STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: COMPETENCY MODELS AND ACBSP ACCREDITATION STANDARDS Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 21, 1994 87 STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: COMPETENCY MODELS AND ACBSP ACCREDITATION STANDARDS Donald S. Kline, Methodist College ABSTRACT The Reeves School of Business IRS B) at Methodist College as seeking accreditation by the Association for Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). One of the accreditation standards focuses on Outcome Assessment. As part of the strategic planning process RSB is utilizing two competency models in order to analyze and revise both curricular structure end classroom delivery. A model is developed as a framework for helping accomplish the twin goals of accreditation and continued development of RSB programs. REEVES SCHOOL OF BUSINESS For the academic year of 1993-1994, the number of majors within RSB is 500 (350 day and 1 50 evening). Of the majors in the day program 50% are enrolled in the Professional Golf Management program. Indeed over 60% of new freshmen declaring interest in RSB majors, have chosen PGM. Methodist College is seeking PGA certification. As part of the ongoing strategic planning process, RSB has established a goal of ACBSP accreditation by spring or summer of 1995. To reach this goal, the 1993-1994 academic year must be designated as the “melt-study” year. To this end, this writer, as chair of the RSB accreditation committee, is shepherding the preparation of a “Preliminary Visit Questionnaire.” The purpose is to have the Executive Director of ACBSP conduct a consultation visit to our campus to determine if it is feasible for AY 1993-1994 to be the year of self-study. THE ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGIATE BUSINESS SCHOOL AND PROGRAMS The ACBSP was founded in 1989 as an alternative to accreditation by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). It was though that AACSB was more appropriate for well-endowed research institutions. Another organization was needed to serve the need of less well endowed, smaller, liberal arts orientated colleges such as Methodist. The ACBSP designates 25 standards to be addressed and documented in the self-study. For purposes of the consultation-visitation, only eight standards need to be addressed. Methodist College has no graduate business program. Thus, only seven of the eight need to be addressed. Of these seven two are germane to this paper. B1 - Common Professional Components (CPC’s) H1- Outcomes Assessment THE RSB MODEL The basic model which has resulted from the strategic planning process within the Reeves School of Business has three dimensions. DIMENSION 1 - Common Professional Components Standard B1 reads, in part: The Common Professional Component (CPC), as outlined below, must be included in the content of the courses taught in all accredited schools and programs. 1. Business Functions and Operations a. Production and Operations Management b. Marketing c. Business Finance 2. Economic/Social/Legal Environment a. Legal Environment of Business b. Economics c. Business Ethics 3. Quantitative Methods and Information systems a. Accounting b. Management Information Systems c. Quantitative Techniques/Statistics 4. Organization Theory and Interpersonal Behavior a. Management b. Organization Behavior c. Human Resource Management 5. Administrative Processes and Policy a. Business Policies b. A comprehensive or integrating experience that enables a student to demonstrate the capacity to synthesize and apply knowledge (eg: course, thesis, comprehensive examination) from an organizational perspective. 6. Global Dimension of Business This standard requires the preparation of a “Summary of Common Professional Component (CPC) Compliance”. In the case of RSB this matrix would contain 1 5 columns (The CPC’s) and 27 rows (The Required Core Courses). There is a problem, though. Virtually all of the required core courses and the CPC’s pertain, for the most part, to the acquisition of knowledge - knowledge about Accounting, Economics, Finance, etc. A third dimension needs to be added to the model. DIMENSION 2 - The Required Core Courses Within the Reeves School of Business, three majors are offered: Accounting, Business Administration, and Finance/Economics -Business Administration encompasses several “concentrations”: Professional Golf Management (PGM), Professional Tennis Management (PTM), Health Care Administration, and Fashion Merchandising/Retail Management. The former Economics major, not well received, has been “repackaged” in a Finance/Economics program consisting of required courses in both Business (BUS) and Economics (ECO). A listing of the twenty-seven required courses in the RSB is shown below. ACCOUNTING (ACC) SEMESTER HOURS ACC 251 Principles I 3 ACC 252 Principles II 3 ACC 341 Intermediate I 3 ACC 342 Intermediate II 3 ACC 345 Cost I 3 ACC 346 Cost II 3 ACC 385 Federal Income Tax 3 ACC 481 Advanced 3 ACC 490 Auditing 3 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 21, 1994 88 BUSINESS (BUS) SEMESTER HOURS BUS 110 Introduction to Business 3 BUS 325 Micro Computer Business Application 3 BUS 332 Managerial Finance 3 BUS 341 Principles of Management 3 BUS 342 Organizational Behavior and Theory 3 BUS 351 Principles of Marketing 3 BUS 352 Business Law I 3 BUS 353 Business Law II 3 BUS 412 Intermediate Managerial Finance 3 BUS 415 Investment and Portfolio Management 3 BUS 470 Business Policy and Strategy 3 IV. Stability of Performance IV. Stability of Performance 1. Tolerance of Uncertainty 2. Resistance to Stress V. Work Motivation 1. Primacy of Work 2. Inner Work Standards 3. Energy 4. Self-Objectivity 5. Career Orientation VI. Values of Business An appreciation for economic values, private enterprise, the profit nature, and other similar values ECONOMICS (ECO) ECO 216 Statistics For Business and Economics ECO 261 Principles of Macroeconomics ECO 262 Principles of Microeconomics ECO 311 Money and Banking ECO 313 Managerial Economics ECO 316 Advances Statistical Analysis ECO 452 International Trade and Finance ACBSP standard Bi requires the development of an “Abbreviated Course Syllabus” for each of the required twenty-seven core courses. The content of each course must be analyzed in term of “Contact Hours/Minutes” spent in class on each of the “Common Professional Components” 4 or CPC’s). DIMENSION 3 - Competency Models Beginning in 1979, the AACSB, in joint cooperation with the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) sponsored research centering on a thirty year period of 1) Global Environmental, Economic and Political Forces for change, 2) how the job of manager might change during the 1980-2010 period, and 3) how the training, education, and development of managers would also need to change. A summary of findings is shown in Exhibit 3. To be especially noted is a major finding of the 1980 AACSB annual meeting, i.e. “The need to broaden, deepen, enlarge, and enhance the business school curriculum to include improvement of noncognitive skills will become critical.” The latter part of this 3-year research project led to a listing of twenty “Non- Cognitive” outputs, which will impact curricular structure and classroom delivery process. The initial listing of these Non-Cognitive outputs, as developed by the AACSB-EFMD research group is shown below. I. Administrative Skills 1. Organizing and Planning 2. Decision-Making 3. Creativity II. Interpersonal Skills 1. Leadership 2. Oral Communication Skills 3. Behavioral Impact 4. Personal Impact 5. Social Objectivity 6. Perception of Threshold Social Cues III. Intellectual Ability 1. Range of Interests 2. General Mental Ability 3. Written Communication Skills The twenty outputs are listed both by general area (Cluster) and by specific output. Cluster VI is a unique stand-alone output dealing with the “Values of Business” (Read Corporate Culture). Over a fifteen-year period, this writer has researched, delivered papers (ABSEL, Academy of Management), consulted on, constructed and chaired three major symposia (Academy of Management Annual Meetings) on diverse aspects of this competency model. One result of this effort was to, in effect “arrange” these twenty Non-Cognitive outputs in a hierarchical structure, using the ladder analogy, as seen in Exhibit 4. The six “rungs” of the ladder shift from a teaching delivery at lower levels (A “closed” system?) to a learning classroom environment at upper levels. Because the majors and concentrations within RSB are undergraduate the third dimension of the suggested model turns out to be the twenty AACSB competencies. EXHIBIT 4 A LADDER OF COMPETENCY LEVELS (BASED UPON AACSB PHASE I ACCREDITATION RESEARCH) To summarize, the three dimensional model. as seen in Exhibit 5, consists of: Dimension 1 15 Columns (CPC’s) Dimension 2 27 Rows (Core Courses) Dimension 3 20 “Depths” (AACSB outputs) Thus, there are 8,100 cells in the total matrix - A bit of diversity in the cell choices is possible. Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 21, 1994 89 EXHIBIT 5 A THREE DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF ACCREDITATION COMPLIANCE AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT Utilizing the Model The cells showing the interfacing of Core Courses and CPC’s - the two dimensional matrix - are being completed as part of the RSB compliance with standard Bi (As mentioned above). This stage I matrix has 405 cells. Obviously not every cell will be filled with Contact Hours/Minutes. Not all Core Courses have content relating to “Production and Operations Management” - CPC la. Thus, the stage I matrix is a framework within which the total RSB program is evaluated to determine compliance with standard Bi. Before we move to utilization of the Stage II matrix, it is necessary to examine ACBSP Standard Hi. Standard Hi states: An institution must have en outcomes assessment program with documentation of the results and evidence that the results are being used for the development and/or improvement of the institution’s academic programs. Both Methodist College and the Reeves School of Business have limited and “preliminary” programs for outcomes assessment. RSB has initiated the use of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) field test in business. In addition, en internal test of Gain of Accounting Knowledge has been sporadically used. Exhibit 6 shows the basic purpose of the Reeves School together with Goal 2 end relevant objectives. At the forthcoming RSB Strategic Planning meeting of October 13, the faculty will begin the process of determining how and when the AACSB Model can be used to both meet Standard Hi and move toward accomplishment of Goal 2. Specific Example In Exhibit 5, the blackened cell would represent coordinates 1,1,1, which would translate to: Column 1: Production and Operations Management Row 1: ACC 251 Principles of Accounting I Array 1: Range of Interest This combination would not be too applicable - almost an “empty” cell. A more meaningful example would be the cell at coordinates 11,14,13: Column 11: Organizational Behavior Row 14: BUS 342 Organizational Behavior and Theory Array 13: Resistance to Stress This is more of a “full” (meaningful) cell. In fact, this writer presented e paper on this very issue in 1985 (See proceedings 12th Annual ABSEL, pp 141-144). One last example from innumerable possibilities the cell at coordinates 10,13,20 translates as: Column 10: Management Row 13: BUS 341 Principles of Management Array 20: Creativity Within the Management course, an experiential exercise utilizing “Conceptual “Blockbusting”, Problem Solving, the Drawing of Mandelas could nicely fit into a discussion of entrepreneurship and group problem finding/problem solving behaviors. EXHIBIT 6 REEVES SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MISSION, PURPOSE, AND GOAL 2 September 30, 1993 DIVISION OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS/REEVES SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Mission Statement for the Reeves school of Business. PREAMBLE The mission of the Reeves School of Business is to develop students’ understanding and behavior relative to business and economic affairs so that they function with integrity and success in subsequent professional and /0r academic endeavors. BASIC PURPOSE Our purpose is to develop within our students a range of competencies, which enable them to obtain either a career position within their business field or to gain admission to graduate school. GOAL 2 To utilize a competency frame work in order to determine curricular structures and processes Objective I — To review both the AACSB and AMA. (American Management Association) models by December 1993. Objective 2 — to incorporate test questions/problems used throughout the profession for similar courses/topics Objective 3 - To reach agreement from business school faculty on which competencies are necessary for students to reach objectives of career or advance study in graduate school. CONCLUSION To comply with ACBSP Standard Bi a stage I matrix must be used. To move into the stage II matrix - 8,100 cells - is to utilize a selective yet powerful innovation in classroom processes. ACBSP Standard Hi does not specifically mention “non-cognitive” outcomes. But as we head toward the outer temporal point of the AACSB-EFMD study (the year 2010) such types of management learning are to be implicitly assumed. One final note: On October 5, 1993, Mr. John Carlisle, Executive Director of the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, appeared on campus as part of the RSB Executive Speaker Luncheon Series. In his comments addressed to students, he spoke of career opportunities in Health Care and of the “real” world beyond graduation. He stated that the acquisition of technological skills in any area was not enough (only the necessary condition for success). He surprised the vast majority of students by energetically stating that such traits and skills (Read Competencies) as stamina, coping with stress, positive self-concept, and creativity are worth their weight in gold. These and other not specifically mentioned competencies are to be viewed as the “sufficient” condition for success. It seemed like Mr. Carlisle sensed the critical importance of” non-cognitive” outputs. Table of Contents Volume 21, 1994 ABSEL: The Way We Were and Need to Be The Intellectual Structure of ABSEL: A Bibliometeic Study of Author Cocitatons Over Time Activity-Driven Time in Computerized Gaming Simulations An Assessment Framework for Determing the Effectiveness of Total Enterprise Simulations Attributes of Learning Organizations: Simulating the Relationships Business Policy/Strategy Case Extension using Pro-Forma Planning: A Computer Based Model Complexity: Is it really that Simple? A Random-Strategy Criterion for Validity of Simulation Game Participation Enhancing a Computer Simulation with a Structured Reporting Environment Experiencing a Foreign Culture: A Cross-Cultural Simulation Group Cognitive Style and Computerphobia in Functional Business Simulations Human Issues in Technology Implementation Management Simulator Incorporating Advertising Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations: A Validation Study Increasing the Effectiveness of Performance Evaluation Through the Design and Development of Realistic Finance Algorithms The Packer-Feeder Game: A Commodity Market Simulator Relationships Between R&D and Profitability: An Exploratory Comparison of Two Business Simulations with Two Real-World, Technology Intensive Industries Simulation of the Predictive Value of Mammography Simulation Performance and Learning Revisited Strange Bedfellows: Competency Models and ACBSP Accreditation Standards Using a Business Simulation to Study the Determinants of Ethical Behavior What Simulation Users Think Players Should be Learning from the Simulations ADA and its Implications for Experiential Training Boss/ Subordinate Perceptions of Instrumental and Supportive Leadership Behaviors in Relation to Myers-Briggs Thinking Type Cluster Analyses of American Universities' Business Core Curricula Structures Utilized to Satisfy Fifteen Curriculum Areas Cooperative Learning or Learning to Cooperate Experiential Learning: Constraining Students with Time Budgets How Different Workplace Experiences Affect Different Worker Values Implications of the Trend Toward Relationship Marketing for Experiential Learning The Increasing Cultural Diversity of the American Workforce: Management's Challenge of the 21st Century Information and Uncertainty as Strange Bedfellows: A Model and Experiential Exercises Leadership as a Medium: It's Emergence and Effect on Performance in Small Leaderless Groups Speed, Depth, and Breadth: Assessing Learning in Learning Organizations Teaching Strategic Planning, Problem Solving, and Decision Making with Envisionary Experiential Exercises Validating an Instrument for Student Evaluation of Teachers: Some Noteworthy By-Products Don't Teach Ethics to Business Students Emotional Reactions Toward a Simulated Layoff: Before and After the Manipulation Enhancing Communication Using a Presentation Package Implementing Marketing Policies through a Business Management Simulation Integrating Action-Based Learning into Executive Development Programs On the validity of using the Microsegmentation Principle in Media Simulationsm Participatory Systems Analysis Some Relationships between Cultural, Organizational, and Educational Experience and Perceptions of Influence The Use of Decision Support Systems with a Marketing Simulation: The Future is Now Astute Business Policy: A Simulation of the Automobile Industry The Business Policy Game CEO II: A Gaming Simulation for Assessment Computer Paced Project Management Simulation Computerized Tutor Support Systems DEAL & GEO: Progressively Integrating Gaming Simulations for Entrepreneurship and International Business An Interactive Simulation Game for Competitive Decision-Making International Operations Simulation/Mark 2000 (INTOPIA) Multimedia Simulation Cuts Training Costs for Anderson Consulting Concepts of Total Quality Management: An Active Learning Exercise Cooperative Learning: The Extended Jigsaw Managing Diversity--Values and Attitudes: An Experiential Exercise in Awareness Navigating the Shoals of International Management Development Evaluating Student Performance in the Use of Computer Simulation Entrepreneurial Simulation Program