Business studies must prepare people for the big difference between the cosy classroom environment and the realities of today's business world.
Anyone thinking of embarking on a business education must ask himself or herself a basic question, 'what should a business education give me?' The answer would seem to be obvious; business knowledge. But what does that mean?
Business is a practical subject. Everyone agrees with this, but when one looks at the way business is taught sometimes, it seems too easily to be forgotten.
Why is business a practical subject? Because in business you have rcs data to DO things; take decisions; take action; monitor results. You cannot operate any business by just planning what to do on paper. Planning is, of course, an important step in the process, but there are many examples of businesses that have had excellent plans but failed because no one implemented the ideas.
Learning from business practitioners
So, you might ask, isn't the best way to learn about how to do business, to work in a business and learn from others? The answer is: No.
In the heat of battle you cannot learn to fight. There are too many day-to-day pressures, and few people have the time and/or the capability to explain what is happening and why. The reason for decisions must be explained in a way that allows a greater learning experience than just solving that particular problem at that time.
How can the dynamism of real business be simulated in the classroom?
By having people who know about business, teach business - the successful, business practitioners of today. "What we did in a similar situation" or "What we are doing right now" should be phrases often heard.
Practice, NOT theory
One of the important things these people know is that very few, one could even say no, real business situations will fit the textbook examples. Each situation can be described as unique, requiring its own unique solution. Managers must be able to analyse a situation, examine various alternatives and combine parts of solutions to solve the particular problem being faced. A business school should teach people to do this, not just find solutions to specific problems.
In order to facilitate the learning process, topics such as marketing, finance, human resources are studied individually. But real business success depends upon the optimum integration and combination of these subjects. People who will rise to the top of a company or run their own business, the aims of most business school graduates, need to learn how to do this during the MBA studies. Narrow focus specialisation limits the opportunities to understand the benefits of integration.