Research Competencies in Business

Expected by AACSB

Section 2: Standards for Business Accreditation

Assurance of Learning Standards

Section 3: Standards for Business Accreditation with Interpretive Information

Assurance of Learning Standards

A Statement about Curriculum Management and Content (Standard 15)

Standards Addressing the Level of Educational Attainment (Standards 17 and 20)

Assurance of Learning Standards

SECTION 2:
STANDARDS FOR BUSINESS ACCREDITATION

ASSURANCE OF LEARNING STANDARDS

15: Management of Curricula: The school uses well documented, systematic processes to develop, monitor, evaluate, and revise the substance and delivery of the curricula of degree programs and to assess the impact of the curricula on learning. Curriculum management includes inputs from all appropriate constituencies which may include faculty, staff, administrators, students, faculty from non-business disciplines, alumni, and the business community served by the school.

The standard requires use of a systematic process for curriculum management but does not require any specific courses in the curriculum. Normally, the curriculum management process will result in an undergraduate degree program that includes learning experiences in such general knowledge and skill areas as:

• Communication abilities.
• Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities.
• Analytic skills.
• Use of information technology.
• Reflective thinking skills.

Normally, the curriculum management process will result in undergraduate and master’s level general management degree programs that will include learning experiences in such management-specific knowledge and skills areas as:

• Ethical and legal responsibilities in organizations and society.
• Financial theories, analysis, reporting, and markets.
• Creation of value through the integrated production and distribution of goods, services, and information.
• Statistical data analysis and management science as they support decision-making processes throughout an organization.
• Information technologies as they influence the structure and processes of organizations and economies, and as they influence the roles and techniques of management.

SECTION 3:
STANDARDS FOR BUSINESS ACCREDITATION
WITH INTERPRETIVE INFORMATION

ASSURANCE OF LEARNING STANDARDS

19: Master’s level degree in specialized programs: Knowledge and Skills. Participation in a master’s level program presupposes the base of general knowledge and skills appropriate to an undergraduate degree and is at a more advanced level.

The level of knowledge represented by the students of a specialized master’s level program is the:

• Application of knowledge even in new and unfamiliar circumstances through a conceptual understanding of the specialization.
• Ability to adapt and innovate to solve problems.
• Capacity to critically analyze and question knowledge claims in the specialized discipline.

Master’s level students in specialized degree programs demonstrate knowledge of theories, models, and tools relevant to their specialty field. They are able to apply appropriate specialized theories, models, and tools to solve concrete business and managerial problems. Adapting expectations to the school’s mission and cultural circumstances, the school specifies learning goals and demonstrates achievement of learning goals in each specialized master’s degree program.

21: Doctoral level degree: Knowledge and Skills: Doctoral programs educate students for highly specialized careers in academe or practice. Students of doctoral level programs demonstrate the ability to create knowledge through original research in their areas of specialization. Normally, doctoral programs will include:

• The development of advanced theoretical or practical research skills for the areas of specialization.
• Dissertation, or equivalent, demonstrating personal integration of, and original intellectual contribution to, a field of knowledge.

A STATEMENT ABOUT CURRICULUM MANAGEMENT AND CONTENT
(Standard 15)

Topical Coverage Must Fit the School's Mission

Curricular contents must assure that program graduates are prepared to assume business and management careers as appropriate to the learning goals of the program. Contents of the learning experiences provided by programs should be both current and relevant to needs of business and management positions. This implies, for example, that present day curricula will prepare graduates to operate in a business environment that is global in scope. Graduates should be prepared to interact with persons from other cultures and to manage in circumstances where business practices and social conventions are different than the graduate’s native country. Another example of present-day relevance and currency is the need for graduates to be competent in the uses of technology and information systems in modern organizational operations. The school must determine the specific ways globalization and information systems are included in the curriculum, and the particular pedagogies used. Curricula without these two areas of learning would not normally be considered current and relevant.

Topics typically found in general management degree programs include:

• Individual ethical behavior and community responsibilities in organizations and society.
• Statistical data analysis and management science as they support decision-making processes throughout an organization.
• Information acquisition, management, and reporting for business (including information management and decision support systems for accounting, production, distribution, and human resources).
• Creation of value through the integrated production and distribution of goods, services, and information (from acquisition of materials through production to distribution of products, services, and information).
• Finance theories and methods; financial reporting, analysis, and markets.

STANDARDS ADDRESSING THE LEVEL OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
(STANDARDS 17 AND 20)

ASSURANCE OF LEARNING STANDARDS

15: Management of Curricula: The school uses well documented, systematic processes to develop, monitor, evaluate, and revise the substance and delivery of the curricula of degree programs and to assess the impact of the curricula on learning. Curriculum management includes inputs from all appropriate constituencies which may include faculty, staff, administrators, students, faculty from non-business disciplines, alumni, and the business community served by the school.

The standard requires use of a systematic process for curriculum management but does not require any specific courses in the curriculum. Normally, the curriculum management process will result in an undergraduate degree program that includes learning experiences in such general knowledge and skill areas as:

• Communication abilities.
• Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities.
• Analytic skills.
• Use of information technology.
• Reflective thinking skills.

Normally, the curriculum management process will result in undergraduate and master’s level general management degree programs that will include learning experiences in such management-specific knowledge and skills areas as:

• Ethical and legal responsibilities in organizations and society.
• Financial theories, analysis, reporting, and markets.
• Creation of value through the integrated production and distribution of goods, services, and information.
• Statistical data analysis and management science as they support decision-making processes throughout an organization.
• Information technologies as they influence the structure and processes of organizations and economies, and as they influence the roles and techniques of management.

18: Master’s level degree in general management (e.g., MBA) programs: Knowledge and skills. Participation in a master’s level degree program presupposes the base of general knowledge and skills appropriate to an undergraduate degree. Learning at the master’s level is developed in a more integrative, interdisciplinary fashion than undergraduate education.

The capacities developed through the knowledge and skills of a general master’s level program are:

• Capacity to adapt and innovate to solve problems, to cope with unforeseen events, and to manage in unpredictable environments.

19: Master’s level degree in specialized programs: Knowledge and Skills. Participation in a master’s level program presupposes the base of general knowledge and skills appropriate to an undergraduate degree and is at a more advanced level.

The level of knowledge represented by the students of a specialized master’s level program is the:

• Ability to adapt and innovate to solve problems.
• Capacity to critically analyze and question knowledge claims in the specialized discipline.

21: Doctoral level degree: Knowledge and Skills: Doctoral programs educate students for highly specialized careers in academe or practice. Students of doctoral level programs demonstrate the ability to create knowledge through original research in their areas of specialization. Normally, doctoral programs will include:

• The development of advanced theoretical or practical research skills for the areas of specialization.
• Dissertation, or equivalent, demonstrating personal integration of, and original intellectual contribution to, a field of knowledge.

Basis for Judgment:

• Students in doctoral programs create knowledge through original research.

Guidance for Documentation:

• Demonstrate that doctoral students make original research contributions.

Last modified January 24, 2007
by Boris Teske, Prescott Memorial Library,
Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272