. The article closes by offering several suggestions for how business schools might increase the relevance of marketing research while reducing the gap between marketing theory and practice. In particular, the article suggests the adoption of an inductive approach to research and offers a set of policies that business schools can implement in order to close this gap.

Utopian B-School Classroom Where Expectation Meets Reality

The supremacy of some business schools like Harvard and IIMs in the ranking ladder makes them desirable to the students as compared to the clusters down the ladder. The result is a greater number of admissions in the former category as compared to the latter. The question that arises is, What makes the top-ranking institutions a class apart? The answer is, the creation of the product that is a class apart. The chapter discusses various means including the pedagogy and curriculum to make the business school classroom a conducive environment to create an elite class of future managers and entrepreneurs. The main objectives of this study are to understand the differences in the students and the need for reinventing the pedagogy as to suit the needs of individual student thus converting the conventional classrooms into utopian classrooms for them. The chapter also explains the importance and attributes of a good curriculum in a business school.

International Education, Diversity Exposure, and Cross-Cultural Engagements

The quest for mission-driven approaches in business education arises out of a deep concern for development and achievement of student centered outcomes. This chapter assesses these concerns by analyzing service leaning and practical cases. International education, diversity exposure, and cross-cultural engagements are analyzed in line with the extent of achieving service-learning outcomes. The analysis is done by examining the value added to business school learning models through these engagements. The discussions show that students and faculty benefit through critical thinking, tolerance to diverse cultures, and preparedness for global careers. The chapter ends with illustrative cases of global community service, global academic tours, business simulation games, and X-culture global challenge engagements by United States International University Africa.

Restore Empathy in Modern Business Education

This chapter is based on the author's reflection using 27 years' experience in business education in Hong Kong and the United States and decades of research concerning empathy and character development. In this chapter, empathy is defined as a process to consider a particular perspective of another person, to feel as another person feels, and to take action for the needs of that other person. It is related to concern, perspective taking, and action through intersubjective discovery. It has developmental characteristics and includes shared experiences and insightful discoveries in the interpersonal process. She advocates these key four benefits of mature, informed, and mindful empathy: intellectual virtues, effective leadership development, ethical decision making, and social capital at firm level which ultimately enhances profitability and firm valuation. She also shares her years of practice of developing students' empathetic skills in service-learning projects and in her organization behavior course.

Weaving a Comprehensive Cloth for a Sustainable Business Education

The purpose of this chapter is to share a process to compose a mission for a business program, conceiving it as an aspirational quest, where mindful and critical methods are invoked. By proposing a set of sensitizing questions, organized in a comprehensive matrix, the author argues about the importance of discovering insights, promoting critiques and formulating transformative intentions in business education. After adopting a set of comprehensive goals, some logics of change are explored, and ulteriorly, a mission statement in presented.

Cross-Cultural Business Education

Today, the scenario of cross-cultural businesses has made it incomparable to the earlier practices as well as an academic phenomenon, due to increasing internationalization and immigration in global job markets. The chapter attempts to notify the significance of culture in business and need for cross-cultural business awareness. It examines how the inclusion of cross-cultural perspectives into business practices will help to create a dynamic environment that facilitates enhanced competence to companies operating across cultures. This chapter has been developed in two parts. In its first part, the chapter discusses the cross-cultural problems and their possible solutions to effectively manage the cultural diversity. In the second part of the chapter, a model, Global Industry Academia (GIA) framework of business education has been introduced. This model enables the B-schools to explore essential constituents of contextual paradigms of change and interpret the complexities of business practices in diverse settings to develop cross-culturally sensitive managers of tomorrow.

The Business Education of Charismatic Leaders and Good Soldiers

This article describes how charismatic leaders inspire followers with a vision of a better future, but attaining that better future is not easy and requires hard work, extra effort, and sacrifice. In challenging organizational environments where crisis is present, one leadership style that emerges has been described as charismatic. Charismatic leaders have a tendency to create good soldiers, a loyal band of followers who engage in organizational citizenship behaviors. These good soldiers encourage others to join the effort to create a better world and achieve goals. The difficulty sets in when charismatic leaders and their good soldiers continually ask for more of their employees, take the spotlight, diminish the contributions of others, and create an environment where the performance of extra-role behaviors becomes the expected norm. When followers are pressured to perform citizenry behaviors, they no longer do so voluntarily, which places stress on employees and eventually dampens enthusiasm and motivation. Business educators preparing the next generation of leaders need to raise awareness of the strengths and possible weaknesses associated with charismatic leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors.