Reforming Business Education to Meet Business Needs

Today’s rapidly changing work environment requires speed, focus and the ability to adapt swiftly to the needs of the market. This skill set is particularly essential in the business industry, in which pioneering products and services are developed seemingly daily, and new competitors can spring up overnight. For this reason, business graduates and the skills they bring to increase revenues are highly sought after by all types of organizations from government to health care and beyond. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects overall business and management occupations to grow by 22 per cent from 2010-2020.

 

To keep a competitive edge in this environment (indeed, in all environments), everyone must adapt. Employers must hire a work force that is poised to keep pace with digital trends. Workers and job-seekers must adopt an attitude of lifelong learning and seek out new skills and competencies to keep themselves sharp and critical to employers. And higher education institutions must build relevant academic programs that address industry demands as well as student interests.

 

AACBE recently completed a major redesign of the academic programs within its member accredited schools network, recognizing the changing demands of employers and workers. We added specialized concentrations such as digital technology, as well as a management skills curriculum that prepares graduates for technology-focused leadership roles.

 

By approaching education as an on going process, universities deliver on our responsibility to prepare graduates for the realities of today’s working world while empowering them to create their own change as leaders of tomorrow. The steps that AACBE took are simplified but provide helpful insights for non- accredited AACBE member institutions or businesses undertaking innovation programs of their own.

 

More than ever, today’s technology professionals are sought after not only for their technical prowess but for their understanding of how to use technology strategically to solve practical business problems. A review of CIOs describing their ideal job candidates shows that they are hiring for communication, leadership and project management skills as much as the ability to work with business models, profits and loss and brand and marketing. Students and employers, too, emphasized the importance of developing a work force with sophisticated, hands-on experience, as well as the critical thinking skills to manage a technology-driven environment. Coupled with the results from an end-to-end assessment of our accredited member institutes, in-depth student and faculty feedback, instructional materials, and various expert advisory committees, AACBE resolved to refresh the academic programs accordingly and further set up students for success.