| Teaching Management as Liberal Art and Social Function |
| | Decker, Jeffery N. | Whittier College | Jdecker@whittier.edu | 562-907-4200 |
| | This paper critically evaluates the standard approach used to teach management and strategy to undergraduate college students. In place of the typical format, and alternative design is introduced which attempts to more closely connect the teaching of management and strategy with the liberal education tradition. Rather than emphasizing currently received management disciplines, students are taught to think critically and are prepared to become life-long learners. The course emphasizes management as the application of knowledge to purposeful human endeavor, and students learn about reflection, systems theory, ethics, and cultural awareness instead of the routines of strategic planning, and strategy making as avoidance and positioning. In addition, the course addresses long term- philosophical questions which are fundamental to the liberal arts domain. Plans for course assessment are developed and future course experiments are presented. While it is much too early to declare this course a final success, input from other professors is desired and experimentation along the lines developed herein is encouraged. |
| | Keywords: Management; Liberal; Education |
| The Importance of Liberal Arts and Fundamental Education for the Next Millenium of Managers |
| | Bobko, Philip | Gettysburg College | pbobko@gettysburg.edu | 717-337-6983 |
| | Tejeda, Manuel J. | Gettysburg College | mtejeda@gettysburg.edu | ((717)-337-6654 |
| | The purpose of this paper is to examine, both empirically and logically, the importance of a liberal education to managers who will assume corporate leadership in the new millennium. We first review empirical (inductive) evidence suggesting that the liberal curriculum indeed prepare managers by providing breadth and flexibility. We also examine the undergraduate education are more prevalent than those with business or engineering undergraduate degrees. The data support all of our related hypotheses; e.g., a liberal arts education is most beneficial, as organizations become increasingly global in their focus. The data also support out hypothesis that liberally educated mangers are more adaptable and flexible, in that they manage across a wider array of organizational contexts than individuals wit other majors. We reviewing logical (deductive) evidence that further supports the need for fundamental educational backgrounds for future corporate leaders. |
| | Keywords: Management Education; CEOs; Liberal Arts |
| The Paradox of Teaching Organizational Behavior to Undergraduates: A Proposed Model and Empirical Findings |
| | Moore, Jo Ellen | Southern Illinois U., Edwardsville | joemoor@siue.edu | (618)-650-5816 |
| | Burke, Lisa A. | Louisiana State U. in Shreveport | burkela@juno.com | 318-797-5017 |
| | Baldwin, Timothy T. | Indiana U., Bloomington | baldwint@indiana.edu | (812) 855-0221 |
| | Organizational behavior instructors have long lamented their frustration with what appears to be a paradox in their classroom: organizational behavior (OB) acumen is widely and increasingly regarded to be crucial to success, yet the motivation of undergraduate business students to learn OB principles seems to be low. In the present paper, we develop a theoretical foundation for exploring the perceived paradox based upon theory and research in instructional design and learner motivation and empirically test hypotheses drawn from the model. Results provide evidence that: 1) basic undergraduate accounting and computing courses were perceived by students to be significantly more interesting and relevant to their personal goals than a basic OB course, and 2) a skill-oriented format of an OB course led to enhanced initial interest and perceptions of relevance for students who tended to be more learning-oriented and less grade-oriented. Implications for research and practice in organizational behavior education are discussed. |
| | Keywords: learner motivation; instructional design; undergraduate education |