THE JOSIP JURAJ STROSSMAYER UNIVERSITY OF OSIJEK, FACULTY OF ECONOMICS IN OSIJEK - CROATIA HOCHSCHULE PFORZHEIM UNIVERSITY
INTERDISCIPLINARY MANAGEMENT RESEARCH VIII INTERDISZIPLINARE MANAGEMENTFORSCHUNG VIII
Opatija2012.
Published by:
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek, Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia Postgraduate Studies "Management" Hochschule Pforzheim University
For the Publisher:
Ulrich Jautz, Ph.D., Dean, Germany Zeljko Turkalj, Ph.D., Dean, Croatia
Editors:
Urban Bacher, Ph.D., Pforzheim University, Business School, Germany
Drazen Barkovic, Ph.D., Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia
Karl - Heinz Dernoscheg, Ph.D., International Business School Styria, Austria
Maja Lamza - Maronic, Ph.D., Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia
Branko Matic, Ph.D., Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia
Norbert Pap, Ph.D., University of Pecs, Hungary
Bodo Runzheimer, Ph.D., Pforzheim University, Business School, Germany Review Committee:
Luka Crnkovic, Ph.D., Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia Ivan Ferencak, Ph.D., Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia
Nino Grau, Ph.D. University of Applied Sciences, Fachhochschule Giesen-Friedberg, Germany Slavo Kukic, Ph.D., University of Mostar, Faculty of Economics in Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina Hartmut Loffler, Ph.D., Pforzheim University, Business School, Germany Brano Markic, Ph.D., University of Mostar, Faculty of Economics in Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina
Renata Peric, Ph.D., Faculty of Law in Osijek, Croatia
Bela Orosdy, Ph.D., University of Pecs, Faculty of Business and Economics, Hungary Ivan Pavlovic, Ph.D., University of Mostar, Faculty of Economics in Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina
Slavica Singer, Ph.D., Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia Vladimir Srb, Ph.D., Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia Jusuf Sehanovic, Ph.D., Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Croatia Dirk Wentzel, Ph.D., Hochschule Pforzheim University, Germany
Technical editors:
Jerko Glavas, Ph.D. candidate, Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia Hrvoje Serdarusic, Ph.D. candidate, Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia
Language Editing and Proofreading:
Ljerka Rados, Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia
CIP zap is dostupan u racunalnom katalogu Gradske i sveucilisne knjiznice Osijek pod brojem 130421087
ISSN 1847-0408
ISBN 978-953-253-105-3
Indexed in: EBSCOhost, RePEc, EconPapers, Socionet
Program committee:
Mate Babic, Ph.D., University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, Croatia
Heinrich Badura, Ph.D., President, The European Academy for Life Research, Integration and
Civil Society, Austria
Firouz Gahvari, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign, Department of Economics, USA
Gunther Gottlieb, Ph.D., University of Augsburg, Germany
Rupert Huth, Ph.D., Pforzheim University, Business School, Germany
Zoran Jasic, Ph.D., Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Republic of Austria
Zlatko Kramaric, Ph.D., Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Republic of Kosovo
Ulrich Jautz, Ph.D., Pforzheim University, Business School, Germany
Zeljko Turkalj, Ph.D., Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia
Mladen Vedris, Ph.D., University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, Croatia
Jozo Krajina
THE IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF MANAGEMENT
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Valentina Ladic
DESTINATION MANAGEMENT AND DESTINATION MANAGING
PROBLEMS - EXAMPLE VINICA COUNTY
Maja Lamza-Maronic, Jerko Glavas, Igor Mavrin
TOWARDS A NEW MODEL OF CULTURAL MANAGEMENT - THE
EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE PROGRAMME
Barbara Marusnik, Boris Marjanovic
PERFORMANCE OF CROATIAN ECONOMY MEASURED
WITH KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY PARAMETERS
Josip Mesaric, Stjepan Rudan, Joze Kuzic
METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND APPROACH TO
INNOVATING AND BUILDING THE CURRICULUM OF GENERAL
MANAGEMENT
Monika R. Molnar, Istvan Andras
EMBEDDEDNESS OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES IN LOCAL
COMMUNITIES: THE COMPLEX CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION
RESEARCH PROJECT
Ninoslav Novak, Mirko Cobovic
BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT USING CLOUD COMPUTING IN
COMPANIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
Rajko Odobasa
COMMERCIALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND CHANGES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: EXAMPLES AND LESSONS FROM
ANGLO-AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES
Mirko Pesic
CRISIS AS A CHANCE TO REORGANIZE THE GROWTH
AND DEVELOPMENT
Milan Puvaca, Ivica Zdrilic
RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN EDUCATIONAL PROCESS ADAPTATION Ivana Sandrk Nukic
COMPETITIVENESS OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS:
CASE STUDY OF „GRADNJA Ltd" OSIJEK
Ana Skledar Matijevic, Zlatko Barilovic, Igor Vrecko
THE POSSIBILITIES OF USING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING FOR
DEVELOPING PROJECT MANAGEMENT COMPETENCES
Marko Sostar
THE ROLE OF DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
IN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND APPROACH TO INNOVATING AND BUILDING THE CURRICULUM OF GENERAL MANAGEMENT
Josip Mesaric, Ph.D. \ Stjepan Rudan, B.Sc.2, Joze Kuzic, Ph.D.3 llosip Juraj StrossmayerUniversity, Faculty of Economics in Osijek, Croatia, institute for Public Health of Osijek-Baranja County, Croatia 3Monach University, Melbourne, Australia,
ABSTRACT
The development and / or analysis of the curriculum are based on knowledge of specific areas in which the curriculum is made and model used for its design. There are several different approaches and each has its advantages and disadvantages. The paper analyzes four approaches for the development of general management curriculum innovation. We analyzed few curriculum of American, European, Australian and Croatian studies in general management on bachelor and graduate (master) level. Study of general management at the undergraduate level of American, Australian and some European universities differ significantly from the Croatian Schools in number as well as in the methodological, core and major courses. At higher levels of education (graduate and master) the differences are even more obvious. Based on the performed analysis we tried to estimate the balance of the curriculum in terms of key aspects of the curriculum: the role of managers, the application of pedagogy, the methodological basis, the level of research, process and content and the domains and areas.
JEL Classification: 123,125
Keywords: Curriculum, general management, undergraduate, graduate
1. INTRODUCTION
In the last ten years a large number of management schools have been opened all over the world, and the Republic of Croatia has not been bypassed by this trend. In many of these schools, the curricula based on which formal management education is acquired, haven't been built using adequate methodological apparatus, without firm goals, relevant domain knowledge and appropriate pedagogy. Very often (especially in schools which do not have solid managerial tradition in the environment in which they were established), curricula are the result of uncritical copying of content of curricula of world-famous schools and their adaptation to local limited conditions and capabilities. Therefore, from time to time the curricula need to be subjected to critical analysis and adapted to new conditions in the environment, as well as to institutions upon whose foundations educational processes are carried out.
There are several problems that arise in connection with reviewing and innovating curricula:
Formal problems in changes of up to 20% of content and the repeated procedure of accreditation of the innovated program, which is the case in the Republic of Croatia,
• Change of social conditions for which the managers have been trained, and usability of managerial knowledge,
Problems related to the obsolescence of the acquired knowledge,
* Problems related to change of management paradigms.
Curricula can be built, developed and analysed based on different approaches and using different methodologies, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on domain knowledge, volume (scope) of knowledge, and level of goals.
Since achievements based on a curriculum are not only the question of the curriculum concerned, but also of the totality of pedagogical practice and educators' abilities, as well as of learners' perception and abilities, the acquired knowledge cannot be judged solely on the basis of curriculum. What can be assessed, however, is the balance of the curriculum and the potential for integration of knowledge and skills and indirectly acquired knowledge and the desirability of institution through the level of salaries and the positions of of graduated students. Since there is no unified curriculum of general management, several schools have been investigated so as to determine the key common content in the function of managerial knowledge. Twenty curricula at the undergraduate and a few less at the graduate and master's level have been selected for research and comparison. Specifically, comparative lists of courses have been created (syllabuses, but not of their content, pedagogical practice, quality of teachers and students and criteria for goal achievement). Based on comparative analyses, certain guidelines for review, development and innovation of curriculum of any of the analysed curricula can be given.
Below, an overview of the key characteristics of managerial knowledge and suitability of individual methodological approaches for building management curriculum will be presented, after which comparative analyses of groups and individual curricula of general management on selected cases will be performed.
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGERIAL KNOWLEDGE
Managerial knowledge is very often fuzzy (soft, without clear boundaries) knowledge. Managerial knowledge is paradigmatic for the most part. This means that the attributes of managerial knowledge are the results of the change and the acquisitions of various paradigms within managerial practice and academic community. There are many cases where it can be noticed that curricula do not aspire to become overly scientific (without causal methods, mathematical-statistical apparatus and robust evidence), so that it seems (to paraphrase Ghoshal) that "business could not be treated as a science, and we would have to fall back on the wisdom of common sense that combines information on "what" is with the imagination of "what ought to" to develop both a practical understanding of and some pragmatic prescription for "phenomena of organized complexity" that the issue of corporate governance represents. This too is schooling that yields theory that does pretend to be scientific laws but merely serves as temporary "walking sticks" in Fritz Roeth-lisbergers (1977) terms - to aid sense making as long as we go along, to be used only until a better walking stick can be found (cited in Ghoshal, 2005). Besides, these new paradigms which serve to corporate capital and private prestige are often deprived of any moral norms and ethical principles. This raised some concerns among several scholars about the current state of management research and pedagogy (Mintzberg & Gosling, 2002; Donaldson, 2002; Ghoshal, 2005).
3. CREATION AND ANALYSES OF CURRICULUM OF GENERAL MANAGEMENT
THROUGH DIFFERENT APPROACHES
In formal education, a curriculum usually means a formal set of knowledge that is offered (and that is expected to be chosen) in a certain educational institution (Webster, 2010). Knowledge is formed into domain sets and shaped into courses and course systems (syllabuses) that have to be realised - transmitted within a is for the curriculum to be designed outside of the classroom or school. The second problem of this approach is evaluation. In order to measure, things have to be broken down into smaller and smaller units. This is of utmost importance nowadays, when we exceedingly fragmentise but not synthesise, not only managerial knowledge. What we are inclined to measure, such as achievements in any university curriculum, has been more than often reduced to the quality of interpretation. Successful interpreters frequently fail to manipulate their knowledge in real life, which is often the case with managers due to the paradigms acquired over several years of education, when in practice such paradigms tend to change rapidly. The use of the acquired, but no longer relevant paradigms will result in poor performance of managerial knowledge in practice. Smith points to the third problem of this approach, "a real problem when we come to examine what educators actually do in the classroom". Much of the research concerning teacher thinking and classroom interaction, and curriculum innovation has pointed to the lack of impact on actual pedagogic practice of objectives (Stenhouse 1974), (Cornbleth 1990).
3.3. Management curriculum as a process and development
Curriculum as a process 'is a way of translating any educational idea into a hypothesis testable in practice. It invites critical testing rather than acceptance' (Stenhouse, 1975). At first glance, this is an ideal model desired by managers. Nevertheless, at least two problems may occur.
The first problem is the experiment with the socio-economic systems and the nature of realising managerial decisions. A system where an idea, hypothesis or decision can be tested within a reasonable time period and with acceptable consequences simply does not exist, since it is not possible in a certain moment (a phase of a business cycle) or it can trigger unexpected, risky or adverse consequences. The use of mathematical models and simulation techniques or managerial simulation games is more and more becoming a key to these problems. Their shortcoming is that they have to simplify reality and are, as a rule, often directed towards the problems in managerial efficiency, i.e. only certain functions of management. This approach to the theory of curriculum, because it places meaning-making and thinking at its core and treats learners as subjects rather than objects, can lead to very different means being employed in classrooms and a high degree of variety in content. As Stenhouse comments, the process model is essentially a critical model, not a marking model (Stenhouse, 1975).
3.4. Curriculum through a hexagonal prism
According to hexagonal prism, proposed by (Mesaric, Kuzic, Dovedan, 2011 curriculum (of general management) is developed/analysed through integration of six interrelated domains (Figure 1.)
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Josip Mesaric • Stjepan Rudan * Joze Kuzic
Philosophy and
methodology
frameworks:
Based on: Economics Sociology Laws and ethics Mathematics and statistics Language and symbolic models
Scholarship;
Level of knowledge/ education
Teaching (Pedagogy) Practices (Application) Discovery (Research) integration (Synthesis)
Level:
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
Organizational
National
International
GENERAL MANAGEMENT CURRICULUM
Roles and scope
Decision making
Organizing
Planning
Leading
Negotiating
Resourcing
Staffing
Motivating
Analyzing
Integrating
Processes and contents:
Identification of
- Value added opportunity
- Problem Vision, goals, objectives Proces definition Lifecycie
Change perception Communication Measures Performance
^eas, domains, _and objects
Business
Business functions Finance Marketing,,, Business areas Business objects Information Technology Products/services Non business/ nonprofit Government Education, Health, Environment,...
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Josip Mesaric • Stjepan Rudan * Joze Kuzic
Figure 1. Curriculum domains through hexagonal prism (Source: Mesaric, Kuzic, Dovedan)
Creating and/or revising curriculum can begin from any aspect (elementary prisms), depending on goals and initial assumptions. Thus the starting point in the revision of curriculum of Yale school of Management was the prism of role manager would find himself in the environment. The creation of curriculum of management at management schools in the Republic of Croatia was started from the point of BOK, that is, philosophical-methodological elementary prism (because of which content is overloaded with economies of all kinds, as well as with other content, which typically belongs to higher levels of education).
4. ANALYSIS OF THE SELECTED CURRICULA
In order to establish if there is a general consensus, and what is the minimum core knowledge offered (i.e. required) by general management curriculum at different educational levels, we have analysed 20 general management curricula at bachelor level (8 American, 5 European and 7 Croatian) and 27 MBA or graduate programs (12 American, 8 European, one Australian and 6 Croatian). All the courses were listed (for some universities only core, major or concentration courses, without electives) in a single MS Excel table, and then submitted to data analysis from different aspects. Alphabetical listing and additional key word searches revealed common features in general management curricula at undergraduate and graduate levels respectively.