Post on 22-Jan-2016
description
Interdisciplinary Business Education: Combining the Power of Inter-professional Collaboration with
the Benefits of Student Engagement
Alan Belasen, Ph.D., Chair, Business, Management, Leadership Programs
Rosalyn Rufer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Management
• Our world is increasingly interconnected and interdependent
• Global environments are characterized by multiplicity, interdependence, and complexity
• Exchange systems around the globe put pressure on professionals
and managers to collaborate
• Interdisciplinary knowledge bring a broad view to projects and
strategic decisions
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Interdependence
Integration
• A functional specialist is the best choice for depth of knowledge
• However, decision processes require holistic and cooperative
modes of inquiry
• Breadth of knowledge provides for information from diverse
perspectives
• Students with interdisciplinary skills and knowledge increased marketability for career choices
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Collaboration for Interdisciplinary Teaching
• Two or more faculty from different disciplines collaborate
• Provides for mutual understanding and respect for each discipline
• Emanates from an understanding and appreciation of each
discipline
• Provides students with the opportunity to actively participate in the learning
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Interconnected Fields of Experience
• Opportunity for students to see connections and relevance between topics and perspectives.
• Faculty members are involved in the planning and development of interdisciplinary learning modules:
• Selecting a focus or thematic topic
• Generating ideas or connections between related topics
• Establishing guiding questions for the scope and sequence of the module
• Designing activities to fulfill the goals of the learning module
• Engages students in epistemological questions such as • “What is knowledge?”
• “What do we know?” and
• “How can we present knowledge?”
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Examples of Interdisciplinary Work At Different Levels
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Interdisciplinary: Research and Course Development
• Management Problem: Preparing to teach students to successfully integrate technology transferred from one organization to another
• Solving the Problem: Interdisciplinary research with one who has expertise on how to manage innovation, the other with expertise on how to create a learning organization
• Outcomes:
1. Book chapter by Belasen & Rufer (2014). “Innovation Communication and Inter-functional Collaboration: A view from the competing values framework for Corporate Communications” in Strategy and Communications for Innovations, Nicole Pfeffermann (Ed).
2. Two interdisciplinary courses one on Innovation and Global Commercialization; the other, Application of Innovation for Strategic Planning and technology transfer.
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Interdisciplinary: Course and Program Development
• Management Problem – Addressing complexity, multiplicity and interdependence in global business environments
• Solving the problem – team teaching with faculty from multiple disciplines: Economics, marketing, management, and business law
• Outcomes – 1. Scanning the Business Environment -- Team taught holistic design using
broader perspectives and integration of knowledge areas
2. Development of MBA in Global Leadership – Focusing learning on cultural competence, flexibility in architecture, and diversity of understanding.
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Interdisciplinary: Scholarly Work, Certificates, and Partnerships
• Management Problem - increased complexity in managing health care systems and a movement toward inter-professional collaboration
• Solving the problem –integration of competencies and functional knowledge from a variety of disciplines including management, marketing, and sociology.
• Outcomes –
1. A new book by Belasen, Eisenberg, & Huppertz (2014). The Master Leader: Strategies for Increasing Leadership Effectiveness in Health Care Organizations, Jones & Bartlett Learning.
2. Advanced graduate certificate in Health Care Management
3. Joint venture with SUNY College of Optometry to teach optometrists how to manage their practices.
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Interdisciplinary: Dual Diploma, New Design
• Management Problem - bridging the knowledge gap
• Solving the problem: international cooperation and integration through alliances
• Outcomes
1. Dual diploma that provides specialized courses throughout the curriculum, culminating in a team taught capstone project
2. MBA for Veterans with functional knowledge from military training, and leadership and managerial competencies through course work that culminates in a team taught capstone.
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Interdisciplinary: New Models of Teaching
• Management Problem – making management education relevant for changing careers
• Solving the problem – interdisciplinary curricular development
• Outcomes –
1. Blended residencies with interdisciplinary based, skill oriented workshops and seminars
2. Competency-based models of learning for MBA in Management degree
3. Belasen, A., Chukhlomin, V., Chukhlomina, I., Lus, B., & Rufer, R. (2013). Making Business Curricula More Relevant to Global Changes: The MBA in Global Leadership. In Littrell, R.F. (ed). Leadership in Russia, Proceedings of the 2013 Conference: Leadership in Russia and Global Context, 22-24 October 2013
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Your Examples of Interdisciplinary Collaboration
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VENUES FOR INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION.
• Where else can we improve our teaching through interdisciplinary inquiry and mode of teaching?
1. What other issues are we facing in management education today?
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Breakout Groups
Master list: What other issues are we facing in management education today?
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VENUES FOR INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION
• Where else can we improve our teaching through interdisciplinary studies?
1. What other issues are we facing in management education today?
2. Solving the problem – what do you currently do in your institution?
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Breakout Groups
Master list: Solving the problem – what do you currently do in your institution?
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VENUES FOR INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION.
• Where else can we improve our teaching through interdisciplinary studies?
1. What other issues are we facing in management education today?
2. Solving the problem – what do you currently do in your institution?
3. How can we improve outcomes?
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Breakout Groups
Master List: How can we improve outcomes?
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VENUES FOR INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION.
• Where else can we improve our teaching through interdisciplinary studies?
1. What other issues are we facing in management education today?
2. Solving the problem – what do you currently do in your institution?
3. How can we improve outcomes?
4. How do we increase collaboration across major fields in business?
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Breakout Groups
Master list: How do we increase collaboration across major fields in business?
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