The 2015 International Conference of Management Sciences ICoMS 2015, April 23, UMY, Indonesia
| 130
Challenges and Strategies for Management and Business Education: Addressing the Case of Relevance
Meika Kurnia Puji Rahayu Dyah Anggraeni
1
1
Department of Management and Business, University of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia meika_kurniaumy.ac.id
School of Business, Charles Darwin University, Australia meikacdu.edu.au
ABSTRACT
Management and business education has been viewed as a provider of qualified human resources for business. Therefore, rapidly changing ways in which business is conducted is impacting on the curriculum of management
and business education. Forces such as globalization, technological change, and new job requirements bring significant affects to management and business education. Management and business education is charged to
offer learning experiences for students that meet the needs of the contemporary business environment and provide students with a relevant and challenging educational experience. However, for many years, the
existence of management and business education has become a part of a long-running debate. There are substantial questions about the relevance of
management and business education’s products and doubts about the graduates on business practice. This paper aims to suggest strategies for management and business education
in performing its roles. For that purpose, this paper develops an historical review of the long debate in the management and business education area. In addition, this paper highlights the roles of management and
business education in society and outlines current issues and challenges faced by management and business education. This paper concludes by suggesting that management and business education should define program
which is more practical without neglecting the academic requirement.
Keywords: management and business education, roles, challenges
1. INTRODUCTION
Management and business education is the topic which is increasingly being investigated in business
journals at least for three major reasons. The first reason is that management and business education,
at university level in particular, provides significant roles in the contemporary society Clay 2005;
Pfeffer Fong 2002; Sastry 2011. Management and business education is influential in developing
and proposing current management concepts relating to the profession of management and
business practices Yeung Singh 2011. Therefore, management and managerial skills has
been identified as a core competence required for economic prosperity and possibly even economic
development Pfeffer Fong 2002. The second
reason, within the “knowledge-based economy”, a high effectiveness in managing large-scale private
sector organizations is highly needed, which in turn requires managers who are able to mobilize and use
the knowledge Pfeffer and Fong 2002, p. 92. In this context, management and business education is
expected to provide research-based knowledge for the development and improvement of modern
management knowledge, including financial and accounting concepts and tools Crainer Dearlove
1998. Finally, for many years, management and business education institutions, which often
referred as “business schools”, have enjoyed an increasing acknowledgement which is shown by
the rising number of enrolment Khurana 2007; Starkey Tiratsoo 2007.
Looking back
at the
concept, the
term “management and business education” involves an
explanation about two concepts, namely education or academic and business. Education refers to
education on business and management at any level secondary, tertiary, or postgraduate and any form
formal, informal, or in-house. Some scholars use the term business education, whereas others use the
term management education Bennis OToole 2005; Friga, Bettis Sullivan 2003; Schoemaker
2008; Trank Rynes 2003. Even, sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably. This paper
focuses on the discussion about management and business education at university level, both at
undergraduate and graduate level. These two terms are also interchangeably used with another term,
The 2015 International Conference of Management Sciences ICoMS 2015, April 23, UMY, Indonesia
| 131
namely “business school”. Thus, the four terms, management and business education, management
education, business education, and business school stated in this paper will refer to the same meaning,
which is an education at university level undergraduate and graduate level focuses on
management and business field.
From the explanation above, it is clearly understood that discussing management and
business education will not only discuss about the education, but also business. Business and
management education have a unique relationship which gives a significant influence for achieving
the purposes of each. The special connection between academic and business was arisen because
they are mutually related and interdependence Starkey Tempest 2008. Business world
requires
talented leaders
in business
and management who able
to advance company’s goals, able to meet stakeholders’ expectations, and
able to response the global change of business environment Markus, Petronella Vervoort Petra
2012. The needs are largely requested from the graduates of management and business education.
In addition, companies need support from management and business education in providing
other needs such as, research to support decision making processes or consultancy on managerial
aspects Lepeley Albornoz 2012; Starkey Tempest 2008.
Consequently, how closely management and business education reflect on, conceptualize and
learn from the changes in the real business world is the central factor contributing to the success of
business education Hawawini 2005; Kao Mao 2011. Business and management education needs
to understand and respond to the current changes in business world that have an effect on business
growth as well as business education itself. Business educators are charged to provide learning
experiences for students that meet the needs of the contemporary business environment as well as
provide students with a relevant and challenging educational experience Cornuel 2007; Starkey
Tempest 2009.
However, although management and business education institutions are perceived by the general
public as the embodiment of managerial thinking and economic development in contemporary
society, for many years they have been experiencing lack of trust and growing scepticism
Muff 2012; Pfeffer Fong 2002; Yeung Singh 2011. Business education is still in doubt able to
produce qualified graduates in business. In addition, they are still in doubt in providing courses
and research which have significant influences on management practice Pfeffer Fong 2002. In his
book, Managers Not MBA‟s, Mintzberg 2004 indicates that management and business education
at university level is failed in equipping the graduates with appropriate business skills needed
by the 21st-century business world. Based on his research, Mintzberg states, MBA programs not
only fail to develop managers but give their students a false impression of managing that, when
put into practice, is undermining our organizations
and our societies”. He doubted whether business schools can graduate excellent 21st-century
managers using the curriculum which has not been revised since the late 1950s.
This paper indicates that the actual problem faced by management and business education is a crisis
of relevance, which in turn generates a crisis of trust. This paper supports the arguments from Hall,
Agarwal and Green 2013 that the increasingly irrelevance between management education and
business is associated with the view that there is insufficient engagement between business schools
and business. One cause is the academic institutions
sometimes are
oblivious that
management education and business are different in purpose, although they have a close relationship.
Management and business education is a part of a higher education system which is moved by
concerns of scientists that management and business education should focus on an intellectual
achievement and a research-based knowledge sharing. On the other hand, business communities
emphasize on the mastery of practical knowledge Risi 2005; Starkey Tiratsoo 2007.
This paper suggests that to maintain the engagement with business, business education
institutions need to understand the dynamics of the current business. For doing so, this paper
investigates factors influencing the business changes that will also have effects on management
education.
However, since
the challenging
partnership between business education institutions and industry has arisen throughout business
education evolution, previously this paper provides a brief description about the nature of the
relationship between management education and business by reflecting to the evolutionary of
management and business education Risi 2005. It is imperative to explain how management and
business education institutions have shaped and been shaped by business community. Finally, this
paper provides several concerns need to be considered by management and business education
to keep the relevance.
The 2015 International Conference of Management Sciences ICoMS 2015, April 23, UMY, Indonesia
| 132
2. THE EVOLUTIONARY OF
