BizEd

NovDec2014

Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/406930

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 55 of 76

53 BizEd November/ December 2014 DAVE CUTLE R develop confidence without atti- tude, be students always, and move beyond themselves to consider long-term business interests. The curriculum focuses on ten capabilities grouped into three clus- ters: defining opportunities by fram- ing problems, recognizing opportu- nities, and experimenting; making choices by identifying revenue mod- els, evaluating ideas, and detecting risks; and building organizational capability by influencing without authority, managing ambiguity and conflict, promoting team creativity, and relying on adaptive governance. To make sure electives are inte- grated with core courses, students are required to choose one of nine experiential learning programs. Among them is Haas@Work, in which student teams evaluate prob- lems and develop solutions for real businesses. While the curriculum is anchored in a research-based social science framework, it also focuses on developing ethical, practical, and integrative skills. ■ The liberal arts model. The undergraduate curriculum at Singa- pore Management University (SMU) incorporates a core curriculum inspired by the liberal arts. The goal is a blended learning model that delivers both management knowl- edge and a liberal arts education. Among the courses is Technol- ogy and World Change, which uses the history of science to introduce students to technological and sci- entific modes of thinking. Classes in business, government, and ethics are linked to key disciplines and designed to help students achieve ethical maturity. Other courses—in topics such as analytic thought, creativity, communication, and leadership—encourage students to develop broader forms of thinking. ■ The design thinking model. Like SMU, the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto offers a curriculum that incorporates liberal arts elements. Rotman's goal is to develop criti- cal, creative, holistic thinkers who can make moral and ethical deci- sions. But the curriculum is really set apart by its electives, such as those developed by Rotman's Design Works, which teaches stu- dents to use iterative design princi- ples in their quest to be innovative, action-focused, and open-minded. In addition, the school aims to develop a "three-dimensional" MBA that is deep, broad, and dynamic. In the interests of going deep, Rotman requires students to take courses such as Foundations of Integrative Thinking, as well as a related practi- cum, at the outset of the program. These courses not only teach stu- dents the underlying logic of busi- ness models, they also demonstrate how diverse areas such as finance, operations, and management can be integrated to address real-life busi- ness problems. To embrace breadth, the school reinforces the idea that most business problems are messy, ambiguous, and complex. To keep the program dynamic, the school offers more than 90 electives. ■ Multidisciplinary models. Multidisciplinary programs have been pioneered in recent years at the Yale School of Management in New Haven, Connecticut, and at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in California. While their programs differ, both use multidisciplinary approaches to help students develop skills in criti- cal thinking, cultural intelligence, leadership, and ethics. The Yale SOM has restruc- tured its curriculum to break out of traditional silo teaching based on functional disciplines; instead, it offers courses built around the organizational perspectives of cus- tomers, competitors, investors, and society. The school also has added a problem-framing course to help students develop critical perspec- tives as they view management problems through various disciplin- ary and historical lenses. Similarly, Stanford GSB's new multidisciplinary curriculum has four key elements: it's highly per- sonalized, it's global, it offers a deep intellectual experience, and it empha- sizes the development of leadership and communication skills. For instance, courses offered in the first quarter build an integrated understanding of management by focusing on organizational behav- ior, strategic leadership, managerial finance, and the global context of management. During the same quarter, students are required to take a course on critical analytical

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of BizEd - NovDec2014