Change of Pace
Outdated traditional thinking makes way for a new approach
Top universities are pursuing their own versions of integrated business curriculums as it becomes more apparent that traditional education methods are fast becoming outdated for today's entrepreneurial environment.
Joel Podolny, Yale School of Management's dean, says the changes being made are from the roots up. 'Whether it's Ivey, Stanford or Yale, all schools are looking for ways to integrate cross-disciplinary courses. All recognise that the boundaries of traditional course structures are obscuring the fundamental challenges of management and leadership,' Professor Podolny said.
'I think across a number of schools there's a lot of experimentation going on at the moment. My view is that the schools that are more aggressive in changing the fundamental way they have been operating will be more effective,' he said.
Professor Podolny said on his recent visit to Hong Kong that Yale's new course structure involved transferring the core of its curriculum.
'There are two key components. The first is replacing the silo discipline courses, such as finance and marketing, with inter-disciplinary courses structured around the key areas that management engages. The second is leadership development, getting the students to focus on how they're translating their own set of values as a grounding for their career.
'It's a fundamental shift in how faculty addresses the courses. We have put in place a curriculum development team of five people for our 60 faculties, working with them with designing and developing the new courses.'
Professor Podolny said the new methods were universally applicable.
'We see no reason to think that these new structures are not equally applicable in all parts of the world. Globalisation is putting the same pressures on organisations around the world to operate as flatter operations and think more laterally.'
