Student Perceptions of an Integrated Business Core: A Case Study of Curricular Innovation in an Undergraduate Program

John A Buttermore

NABET, NABET 2011

John A Buttermore

Last modified: 2011-09-08

Abstract

Well-respected voices in business education have called for innovation in undergraduate business curricula to make students more knowledgeable and therefore more valuable to potential employers. One of the primary recommendations for change has been to integrate traditional discipline-specific introductory courses like marketing, finance, and operations management to show how these activities operate together to help business achieve its goals. This helps students see how various departments or functional areas work together in practice and leads to a deeper understanding of the processes of commerce.

This exploratory case study looked in depth at an established undergraduate program that designed and implemented a team-taught, cohort based, 18-hour course that replaced seven traditional undergraduate courses during students’ junior year. This paper focuses on the student perceptions of the value of that experience.

Keywords

Interdisciplinary, business processes, team-teaching, integrated core