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International Journal of Education Research Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2014 15

USE OF INTEGRATIVE CURRICULUM TO ENHANCE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EDUCATION

Madan Annavarjula

Lookman Buky Folami Andres Ramirez

Srdan Zdravkovic Bryant University

ABSTRACT

This study presents an example of using integrative business curriculum and a

multinational business management simulation to enhance international business education. During the second semester of their junior year students are enrolled in International Accounting, International Finance, International Management, and International Marketing courses simultaneously. Each individual course is a part of the Integrative Block, the structure of classes with integrated curriculum and objectives. Classes are tied together by constant faculty interactions, utilization of a business strategy game, inclusion of cross-functional cases, and employment of guest speakers. Informal student feedback and formal study of student opinions indicate that such an integrated approach makes learning more meaningful for students, increases students' motivation, enhances their interpersonal skills, increases commitment to further learning, and makes students more confident in their abilities to be a valuable part of the international business environment.

Keywords: Integrative, curriculum, international, business, education

INTRODUCTION

Most educational institutions' primary approach to learning is the subject-centric

curriculum, which emphasizes specialized knowledge contained in each academic subject. A major problem with this approach is an over-emphasis on the integrity of the separate subjects at the expense of ignoring connections between and among subjects. In addition, this over emphasis on discrete subject matter ignores real life interdependencies between subject matter and students' academic and life experiences. Given that the current business and social environment is increasingly more complex, more interdependent, and more global, education organized along traditional subject lines fails to prepare students for a swiftly changing world (Walker, 1995).

In the fall of 2004, the authors’ institution launched the Bachelor of Science in International Business (BSIB) program. This program was designed to provide opportunities for students to develop the global perspective, technical skills, and conceptual understanding necessary for success in addressing issues and problems faced by managers of businesses operating in the global arena. The program capitalized on the strength of both the business and liberal arts faculty with background in international areas.

In addition, it had some unique features that were expected to provide a sustainable advantage relative to other international business programs. For example, all students were required to minor in a second language and demonstrate an intermediate level of proficiency. Students were also required to complete a semester-long study abroad as well as complete a functional area of concentration. As such, a great deal of emphasis was placed on integrating a

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broad spectrum of knowledge that encompasses functional business skills, language, intercultural effectiveness, and education in the liberal arts.

Although students were receiving all the necessary "ingredients" to achieve the aforementioned goals, the overall feeling was that the knowledge acquisition was happening in a "silo" format and "cross-functional application" of the acquired knowledge was not really being accomplished. The students were reasonably conversant in their chosen area of functional discipline but were less than well prepared when it comes to application across functional areas. Therefore, an approach to help “integrate” the functional knowledge and facilitate effective application of that knowledge in the context of business scenarios was necessary. Consequently, the integrative international business curriculum and simulation program (block) was developed.

There are two components to this integrative block program. First is the “integrative” component. The objective of this component is to bring together the core functional areas into one integral theme of learning. The curriculum and the pedagogical aspects were designed to accomplish that objective. Core international business concepts are discussed across the different courses that form the “block” with a goal to address and highlight the functional relatedness. Cases are chosen by the faculty to address interrelated issues across business disciplines.

The second is the “application” component. The emphasis of the "application" component is on applying the conceptual knowledge gained in the students’ core courses to a practical business situation. In our case the application is in the form of a multinational business strategy simulation. Student groups are assigned the task of making all decisions to manage an existing, profit making, multinational company. The knowledge acquired in this integrative curriculum serves as a foundation for a consulting project each student has to complete in their final year with real companies.

Students who register for this integrative block program have to satisfy the following prerequisites: (1) they have to be second semester juniors, (2) they have to have one semester of study-abroad experience, (3) they have to complete introductory level functional business curriculum, and (4) complete basic math and statistics courses.

VALUE OF INTEGRATIVE CURRICULUM There is a need today to provide students with learning opportunities that connect

knowledge and experiences from the various subject areas to real life business situations and to life beyond college. An integrative education curriculum is designed to cut across subject-matter lines and bring together various aspects of the curriculum into meaningful association that focuses upon broad areas of study. The goal is to reflect the interdependencies that exist in the real world. Such a goal leads to improved problem-solving skills and a greater ability to make and remember connections between presumably independent elements (Kovalik & Olsen, 1994; Shoemaker, 1989).

The need for an interdisciplinary approach to learning is captured in three rationales put forward by a number of proponents of this approach. Tyler (1949) argues that to foster the cumulative impact of all learning experiences, attention should be given to the connections, both vertical and horizontal, between and among students' learning experiences in the various subjects within the core curriculum. The second rationale states that since real life experiences are integrated, academic education should enable students to understand the interrelatedness of real life experiences (Tanner & Tanner, 2007). The third and final rationale argues that since real life

International Journal of Education Research Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2014 17

issues and problems transcend disciplinary boundaries – the major purpose of education is to prepare enlightened citizens who can make intelligent decisions about public and private problems (Wraga, 1993).

The above rationales are supported by evidence from the Eight-Year Study conducted in the 1930s and 1940s. The results of that study show that students who went through integrative curricula demonstrate more intellectual curiosity, better attitude towards learning, and higher achievement in college than students in a traditional subject based curricula (Kain, 1993).

Ross and Olsen (1993) suggest five models for implementing integrative education: single subject integration, coordinated model, integrated core model, integrated double core model, and the self-contained model. Even though the models were discussed in the context of middle schools and high schools, the ideas suggested also apply to higher education. The single subject integration presents the content of one subject as it relates to real life. The coordinated model uses two or more teachers to teach integrated single subjects to the same students separately but cooperatively to ensure that desired learning objectives are accomplished. This model resembles the approach used within our International Business Integrative Block program.

In the integrated core model, a single teacher remains with students for two to three periods, teaching a single subject from various context and perspectives. The integrated double core model utilizes two instructors for the same students within two integrated cores. One instructor might teach management concepts within international business, while another teaches finance in a domestic environment. In the current study, four different instructors have been teaching four different courses from an integrated international business perspective. Finally, the self-contained core model uses one instructor with multiple subject-matter expertise with the same group of students, teaching multiple skills and concepts within one or two meaningful contexts.

The benefits of an integrated curriculum are compelling. Results from studies conducted over more than 60 years indicate that students' academic achievement in any type of integrative curriculum is the same or better than students' achievement in a departmentalized curriculum approach (Vars, 1996). Another benefit of an integrative curriculum is making learning more meaningful for students, especially when it is student-centered and organized around relevant issues and problems. It is expected that a well-organized and executed integrative curriculum will increase students’ motivation, encourage higher order thinking, enhance interpersonal skills, and increase their commitment to further learning.

THE SUGGESTED INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS INTEGRATIVE BLOCK The International Business Integrative Block is a pivotal part of the overall International

Business (IB) experience at our institution and is part of the students' curriculum during their junior year. The overall IB program is illustrated in Table 1. The IB program is designed to provide students with a competitive advantage in a globalized world. During their first and second year, students take globally-customized versions of core courses in business and liberal arts and begin to pursue a required language minor in Chinese, French, Italian, or Spanish. As juniors, all IB majors study abroad for a semester, which immerses them in a foreign culture. The purpose of the study abroad program is to expose students to other cultures and improve their intercultural effectiveness. It is after this academic international experience that students return to campus to take part in the IB Integrative Block (international accounting, international finance, international management, and international marketing).

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Table 1 International Business Program Structure: Sequence and Content

Freshmen Year Sophomore Year Junior Year – Integrative Block

Experience

Senior Year

Theme

Exploration of the IB domain

Functional understanding

Application and Integration

Real life project experience

Content

• Principles of IB

• IB- Foundations For Learning

• Foreign Language

Global Perspective

Foundations of: Marketing, Finance, Management, and CIS

Advanced Theory

• International Accounting, Finance, Management, and Marketing.

• Integrative cases

• Business Simulation Game as the integrative project

IB Practicum

(Real business consulting project)

Objective

• Help students appreciate the IB career path

• Help students adjust to the demands of the IB program

Help students choose functional concentration and explore career options

Help students integrate learning across functional areas and apply their knowledge to a simulated business environment

• Help networking

• Enhance placement prospects

During the last year, students are enrolled in the IB practicum that gives senior IB majors

the opportunity to work with businesses and acquire real life experience in the development of strategies and solutions in an international context. By the time students enroll in the IB

International Journal of Education Research Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2014 19

Integrative Block, they are familiar with each business discipline (accounting, finance, management, and marketing) but they have not been exposed to the full level of interaction between disciplines. Until this point everything is learned in isolation without much concern about how decisions in one area affect the other. The integrative block aims not only to provide content, but also to stress how functional disciplines fit and interact with each other.

INTEGRATIVE BLOCK ELEMENTS OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

The IB Integrative Block consists of six elements: curriculum, simulation, cases, guest speakers, joint class lectures, and coordinated faculty efforts. The six elements are discussed in the following sub-sections. Curriculum

The IB Integrative Block semester begins with a meeting of the four faculty members (faculty teaching international accounting, international finance, international management, and international marketing). In this meeting, the syllabi of the four classes are reviewed for content and timing to assure unification and reduce redundancy. Topical content for each course is shared by the faculty. With this information, each professor can better plan his/her content and ensure a better learning environment for students. The timing of material coverage is also important. A marketing professor may want to wait until the accounting class has covered financial ratio analysis before assigning a particular case. Faculty meetings are also used to control material redundancies.

Certain topics, such as country risk or national culture are (and should be) addressed in every class, however, the four faculty members do their best not to be overly repetitive. For example, knowing that finance covers interest rate parity and purchasing power parity in detail, the management professor can allocate more time to other topics related to country risk. Similarly, knowing that accounting covers transfer pricing, marketing can expand on its strategic implications while finance has more time to cover exchange rate risk. Alternatively, professors can take advantage of what the other classes are covering to highlight the differences that each discipline brings to a particular topic. Simulation

A major component of the IB Integrative Block is a multinational business simulation called the “Business Strategy Game” (BSG, 2012) by McGraw Hill. BSG is an online, PC-based simulation exercise where students in groups of 3-4 manage a sports shoe company in direct competition against companies managed by other class members. The marketplace is global— production and sales activities can be pursued in North America, Latin America, Europe-Africa, and Asia Pacific. Students must also decide how much to sell to retailers, directly to consumers (online), or to private-label retailers. All companies begin with equal sales volume, global market share, revenues, profits, costs, footwear quality, and so on. Some of the business-related decisions students make pertains to the following areas: • Corporate social responsibility and citizenship • Production of branded and private-label athletic footwear

20 International Journal of Education Research Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2014

• Plant capacity additions/sales/upgrades • Worker compensation and training • Shipping • Pricing • Bids to sign celebrities to endorse company's footwear • Financing of company operations • Participants can also make annual sales forecasts and decide whether to have inventory clearance sales

Professors play the role of consultants during the game. Students are encouraged to get

advice from all professors in order to gain different perspectives. This forces students to feel ownership of their final strategy.

The simulation is complemented with two quizzes, two reports, and two presentations. The first quiz tests student's understanding of the software and the technical aspects of the game. The second quiz tests how well a student understands key reports and indicators as well as specific information about the industry. The first presentation takes place after the 3rd round of decisions has been submitted. Students are asked to present their strategy, results, and projections. This midterm presentation helps students identify strategy pitfalls and reveals “naive” management practices and decisions early in the game.

The final report and presentation takes place after the 10th round of decisions has been submitted. This presentation is formatted as a mock board of directors meeting where students present their annual report, discuss competitive strategy, and present a three-year strategic plan. In both presentations students are required to submit a written report. BSG (simulation) is worth 20% of each class's grade. The final simulation grade is comprised of the following: presentations, reports, team performance, and quizzes. Cases

Cases are heavily used in the IB Integrative Block. The same case may be assigned in two or more classes making students more familiar with its content and able to discuss a particular business situation from two or more different points of view. Cases also help students apply acquired knowledge to realistic business situations. Such exercises force students to think “out of the book” by making decisions with less than perfect information. Most importantly, cases allow professors to stress the integrative nature of business problems by discussing the different approaches that different business disciplines have toward a particular problem. Individual professors decide the value of each case toward the final class grade. Guest Speakers

The simulation experience is enhanced by bringing guest speakers with expertise in the

sporting shoe industry to discuss the industry trends with students. Additionally, professors encourage class participation in events and lectures given by other speakers at the university and surrounding community. The use of expert guest speakers helps provide a reality check for the learning experience of the students in the IB Integrative Block.

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Joint Class lectures

Currently, accounting and finance classes take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays while management and marketing take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The close coordination and planning amongst faculty allows for flexible and more efficient use of time. For example, during a particular week the finance professor “takes over” marketing classes and teaches finance every day of that week. This allows for in depth coverage of difficult topics such as foreign exchange risk, and hedging with options. The following week, it is the marketing professor who utilizes finance class time and students get a full week of marketing. Our experience has been that students retain material better by concentrating on one subject throughout the week.

Coordinated Faculty Efforts

There is plenty of planning and discussion amongst faculty about class performance during the semester. On the first day of class, four faculty members come together to welcome the class as a group. This helps projects an image of a united faculty with common goals and strategy. It also illustrates to students that each faculty member is an equal participant in the Integrative Block. In this introductory session faculty explain the main features of the Integrative Block. Throughout the semester faculty members meet on several occasions to assess student performance, discuss any problems with students or groups, and investigate any avenues for program improvement.

RESEARCH METHOD

Survey Instrument

In order to evaluate the Integrative Block program and simulation exercise from the

student perspective we created and administrated a survey in the fall of 2010 and once again in the summer of 2011. The survey was distributed to spring 2010 and spring 2011 Integrative Block participants. The survey instrument consists of fourteen statements regarding the Integrative Block experience. Respondents were asked to evaluate each statement on a five point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree). The survey was distributed to students via Questionpro (2012), an on-line survey tool and it took on average approximately twelve minutes to complete.

Sample and Data Collection

Twenty-seven students from spring 2010 and thirty nine students from spring 2011

participated in the study. Identical questions were asked in both surveys and data was analyzed for consistency. Responses to the question regarding “coordination of Integrative Block by the faculty” was evaluated more favorably by the spring 2011 group (F(1,63) = 3.69, p<.05). This was not unexpected and illustrates improved processes by the faculty.

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FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the responses from the two groups of students in the study. Descriptive Statistics

Answers between groups to all other questions were not significantly different from each

other. As such, we decided to combine the two samples for data analysis and we ended up with a sample of sixty six. Thirty eight students were female and twenty three were male. Five students did not answer the gender question. The average cumulative grade point average of study participants was 3.44. The average answer values for each statement are presented in Table 2.

Data analysis in Table 2 indicates that the integrative block experience contributed to students' understanding of how different business disciplines interact with each other and made students more confident about participating in the international business environment. Students indicated that cases and guest lecturers enhanced the integrative block experience and that simulation was a useful exercise. In addition, students believe that this experience will be beneficial once they enter the job market.

Table 2

The Integrative Block Experience & Simulation Survey Statements Presented to Survey Takers

Finally, students felt that diverse faculty backgrounds enhanced the integrative block

experience (in our case four faculty members are not only from four different countries but from four different continents). Overall, the results indicate that the integrative block experience

1 The Integrative Block experience & simulation enhanced my overall knowledge of International Business.

4.30

2 The Integrative Block experience & simulation helped me understand how interaction of accounting, finance, management, and marketing decisions affect business performance.

4.30

3 The Integrative Block experience & simulation helped me understand the importance of strategy in a competitive environment.

4.33

4 The Integrative Block experience & simulation helped me understand the link between business decisions and key financial statements variables (income, cost, ratios, etc).

4.15

5 The Integrative Block experience & simulation helped me understand the importance of planning to achieve forecasted financial goals and objectives.

4.09

6 Cases and guest lecturers contributed to enhancing the Integrative Block experience. 4.11 7 I am more confident about my understanding of the main business subject areas (accounting, finance,

management, and marketing) after participating in the Integrative Block. 4.23

8 I believe Integrative Block simulation was a useful exercise. 4.28 9 Potential employers will be impressed with the fact that I participated in the Integrative Block

experience & simulation. 4.15

10 The Integrative Block experience & simulation contribute to understanding the importance of "team work."

4.40

11 The Integrative Block experience & simulation helped me understand the importance of planning. 4.40 12 The Integrative Block experience & simulation helped me understand the importance of being

flexible. 4.32

13 It is useful to have internationally diverse faculty teaching the Integrative Block. 4.54 14 The Integrative Block experience & simulation helped me understand the importance of planning to

achieve forecasted operating goals and objectives. 4.00

International Journal of Education Research Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2014 23

enhances the learning experience of the students. For each of the fourteen statements about their experience, the average score range between 4.0 (Agree) and 5.0 (Strongly Agree).

In addition to statements from Table 2, we also allowed subjects to indicate "the best things about the Integrative Block experience." A few common themes emerged from this open- ended question. Students indicated that working in a team and being able to take on a leadership role was very useful. They believed that working as part of a team is representative of working in a professional work environment. Students also enjoyed taking four business courses at the same time because it gave them a "well-rounded experience of the business environment."

The Business Strategy Game simulation was seen as useful because it presented an opportunity to: (1) utilize material learned in the classroom, (2) compete against other teams, (3) experience realistic business setting where students had to be involved in order to succeed, and (4) learn that success in business does not only depend on decisions made by the team but also on decisions made by other teams. Students indicated that, although they invested a lot of time and effort in running a simulation game, it was an extremely valuable experience.

FUTURE RESEARCH

While the current study provides limited support for the merit of an interdisciplinary approach to education, future research is needed to provide more evidence on the merit of other approaches to interdisciplinary education in multiple setting. Research is also needed on the comparative merit of the interdisciplinary approach relative to the discipline centric approach, and the setting in which each is more appropriate.

CONCLUSION The presented model for integrating international business curriculum is to enhance

learning and provide students with a more meaningful education experience. Although relatively new and challenging to students, this model has been well received by the participants. Students appreciate close faculty interaction and cross-functional business application. Simulation utilized increases students' motivation, group work and required presentations enhance interpersonal skills. Constant feedback increases students' commitment to further learning and simulation of the realistic business setting makes students more confident of their ability when searching for a full time employment.

Benefits of the presented integrative model can simply be summarized in the words of a student who was part of the Integrative Block: "Building teamwork and leadership skills was noticeably effective but the most important things were the case studies, running a business and seeing how different areas tie to one another”. This student found the BSG game to drastically enhance his knowledge of corporate finance and international business dealings.

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REFERENCES

BSG – Business Strategy Game. (2011). Home Page. http://www.bsg-online.com/. Accessed 10 September 2012.

Kain, D. (1993). Cabbages–and kings: Research directions in integrated/interdisciplinary

curriculum. The Journal of Education Thought, 27 (3), 1994. Kovalik, S, & Olsen, K. (1994). ITI: The model. Integrated thematic instruction (3rd Edition).

Kent, Washington: Books for Educators. Ross, A., & Olsen, K. (1993). The way we were…the way we can be: a vision for the middles

school through integrated thematic instruction (2nd Edition). Kent, Washington: Books for Educators.

Shoemaker, B. J. E. (1989). Integrative education. A curriculum for the twenty-first century.

OSSC Bulletin Series. Tanner, D., & Tanner, L. (2007). Curriculum development: Theory into practice (4th Edition).

Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill. Tyler, R. (1949). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago

Press. Vars, G. F. (1996). The effects of interdisciplinary curriculum and instruction. In P. S.

Hlebowitsh and W. G. Wraga (Eds.), Annual review of research for school leaders, 147- 164. New York: Scholastic.

Walker, D. (1995). Integrative education. Eric Digest 101, January. Wraga, W. G. (1993). The interdisciplinary imperative for citizenship education. Theory and

Research in Social Education, 21(3), 201-231.

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About the Authors:

Madan Annavarjula is Associate Dean of the College of Business. He earned his MBA degree from Karnatak University, India, and his Ph.D. in International Business at the Fox School of Business, Temple University. He has taught International Business and Business Strategy related courses at Bryant University as well as several reputed institutions abroad. His current research interests include technology strategies of multinational corporations and internationalization of family owned firms. Lookman Buky Folami is an Associate Professor in Accounting at Bryant University, where he teaches Advanced Accounting and International Accounting. He is the recipient of many awards, including an Outstanding Research Award (UAH), Outstanding Paper Award (EBRC 2013), and NABA’s National Achievement in Education Award (2011). Dr. Folami received his Ph.D. in Accounting from Georgia State University, holds the CPA, CMA, and CFM certifications. His research has appeared in several publications, including International Review of Business Research Papers; The CPA Journal; The Accounting Review; and Journal of Applied Business Research. Andres Ramirez is an Associate Professor of Finance and a director of International Business Program at Bryant University. His research concentrates in multinational corporate finance, natural disasters as well as nonprofit financial management. A native of Chile, Dr. Ramirez pursued a career as a treasurer, controller and ERP manager before joining academics. He is active in the community advising student organizations and volunteering for several nonprofits. Srdan Zdravkovic is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Bryant University. His research interests include cross cultural consumer behavior, country of origin, and sponsorship. His research has been published in journals including Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of Research in Marketing, International Business Review, and International Marketing Review. He received his PhD in International Business and Marketing from Saint Louis University.

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