Making it real: Intentionally connecting business education to practice (Moronke Idiagbon-Oke, Ph.D., Allison Mason DBA , Randy Gibb Ph.D, and Helen G. Hammond, Ph.D.)
Business education was originally more practical, but over time, it has become more theoretical and an outlet to disseminate the latest methods and findings of research, thereby losing relevance to practitioners who are more interested in tangible outcomes rather than research papers that split hairs or have fancy statistical models. In fact, most schools now have now created a role titled "Professors of Practice", where industry practitioners come in to provide first-hand knowledge and experien...
Business education was originally more practical, but over time, it has become more theoretical and an outlet to disseminate the latest methods and findings of research, thereby losing relevance to practitioners who are more interested in tangible outcomes rather than research papers that split hairs or have fancy statistical models. In fact, most schools now have now created a role titled "Professors of Practice", where industry practitioners come in to provide first-hand knowledge and experience as a way of giving students the hands-on, experiential knowledge missing from business classes. It is time for business education to evolve once more, this time, reverting to its foundational origins. Based upon the foundations of "open-systems theory" and “institutional theory”, this presentation shows how a business school in the Southwest United States has intentionally revised its processes, goals, and curriculum to educate future leaders by equipping them with a new set of skills through an iterative process that intentionally includes practitioner feedback at various stages of the education cycle. Session attendees will walk out of this session with a road map of how to connect curriculum and practice by building programs around the needs of industry.
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