Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

6-1984

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major Professor

George W. Wiegers

Committee Members

Carroll Coakley, Kenneth McCullough, Gerald LaBorde

Abstract

The problem of the study was to determine the desired content emphasis of the introductory collegiate business course and design a model based on the perceptions of business executives and community college business instructors. The major purposes of the study were: (1) to determine the course topics organized into teaching modules to be included in the collegiate introductory business course, (2) to determine the degree of importance attached to those topics as per-ceived by a sample of business executives and business instructors, (3) to compare the degree of importance attached to those topics by executives and instructors, and (4) to determine what percentage of the college course Introduction to Business should be devoted to each of the teaching modules as perceived by executives and instructors.

The national samples consisted of 217 business executives from Fortune's 500 companies and 266 community college business instructors in institutions with a minimum full-time enrollment of 1000 students as listed in the American Association of Community-Junior Colleges Manual of 1982. One hundred and nine business executives and 192 business instructors responded to a questionnaire which contained 27 course topics organized into seven teaching modules regarding the introductory collegiate business course. They indicated the degree of importance given to the 27 course topics using a five-point scale. Space was provided for additional topics to be included. Computations of frequencies, percentages, means, and modes were completed for the 27 course topics and seven teaching modules. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov Two-Sample Test was utilized to evaluate the significance of difference between the business executives and the business instructors regarding their perceived importance of each course topic. The test was computed at the .05 level.

Major findings included the following: 1. Business executives perceived the course topics of Marketing, The Private Enterprise System, Long and Short-Term Financing, Employee Selection, Training, Compensation and Evaluation, The Role of Computers, Human Relations, Motivational Theories and Styles of Leadership, The Role of Accounting, and Management Infor-mation Systems and Statistics, as being highly appropriate for course coverage in the college course Introduction to Business. 2. Community college business instructors place high emphasis upon the teaching of the course topics of Forms of Business Owner-ship, Marketing Strategies and Channels of Distribution, Functions and Theories of Management, Employee Selection, Training and Compensation, Human Relations, Motivational Theories and Styles of Leadership, The Role of Computers, Long and Short-Term Financing, Organizational Structure, Small Business and Franchising, Money and The U.S. Banking System, Promotional Strategy, Business and Our Legal System, Labor-Management Relations, and The Role of Accounting. 3. Of the 27 course topics contained on the questionnaire, business executives and business instructors differ on the degree of importance for 1l of them. Executives place more emphasis on course topics related to the Private Enterprise System and Management Infor-mation Systems and Statistics than instructors are giving them in the classroom.

Instructors place more emphasis on the course topics of Forms of Business Ownership, Marketing Channels, Promotional Strategy, Social Responsibility and Business, Organizational Structure, Alternative Economic Systems, The Securities Market, Risk Management and Insurance, and Small Business and Franchising than do executives. 4. Executives and instructors feel that teaching modules containing topics related to Business and Its Environment, Organiza-tion and Management, Management of Human Resources and Production, Marketing Management and Financing a Business should receive similar course allotments of approximately 15 percent each. Teaching modules containing topics related to Quantitative Tools of Management and Additional Dimensions should receive smaller course allotments of approximately eight to 10 percent each, according to executives and instructors.

Major conclusions, based on the findings, were: 1. There exists only a moderate degree of commonality among community college instructors regarding the appropriate content emphasis for the Introduction to Business course. 2. Community college instructors are not placing adequate emphasis on the topic of Private Enterprise System in the introductory collegiate business course. 3. Business executives appear to perceive Introduction to Business as a business training course, rather than an educational course designed to broaden students' overall knowledge of contemporary business.

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