BUSINESS STUDIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: TOWARDS A NEW UNDERSTANDING BRUCE JOHN MACFARLANE A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF LONDON AUGUST 1997 1 Acknowledgements The field research for this thesis would not have been possible without the co- operation of over 240 questionnaire respondents and a further 31 interviewees who teach on first degree programmes in Business Studies at a range of higher and further education institutions. I am also grateful to my joint supervisors Professor Geoff Whiny and Professor Ronald Barnett for their guidance and encouragement; Nicole Levingstone and Christine Buckta for their help in arranging supervision meetings; my colleagues Kevin Tomlinson and Laurie Lomas for their interest and advice; and my wife, Alice, for her patience, understanding and support. 2 Abstract The study of business has been popularly characterised as incompatible with a higher education founded on liberal values. However, this characterisation is based on perceptions which have not previously taken account of the pedagogic belief-systems of lecturers. This thesis sets out to re-examine the relationship between the teaching of business subjects and the goals of higher education by exploring the attitudes of Business Studies lecturers in UK higher education. An analytical framework is constructed as a basis for researching lecturer attitudes to a Business Studies first degree. Business Studies lecturers are largely committed to the vocational preparation of students but adopt contrasting pedagogic positions in seeking to achieve this goal. 'Pragmatic synthesisers' looked to the acquisition of knowledge and skills and the ability to solve problems, while 'critical evaluators' defined their primary pedagogic purpose as encouraging students to reflect on and to evaluate knowledge claims. There is also an epistemological schism among lecturers based on attitudes to business knowledge. Lecturers with a background in social science disciplines had a context-independent attitude to knowledge. They are suspicious of knowledge derived from the business context which they regard as transitory and of little long-term value to students. By contrast, lecturers with more business experience, often teaching in areas of the curriculum related to functional specialisms, had a Context-dependent attitude. They argue in favour of responsiveness to the business context and embrace this 'new' knowledge. An analytical framework is presented based on these pedagogic and epistemological dimensions. Drawing on these findings, the thesis concludes that the study of business can be compatible with a higher education based on liberal values. Many business lecturers are committed to a pedagogy based on critical evaluation and context-independence. Moreover, the changing nature of both vocational and higher education also strongly suggests that, in practice, the goals of Business Studies are compatible with those of a liberal higher education. 3 Contents SECTION A : BUSINESS STUDIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION: DISLOCATED IDENTITIES Chapter 1 Scope and Aims of the Thesis 12 Rationale (12) Changes in higher education (13) A fractured relationship (14) A pedagogic framework (16) Challenging the assumptions (19) Towards a new relationship (20) Conclusion (21) Chapter 2 Business Studies and Higher Education : 23 A Dislocated Relationship Introduction (23) The evolution of management education (23) Business Studies : a Trojan horse? (26) Doctrinal identity (28) Epistemological identity (31) Institutional identity (34) Professional identity (36) In search of an identity (39) Conclusion (44) SECTION B : THE BUSINESS STUDIES CURRICULUM : TOWARDS AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK Chapter 3 The Aims of a Business Studies degree 47 Introduction (4) What is meant by 'aims' ? (47) The State (48) The business community (53) 4 The student body (55) The academic community (57) A studyfor or about business? (63) Conclusion (65) Chapter 4 Knowledge in Business Studies 67 Introduction (67) The nature of knowledge (68) The production of knowledge (76) The organisation of knowledge (80) Conclusion (82) Chapter 5 A Framework for Analysis 85 Introduction (85) The characterisation of aims and knowledge (85) Hypothesis (89) An analytical framework (89) Movement within the framework (95) Relevance to higher education (99) Conclusion (101) SECTION C : THE BUSINESS STUDIES CURRICULUM: PEDAGOGY AND TRIBE Chapter 6 Methodology 103 Introduction (103) Rationale (103) Instruments of investigation (106) Ethical issues (113) Conclusion (115) Chapter 7 Lecturer Attitudes : a National Perspective 117 Introduction (117) Documentary analysis (117) 5 Characteristics of lecturers (119) Curriculum aims (122) Curriculum knowledge (126) Analysis by teaching subject (130) Professional and academic traditions (131) Further issues (132) Conclusion (133) Chapter 8 Lecturer Attitudes : Institutional Perspectives 134 Introduction (134) The institutions (135) Institutional trends (139) Lecturer attitudes (144) Conclusion (161) Chapter 9 Business Studies : Pedagogic Realities 163 Introduction (163) A pedagogic framework (163) 'Critical evaluators' (164) 'Pragmatic synthesisers' (167) Critical thinking (169) Post Fordism and pedagogy (171) Conclusion (175) Chapter 10 Business Studies : Tribal Tendencies 176 Introduction (176) The academic 'tribes' (176) A tribal framework (182) Conclusion (186) SECTION D : BUSINESS STUDIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: TOWARDS A NEW UNDERSTANDING Chapter II A New Analytical Framework 189 Introduction (189) 6 A new analytical framework (189) The dynamics of change (195) Wider professional education (203) Conclusion (208) Chapter 12 Business Studies in Higher Education : 210 Towards a New Understanding Introduction (210) Paradigm and pedagogy (211) \bcational educators and critical pedagogy (213) Academic freedom (214) Liberal education and Business Studies (215) Changing higher education (217) Changing vocational education (219) Business Studies in higher education: towards a new understanding (223) Conclusion (226) Chapter 13 The Future of Business Studies 228 Introduction (228) Student choice (230) Decline of integration (232) The new skills agenda (233) Decline of the work placement (235) Differentiation and diversity (237) Conclusion (240) Epilogue 241 References 246 Glossary of Terms 268 7 Appendices Appendix 1 Business Studies survey 269 Appendix 2 Institutions surveyed by status and number of respondents 274 Appendix 3 Interview Themes 275 Appendix 4 Interviewees by teaching subject and institution 276 Appendix 5 Tables 277 8 Figures Figure 1: After Koib's Domains of Knowledge 32 Figure 2: Corder's hard/soft continuum 69 Figure 3: Three dimensions of knowledge in Business Studies 72 Figure 4: An analytical framework 90 Figure 5: Mapping the Business Studies curriculum 91 Figure 6: An analytical framework for understanding 99 the Higher Education curriculum Figure 7: UK institutions offering a 'Business Studies' first degree 107 Figure 8: Population and sample 108 Figure 9: Lecturers by age 120 Figure 10: Main teaching subject by sex 121 Figure 11: Most recent previous employment 121 Figure 12: Lecturers teaching their first degree specialism 122 Figure 13: Is/should Business Studies be a preparation of students for business careers or a general education about business? 123 Figure 14: Does/should Business Studies develop students with mainly business-related or educational skills? 123 Figure 15: Does/should the Business Studies curriculum reflect the wishes of employers or lecturers? 124 9 Figure 16: What is/should be the most important element of Business Studies - work experience or university-based learning? 125 Figure 17: Aims of Business Studies by age 126 Figure 18: Does/should Business Studies mainly focus on numeracy and quantitative analysis or ideas and issues? 127 Figure 19: Does/should Business Studies mainly encourage students to analyse the operation of the business system or its social consequences? 128 Figure 20: Does/should Business Studies mainly encourage students to examine technical or ethical issues? 128 Figure 21: Does/should Business Studies principally focus on relations within and between businesses or between business and wider society? 129 Figure 22: Lecturer perspectives by main teaching subject 131 Figure 23: A pedagogic framework 164 Figure 24: A tribal framework 183 Figure 25: A new analytical framework 193 Figure 26: The pedagogic dimension : dynamic forces 198 Figure 27: The tribal dimension : dynamic forces 202 10 Section A BUSINESS STUDIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION: DISLOCATED IDENTITIES 11 CHAPTER 1 S cooe and Aims of the Thesis Rationale Business and Administrative Studies (BAS) is the fastest growing and most popular area of undergraduate study in UK higher education accounting for 19 per cent of students taking first degrees (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 1995). A significant proportion of students within the BAS category undertake a BA in Business Studies. Yet, despite growing numbers of students there is a continuing neglect of educational issues concerning the undergraduate business curriculum in general and the Business Studies degree in particular. The work of Boys (1988) and Silver and Brennan (1988) are isolated examples of empirical studies focusing, at least in part, on the Business Studies degree. Academic interest has concentrated instead on postgraduate and post- experience management education, most notably the Masters in Business Administration