Communicating Across the Curriculum in an Undergraduate Business Program: Management 100—Leadership and Communication in Groups

Abstract

Educating undergraduate business students in the 21st century requires more than addressing the quantitative side of business; rather, it calls for including the more qualitative “soft skills,” such as speaking and writing. This article examines the design, delivery, and effectiveness of an undergraduate program dedicated to leadership, teamwork, and communication and describes this program within the context of the communication across the curriculum movement.

Middle Managers of the Leadership Classroom: Realizing the Developmental Capacity of Teaching Assistants

“…Understanding the power of relationships in development (Allen & Hartman, 2008;Parker et al, 2008;Randels, Carse, & Lease, 1992) and recognizing the ubiquitousness of TA usage, naturally management schools have begun to employ TAs to focus on cultivating the leadership competencies of the students in their classrooms (Rieber, 2004;Tuleja & Greenhalgh, 2008).…”

“…We used that program as a model for the course under study in this research. Tuleja and Greenhalgh (2008) examined Wharton's program for its design, delivery, and effectiveness. They found that the student participants judged TA feedback on the substance and style of their verbal and written work to be more helpful than feedback by professional communication consultants because "students form a close, trusting relationship with their TA during the course of the semester" (p. 39).…”

“…Acknowledging that TAs in their position on the teaching staff could play broader roles in cultivating their students' leadership competencies, a few business schools have launched successful initiatives to use assistants to enhance students' leadership skills: for example, using TAs to teach future leaders to be better communicators (Rieber, 2004;Tuleja & Greenhalgh, 2008). These programs have demonstrated that TAs can be powerful coaches for improving students' skills.…”

Including the Student Voice: Experiences and Learning Outcomes of a Flipped Communication Course

“…In business, the skills necessary for the specific kinds of communication challenges that students will face in their professional careers are emphasized (see Dannels, 2002; Morreale, Hugenberg, & Worley, 2006). Interpersonal communication skills, negotiation skills, and teamwork skills are all significant for obtaining employment and achieving success in global business (Tuleja & Greenhalgh, 2008; Wardrope, 2002). Employees expect business graduates to have hard and soft business-related knowledge and skills and prior work experience (Andrews & Higson, 2008; Robles, 2012).…”

Leader Development Through Reading and Reflection

“…Recent authors, however, note the importance of attitudes, values, and thought processes as crucial aspects of leader development (Goulet, Jefferson, & Szwed, ). Many experts contend that in order to obtain such leader‐relevant characteristics and behaviors, college students need to learn leadership through relevant classroom education and experience (Arendt & Gregoire, ; Brown & Posner, ; Marcketti et al, ; Tuleja & Greenhalgh, ).…”