Cecil Bohanon reviews the themes of business
education from 1900 to 1930 to see which issues were resolved at this time in
history. The research evaluated curriculum content, professional nature of
business and business schools, social responsibility of corporate managers, and
the desire to integrate business curriculum. These entry-level business school concepts
continue today in a more complex form.
The very first business and commerce
colleges started in the 19th century lead by The Wharton School at
the University of Pennsylvania in 1883. Business communities, who wanted their
sons to learn about business with a liberal education, started the very first
colleges. To the business community it was a way of formalizing a period of
apprenticeship. At this time in history,
many families ran a business to maintain their needs and it was expected their
sons would start their own or take over the family business.
Either most of the bright high
school students went directly into business or they went to college to learn
specific skills. These students did not have much desire to graduate with a
degree and simply took the classes that furthered their business interests.
College administrators felt that they could improve retention by offering
degrees in business. They implemented programs that moved from trade school to
formal education.
It took a couple of decades before
professors began to feel as though business was a worthwhile subject for study.
At the time, a liberal education was seen as the ideal standard of education.
The very first business oriented curriculum included economics and sociology as
part of their offerings. Economics provided the financial training and sociology
offered the human elements training. Commerce was seen as the key course set
that moved trade schools to business schools.
Social responsibility eventually
made its way into the overall process of business education. Ethics were
present before the 1930’s but focused on social responsibility to shareholders.
The damaging aspect of not following the law could result in punitive economic
actions. Ethics was based in how to make the most money in one’s career
regardless of the wider social obligations.
Once colleges were established, the
concept of curriculum integration became more important. Students could receive
an excellent education in class silos but did not have proper frameworks for
integrating these concepts into a more cohesive framework. As the concept of
integrate developed so did the practices of relating classes to each other. Courses that are more general were built on
the fundaments of economics, accounting and statistics.
Business colleges have come a long
way. In today’s world, a higher level of fundamental, business and liberal
education has become common place. Social responsibility has moved beyond
making only money to include one’s responsibilities to society. Courses are
more technical and include other elements in response to the changing
complexity of the business environment. The report does not indicate this
concept, but it would seem that the next development of business colleges beyond
technological trajectories will be the creation of integrated frameworks for
understanding complex environmental factors as well as creative/innovation
development methodologies.
Bohanon, C. (2008). Persistent Themes in College of
Business. Journal of Education for
Business, 83 (4).
