Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58915
Introduction World to the At Georgia State University, a mandatory course for incoming MBAs focuses on how to integrate all functional disciplines across the organization while keeping a global perspective on business. by Bill Bogner, Susan Houghton, Chris Lemley, and Alfred Mettler N ew MBAs joining the workforce are expected to have excel- lent functional skills, the know-how to apply them in the real world, and a basic understanding of the organization as a whole. That's why many b-schools today emphasize integration, relevance, and immediacy in their coursework. But it's challenging to develop a curriculum that teaches students how a business decision resonates throughout the whole organization and what its implications might be in the global marketplace. At Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business in Atlanta, we have designed an introductory MBA course that takes current real-world cases from across the globe and examines them from a cross- disciplinary perspective. The new cornerstone core course was instituted after a steering committee determined that our MBA students weren't tak- ing an integrated business course until fairly late in their studies. We real- ized that if, at the very beginning of the curriculum, our students under- stood how a firm functions across its lifetime, they would have context for the specific disciplines they would study in the heart of the MBA program. We also believed that it was critical for such a course to be absolutely up- to-date and to teach students a global perspective. With that in mind, a group of faculty created "Managing in the Global Economy," which became mandatory for all entering MBA students. Using current periodicals, recent case studies, and other reading material, the course was designed to help students understand the complexity of international business and the way the various business functions interconnect. The goal was to prepare them for the fast-paced world of today's global business. Laying the Groundwork The course concept was built around key business activities and how they change as a firm progresses through its life. Most businesses go through four major life cycle changes: start-up and initial growth, the fight for pole positions, competition in mature markets, and renewal in declining industries. We wanted to examine this cycle in the con- text of five core business activities: identifying markets, industries, and competitive advantages; finding and retaining customers; organizing and using cash and capital; integrating systems into organizations; and developing relationships among managers and employees. These 28 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2006