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business problems. Unfortunately, the management and business education which is considered to be
the providers of the demand are doubtful. There was a question from both scholars and business
practitioners on the significance of the management
and business education’s product as well as effect of the outcome on managerial capability of their
graduates and management practice Chia Holt 2008; Hay Hodgkinson 2008; Pfeffer Fong
2002. Management and business education graduates were seen as highly academic but
narrowly business-focused because they were little equipped with skills and competencies that meet
the real world of business Mintzberg 2004; Risi 2005. The report suggested that the management
and business education institutions should pay attention to several issues such as, curriculum
design that embracing soft-skill development, relevance of research and business practices, and an
engagement between business education and business itself Friga, Bettis Sullivan 2003.
Responding the critiques, some top business schools redesigned their curricula which more
emphasis on the relevance to industry’s need Risi 2005. For example, the Northwestern’s Kellog
School initiated to develop a strategic partnership with corporate. The School used a business
advisory council that consisted of corporate managers and executives. The University of
Tennessee-Knoxville transformed its curriculum with the firm-oriented themes of creating value.
The
Warwick Business
School inserted
apprenticeship into its curriculum that aim to give a practical skill required by business practices. The
Pennsylvania State University redesigned the curriculum involving integrative functional courses
which more emphasis on marketing, finance, operational
management, and
strategic management.
Entering 2000s to date, the critiques still remain and even became a long debate. Some commented
that management and business education are impractical; in contrast, the others view the
institutions are too vocational Pfeffer Fong 2002. The impact of the long debates is that
management and business education is like being on the swing. They shift over to a more academic
and theoretical curriculum, but then they have to take their journey back as a vocational degree
which previously had been criticised as lack of scientific merit. The key word remain the same, it
is about the relevance between business education what should learn and business the real practice.
3. FORCES FOR TODAY’S BUSINESS
WORLD
Businesses face at least four different forces that is changing the environment within which business
operates and in turn impacting the business education. They are: globalization, information and
communication technology ICT, demographic shift, and deregulation Escudero 2011; Friga,
Bettis Sullivan 2003; Hawawini 2005.
Globalization shrinks the space and time taken to travel physically and electronically between places.
It points to the increasing connectivity across places or the extension of social relations across
distance. The world has become a giant market place
due to
the development
of faster
transportation, communication, and the availability of instantaneous information. It makes distances
and boundaries amongst businesses meaningless Dhillon 2009. As a result, there is an increased of
resources that are not physically present in the locales, including new talented and skilled human
resources. In turn, the competition for job seekers is increased.
Information and Communication Technology ICT has emerged as one of drivers of business changes
that has a significant impact on both businesses and business education Friga, Bettis Sullivan 2003;
Schoemaker 2008. With the use of Internet, businesses enable to develop e-commerce, e-
auction, e-trade, wherein consumers can buy products from distance companies or businesses as
easily as they can from a local store. Firms are not only looking for local competitors, but also
worldwide competitors. In addition, ICT plays a number of roles in the business. First, ICT is a
catalyst for modernising and improving business performance Powell Dent-Micallef 1997.
Second, ICT plays an important role in developing an effective and efficient information building in
businesses and organizations Bhatt et al. 2010; Dhar Sundararajan 2007. Third, ICT enables
businesses to generate and disseminate information that enable businesses to give accurate and creative
responses to markets and customer demands, while the last, ICT become enabler for businesses to
create value which will improve their competitive advantages Ali, GE Magalhaes 2008; Ali, M
2004; Bhatt et al. 2010; Yuhetty 2004. As examples,
the development
of information
technology to support inventory management such as electronic data interchange with suppliers
enables two large retailers, Toy R Us and Wal- Mart, improve their services and operational
efficiencies. The use of ICT in inventory management also supports Xerox to provide just-
in-time delivery services and improves supplier relationships.
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The next force behind the business changes is the demographic shifts. It involves population growth,
diversity, a new workplace, and familiarity with technology Friga, Bettis Sullivan 2003. A
greater number of the population, especially at the productive age, increases the level of competition
in searching of jobs. Moreover, issue of diversity, especially
with regards
to gender
more opportunities
for women,
age, race
and nationalities, has also increased the competition
amongst employee. However, businesses become increasingly benefited since they have chance to
redefine and tighten the job requirements in order to get the best work forces. In addition, the
changing of business has also resulted in a shift of job type and workplaces. The biggest change is the
reduction in the need for large numbers of unskilled or semiskilled manual workers to operate factories
and industrial production lines. This mostly occurs in the developing countries. Market seeks for more
people to work in knowledge-based industries, for instance in high-tech sectors such as computing,
telecommunications, and biotechnology, and in service industries, such as financial services,
health, entertainment, hospitality, and tourism. Consequently, there is a much greater need for
highly educated workers.
Deregulation is another driven factor for business changes. Business operation is certainly influenced
by local government’s policies. In this case, the government regulation and deregulation related to
trades and economies have a significant influence on the business of life. Understanding the authority
of the government and its relationship with the industries or businesses is essential for managers in
developing strategies and in achieving the objectives. In some cases, deregulation from
government is beneficial for business, but on other
cases it conflicts with businesses’ objectives and creates an uncooperative relationship between
business and government.
4. CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES