Business Graduate Market Value

This chapter discusses the purpose and role of higher education institutions in the creation of highly qualified human resources for the globalized 21st century. As technology and societies change and evolve, universities must adapt and modify their offerings to students who need to be more marketable in an ever more competitive marketplace. As economic conditions have propelled emerging economies as the main engines of growth for the next decades, it is imperative the higher education institutions in the form of business schools, both in developed and emerging markets, create the necessary background and educational opportunities for young students entering the working world. These will include skills in intercultural communication and strategy, as well as new and different ways of negotiating between countries and among companies.

The Evolving Knowledge Cities

This chapter discusses the emerging models of knowledge cities in many countries of the world and the potential challenges posed by them for the existing as well as the future academic institutions of higher education (universities) in those countries in particular and in the in world in general. Specifically, this chapter is dedicated to the study of various issues and themes that concern the evolving knowledge cities such as the long-term and short-term objectives behind the establishment of knowledge cities and their potential benefits (i.e., social, economic, financial, environmental, and knowledge) for their societies. The chapter concludes that the development of knowledge cities are beneficial for all stakeholders including the academic institutions of higher education that directly or indirectly associated with such programs.

The Emerging Corporate University System

This chapter discusses the role of corporate universities in the field of higher education and the impact of the same on conventional or traditional universities and their corresponding business schools. This chapter also proposes some strategic actions for the traditional universities to pursue in order to maintain competitive advantage over the emerging corporate universities. Some of these strategic actions include promoting and developing strong long-term and multipurpose strategic alliances with the industry, government institutions, and community development groups. Collaborative strategies are better than competitive behavior in terms of long-term benefits and costs associated with each of these strategies. Moreover, being in the forefront of learning innovation and knowledge management combined with the provision of high quality education and trainings through innovative, diverse, and flexible academic and training programs will help the traditional universities to remain the main supplier of knowledge in times to come.

Business Graduate Skills

This chapter describes a model of competences composed of skills business professionals should possess once they graduate. The multilevel model considers competences from individual level to contextual (environmental) level requirements in order to start or lead a company in a complex and changing work environment. This chapter suggests that the academic institutions of higher education should learn about the emerging competences of different levels and types required from the current and future graduates when they reach the marketplace. Doing so will definitely help these academic institutions to design academic programs and services involving co-curricular and core-curricular activities on the campus in order to build and evaluate those different but interdependent competences.

Business Management Education in African Context

The search for means of attaining a height in development by African countries and possibly be enlisted among the committee of developed nations of the world remains an unending task. Most African countries have therefore adopted education as a veritable instrument for influencing the anticipated development, especially in the wake of global economic trends. In compliance with these economic trends and emerging needs, emphasis is laid on Vocational Technical Education (VTE), also referred to as Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), within the domain of business education. This chapter examines the environment of business education and business education pedagogy in Africa. The author adopts both historical and analytical approaches and attempts a critique of business education in Africa, with corresponding strategies for improvement.

Internationalization and Strategic Alliances

This chapter presents the internationalization processes of universities, in particular that of business schools, in their search for expanding the offerings and experiences presented to their students, who have become ever more demanding in terms of quality and quantity of choices. In this context, strategies for internationalization include online education, academic research links, the formation of campuses abroad, as well as strategic alliances in exchange and dual degree programs. The aim of this process of internationalization is to form well-prepared students for future work in an ever-changing, competitive, and international workplace where foreign languages and experience outside one's home country have become the norm.

Business Management Education in Reality

In this chapter, the perception of the quality of business education of different stakeholders in business education is discussed using some real-life stories and opinions. In general, students, professors, business education administrators, and employers look happy with the current business education programs and services provided by business schools. However, these stakeholders would like to do more on developing analytical, quantitative, and operational skills in students because these are the skills they will need immediately after graduation and in the labor market. The chapter suggests that it is useful and advisable for the academic institutions to have an effective information intelligence system in place in order to collect strategic academic information from different stakeholders in education. Such information can and will be used in designing academic programs and services to serve the emerging demands and interests of those stakeholders.

Pedagogical Strategies to Develop Business Graduate Competences

This chapter provides examples of pedagogical strategies to business schools and business faculty to promote and develop specific competences in business education graduates. In so doing, the chapter recommends understanding the adult learning theory of Knowles, Holton, and Swanson (2011), which emphasizes the role of teachers and adult needs for learning. Teachers should facilitate the learning process and system and must engage students in a process of mutual inquiry. Even though there are different pedagogical strategies available for academic institutions to pursue in order to develop competences of different levels and types in students as described in the previous chapter (Chapter 3), it is concluded that in the learning process the learner must take center stage. Academic institutions and faculty should be creative in designing learning and teaching activities as well as diverse and implementable pedagogical strategies.

Business Education across Regions

The competences (knowledge, skills, and values) required to work in different regions of the world are different to a greater extend. The cases of failures of expatriate managers in foreign assignments and corporate alliances are found in abundance in the existing literature on international business and management. This demands that the business schools offer educational programs that are regionally focused and culturally inclusive. Even though such student-centered and culturally focused programs may cost the institutions in the short term, such strategic actions may be a source of competitive advantage for many of them. In this chapter, the human resource management culture in the Middle East is discussed to exemplify how national and corporate cultures vary from region to region and thus influence the management competences to work in a particular region, nation, or culture.

A Balanced Approach to Education

This chapter intends to find out answers to a rather complicated question facing almost all universities and business schools in the world: How to have a balanced approach to education. In so doing, this chapter discusses an integrative approach to curriculum development and having a best combination of teaching, research, and continuing education as a source of a balanced approach to education. All these components—curriculum development, teaching, research, and continuing education—are crucial for the existence and growth of higher educational institutions now and in the future. Furthermore, the chapter studies all the various factors that influence the development and implementation of a balanced approach to education in academic institutions and proposes strategies and models to help academic administrators design and implement balanced education approaches.