McCombs School of Business
Undergraduate Curriculum Review 2011-2012
Recommendations of the Undergraduate Program Committee
Committee Members and Staff Support
Accounting: Robert May
Business, Government, and Society: Robert Prentice
Finance: Beverly Hadaway (Chair)
IROM: Douglas Morrice
Management: Caroline Bartel
Marketing: Andrew Gershoff
Student Representatives: Michael Daehne and Bhargav Srinivasan
Undergraduate Dean: Paula Murray (ex-officio)
UPO Staff: Natalie Bartush (ex-officio)
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Introduction and Background
Historically, the undergraduate program attempted to educate more than 10,000 students
with minimal resources. Beginning in 1992, enrollment controls allowed the college to greatly
improve the quality of the program by reducing the size of its student body. The challenge
became one of delivering a program worthy of our students’ abilities. During the last twenty
years the McCombs School has made great strides to meet that challenge. Class size was
reduced, a leadership program was established, additional rigor was brought to the core, studentfaculty research opportunities were supported and experiential opportunities were encouraged.
The result is a program that is ranked sixth in the nation and individual departments are likewise
well placed in national polls.
Undergraduate business education however, is increasingly criticized for its failure to
develop critical thinkers and problem solvers and to promote an awareness of business
citizenship on both the domestic and international stage. McCombs can do better in these areas.
Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education
Obviously the world in which business is conducted has changed dramatically in the past
twenty years. Business education can no longer be just about helping students secure their first
job (although that is a worthy goal). Undergraduate business education, ultimately, should help
students develop an intellectual framework that enables them to understand the role of business
in a larger global context. Students should be able to think critically and see problems from
varying points of view, enabling them to understand their place and purpose in the global
economy. This type of educational philosophy has long been in the realm of liberal arts
education. However, many times business programs rely on core educational requirements (the
liberal arts courses) to cover these critical skills. Our committee strongly believes that these
“liberal arts” skills should be incorporated into the undergraduate business core classes. We
believe that these skills should be not only incorporated into the core experience but also
continually reinforced throughout the curriculum. The challenge and responsibility of a fully
integrated core experience guided the committee’s work.
Specific Goals of the Review
The overarching goal of the committee was to examine the overall quality and content of
the business undergraduate program with the specific objective of creating a more integrated
business core experience. Our focus was on improving the capabilities students develop in their
core experience. We worked to identify specific skills, such as analytical thinking, multiple
perspectives, and writing, that could be appropriately woven into our core classes. We also
explored concrete steps that could be taken to make these skills more central to the program and
also ensure the sustainability of the integration.
Methodology
The committee used a variety of methodologies in the review process. We considered
views from multiple McCombs School constituents. Alumni and corporate partners were
surveyed, students participated in a Town Hall meeting, peer institution information was
gathered and reviewed, internal data was analyzed, and current literature on business
undergraduate education was consulted. Should the McCombs administration embrace the
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committee’s recommendations, a faculty forum to develop implementation strategies is strongly
recommended. Appendix A identifies resources utilized by the committee and Appendix B
summarizes the key findings from each constituent group.
The Need for an Integrated Core Experience
The committee’s review yielded several observations. The McCombs BBA Core
comprises a substantial portfolio of required courses that cover an impressive range of business
concepts, tools and problem-solving skills. However, unlike liberal arts curricula, basic
capabilities such as thinking, writing, speaking, analyzing and researching are not continually
reinforced at all levels and in most courses. In addition, much to our students’ disappointment,
we teach but do not subsequently reinforce specific technical capabilities such as statistical
analysis and structuring analyses in Excel. Overall, our curriculum emphasizes delivery of new
content and technique in most courses but does not reinforce, refresh and refine basic capabilities
that underlie successful personal application of that content and those techniques.
In addition to deficiencies in cultivating basic capabilities in our students, the curriculum
gives them few opportunities to apply the higher order capabilities of analytical thinking,
practical reasoning, multiple perspectives, and reflective thought. Specifically, students need
more practice applying business concepts and tools to large unstructured business problems as
well as to broader organizational issues such as the role of business in society, which we call
“business citizenship.”
In order to improve in the above areas, we believe that we need to embed more
integration into our curriculum, both vertically and horizontally. Vertical integration means that
we explicitly require use of the basic capabilities in successive levels of the curriculum rather
than designating a few individual courses as writing courses or analytical thinking courses.
Vertical integration also means that we explicitly rely on, reinforce and refine content from
previous courses in the curriculum. Horizontal integration means that students, at more than one
point in their progression though the curriculum, face the challenge of addressing a complex
organizational problem or issue as captured in a case study for example and broader issues
implied by business citizenship that require them to utilize what they have learned across courses
in the curriculum..
Recommendations
1. Weave analytical thinking, multiple perspective, writing, and presentation
skills into the fabric of the core and beyond.
A. Establish a framework for understanding business education and business
citizenship.
Recommendation: Restructure BA 101 to 1) incorporate an overview of business in the
context of the economic environment in which it operates and its societal impact and 2)
include practical career guidance from professionals, students and faculty. One example
would involve a team of corporate professionals that would address a set of questions
related to their respective career options. Another would focus on a student panel to
discuss topics such as selecting a major, career concerns, and recruiting issues.
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B. Increase the use of modeling and analysis in core courses and beyond.
Recommendation: Strongly encourage faculty to incorporate exercises and assignments
requiring modeling and analysis of business problems using spreadsheets or more
advanced computer software packages where appropriate. Courses in Finance,
Accounting and IROM might provide the most fruitful opportunities for students to
develop and hone these competencies.
C. Expand opportunities to practice written and oral presentation skills.
Recommendations:
1. BA 324 should not only produce students who write and speak effectively, but should
also add an element of strategic communications theory so that students understand the
purposes as well as the methods of firm communications. In conceiving of writing
assignments, BA 324 faculty should be encouraged to keep in mind the benefits that flow
from integrated learning experiences.
2. All McCombs core courses, and indeed, all McCombs courses, should be structured so
as to look for opportunities to allow students to practice and refine the writing and
speaking skills they learned in BA 324. Standards established in BA324 should serve a
basis for all writing exercises.
D. Create widespread opportunities for students to engage in analytical thinking,
develop multiple perspectives, and employ practical reasoning.
Recommendations:
1. Faculty members should be encouraged to include analytical thinking tools such as
case analysis in courses where appropriate. Core courses such as Finance 357 and
Marketing 337 offer opportunities for the early introduction of case analysis.
We echo and reinforce the recommendation offered by this committee several years ago
that case studies be used more broadly throughout the BBA program. Additional steps at
both the department and school level are needed to support this recommendation. Within
departments, we recommend that departmental Undergraduate Curriculum Committees
assess their core and elective offerings to identify courses in which case studies could be
appropriately used. Departmental committees should then consult with instructors
teaching targeted courses to explore possibilities for integrating case analyses. At the
school level, instructional resources should be made available to faculty willing to
integrate cases into their classes. Such resources include, but are not limited to, teaching
workshops on leading case discussions as well as individual consultations, and additional
funding for graders.
2. Departmental Undergraduate Curriculum Committees should identify best practices
used in core and elective courses and prepare a brief summary of such activities for the
Undergraduate Program Committee. The UPC will then compile and distribute
descriptions of these instructional tools school-wide. In addition each academic
department should be responsible for creating opportunities and assignments for
undergraduate students to improve their critical thinking skills. Departmental
Undergraduate Curriculum Committees should be responsible and accountable for
operationalizing this goal and ensuring effective implementation (in core courses). Broad
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steps in this regard might include reviews of and revisions to course content, instructional
methods and course assignments.
E. Establish a required “core case experience.”
Recommendation:
Restructure the internship courses with two objectives in mind. One is to create an
opportunity for students to integrate their core knowledge in a case experience. Part of
the course will be devoted to preparing for and competing in a case designed to integrate
the core disciplines. Second is to enhance the academic content of the internship paper.
Toward this end students will be required to respond to specific questions prompting
them to use the internship as an opportunity to consider and integrate knowledge gained
during their experiences at McCombs. See Appendix C for sample questions.
2. Develop a focus on business citizenship.
Recommendations:
A. The business ethics portion of the LEB 323 and LEB 323H course should be replaced
with analytical reasoning material to advance the problem-solving skills of McCombs
students.
B. The focus on business ethics should be amplified by creation of a required three-hour
capstone course that integrates ethical decision making, corporate social responsibility,
sustainability, and related business citizenship topics. The course should include an
integrated case experience. This course will add three hours to the core requirement.
C. Instructors in all courses throughout McCombs should be encouraged to include,
where appropriate, material that illuminates for students the impact that businesses have
upon society, the limitations that societies, governments, and cultures can place upon
business activity, and that teaches students how to appreciate and navigate those mutual
interactions.
D. To the extent resources allow, McCombs should add electives that educate students
regarding business citizenship. See Appendix D for descriptions of potential courses.
3. Expand experiential learning opportunities.
Recommendations:
A. Expand experiential learning activities like ACC 366P: Tax Preparation in East
Austin, the Financial Analyst Program, MIS 374: Business Systems Development
and the Target/SCMC/CIBER Hong Kong summer program (see, for example,
http://mccombstoday.org/2011/07/a-firsthand-look-at-chinas-manufacturing-empire).
The expense of such programs could be mitigated by scholarships from centers.
B. Encourage practices courses like the Brass Ring course (OM 366P) with corporate
partner sponsored projects.
C. Develop alternative experiential learning opportunities like laboratories where our
students can interact with students from other institutions and with companies
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(domestic and abroad) on projects or case competitions that require a global
perspective and encourage good business citizenship.
D. Create/expand undergraduate research program through coursework and
undergraduate research assistantships. Develop more courses with the independent
inquiry flag, which provide students with opportunities to develop their independent
research skills. Provide more opportunities for undergraduate students to work closely
with faculty and Ph.D. students on research projects.
4. Improve the sequencing and integration of core courses.
Recommendations:
A. Establish milestones or required completion timelines for core courses.
Specifically, each student should complete:
ECO 304K (microeconomics), ECO 304L (macroeconomics), M 408K/C (differential
calculus) and Math 408L/D (integral calculus) by the end of their first year,
MIS 301 (introduction to IT management) by the end of their first year or beginning
of their second year, and ACC 311 (financial), ACC 312 (managerial), SAT 309 and
STA 371 by the end of their second year.
B. Develop a common syllabus for each core course.
C. Students need more opportunities to practice the “integrated” core. Core courses
typically taken in the junior year such as finance, management, marketing, and operations
should reinforce topics and skills from core courses in the freshman and sophomore
years. A mechanism to insure core faculty coordination is considered key to this
recommendation.
5. Administrative improvements.
Recommendations:
A. Appoint an Integrative Assistant Dean to coordinate the implementation and oversight
of the aforementioned recommendations.
B. Establish a mechanism for departmental core class coordination and oversight.
Each department should appoint an undergraduate curriculum committee to annually
review its core offerings. See Appendix E for suggested committee structure and
responsibilities.
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Appendix A
Resources and Literature Relevant to
Undergraduate Business Education
Books
Colby, Anne, et al. Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education: Liberal Learning for the
Profession (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: 2011) (recommends more
liberal arts –type learning be introduced into the undergraduate business curriculum so that
students can prepare to be civic leaders within the business domain by more fully understanding
the effects that business has on society and the implications that other social institutions hold for
business activity).
Datar, Srikant et al. Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads (Harvard
Business Press: 2010) (recommends that MBA programs improve teaching of thinking,
reasoning, and creative problem-solving skills and focus more attention on issues of
accountability, ethics, and social responsibility).
Khurana, Rakesh. From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American
Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession (Princeton
University Press: 2007) (suggests that business schools should emphasize professionalism by
infusing the occupation of management with values beyond the technical requirements of the job
and by teaching students that the purpose of management and corporate leadership necessarily
goes beyond maximizing shareholder value).
Articles
Anderson, Linda, “California Dreamin’ for a Leader at Berkeley,” Financial Times, June 21,
2010, p. S2 (reporting curricular changes at the Haas School that emphasize creativity,
experimentation, problem-solving, and experiential learning in order to tackle tomorrow’s
problems arising from the “unsustainabilities” in the current system—healthcare, energy, safe
water, the economics of ageing and climate change, etc.).
Blount, Sally, “Schools Must Be Wary of Short-Term Myopia,” Financial Times, Oct. 10, 2011,
p. 11 (Dean of the Kellogg School arguing that business schools must educate students to be
complex thinkers and responsible citizens—“Our world needs business leaders who comprehend
both the power and limits of market-based solutions to social issues; leaders who understand
social as well as economic benefits and costs in decision making.”).
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Bradshaw, Della, “’If You Get the People Right, They Will Build the School,’” Financial Times,
October 17, 2011, p. 14 (interview with new Yale SOM Dean Edward Snyder, who says that BSchools need to teach three core competencies—how markets work (competition), how
organizations work (cooperation, and the context in which business operates (governmentbusiness interactions)).
Canals, Jordi, “Crisis Offers a Chance to Reflect on Strategy,” Financial Times, October 18,
2010, p. 11 (Dean of IESE Business School arguing that B-Schools need to rethink the purpose
of companies and the role of senior managers in society to better integrate an ethical view of
management across the curriculum).
Charkravorti, Bhaskar, “MBAs Need a Richer Educational Framework,” Financial Times,
February 27, 2012, p. 11 (Assoc. Dean at Tufts’ business school arguing that business leaders
must lead during abrupt change and that non-business factors often are the most disruptive
sources of change, and concluding that business schools should embed “business questions
within a richer framework, incorporating nuances of international affairs, politics, law, history,
and security, among others.”).
Knight, Rebecca, “A Liberal Sprinkling of the Arts,” Financial Times, April 16, 2012, p. 13
(reporting that firms complain that business schools have been churning out graduates too
focused on making money and unable to think across disciplines and that some schools have
been responding by embracing curriculums often associated with liberals arts focusing on
abilities to innovate, collaborate and use “abductive” reasoning skills, which often involve
creative leaps of imagination).
Korn, Melissa, “Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value of a Business Major,” Wall Street
Journal, April 5, 2012 (reporting that many business schools are “tweaking their undergraduate
business curricula” in an attempt to better integrate lessons on business history, business ethics,
social responsibility, sustainability, writing, and global context, and that some employers have
been hiring liberal arts majors because they have better critical-thinking skills and problemsolving techniques than business school graduates).
Kotter, John, “In Need of a Vision for Management Education,” Financial Times, June 28, 2010,
p. 9 (editorial by HBS professor describing turmoil at HBS as it attempts to answer a key
question: “What is the school doing to help solve the world’s important problems?”).
Middleton, Dana & Light, Joe, “Harvard Changes Course,” Wall Street Journal, Feb. 3, 2011
(reporting on HBS’s change in curriculum to focus on cultivating judgment rather than basic
analytical tools “with a stated effort to create more ethical leaders”).
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Von Stamm, Bettina, “Traditional MBA Skills Are No Longer Enough,” Financial Times,
December 19, 2011, p. 13 (founder of the Innovation Leadership Forum argues that traditional
MBA programs produce managers who are excessively analytical and detached and that softer
skills are needed, focusing on “integrative, systemic thinking, emotional intelligence, selfawareness and a deep commitment to a bedrock of business ethics.”)
Wallace, Lane, “Multicultural Critical Theory. At B-School?,” New York Times, January 9,
2010 (reporting change of priority at Rotman School of Management in Toronto to a short of
“liberal arts MBA” based on the premise “that students needed to learn how to think critically
and creatively every bit as much as they needed to learn finance or accounting. More
specifically, they needed to learn how to approach problems from many perspectives and to
combine various approaches to find innovative solutions.” The article notes that several BSchools have reformed their curriculums recently to emphasize multi-disciplinary perspectives,
understanding historical and cultural contexts, leadership and social responsibility, and critical
thinking).
Interview
Michael Atchison, former Associate Dean for the undergraduate program at the University
Virginia. Dr. Atchison was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Integrated Core
Experience at the McIntyre School of Business.
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Appendix B
Constituent Input and Summary of Key Findings*
Alumni Email Survey:
In the spring of 2012 using the Development Office’s database an email survey was sent
to McCombs alumni who graduated between May 2000 and December 2010, a total of 9,159
recipients. Of the Seventeen percent that opened the email three hundred and twenty-two (just
over 16%) completed the survey. Response by major was consistent with enrollment by major.
When asked how well the BBA program provided its graduates with various skills and
capabilities the following were identified as needing more emphasis; creative problem solving,
entrepreneurial skills, Excel skills, and information technology skills. Interestingly, when asked
about the skills and capabilities used most often in their current job, creative problem solving,
analytical thinking, verbal and written skills ranked high.
Corporate Partners:
Feedback from our corporate partners came from three sources. First, an online survey
was conducted by Carnegie Communications Consulting Firm who surveyed 724 recruiters
between August and September of 2011. Approximately twenty-two percent responded.
McCombs scored well in providing graduates with team-oriented skills and a sound ethical
perspective. Areas cited for improvement included providing information technology skills,
leadership skills and skills necessary in diverse work environments.
The remaining two sources, internship supervisors and on sight recruiters, though
somewhat less comprehensive in scope offer important insights. Internship supervisors are
offered the opportunity to provide feedback when they sign off on the internship course credit
form. Their comments were considered as were those of employers who interviewed BBA
students in on campus in the fall of 2011. Input from these partners highlighted the need for
more skills and capabilities in areas such as critical thinking, excel, case analysis, and all forms
of communication.
Current students:
At a town hall meeting on April 20, 2012 students expressed support for curriculum
integration, embraced the idea of greater emphasis on business citizenship and on an increased
global perspective and overwhelmingly endorsed the need for more emphasis on analytical
thinking.
Peer Institutions:
Emory, Goizueta
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Indiana, Kelly
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New York University, Stern
University of California, Berkeley
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania, Wharton
University of Southern California, Marshall
University of Virginia, McIntire
A review of undergraduate programs at these institutions revealed three reoccurring themes; 1)
emphasis on tradition liberal arts skills especially analytical thinking, 2) core integration and
coordination, and 3) a focus on business citizenship. These themes were key in shaping the
committee’s recommendations.
*Details are available on request.
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Appendix C
Example of Proposed Business Internship
Integration Research Project
The primary purpose of a business internship is to obtain hands-on experience and an
opportunity to learn about the day to day operations of a business. Yet toward your education it
is important to gain a broad understanding of the way in which the tasks you perform, and the
decisions that you make, are influenced by, and influence the rest of the business. Further it is
important that you use the internship as an opportunity to consider, and integrate knowledge you
have gained during your experiences at McCombs. Toward this end, your assignment during
your internship will require you to consider the way your business operates beyond the tasks that
you perform.
Choose two of the three questions below and provide a thorough answer (8 – 10 pages, double
spaced) for each question. In order to answer these questions it is likely that you will need to
perform some research on your own, which may include gathering written information about the
business and industry, and conducting interviews with individuals at your firm.
1. Describe how the business you work for generates profit. Include descriptions of the primary
costs and revenues generated by this business. Describe how the function you serve, and the area
where you work contribute to the profitability of the business.
2. Businesses are often said to have multiple stakeholders including shareholders, employees,
customers, communities, and business partners such as suppliers. Describe how the business
where you are working faces challenges in meeting the expectations of these multiple
stakeholders. Include a discussion of areas where the goals of the stakeholders diverge, or are in
conflict, and how the business addresses these issues.
3. Businesses are often divided into functional areas. Although it varies by firm, these areas tend
to include finance, accounting, marketing, operations, IT, and human resources. Describe how
the actions, decisions, or outcomes of the area of business you are involved in influences at least
two other areas of your business. For example, if you are working in a finance office, describe
how your firms’ financial decisions influence decisions in marketing and operations. Next,
consider how the actions, decisions, or outputs of at least two other areas of the business
influence your area of the firm.
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Appendix D
Examples of Potential Business Citizenship Electives or Topics for
Business Citizenship Courses
The Impact of Business Innovation on Technological Change in Society.
This course could take a historical look at how business has been influenced by, and has played a role in
shaping, significant technological changes. For example one could look at the impact of the development
of kerosene in the 1800s as it influenced the whaling industry, the development of the airplane in the early
1900s, and the transistor in the 1940s and 50s.
The Influence of Business on Local and Global Communities.
This course could explore how business can provide meaningful employment, community externalities,
and societal value through production of improved goods, through methods that reduce costs, and through
processes that increase consumer access to value and resources. This would also be a forum for discussing
how business decisions can have far reaching positive and negative impact on less tangible considerations
such as wages or protected cultural values (like family farms or sacred groundsfor example). Students
could also consider how selecting a location for a business, making commitment to employees, or
choosing sources for raw materials have far reaching impact on families, communities, the environment,
and even stability of governments.
Philanthropy and Social Change.
This course could explore how businesses and business leaders use their position to improve human
welfare. Students could explore how values beyond profit maximization often drive many business
decisions. For example, students could study businesses like Toms Shoes and the One Laptop Per Child
Organization that meld traditional business structures with social welfare goals. Likewise they could
study businesses likeChick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby who set store policies to meet objectives beyond
profit such as providing employees an opportunity to spend time with families or in worship. Students
could look at business leaders like Rockefeller and Gates who, after acquiring great wealth, use it for
solving world health and welfare issues.
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility.
This course could explore how many companies have done well by doing good, how being a good
corporate citizen can be the cost of doing business in many industries and many areas of the world, and
how firms may sometimes gain competitive advantage by being good citizens and by committing to
sustainable models of business.
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Appendix E
Department Curriculum Committee
Structure and Responsibilities
Committee Membership
In appointing the department committee, consideration should be given to faculty
members with teaching experience in the department’s core courses and faculty members
with a demonstrated record of teaching excellence. Having a tenure-track faculty
member chair the committee is encouraged. The chair or a member of the department
committee should also serve as the department representative on the Undergraduate
Program Committee. Appointing an undergraduate student to serve on the department
committee is also recommended. Consideration should be given to students completing a
major course of study offered by the department and who are actively involved in either
the Undergraduate Business Council or the Business Honors Program.
Responsibilities
Working with faculty who are subject area experts and the department chair, the
department undergraduate curriculum committee will perform the following tasks each
academic year:
1. Develop required topics for each core course (additional topics may be included at the
discretion of the teaching faculty)
2. Gather and disseminate a list of suggested texts (or other reading materials) for use in
core courses
3. Set expectations for a common work load (e.g., number and type of assignments and
exams) between core course sections
4. Set expectations for a common grade distribution between core course sections
5. Assess effectiveness of courses in meeting any university “flag” designations
6. Periodically review core course syllabi to assess effectiveness in meeting the school’s
stated expectations for “rigor”
7. Communicate course policies to faculty teaching in the core at the beginning of the
academic year.
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8. Assign new and visiting faculty a mentor, provide the aforementioned information and a
sample syllabus, and strongly encourage attendance at the school’s new faculty
orientation
In addition to these tasks, the department committee may be called on to assist the
Undergraduate Programs Committee with initiatives that involve or impact the
department.
Deliverable
The department committee should submit a brief (1 page) report to the department chair
in the spring semester summarizing its activities for the academic year.