In an effort to address industry's concern that business graduates are too narrowly focused, the new AACSB guidelines recommend that business curricula have at least half or more of the required undergraduate degree credits outside the business school. This article contrasts two business schools' efforts to redesign their business curricula to meet AACSB standards and describes the changes for a fourth-generation marketing curriculum.
Admission standards are commonly employed as a means of maintaining the quality of an academic program’s student pool, and as a result, the program itself. The past decade has seen a number of efforts to integrate academic content and incorporate models of team‐based learning. While the emphasis and demands of these programs have changed, as well as the expectations of incoming students, admission standards have not. This study considers whether undergraduate business admission requirements developed and validated for traditional curricula remain valid admission standards for integrated programs. The relationship between student performance in various predictor courses and performance in upper level business courses is compared for students in an integrated program and those taking the traditional curriculum. Results indicate that the traditional predictor courses remain valid predictors of performance for the integrated program. Additionally, opportunities for improvement exist in the addition of courses emphasizing communication and reasoning skills.
PurposeTo examine the efficacy of admission requirements as predictors of academic success in core business coursework, and as a rationing mechanism for limited course capacity, for both transfer and non‐transfer students following integration of the core business curriculum.Design/methodology/approachRegression analysis is used to test the efficacy of admission standards in explaining transfer and non‐transfer student performance in the core business curriculum, before and after substantial curricular revision. Fisher's r‐to‐z transformation is used to test differences between student groups and core curriculum formats. Stepwise regression was used to identify an accurate predictor of transfer student performance for the integrated business core.FindingsEfficacy of the admission standard decreased for transfer students following introduction of the new curriculum. While adequate for all students taking the traditional business core, it is a much less effective predictor of success for transfer students under the new curriculum. A modified admission standard for transfer students restored efficacy to previous levels.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper considers only one school's experience with revision of its core curriculum.Practical implicationsRe‐examination of admission standards following curricular revision is necessary to ensure effective screening of transfer students. The root problem, however, may not be addressed in its entirety by a unique transfer student admission standard. Non‐transfer students benefit from acculturation as freshman and sophomores, as well as prerequisite courses specifically modified to prepare them for the integrated curriculum.Originality/valueThis paper documents a potential problem for business schools that have, or are considering, significant curricular revisions.
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