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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Use of Student Field-Based Consulting in Business
Education: A Comparison of American and
Australian Business Schools
Donald Sciglimpaglia & Howard R. Toole
To cite this article: Donald Sciglimpaglia & Howard R. Toole (2009) Use of Student Field-Based
Consulting in Business Education: A Comparison of American and Australian Business Schools,
Journal of Education for Business, 85:2, 68-77, DOI: 10.1080/08832320903253619
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832320903253619

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

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Date: 11 January 2016, At: 22:27

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 85: 68–77, 2010
C Heldref Publications
Copyright

ISSN: 0883-2323
DOI: 10.1080/08832320903253619

Use of Student Field-Based Consulting in Business
Education: A Comparison of American and
Australian Business Schools
Donald Sciglimpaglia and Howard R. Toole
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:27 11 January 2016

San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA

This study reports the results of a comparative study of American business schools and
Australian schools of commerce regarding utilization of field-based consultancy and associated
critical variables. Respondents in the survey were 141 deans of Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited business schools in the United States and
71 heads of Australian commerce programs. Overall, student field-based consultancy is widely
used in both countries. This indicates that it should be possible to implement international
field-based consultancies between American and Australian business schools, which would,
in turn, lead to increased potential for international study abroad for business students of both
countries.
Keywords: American business education, Australian business education, Field-based consulting, Management education, Service learning

Doran, Sciglimpaglia, and Toole (2001) addressed recent and
pending changes in American Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) business education.
As an introduction to their study, which presented results of
a survey on the role of field-based consulting (FBC) experiences, they noted, “As we enter a new millennium, many
business disciplines are undergoing a major and pronounced
period of change. Those critical of traditional academic approaches have called for significant improvements to increase
the relevance of what is taught and to improve the quality of

graduates. Part of these challenges stem from more systematic critiques of business education in general. In recent years,
academic programs in business have come under fire for being too passive, for possessing too many artificial boundaries
between disciplines, and for being too teacher directed” (p.
8). Some have questioned educators as not seeing the business environment as do managers (Aistrich, Sciglimpaglia,
& Saghafi, 2006). We hold that one of the pedagogical solutions to the challenges presently faced by business education
is the increased introduction of FBC into the business curriculum. Many leading MBA programs such as those Duke

Correspondence should be addressed to Howard R. Toole, School of Accountancy, College of Business, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile
Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-8221, USA. E-mail: htoole@mail.sdsu.edu

University, the University of Chicago, and the University of
Virginia, to name just a few, have instituted such programs
(West & Aupperle, 1996). FBC programs are also common in
Australia (Henderson, Sciglimpaglia, & Toole, 2003; Whittenberg, Toole, Sciglimpaglia, & Medlin, 2006). In addition,
a recent review of experiential learning theory (Kolb & Kolb,
2005) suggests that FBC is firmly supported by this theory.
AACSB International accreditation standards clearly suggest a move toward more experiential education. Ames
(2006) noted that the current standards (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business [AACSB] International, 2005) advocate an increase and enhancement of experiential education in higher business education. We are
unaware of any prior AACSB statement which takes such a
strong stance. The FBC model is a typical form that is taken

in business school environment, not only in the United States
but internationally as well. In the 2005 standards, no direct mention of FBC is made. However, AACSB specifically
notes the need for responsive interaction learning among
stake holders, implying a pronounced need for interaction
between business students and businesses or organizations.
The active, reflective learning that occurs in a FBC format is
ideally suited for this purpose. Ames (2006) stated, “According to AACSB, interactive experiences must be available in
all major learning experiences of the business school” (p. 2).
Thus, it may be expected that methodologies such as FBC

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STUDENT FIELD-BASED CONSULTING

and other responsive-interaction methodologies become increasingly incorporated into the curricula of AACSB schools
and those aspiring to accreditation.
Other research has reported on the use and acceptance
of FBC in American business schools (e.g., Doran et al.,
2001). In the present study, we looked at use and applicability of FBC in an international context, comparing American
and Australian education. We were interested in determining

how the Australian experience with FBC compares with that
in the United States. A major reason for our interest was that
Australian universities are in the early stages of receiving
AACSB or other accreditation and should be in a position
to respond to the AACSB call for the enhancement of experiential learning in business education. The overall purpose
of this research study was to determine the extent of penetration of FBC in Australia and to compare that with use of
FBC in American AACSB business programs. In addition,
the present study provided an opportunity to compare other
pedagogical and administrative factors as well. The operating premise was that the results should be similar because the
Australian economy is similar in nature to that of the American economy, and the Australian education system is quite
similar and the Australian government recently sponsored
a thorough reexamination of the Australian higher education system. The Australian government’s reexamination of
business education culminated in a policy document known
as the Karpin Report (Commonwealth of Australia, 1995).
which yielded many educational recommendations regarding
business education which parallel the American experience.
In addition, as Australian universities move toward AACSB
or other international accreditation, it would seem that they
would be motivated to respond to the 2005 AACSB call
for enhancing experiential learning. The call for increased

experiential education raises numerous difficult assessment
issues. We do not address these issues in this article, but they
are the subject of future research we are presently undertaking.

COMPARING THE UNITED STATES AND
AUSTRALIA: ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
SCHOOL EDUCATION
Australia and the United States are similar along a number
of economic and educational dimensions. Australia’s economy is similar to that of the United States, but very much
smaller, with GDP (purchasing power parity) of $666 billion
compared with $13 trillion (2007) in the United States. The
private sector is dominant, with what is left of the public sector rapidly being privatized. Even the local post office is now
a franchise operation. The population is slightly more than 20
million, the main reason for the only substantial difference
with the United States. This small market is not large enough
to support an efficient manufacturing sector without substantial exports. Similarly, the primary sector produces far more

69

than the population can consume so exports are critical. The

Australian economy is, therefore, very dependent on exports
and more vulnerable than the United States to economic conditions in other countries. In most other respects, however,
the Australian economy is very similar to that of the United
States.
Australian universities are almost exclusively federally
funded and differ from their U.S. counterparts in several
important respects. First, most basic undergraduate degrees
(such as the BA) are done in 3 years. Credits are counted the
same as in the United States, but semesters tend to be shorter
than their American counterparts. The second major difference is that most professional studies (e.g., medicine) start at
the undergraduate level. There is nothing comparable to an
American-style graduate school except in business in which
the MBA is widely used to give basic business skills. Finally,
a lecture–tutorial system is firmly ingrained in Australian
university education.
In Australia, business or commerce programs are located
in various divisions (or faculties) of the university, with no
uniform administrative structure. In some cases, there is a
separate business faculty and, in others, they are grouped with
law or social sciences or some other disciplines. Similarly,

there is no uniform title for business schools. Some are called
schools, some are called departments, some are called divisions, some are called faculties, and some are called sections.
There is no major generally accepted accreditation process
for business schools apart from accreditation by the professional accounting associations and there is nothing equivalent
to an association of business schools. Recently, a small number of schools have become accredited by the AACSB or
have obtained European accreditation.
In conclusion, the subsequent exhibit summarizes a comparison between Australia and the United States, based on
data from the World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency,
2007). With the exception of pure size of economy and population, the two countries are very similar, with comparable per capita GDP, employment, population growth, and
age distribution. As noted, business or commerce programs
are found in a variety of academic faculties or schools in
Australia. Although we identified a total of 157 separate
programs (subsequently discussed), only 5 are currently accredited by AACSB, compared with 555 in the United States
(2008). Table 1 summarizes the comparison of the United
States and Australia.

AUSTRALIA’S KARPIN REPORT
In 1995, the Australian government sponsored a thorough
reexamination of the education system, designed to study
the country’s readiness to compete in a world economy.

The resulting study, known as the Karpin Report, addressed a number of key issues regarding Australian business

70

D. SCIGLIMPAGLIA AND H. R. TOOLE
TABLE 1
Selected Characteristics of the United States and Australia

Measure

United States

Australia

GDP (PPP)
Per capita GDP (PPP)
Unemployment rate (%)
Population size
Median age (years)
Population growth rate (%)

University business programs and AACSB
accreditation

$13.0 trillion
$43,500
4.6%
298.4 million
36.9
0.91
555 (2008)

$666.3 billion
$32,900
4.9%
20.3 million
36.5
0.85
41 universities with various commerce programs, 157
total programs, 5 accredited by AACSB (2007)

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Note. PPP = purchasing power parity; AACSB = Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

education and has become a widely cited source on business
and commerce education. That report argued that
the over-emphasis on functional skills and the competitive
ethos of many functional specialist schools in universities
and other educational institutions act as a barrier to building better teamwork skills and an integrated approach to
business management. Despite considerable investment in
management education, the universities are not adequately
addressing the issues related to cross-functional integration
for educating graduates. . . (Seethamraju, 1999, p. 133).

Another recent study indicated that “Academics have
favourable attitudes to small business and entrepreneurship
education and strongly support the Karpin recommendations” (Breen & Bergin, 1999, p. 2). Those recommendations were, in part, summarized by King (1997), who
stated,
‘Education for and through enterprise’ was the refrain of
the 1995 Karpin report to the federal Labor government,
attempting to legitimize direct ties between the school system and business. Since that time, the trend towards tying
school education to the needs of business has increased
rapidly.

One of the major recommendations of the Karpin Report
is that MBA students (and, it follows, for undergraduates
as well) should consult with businesses (Anderson, 2002).
This recommendation parallels the use of FBC as a teaching methodology in the United States. This methodology, if
widely employed, may be seen as one that helps increase the
cross-functional integration of business students and achieve
one of the goals of the Karpin Report.
However, prior to the publication of a recent study by
Henderson et al. (2003), based on a survey of Australian business educators, there was little understanding of the extent to
which FBC had penetrated Australian business education. In
fact, Breen and Bergin (1999) summarized the state of knowledge as, “It appears that little research has been undertaken
in Australia in the years following the 1995 Karpin Report
so it is difficult to ascertain the effect, if any, on the extent

and type of teaching of small business and entrepreneurship
education taking place in Australian universities” (p. 11).

FIELD-BASED CONSULTING
We use the term field-based consultancy (FBC) through out
this paper. FBC is a methodology which employs a live-case
approach by utilizing students or student teams to consult
with actual clients in the business community. By experiencing the consultation process, students are required to integrate all they have learned in their prior education to bring
relevant tools to their consultancy engagement. The course
is frequently structured along the lines of a consulting firm.
A more complete discussion of the FBC framework may be
found in Kunkel (2002).

THE STUDY
In this article, we present results of research designed to
explore some of the critical variables associated with FBC as
an aid to designing successful FBC programs in American
and Australian business schools. The major objectives of the
study were to determine:
1. Extent of utilization of FBC in American and Australian business programs,
2. Alternative ways of structuring FBC experiences in
business curricula,
3. Alternative methods of measuring student performance
employed in FBC experiences, and
4. Key success factors for the FBC experience.
The research was designed to explore the critical variables associated with FBC experiences in American and
Australian business schools. In the United States, all 594
deans of AACSB member business schools were identified
and surveyed by mail survey to ascertain the extent of involvement with FBC and the associated success factors. The

71

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STUDENT FIELD-BASED CONSULTING

overwhelming majority (now 555) of the 594 member
schools are accredited. A second mailing was sent approximately 2 weeks later. Deans (or their designees) returned
a total of 141 questionnaires, a response rate of 24% of all
AACSB member business schools in the United States.
Because no counterpart to AACSB exists in Australia, a
large-scale Internet study of university Web sites was used to
identify Australian commerce programs. Using this method,
a total of 41 Australian universities with commerce programs were identified. From these Web sites, administrative personnel with similar organizational responsibilities to
American business school deans were identified, yielding total of 157 heads of the various commerce programs. Each
administrator was sent a questionnaire by mail, with a second mailing approximately 2 weeks later. By the close of
the study, a total of 71 heads of Australian commerce programs had responded, a response rate of 45%, nearly double
of that in the United States. The survey questionnaire was
adapted from a study reported by Doran et al. (2001). Their
study addressed the importance of a number of dimensions
of field based consulting, as viewed by deans and administrators in American business school programs. It evaluated
perceived advantages and disadvantages of FBC, alternative
forms of implementation, grading policies, faculty-related
issues, and key success factors. For the present study, the
American questionnaire version was used with little modification. The Australian version was designed, as much as
possible, to parallel that of the American survey. Many of the
constructs and program elements are directly comparable, but
some subtle differences exist. For example, as noted, Australian business-school programs are 3 years in length, most
business or commerce programs can be housed in a variety
of academic faculties, many principal administrators may be
involved and distance learning is common. By comparison,
most American business-school programs are 4 years long,
have a typical unified department or school, have one chief
administrator, and place much less emphasis on distance education. Therefore, the resultant questionnaire was reviewed
by six Australian business faculty to see what changes were
necessary for implementation in that country. As a result, a
few minor terminology changes were made. The Australian
version of the questionnaire is shown in the Appendix.

TABLE 2
Percentage of Student Field-Based Consulting in
Business Programs

Survey question

Total

United
States

Australia

College or University Offers
FBC Courses?
Yes
No

54.5
45.5

65.4
34.6

35.5
64.5

Note. χ 2 = 17.42, p ≤ .00. FBC = field-based consulting.

leges and universities in both countries became the basis of
the experience survey reported in this article.
We attempted to determine to what extent FBC is used by
the business schools in our sample. These findings are shown
in Table 3. Overall, FBC was utilized in 86.7% of undergraduate programs and 75.1% of graduate programs. Table 3 shows
that we may conclude that the degree of penetration of FBC
is greater in the United States than in Australia. There is not
a significant difference at the undergraduate level, in which
88.7% of the U.S. respondents and 77.0% of the Australian
respondents reported some form of FBC in use, but there is a
significant difference at the graduate level in which 80.0% of
U.S. respondents and 56.9% of the Australian respondents reported some form of FBC in use. A number of reasons may be
hypothesized for these differences. First, American schools
and colleges of business tend to practice more outreach activities than their Australian counterparts. Thus, a community
of interest is established and the American schools rely on
this for financial and other forms of support. In contrast, the
Australian universities do not seem to have developed such a
tradition and rely almost exclusively on the national government and student fees for support. A second possible reason
is that Australians tend to go to the university straight from
secondary school and, thus, are younger and less experienced
than their American counterparts. Finally, Australian universities are still typically very academic and much emphasis
is placed on formal examinations. The AACSB call for experiential learning may change this in the long run. At the
undergraduate level 3-hr examinations in each subject are the
norm.
Another area of inquiry was to determine the level of intensity of use of FBC methodology. These results are shown

RESULTS
The results show that, overall, in the United States and Australia, a total of 54.5% of the responding business programs
reported using FBC at either the undergraduate or graduate
level. In total, 80 colleges or universities in the U.S. sample and 25 in the Australian sample offered some form of
FBC program. This was significantly higher among business
schools (65.4%) in the United States than those in Australia
(35.5%), as shown in Table 2. Responses from these 105 col-

TABLE 3
Proportion of Business Students Involved in
Field-Based Consulting

Class level
Undergraduate
Graduate

Total

United
States

Australia

t

df

p

86.7%
75.1%

88.7%
80.0%

77.0%
56.9%

1.75
2.54

92
70

.08
.01

72

D. SCIGLIMPAGLIA AND H. R. TOOLE
TABLE 4
Percentage of Student Workload Made Up by
Field-Based Consulting Courses

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Class level
Undergraduate
None
1–25%
26–50%
51–75%
76–100%
Graduate
None
1–25%
26–50%
51–75%
76–100%

TABLE 6
Percentage of Schools With Graduation
Requirement for Field-Based Research

Total

United States

Australia

1.0
43.9
29.6
16.3
9.2

1.3
34.7
34.7
18.7
10.7

0.0
73.9
13.0
8.7
4.3

3.4
42.7
23.6
15.7
14.6

3.1
35.4
24.6
18.5
18.5

4.2
62.5
20.8
8.3
4.2

Note. All totals add to 100. Undergraduate χ 2(4, N = 100) = 11.10,
p ≤ .025; graduate χ 2(4, N = 92) = 6.78, p ≤ .148.

in Table 4. As shown, overall more than one half of the
schools in the sample used FBC for one quarter or more
of their course. Table 4 also shows that the intensity of the
FBC experience was greater in the United States than in
Australia for undergraduate coursework. In Australia, when
FBC is used as a methodology, about two thirds of the time
it usually represents only 25% or less of the proportion of
student workload in an FBC course. By way of contrast,
in the United States only about one third of the time FBC
represented 25% or less of the proportion of student workload. The lack of a relationship with the business community and student age might again be hypothesized as the
cause of these findings. These differences were found to be
significant.
We tried to determine the composition of FBC courses
in the United States and in Australia. Table 5 shows that
Australian universities tend to favor a somewhat larger size
for the FBC teams than do their American counterparts. The
average size for graduate and undergraduate FBC teams in the
United States was 4.0 students. In Australia, the average size
for undergraduate FBC consulting teams was 4.7, which was
significantly greater than in the United States. The average
in Australia at the graduate level was greater (4.3), but not
significantly different than that in the United States. This is
not a surprising finding. If there is less interaction in Australia
TABLE 5
Average Team Size of Student Field-Based
Consulting Assignment
Class level

Total

United States

Australia

Undergraduate
Graduate

4.2
4.1

4.0
4.0

4.7
4.3

Note. Undergraduate t(90) = 1.41, p ≤ .16; graduate t(77) = 0.50, p ≤
0.62.

Class level
Undergraduate
Yes
No
Graduate
Yes
No

Total

United States

Australia

17.3
82.7

18.4
81.6

13.6
86.4

22.2
77.8

24.3
75.7

16.0
84.0

Note. All percentages add to 100. Undergraduate χ 2(1, N = 97) =
0.27, p ≤ .76; graduate χ 2(1, N = 98) = 3.59, p ≤ .17.

between the universities and the business community, then
there are relatively fewer businesses available and, hence, the
teams need to be larger.
We were interested to determine to what extent business
schools required FBC experience as a graduation requirement. As Table 6 shows, there was no FBC requirement for
graduation in the vast majority of Australian and American
universities. In both Australia and the United States, the percentage of schools requiring a FBC experience was greater
in graduate programs than in undergraduate programs, and
higher in the United States than in Australia. Overall, 17.3%
of schools required a FBC experience for undergraduates.
This number was higher for graduates, at 22.2%. The American and Australian business programs were not significantly
different at either level.
One of the major purposes of the research was to assess
student, administrative, and client factors that affect the success of FBC projects. No express definition of success was
given, as this was a subjective evaluation of the respondents.
Student factors were first examined. A 5-point Likert-type
scale ranging from 1 (very adverse) to 5 (very positive) was
used to measure the impact of class size, type of student,
and assignment type. Table 7 shows that overall success was
very sensitive to class size. United States and Australian
respondents felt a class size of less than 20 is optimal. Interestingly, American respondents generally favored smaller
class sizes, significantly different than their Australian counterparts. Part-time student status is seen as negatively impacting success, with no significant difference between Australian and American results. Team consulting was favored
over individual consulting. Interestingly, American respondents rated team consulting as a significantly more positive
impact than their Australian counterparts (4.4 vs. 4.0). The
results are shown in Table 7.
Administrative factors were next examined. A 5-point
Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very adverse) to 5 (very
positive) was used to measure the impact of grading systems,
type of course, course level, and required or elective course
status. Letter or numeric grading systems were strongly favored over pass–fail grading systems with virtually identical

STUDENT FIELD-BASED CONSULTING

73

TABLE 7
Student Factors Influencing Success of Field-based Consulting Experiences

Variable

Total
(M)

United States
(M)

Australia
(M)

t

df

p

4.2
2.9
1.9
1.7

4.3
2.8
1.7
1.5

3.8
3.3
2.7
2.3

2.20
1.84
3.60
3.20

106
93
94
93

.03
.07
.00
.00

2.7
3.9

2.7
3.9

2.9
3.8

0.84
0.48

103
98

.40
.63

2.9
4.3

2.8
4.4

3.0
4.0

0.50
2.40

90
97

.63
.02

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Class size
Under 20
20–40
41–60
Over 60
Students
Part time
Full time
Type of consulting
Individual
Team

results for Australia and the United States. FBC is seen as
applicable across the curriculum but more likely to lead
to a successful consulting outcome if offered in management and marketing courses. Computer science–information
systems, finance, and accounting were rated lower. There
were no significant differences on this dimension between
Australian and U.S. responses. FBC was judged to be appropriate for elective or required courses, with use in elective courses favored. Generally there were no differences
between the two sets of respondents on these questions,
with one exception: American respondents showed a significantly greater preference for an elective course format than
did their Australian counterparts. The results are shown in
Table 8.
Client-related factors were the last area investigated. A
5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very adverse) to 5

(very positive) was used to measure the impact of client type,
size, revenues, time in business, proximity to campus, and
alumni status. In general, business schools found the most appropriate use of FBC is with for-profit firms, firms with more
than 10 employees, firms with over $100,000 in revenues,
firms that had been in business 3 years or more and firms in
which the owner or manager was an alumnus or alumna of
the university offering the consulting services. In most cases
there were no significant differences between the responses
of the U.S. and Australian samples (Table 9). American business programs felt that client revenues under $50,000 was a
significantly more appropriate to FBC success than were their
Australian counterparts. This is interesting, given the nature
of the Australian economy, with many small businesses, but
is consistent with the historic SBI type mission in the United
States.

TABLE 8
Administrative Factors Influencing Success of Field-Based Consulting Experiences

Variable
Grading option
Letter or numeric grade
Pass–fail
Type of course
Management
Marketing
Accounting
Finance
Computer science or MIS
Course level
Lower division
Junior level
Senior level
Graduate level
Requirement
Required
Elective

Total
(M)

United States
(M)

Australia
(M)

t

df

p

4.2
2.5

4.2
2.4

4.1
2.7

0.75
0.90

94
71

.45
.37

4.4
4.2
3.5
3.7
4.0

4.4
4.2
3.6
3.9
4.0

4.2
4.2
3.1
3.3
3.9

1.15
0.78
1.42
2.10
0.52

84
82
53
72
75

.25
.94
.16
.03
.60

1.7
2.8
4.5
4.5

1.6
2.7
4.5
4.5

1.9
3.1
4.3
4.2

0.91
0.88
1.10
1.44

69
74
88
78

.37
.38
.28
.16

3.3
3.8

3.4
3.9

3.3
3.3

0.30
2.01

78
76

.76
.04

Note. MIS = Information Systems.

74

D. SCIGLIMPAGLIA AND H. R. TOOLE
TABLE 9
Field-Based Client-Success Factors

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Variable
Client type
For profit
Not for profit
Service business
Manufacturing
Retail business
Government related
Client size (employees)
Under 10
11–50
51–100
Over 100
Revenues
Under $50,000
$50,001–$100,000
$100,001–$500,000
$500,001–$1,000,000
Over $1,000,000
Time in Business
1 year or less
1–3 years
3–5 years
Over 5 years
Proximity to campus
5 mi or less
6–10 mi
11–20 mi
Over 20 mi
Client is college alumnus or alumna
Yes

Total
(M)

United States
(M)

Australia
(M)

t

df

p

3.8
3.4
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.1

3.9
3.4
3.6
3.7
3.7
3.0

3.7
3.3
3.7
3.7
3.6
3.3

1.00
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.56
1.30

103
101
103
100
102
99

.32
.76
.76
.98
.57
.26

3.2
3.6
3.5
3.4

3.3
3.6
3.5
3.3

2.8
3.5
3.7
3.6

1.83
0.65
1.02
1.09

102
102
102
100

.07
.52
.31
.28

2.7
3.1
3.4
3.6
3.7

2.9
3.2
3.4
3.5
3.7

2.2
2.7
3.5
3.8
3.8

2.56
1.65
0.18
1.63
.50

94
94
95
95
93

.01
.10
.86
.11
.62

2.6
3.4
3.8
3.9

2.7
3.5
3.8
3.9

2.1
3.0
3.5
3.9

2.07
2.20
1.34
0.85

97
98
99
99

.04
.30
.18
.93

4.2
3.7
2.9
2.2

4.3
3.8
2.9
2.1

3.7
3.4
2.7
2.6

3.22
2.15
0.70
1.71

101
100
85
98

.00
.03
.49
.80

3.9

3.9

4.1

0.96

98

.34

CONCLUSIONS
Analyses of the responses to these surveys indicate a similar
penetration of field-based methodology in Australia compared with that in the United States (see Doran et al., 2001).
The Karpin Report called for the need for more crossfunctional and integrative programs in Australian commerce
education, and the Karpin report is seen to be consistent with
the 2005 AACSB standards. Results from the present study
suggest that, parallel to American business education, universities in Australia do have extensive field consulting programs. These often take the form of teams of students who
work with small business clients on a wide variety of managerial issues. Positive attitudes among Australian business
faculty toward small business and entrepreneurship clearly
further support the utilization of FBC in commerce education. In the United States and in Australia, FBC methodology
is being employed as an appropriate form of business education. Over one half of the respondents to both surveys indicate
the use of FBC methodology in their curriculum. Given the
similarity of the survey responses, the Australian higher education system, the Australian economy, and the lack of a

major language barrier between the two countries, the results
lead to the possibility of implementing international FBCs
between American and Australian business schools, albeit,
affordability is a question. This leads to increased potential
for international study abroad for business students, given
similarity of cultures and commonality of language. As evidence, Carnegie Mellon University recently announced a
program with the state of South Australia as example of
this course of action. In addition, it would seem that Australian universities should not find that a lack of experiential
learning is impediment to future AACSB accreditation. The
Australian experience generally seems to mirror that of the
United States.
The findings from the present study validate some basic
underpinnings of business-education curriculum and design.
Student-based factors perceived as influencing success included smaller classes, usually at a senior or graduate level
of study, graded coursework as opposed to pass–fail, and
full-time students. Respondents believed that established,
for-profit businesses were likely to be the most successful
FBC clients. Lastly, a client business within a 4-mile radius
of campus was also viewed as adding to the success of the

STUDENT FIELD-BASED CONSULTING

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project. The respondents rated the number of employees and
the annual revenues evenly, with no one category viewed as
more or less successful.
As a learning method, field-based learning adds value to
students, the clients involved, the faculty, and the institutions.
The hurdles continue to be the need for a fair allocation
of the time and resources to the parties involved. Once the
value added by FBC programs to the students, clients, faculty,
and institution are clearly understood, it should be easier for
college administrations to fairly support faculty involvement
in programs such as the Small Business Institute in the United
States as well as other similar programs.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank the faculty of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University and the College
of Commerce at Adelaide University for help with previous
versions of this manuscript and the survey instrument. In addition the authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Education for Business for numerous
helpful comments which have improved this manuscript.

REFERENCES
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Ames, M. D. (2006, January). AACSB International’s advocacy of experimental learning and assurance of learning—Boom or bust for SBI
student consulting? The changing entrepreneurial landscape. Proceedings of the USABE/SBI 2006 Joint Conference, Tucson, Arizona, USA,
8–15.
Anderson, J. (2002, September). Opening plenary session speech. Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference, Adelaide,
Australia.

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Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.
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(SEAANZ), Adelaide, Australia.
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Doran, M., Sciglimpaglia, D., & Toole, H. (2001). The role of field-based
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8–18.
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international accreditation: An Australian perspective. The Journal of
Academic Administration in Higher Education, 2(1–2), 9–13.

APPENDIX
Survey Questionnaire (Australian Version)
1. Does your school, department, or discipline offer any courses in which students engage in field-based consulting?
(field-based consulting is defined as the use of students, individually or in teams, to consult with actual businesses, excluding
internships)
YES
NO
(IF FIELD-BASED CONSULTATION IS NOT USED PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED, GO TO QUESTION #11 AND
RETURN QUESTIONNAIRE)
2. What percentage of your school, department, or discipline undergraduate total class offerings utilize field-based
consultation?
0%



1−25%



26−50%



51−75%



76−100%



What percentage of your school, department or discipline graduate total class offerings utilize field-based consultation?
0%



1−25%



26−50%



51−75%



76−100%



76

D. SCIGLIMPAGLIA AND H. R. TOOLE

3. Of the undergraduate courses that utilize some form of field-based consultation, on average, what percentage of the student’s
workload is field-based consultative experience?
1−25%



26−50%



51−75%



76−100%



Of the graduate courses that utilize some form of field-based consultation, on average, what percentage of the student’s
workload is field-based consultative experience?
1−25%



26−50%



51−75%



76−100%



4. When undergraduate students engage in field-based consultation, what percentage work in teams?
If teams are used, what is the typical average number of undergraduate students per team?

students per team

5. When graduate students engage in field-based consultation, what percentage work in teams?

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%

%

If teams are used, what is the typical average number of graduate students per team?
team
6. Are individual students on a team given the same grade?

YES

NO

7. Do you feel this methodology is appropriate for part-time or adjunct staff?

students per

Don’t Know
YES

NO

Don’t Know

8. Is there a requirement that an undergraduate student in your program be exposed to a field-based consultative experience
in order to graduate?
YES NO
Don’t Know
Is there a requirement that a graduate student in your program be exposed to a field-based consultative experience in order
to graduate?
YES
NO
Don’t Know
9. Please rate the following factors in regards to their effect on the success of field-based consultative courses.

Having: less than 20 students in the course
20–40 students in the course
41–60 students in the course
over 61 students in the course
Having: part time students
full time students
Consulting by: individuals
teams
Offered as: part of a management course
part of a marketing course
part of an accounting course
part of a finance course
part of a computer/MIS course
Offered as: a 1st-year course
a 2nd-year course
a 3rd-year course
a graduate level course
Grading is: a numerical score
a pass/fail grade
Is a(n): mandatory part of curriculum
elective course
Other, please specify:

Adversely affects
the course






















































































Does not affect
the course






















































































Positively affects
the course











































STUDENT FIELD-BASED CONSULTING

77

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10. Please rate the following characteristics of businesses in regards to their effect on the success of field-based consulting.

Is a: for-profit business
nonprofit business
Is a: service business
retail business
manufacturing business
government-related business
Has been in business: less than 1 year
1 to less than 3 years
3 to less than 5 years
over 5 years
Employs: under 10 employees
11–50 employees
51–100 employees
over 100 employees
Earns revenues of: under $50,000
$50,001–$100,000
$100,001–$500,000
$500,001–$1,000,000
over $1,000,000
Proximity to university is: under 5 miles
6–10 miles
11–20 miles
over 20 miles
Business’s owner/contact is a school alumni

Adversely affects
the course


































































































Does not affect
the course


































































































Other, please specify:
11. What is the title of your position?
University name:
Administrative unit for which you are responding?
Approximate number of undergraduate full time equivalent students for which you are responding?
Approximate number of graduate full time equivalent students for which you are responding?
12. Please identify the type of school: Public Private
If other, please specify:
13. Please identify the programs offered: Bachelor’s Masters M.B.A. Other
If other, please specify:
14. How would you characterize the university’s surrounding community: Suburban Rural Urban Other
If other, please specify:

Positively affects
the course