Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T17:37:29.930Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Business school learning goals: Alignment with evidence-based models and accreditation standards

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2017

Kyle E Brink ,
Timothy B Palmer  and
Robert D Costigan
Kyle E Brink*
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
Timothy B Palmer
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
Robert D Costigan
Affiliation:
School of Business, St. John Fisher College, 3690 East Avenue, Rochester, NY, USA
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Programmatic learning goals serve as the foundation for an educational institution’s curriculum design and assurance of learning processes. The purpose of our study is to determine the relevance or alignment of undergraduate business school learning goals. We identify the learning goals of US undergraduate business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-International (AACSB) and determine the extent to which the goals are aligned with (a) evidence-based competencies that are needed for managerial success (including the ‘Great Eight’ and the ‘hyperdimensional taxonomy’) and (b) content areas identified in AACSB’s Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation Standards for Business Accreditation. We found that learning goals conform to AACSB Standards and evidence-based managerial competencies, but goals are most closely aligned with AACSB Standards, followed by the Great Eight, and the hyperdimensional taxonomy, respectively. We discuss the implications of our findings with respect to business schools’ assurance of learning processes and provide recommendations for AACSB, business schools, the broader academy, and future research.

Keywords

business educationlearning goalsassurance of learning
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , July 2018 , pp. 474 - 491
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (2011). ACBSP standards and criteria for demonstrating excellence in Baccalaureate/Graduate degree schools and programs. Retrieved April 20, 2012 from http://www.acbsp.org/download.php?sid=29 Google Scholar
Agresti, A. (2002). Categorical data analysis (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – International (AACSB) (2012). Eligibility procedures and accreditation standards for business accreditation. Retrieved April 20, 2012 from http://www.AACSB.edu/accreditation/standards-busn-jan2012.pdf Google Scholar
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – International (AACSB) (2016). Eligibility procedures and accreditation standards for business accreditation. Retrieved May 5, 2016 from http://www.aacsb.edu/-/media/aacsb/docs/accreditation/standards/businessstds_2013_update-3oct_final.ashx?la=en Google Scholar
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – International (AACSB) Globalization of Management Education Task Force (2011). Recommendations to AACSB International from the Globalization of Management Education Task Force. Retrieved April 20, 2012 from http://www.aacsb.edu/resources/globalization/Recommendations_from_Globalization_of_Management_Education_Task_Force.pdf Google Scholar
Astin, A. W. (1993). Assessment for excellence: The philosophy and practice of assessment and evaluation in higher education. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.Google Scholar
Bartram, D. (2005). The Great Eight competencies: A criterion-centric approach to validation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1185–1203.Google Scholar
Bell, M. P., Connerly, M. L., & Cocchiara, F. K. (2009). The case for mandatory diversity education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8, 597–609.Google Scholar
Bennis, W. G., & O’Toole, J. (2005). How business schools lost their way. Harvard Business Review, 83, 96–104.Google Scholar
Borman, W. C., & Brush, D. H. (1993). More progress toward a taxonomy of managerial performance requirements. Human Performance, 6, 1–21.Google Scholar
Borman, W. C., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1993). Expanding the criterion domain to include elements of contextual performance. In N. Schmitt & W. C. Borman (Eds.), Personnel selection (pp. 71–98). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Briner, R. B., Denyer, D., & Rousseau, D. M. (2009). Evidence-based management: Concept cleanup time? Academy of Management Perspectives, 23(4), 19–32.Google Scholar
Brink, K. E., & Costigan, R. D. (2015). Oral-communication skills: Are the priorities of the workplace and AACSB-accredited business programs aligned? Academy of Management Learning & Education, 14(2), 205–221.Google Scholar
Brink, K. E., Palmer, T. B., & Costigan, R. D. (2014). Learning goals of AACSB-accredited undergraduate business programs: Predictors of conformity versus differentiation. Journal of Education for Business, 89(8), 425–432.Google Scholar
Brown, K. G., Charlier, S. D., Rynes, S. L., & Hosmanek, A. (2013). What do we teach in organizational behavior? An analysis of MBA syllabi. Journal of Management Education, 37, 447–471.Google Scholar
Campbell, J. P. (1994). Alternative models of job performance and their implications for selection and classification. In M. G. Rumsey, C. B. Walker, & J. H. Harris (Eds.), Personnel selection and classification (pp. 33–51). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Campbell, J. P., McCloy, R. A., Oppler, S. H., & Sager, C. E. (1993). A theory of performance. In N. Schmitt & W. C. Borman (Eds.), Personnel selection in organization (pp. 35–70). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Cheit, E. F. (1985). Business schools and their critics. California Management Review, 27, 43–62.Google Scholar
Cook, C. W. (1993). Curriculum change: Bold thrusts or timid extensions. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 6, 28–40.Google Scholar
Costigan, R. D., & Brink, K. E. (2015a). Another perspective on MBA program alignment: An investigation of learning goals. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 14(2), 260–276.Google Scholar
Costigan, R. D., & Brink, K. E. (2015b). On the prevalence of linear versus non-linear thinking in undergraduate business education: A lot of rhetoric, not enough evidence. Journal of Management and Organization, 21(4), 535–547.Google Scholar
Covaleski, M. A., & Dirsmith, M. W. (1988). An institutional perspective on the rise, social transformation, and fall of a university budget category. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33, 562–587.Google Scholar
Datar, S. M., Garvin, D. A., & Cullen, P. G. (2010). Rethinking the MBA: Business education at a crossroads. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.Google Scholar
Deephouse, D. L. (1996). Does isomorphism legitimate? Academy of Management Journal, 39, 1024–1035.Google Scholar
Dierdorff, E. C., Rubin, R. S., & Morgeson, F. P. (2009). The milieu of managerial work: An integrative framework linking work context to role requirements. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 972–988.Google Scholar
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48, 147–160.Google Scholar
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1991). Introduction. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 1–38). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Dowell, B. E., & Wexley, K. N. (1978). Development of a work behavior taxonomy for first-line supervisors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 63, 563–572.Google Scholar
Evans, J. M., Trevino, L. K., & Weaver, G. R. (2006). Who’s in the ethics driver’s seat? Factors influencing ethics in the MBA curriculum. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5, 278–293.Google Scholar
Flanagan, J. C. (1951). Defining the requirements of the executive’s job. Personnel Psychology, 28, 28–35.Google Scholar
Gioia, D. A., & Corley, K. G. (2001). Being good versus looking good: Business school rankings and the Circean transformation from substance to image. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1, 107–120.Google Scholar
Gladstein, D. L., & Reilly, N. P. (1985). Group decision making under threat: The Tycoon game. Academy of Management Journal, 28, 613–627.Google Scholar
Goldstein, I. L. (1993). Training in organizations: Needs assessment, development, and evaluation (3rd ed.). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.Google Scholar
Goodman, P. S. (1974). An examination of the referents used in the evaluation of pay. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 12, 170–195.Google Scholar
Goodstein, J. D. (1994). Institutional pressures and strategic responsiveness: Employer involvement in work-family issues. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 350–382.Google Scholar
Hall, C. P. Jr. (1968). The maligned business school: What is a liberal education? Journal of Risk and Insurance, 35, 597–601.Google Scholar
Hemphill, J. K. (1959). Job descriptions for executives. Harvard Business Review, 37, 55–67.Google Scholar
Hirsch, P. M., & Lounsbury, M. (1997). Putting the organization back into organization theory: Action, change, and the ‘new’ institutionalism. Journal of Management Inquiry, 6, 79–88.Google Scholar
Holmes, A. F., Wilkins, M., & Zhang, S. (2017). Engagement, innovation, and impact: Tracking faculty activities under the 2013 AACSB standards. Organizational Management Journal, 14, 22–33.Google Scholar
International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (2011). Self-study manual. Retrieved April 20, 2012 from http://iacbe.org/doc/self-study-manual-11.doc Google Scholar
Katzell, R. A., Barrett, R. S., Vann, D. H., & Hogan, J. M. (1968). Organizational correlates of executive roles. Journal of Applied Psychology, 52, 22–28.Google Scholar
Kilpatrick, J., Dean, K. L., & Kilpatrick, P. (2008). Philosophical concerns about interpreting AACSB assurance of learning standards. Journal of Management Inquiry, 17, 200–212.Google Scholar
Kulik, C. T., & Ambrose, M. L. (1992). Personal and situational determinants of referent choice. Academy of Management Review, 17, 212–237.Google Scholar
Kurz, R., & Bartram, D. (2002). Competency and individual performance: Modeling the world of work. In I. T. Robertson, M. Callinan, & D. Bartram (Eds.), Organizational effectiveness: The role of psychology (pp. 227–255). Chichester, UK: Wiley.Google Scholar
Lejeune, C., & Vas, A. (2009). Organizational culture and effectiveness in business schools: A test of the accreditation impact. Journal of Management Development, 28, 728–741.Google Scholar
Levine, J. M., & Moreland, R. L. (1987). Social comparison and outcome evaluation in group contexts. In J. C. Masters & W. P. Smith (Eds.), Social comparison, social justice, and relative deprivation (pp. 105–127). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J., & Bracken, C. C. (2002). Content analysis in mass communication: Assessment and reporting of intercoder reliability. Human Communication Research, 28, 587–604.Google Scholar
Lowrie, A., & Willmott, H. (2009). Accreditation sickness in the consumption of business education: The vacuum in AACSB standard setting. Management Learning, 40, 411–420.Google Scholar
Luthans, F., & Lockwood, D. L. (1984). Toward an observation system for measuring leader behavior in natural settings. In J. G. Hunt, D. Hosking, C. Schriesheim, & R. Stewart (Eds.), Leaders and managers: International perspectives on managerial behavior and leadership (pp. 117–141). New York, NY: Pergamon.Google Scholar
McKenna, J. F., Cotton, C. C., & Van Auken, S. (1997). The new AACSB accreditation standards: A prospect of tiering? Journal of Organizational Change Management, 10, 491–502.Google Scholar
McKenna, J. F., Yeider, R. A., Cotton, C. C., & Van Auken, S. (1991). Business education and regional variation: An administrative perspective. Journal of Education for Business, 67, 50–55.Google Scholar
Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340–363.Google Scholar
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Miller, T. L., Wesley, C. L., & Williams, D. E. (2012). Educating the minds of caring hearts: Comparing the views of practitioners and educators on the importance of social entrepreneurship competencies. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 11(3), 349–370.Google Scholar
Mitchell, J. L. (1978). Structured job analysis of professional and managerial positions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.Google Scholar
Morse, J. J., & Wagner, F. R. (1978). Measuring the process of managerial effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 21, 23–35.Google Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics (2015). Fast facts. Retrieved September 9, 2015, from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=37 Google Scholar
Navarro, P. (2008). The MBA core curricula of top-ranked U.S. business schools: A study in failure? Academy of Management Learning & Education, 7, 108–123.Google Scholar
Noe, R. (2008). Employee training and development (4th ed.). New York, NY: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Oliver, C. (1991). Strategic responses to institutional processes. Academy of Management Review, 16, 145–179.Google Scholar
Orwig, B., & Finney, R. Z. (2007). Analysis of the mission statements of AACSB-accredited schools. Competitiveness Review, 17, 261–273.Google Scholar
Pfeffer, J., & Fong, C. T. (2002). The end of business schools? Less success than meets the eye. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1, 78–95.Google Scholar
Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. I. (2006). Evidence-based management. Harvard Business Review, 84(1), 62–75.Google Scholar
Porter, L. W., & McKibbin, L. E. (1988). Management education and development: Drift or thrust into the 21st century. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Powell, W. W. (1991). Expanding the scope of institutional analysis. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 183–203). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Prien, E. P. (1963). Development of a supervisor description questionnaire. Journal of Applied Psychology, 47, 10–14.Google Scholar
Pringle, C., & Michel, M. (2007). Assessment practices in AACSB-accredited business schools. Journal of Education for Business, 82, 202–211.Google Scholar
Rasche, A., Gilbert, D. U., & Schedel, I. (2013). Cross-disciplinary ethics education in MBA programs: Rhetoric or reality? Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12, 71–85.Google Scholar
Roller, R. H., Andrews, B. K., & Bovee, S. L. (2003). Specialized accreditation of business schools: A comparison of alternative costs, benefits, and motivations. Journal of Education for Business, 78, 197–204.Google Scholar
Rousseau, D. M. (2006). Is there such a thing as ‘evidence-based management’? Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 256–269.Google Scholar
Rousseau, D. M., & McCarthy, S. (2007). Educating managers from an evidence-based perspective. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 6(1), 84–101.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. S., & Dierdorff, E. C. (2009). How relevant is the MBA? Assessing the alignment of required curricula and required managerial competencies. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 8, 208–224.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. S., & Dierdorff, E. C. (2011). On the road to Abilene: Time to manage agreement about MBA curricular relevance. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10, 148–161.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. S., & Dierdorff, E. C. (2013). Building a better MBA: From a decade of critique toward a decennium of creation. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12, 125–141.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. S., & Martell, K. (2009). Assessment and accreditation in business schools. In S. J. Armstrong & C. V. Fukami (Eds.), The Sage handbook of management learning, education and development (pp. 364–383). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Rutherford, M. A., Parks, L., Cavazos, D. E., & White, C. D. (2012). Business ethics as a required course: Investigating the factors impacting the decision to require ethics in the undergraduate business core curriculum. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 11, 174–186.Google Scholar
Ryan, C. (1999). Trends in business curricula: The view from AACSB. Business Communication Quarterly, 62, 91–95.Google Scholar
Rynes, S. L, & Bartunek, J. M. (2013). Curriculum matters. In B. C. Holtom & E. C. Dierdorff (Eds.), Disrupt or be disrupted: A blueprint for change in management education (pp. 179–217). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Scherer, R. F., Javalgi, R. G., Bryant, M., & Tukel, O. (2005). Challenges of AACSB International accreditation for business schools in the United States and Europe. Thunderbird International Business Review, 47, 651–669.Google Scholar
Scott, W. R. (1987). The adolescence of institutional theory. Administrative Science Quarterly, 32, 493–511.Google Scholar
Scott, W. R. (2008). Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interests (3rd ed.). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Segev, E., Raveh, A., & Farjoun, M. (1999). Conceptual maps of the leading MBA programs in the United States: Core courses, concentration areas, and the ranking of the school. Strategic Management Journal, 20, 549–565.Google Scholar
Staw, B. M., Sandelands, L. E., & Dutton, J. E. (1981). Threat rigidity effects in organizational behavior: A multilevel analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26, 501–524.Google Scholar
Stogdill, R. M., Wherry, R. J., & Jaynes, W. E. (1953). A factorial study of navy officer performance. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University.Google Scholar
Sun, S. (2011). Meta-analysis of Cohen’s kappa. Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology, 11, 145–163.Google Scholar
Tett, R. P., Guterman, H. A., Bleier, A., & Murphy, P. J. (2000). Development and content validation of a ‘hyperdimensional’ taxonomy of managerial competence. Human Performance, 13, 205–251.Google Scholar
Thompson, K. R. (2004). A conversation with Milton Blood: The new AACSB standards. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3, 429–439.Google Scholar
Tornow, W. W., & Pinto, P. R. (1976). The development of a managerial job taxonomy: A system for describing, classifying, and evaluating executive positions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 61, 410–418.Google Scholar
Werner, J. M., & DeSimone, R. L. (2012). Human resource development (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.Google Scholar
Wexley, K. N., & Latham, G. P. (1991). Developing and training human resources in organizations (2nd ed.). New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Williams, R. E. (1956). A description of some executive abilities by means of the critical incident technique. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, New York.Google Scholar
Yukl, G. A. 1987, August. A new taxonomy for integrating diverse perspectives on managerial behavior. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New York.Google Scholar
Yukl, G. A. (1989). Managerial leadership: A review of theory and research. Journal of Management, 15, 251–289.Google Scholar
Yukl, G. A., & Lepsinger, R. (1992). An integrating taxonomy of managerial behavior: Implications for improving managerial effectiveness. In J. W. Jones, B. D. Steffy, & D. W. Bray (Eds.), Applying psychology in business: The manager’s handbook (pp. 563–572). Lexington, MA: Lexington Press.Google Scholar