INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND INFORMATION LITERACY: FACULTY/LIBRARIAN COLLABORATION TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS WORKFORCE
ABSTRACT
Given the industry’s need for new talent with international business acumen and research skills, higher education plays a key role in addressing this expectation. The authors created and tested an “Information Literacy-International Business Intervention Model” in undergraduate and graduate international business courses. By emphasizing and integrating information literacy concepts with international business research practices and resources throughout the semester, the authors have observed improvement in students’ ability to find, evaluate, and synthesize quality information in their international business assignments. The authors conclude that applying this intervention model will better prepare students for the international business workforce.
Keywords:International business, information literacy, business education
INTRODUCTION
Preparing students for the international workforce and cultivating a global mindset are high-impact initiatives in many business schools, including the authors’. Prior research indicates that employers, as they continue grow their organizations’ global reach, are in need of talent that is familiar with international cultural and business implications (Ashley, Schapp, & de Bruijn, 2016; Seno-AldayBudde-Sung, 2016; MilhauserRahschulte, 2010; Prestwich & Ho-Kim, 2007; Wolf & Wright, 2013). Further research indicates that employers are seeking employees with sophisticated research competencies (Ali & Katz, 2010; Head, Hoeck, Eschler, & Fullerton, 2013; Leigh & Gibbon, 2008). Riebe and Jackson (2014) focus on students and employers as stakeholders, and explore strategies to link a variety of student assignments to particular employability skills. Training future business leaders to make decisions based on high-quality information is a shared goal of all business educators, and librarians are in a unique position to help achieve this goal.
Providing business students with a more comprehensive education, one that includes information literacy (IL) instruction and international business (IB) subjects, can better prepare students for the international workforce by cultivating critical thinkers, self-directed learners, and knowledgeable decision-makers. Such international research skills can be incorporated effectively into higher education business courses via various methods (May & Leighton, 2013; Riebe & Jackson, 2014; Sanyal, 2003; Sherman, 2009).
Since 2000, “information literacy” was defined by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) as “a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information” (ACRL, 2000).ACRL has recently expanded this definition to better reflect today’s students and their information ecosystem: “information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning” (ACRL, 2015). The serendipitous nature of research is essential for generating new ideas and furthering knowledge in any field, and the collaboration discussed in this paper was heavily influenced by ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (ACRL, 2015). The framework takes a more conceptual (rather than skills-based) approach to IL instruction, and encourages librarians to collaborate more extensively with classroom faculty in order to enhance learning for their students.
College students are faced with a greater responsibility to be critical consumers and creators of information than ever before, and the threshold concepts explained in ACRL’s Framework provide a pathway for educators toenhance IL in their students.Other institutions of higher education are alsoadapting their standards to accommodate the changing information landscape. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) recently revised their accreditation standards to stipulate written and oral communication skills, ethical understanding and reasoning, and the ability to use information effectively (AACSB, 2016, pp. 31-32). Additionally, such skills can help improve scores for the analytical writing and integrated reasoning sections of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), both of which carry significant weight for a student’s overall GMAT score (Kaplan, 2015).
After recognizing a lack of IL among business students at their institution, the authors decided to incorporate the business librarian and a new, collaborative intervention model in two international business (IB) courses. This paper will discuss this collaboration and the various approaches taken in an effort to improve IL for business students at a state university. A unique “Information Literacy-International Business Intervention Model” (“IL-IB Intervention Model”) has been created and tested. By emphasizing and integrating IL concepts with IB research practices and resources throughout the semester, the authors have observed improvement in students’ ability to find, evaluate, and synthesize quality information in their assignments. There are challenges however, in assessing IL, and these are further complicated in the context of IB research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
IL Sought by Employers
Depending on the discipline and context, IL is also known as critical thinking, lifelong learning, problem-solving skills, and information and communication technology (ICT) literacy (among others). No matter what it is called, there is no doubt that IL is gaining recognition as a necessary skill set for the modern employee. Head, et. al. (2013) interviewed 23 employers in charge of hiring and conducted five focus groups with 33 recent college graduates. The employers were asked open-ended questions on three topics: their expectations of graduates as information seekers, their assessments of the strengths of graduates in solving information problems in the workplace, and assessments of the graduates’ weaknesses in solving information problems in the workplace.
Given the complexity of international cultures and marketplaces, the ability to gather and understand diverse viewpoints is critical for the international businessperson. Head et. al. (2013) conclude that successful workplace research requires finding patterns and making connections among concepts and information sources. They advise academic librarians to act as consultants rather than instructors, and suggest they be involved in the research process and group assignments throughout the semester in order to teach students how to go about solving information problems using multiple formats (websites, journals, newspapers, books, etc.) and diverse perspectives.
Leigh and Gibbon (2008) found the lack of IL in the workplace has a direct impact on the costs for organizations, and that “the time spent gathering and identifying appropriate information translates to an estimated 5.4 billion lost hours per year for U.S. corporations” (p. 517). Multinational companies are creating talent programs to help foster IL in their employees (Cheuk, 2008), indicating that employees lack these skills. If academic librarians and business school faculty can improve IL before students leave college, new graduates will be more employable and could help companies save money.
In 2010, Ali and Katz conducted one of the largest surveys to date on this topic. In their survey of human resource (HR) consultants and business school faculty, they found that HR consultants consider information and communication technology (ICT) literacy essential in new hires, particularly as it relates to the ethical and legal issues surrounding information use. Business school faculty, however, place less emphasis on ICT literacy, with few reporting it as part of their course plans. Other studies have found similar results, where the business curriculum is lacking IL, yet faculty and prospective employers find it desirable and even necessary (Conley & Gil, 2011; Leigh & Gibbon, 2008; Lilley, Barker, & Harris, 2014). Busy professors, overconfident students, and content-heavy courses can distract faculty from the importance of IL, but the model presented here is easily integrated into any business course, enhancing rather than detracting from course objectives.
Global Mindset
IB research requires the ability to identify quality information and credible sources, which can be a time-consuming and tedious task, given the nuances of business intelligence and the fact that new information is available every day. Tan and Chua (2003) indicated that a global mindset is vital to compete effectively in the global business environment. Van Heugten, Heinje-Penninga, Paans, and Wolfensberger (2016) developed a profile of highly talented international business professionals (HTIBP). They found that self-reflection, communication, innovation, and the ability to see patterns and relationships in a global context are essential characteristics of HTIBP, all of which are bolstered by good research skills and continuous idea generation. The HTIBP profile relies on prior research that emphasizes the importance of a global mindset, cultural intelligence, and talent.
Lilley, Barker, and Harris (2014) claimed that “universities often fail to engage conceptually with the implications of global complexity,” but that higher education plays a crucial role in preparing graduates to become global citizens who contribute to their society (pp. 72-73). They recommend educators engage students in complex problem-solving activities that require them to think critically, consider multiple perspectives, and to question their assumptions. They encourage educators to explain the value of a global mindset for today’s businessperson.
Michalak and Rysavy (2016) found that students’ perception of their IL skills are often greater than what they are measured to be via assessment tests. The Economist Intelligence Unit (2010) found that the lack of cultural and IB competencies is evident in students. A global mindset and its related communication skills are critical to IB success. Wolf & Wright (2014) further emphasized the necessity of a global mindset plus practical skills for college graduates seeking work in IB, claiming that more training is needed at the college level in order to develop analytical skills and cultural intelligence.
Successful Collaborations for Enhanced Business School Pedagogy
College research assignments help students learn critical thinking and analytical skills, and when students are required to utilize the resources provided by the academic library, they are introduced to a breadth of high-quality information from diverse sources. Although sought by prospective employers and valued by business school faculty, IL is not regularly part of the business school curriculum. Leigh and Gibbon (2008) argue that IL “remains an issue for management educators and academic librarians” (p. 513) and encourage business faculty to partner with librarians by integrating IL into the curriculum in order to address this gap in learning.
Bowers, et. al. (2009) describe a successful collaboration between business school faculty and librarians in an introductory business course. They incorporated IL components via a redesigned group assignment, a library research guide, and increased librarian presence throughout the semester, where students were encouraged to seek help from the librarian. They found the collaboration was effective in improving students’ IL, based on pre and post-test results.
May and Leighton (2013) collaborated to improve the research ability of students enrolled in an IB law class. They found that providing a course-specific library guide, along with librarian instruction on how to use the guide, had several benefits for students. Along with promoting the value of high-quality resources to gather international perspectives, students also demonstrated their ability to make meaningful connections between the course content and their research.
Integrating IL components into the IB curriculum has numerous benefits for students, and the IL-IB Intervention Model discussed here is unique in that the authors incorporated the new ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (ACRL, 2015) during its design and implementation. Two (out of six) frames in particular were emphasized:
- authority is contextual and constructed, and
- information has value.
The authority of an information resource depends on several factors, and the authors wanted students to determine the credibility and relevance of various resources as they relate to IB. The frame “information has value” introduces the idea that information is a commodity, that it exists for various reasons (to educate, persuade, etc.), and there are several factors that influence its production and dissemination. By integrating these concepts into IB assignments, as well as requiring critical self-reflection throughout the course, students had more opportunities to cultivate their global mindsets.
Learning Modalities
The selected courses for the IL-IB Intervention Model were traditional in-seat courses at a state university. As Boyatzis, Stubbs, and Taylor (2002) indicated, IB education needs to continually evolve and use a variety of techniques to foster effective learning. Research shows that students respond to both live interactions while also being very open to online learning (Boylan, 2002; Kochtanek, 2000). Student learning styles vary, and it is critical to engage students with educational content and strategies that are meaningful to them; this often includes multiple, complementary strategies and tactics (Aggarwal & Goodell, 2015). Thus, it was important to the authors to incorporate both in-class and online modalities, as well as offering out-of-class consultations on international research, scholarly resources, and the ethical use of such information. The Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) in this study was used extensively throughout the courses, as both courses were largely paperless.
Teaching IB has some significant differences from teaching other business disciplines, given the cultural complexities of today’s business world (Aggarwal & Goodell, 2016). As a result, the authors took advantage of every opportunity to interact with students, whether it was an online discussion board or a face-to-face consultation, in order to enhance student learning. The objective was to proactively expose students throughout the selected IB/management (undergraduate and graduate) courses with planned interactions, suggested resources, practitioner experts, and insights via online and in-class modalities. In essence, the students were given an extra dose of IB research and application content, plus a series of IL resources, practices, and guides, as the authors sought to thread the IL-IB knowledge needle with intentional collaboration.
METHODOLOGY
The IL-IB Intervention Model
Table 1 summarizes the IL-IB Intervention Model components. The model was applied to two MBA Global Strategy courses, totaling 43 students, and one undergraduate International Management course with 30 students, and both were compared to prior non-intervened control group courses of 16 and 33 students respectively. The design logic was to have multiple, integrated components added to the course by the faculty member, the librarian, and additional outside sources, all delivered via in-class, online, and out-of-class modalities.
In-class Interventions
In-class (these were traditional in-seat courses) presentations were infused with a special emphasis on IB sources and data that went beyond the textbook, presented by both the faculty member and the librarian. The librarian came into the classroom during the first week of each course, and also the last week, providing instruction on research practices and source evaluation from reliability, validity, and other application perspectives. Both the faculty member and the librarian provided resources on APA and writing skills. The faculty member has significant IB practitioner experiences that were integrated throughout the courses. Additionally, guest speakers provided added expertise while sharing their own organizations’ IB research practices. Xu, Dinwoodie, and Chang (2012) demonstrated that authentic learning is defined by students’ direct exposure to expert practitioners, as this further augments a global mindset.
Online Interventions
Online teaching and learning strategies were likewise diverse. The faculty member and librarian provided a variety of IB information resources that aligned with course content via Blackboard. IL aspects were further augmented with advice on research practices, timely recommendations for assignments, and tips on citing sources in APA. The faculty member created a series of light board presentations/mini lectures that reinforced these factors. Custom presentations with the light board (glass that is written upon with the instructor always facing forward), is a pedagogical strategy for enhanced engagement and appeal in online learning. These videos can be played (and replayed) at the student’s discretion.
Online, asynchronous discussion board threads further added to the course and introduced IB resources and practices in an interactive manner. The faculty member also video-recorded interviews with multiple experts from corporations, government entities, and other institutional organizations and made them available on Blackboard. The goal was to share insights into real-world IB management and how IB research is conducted in practice.
The librarian created a Library Resources content area in Blackboard with recommended IB resources (library databases, IB journals, and IB trade publications), search tips, and timely assignment help. An IB library guide was created (online portal to recommended sources) to suggest specific databases and sources applicable to IB, and the librarian visited each course to explain how to use the guide. An additional class visit allowed the librarian to deliver a lesson on evaluating sources. Students worked in groups to evaluate various IB infographics for credibility (see Chapter 6 in Bravender, McClure, & Schaub, 2015 for the lesson).
There was an “ask the librarian” discussion thread for online interactions or questions, where students could post questions (anonymously, if they wished) for the rest of the class to see. The librarian also created a light board video into the Blackboard site that explained (in 5 minutes) how the library’s website was organized, as well as tips for searching library databases. All in all, the business librarian was more embedded in these courses than ever before.
The faculty member included yet another unique and original intervention via his Video Reflective Journal model (VRJ). These are periodic student self-video recordings of their reflections on what they learned through the course and how they will apply it. The idea here is to use reflective thinking to drive critical thinking in connecting course content to practice, and in turn a commitment to self-application going forward of what the student took away from the course. These VRJ’s were instrumental in capturing student perceptions of not only the course content, but also the IB research and IL factors that the overall IL-IB Intervention Model sought to achieve.