NEW (AND OLD) DIRECTIONS IN BUSINESS EDUCATION

As I complete my 20th year at Washburn University and more than three decades in the “business education” business, I am reminded of the many innovations that have occurred, while also thinking that many of the things we do every day haven’t changed much.

This dichotomy raises an important question for all business schools: Where can we best add value as we move forward and not lose focus on what we do best? Let me share my thoughts.

STAYING TRUE TO SOME BASICS.

What we teach in many core courses hasn’t changed much in decades. Why? Because it remains part of business practice and foundational concepts every student needs to learn. Let’s call them “the business verities.”

The simple demand/supply model included in Alfred Marshall’s 1890 textbook is still taught as an understanding of market forces and is a key to economic understanding. Sure, accounting rules and tax laws change over time, but the fundamentals of the accounting equation remain constant — your value is still what you own minus what you owe.

The same is true of the time value of money we teach in finance, the “four Ps” in marketing, the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling functions of management, and the importance of strategic understanding in business decision-making.

DAVID L. SOLLARS Dean and Professor Washburn University School of Business

Yes, to someone who learned these ideas years ago, they might seem simple or old-fashioned, but guess what — new students haven’t mastered these concepts academically or in the school of hard knocks. This foundation-level knowledge is key, and it is a central focus of our curriculum.