EFFECTIVELY PREPARING STUDENTS FOR CAREERS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT BY INTEGRATING TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE BUSINESS CURRICULUM Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20, 1993 143 EFFECTIVELY PREPARING STUDENTS FOR CAREERS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT BY INTEGRATING TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE BUSINESS CURRICULUM Walt Wheatley, The University of West Florida Richard Plait, The University of West Florida ABSTRACT In order for the United States economy to revitalize and survive in an intensively competitive international society it has become imperative that the Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy be adopted and fully implemented. One of the major tenets of this philosophy is personnel training. However, to date the majority of this training has been accomplished at the organizational level. Colleges and Universities have now become aware that to meet their mission effectively, TQM concepts with an emphasis on a global environment must be taught in the classroom. INTEGRATION OF TOTAL QUALITY INTO THE BUSINESS CURRICULUM Currently, corporate America is placing an increasing demand on the academic sector to assist in this massive TQM training and education process. Thus, the only way to adequately prepare students be a global environment that is embracing TQM is to provide them with the tools of thought, with the ability to synthesize, and with a habit of contemplating the fundamentals methods and history of the various branches of TQM (Butterfield, 1991). The fundamental principle of curriculum design and development is that key courses as depicted in Figure 1 be integrated conceptually and methodologically. This integration occurs whenever information and ideas from classes can be used as a foundation for discussions and assignments in other related classes. Core courses will cross-reference and reinforce each other to teach students how to synthesize information into knowledge. This approach to developing learning tool’s in TQM should produce graduates more suited to the global TQM environment in which they will work (Schaff, 1991). Discussion will now center on the Total Quality concepts that should be incorporated in these core courses Management Fundamentals Course content includes planning, organizing, leading, control, employment cycle, organization design, and motivation. This foundation course enables students to contrast and compare classical management style with contemporary participative management and total quality management concepts and techniques. In addition, this course is the first core course that introduces the students to the concept of working in teams. The course includes team projects, team presentations team testing, and peer evaluation. The value of an effective work group becomes quite clear very quickly in this learning experience. Organizational Behavior Course concepts include developing leadership potential. effective participation in group and organizational settings, gaining trust empowerment, influencing groups, relationships between management and labor, motivation, and TOM implementation in Japan versus the US. This highly participative course requires team presentations, intensive research, and preparation of scholarly writing. It is designed to be a more intensive team building experience with such topics as conflict resolution, working with difficult people and dealing with differing individual and team goals dealt with in much greater detail Operations Management The content of this highly quantitative course includes applications 01 techniques in manufacturing and service organizations with emphasis on just in time inventory methods, cellular manufacturing, effective utilization of human resources, and quality management using Malcolmn Baldridge criteria. Also linear programming techniques are employed to maximize the effective utilization of resources and queuing model are utilized to facilitate world class customer service. Information Systems Interface with information systems in technology-based training systems always adds value to the entire organization. In this course the students learn the value of systems design data base construction and administration, decision support systems, and expert systems. Focus s given on how information systems can be utilized to generate affordable efficient training and support in quality management concepts and implementation. In addition, the course deals with the complete CAD/CAM/CIM concept that affords effectiveness and efficiency in providing the market place with goods and services at a high level quality. International Management Course content includes identifying and solving problems that occur in a global environment. The impact 01 varying culture attitudes and values on quality aspects beyond traditional techniques, group processes related to Total Quality concepts, and the impact of varying culture attitudes and values on quality aspects of the product and/or service offered are examined from an international point of view. Differing work ethics, social values, political structures, geographical competitive advantage and other internationally related topics are covered utilizing the TQM philosophy. Quantitative Methods This course offers a heavy emphasis on statistical inference and interpretation. Measures of central tendency and dispersion along with correlation and regression techniques are presented. This course then applies these techniques to Statistical Process Control exposing the student to such TQM tenets as pareto charts, cause and effect relationships, and x- bar, r-bar, etc. From the above discussion, it can be seen how these core courses are designed to cross-reference and reinforce the TQM philosophy. All courses include, to varying degrees, the utilization ol experiential exercises and computer based simulations to emulate “real world” learning that can be readily transferred. Students are encouraged to become involved with the local community chapters of The American Production and Inventory Control Society, The American Society of Quality Control, and The American Society of Training and Development. Many local community practitioners are invited into these courses to speak to the students and tours ol local organizations are a norm. Thus, this TQM oriented curriculum not only provides class room learning 01 the TOM philosophy, it also affords students the opportunity to see and talk to practitioners employed by organizations that have adopted the TOM philosophy. CONCLUSION In essence, to regain its competitive edge in a global environment, the U.S. has discovered Demning and his Total Quality philosophy for the second time. However, corporate America can not achieve a Total Quality nation all by itself. Universities and colleges must play a major role in the training of our students in the Total Ouality philosophy. Table of Contents Volume 20, 1993 Dominant Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Shelf Wars: A Grocery Channel Simulation Shared Cultural Perspectives: An Experiential Exercise Utilizing International Students to Globalize the Classroom An Instrument for Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods in the Business Policy and Strategy Formulation Course Providing Better Trained Graduates for Accounting Employers The Ambition Gradient Approach to Evaluation of Computer Simulation Game Team Performance Alphatec: A Negotiation Exercise with Logrolling and Bridging Potential Using the Ideafisher Idea Generation System as a Decision Support System in Marketing Strategy Courses A Dynamic Market Share Allocation Model For Computerized Business Simulations Multi-Cultural Adaptability Using Experiential Learning in a Graduate Course Development of Experiential Applications in HRM: Practicing What Preach and Preaching for Practice Linking Students and Business Leaders Through Portfolios Debriefing International Experiential Learning Exercises: Road Signs for Effectiveness Sales Manager: A Simulation Modeling Interactive Effects in Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations: A Critique of Goosen's Interpolation Reducing the Complexity of Interactive Variable Modeling in Business Simulations Through Interpolation Antecedent Biases of Experiential Learners: Trainee Occupation and Subgroup Diversity Pax in Terra Sancta: Simulating the Middle East Peace Negotiations A Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changes in Ethnocentric/Geocentric Orientation by Business Students after Exposure to a One Summer Course in International Marketing's A Systematic Approach to the Development and Evaluation of Experiential Exercises Entrepreneurs Evaluate Experiential Education A Linear Programming Approach to Open System Total Enterprise Simulations Reflecting Leader Behavior from the Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation Linking Cognitive Styles, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives and Assessment: A Decision Tree Approach Restructuring Management Education in Post-Communist Countries: How Western Experts Can Help Managerial and Cultural Pre-Conditions for Superior Performance in a Global Setting: An Experimental Study with the Aid of Business Games Multiple Industries in Computerized Business Gaming Simulations Content or Process? - Content and Process! Some Observations and Reflections About Management Education in Central Europe Out-of-Class Experiences to Promote Volunteerism Enacting the Linguistic Consciousness of the Modern Managerial Mind: Post-Modernism and Experiential Learning Intergrating Experiential Exercises into the College Curriculum: The Case of Internationalizing the Business Curriculum Simulation Marketing Oversights Incorporating Advertising Creative Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations The Dynamics of a Partnership Between Business and Education Collaborative Education Done Globally Experiential Systems Analysis CADPLAN: A Simulation for Comparative Advertising A Doctoral Symposium: Preparing Students for Conference Behavior Comparing the Simulation with the Case Approach: Again! Total Quality Management: A Model for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Audit: An Experiential Exercise for Business Students Extending the Reach of Simulations: DECIDE Heads for the Inner City Lessons Learned from a Customized Management Development Simulation The Foreign Exchange Spot Trading Simulation Using Lotus 1-2-3 to complete a Triple Play in a Simulated Competition International Business Education: Is Enough Being Done? Matching of Student-Teacher Cognitive Style as a Factor in Student Success in an Introduction to Information Systems Course Breathing (More) Life into the Case Approach Lord of the Flies: A Live Case Approach to Leadership Cooperative Case Studies: Experiential Tools for Teaching Business Problem Solving Tools Strategy Simulations in Context: An Evaluation of Key Dimensions The Distribution Channel Game Evaluation of a Simulation Game as an Education Tool for Utility Professionals The Relationship Between Total Enterprise Simulation Performance and Learning Total Quality Management does not Happen by Magic, but it can be Taught Using a Pedagogical Methodology that Utilizes Magic Effectively Preparing Students for Careers in a Global Environment by Integrating Total Quality Management Thoughout the Business Curriculum An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive and Performance Consistency in a Marketing Simulation Game Environment Using MARSGAP with LAPTOP: (A Marketing Simulation Game Analysis Program) with LAPTOP: A Marketing Simulation Adapting TQM Implementation to Organizational Level An MBA Business Simulation: Executive Interaction Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the Classroom (and the Hotel Meeting Room) Closing the Gap between Corporate and National Culture The Dynamic Manufacturing Company The Use of Experiential Techniques in Corporate Training The State of Simulation Gaming in Easter European Countries- Principally Russia An Experiential Exercise in Cross-Cultural Training Valuing Differences: A Conceptual Framework Demonstration of an Experiential Exercise Effectively Using Experiential Learning to Impart TQM Concepts in a High Technology Environment The Older Worker Questionnaire: An Exercise Concerning Older Worker Stereotypes and Behaviors The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics Welcome to the Party! An Expression of Vocational Preference Experiential Exercise for Imparting Cross-Cultural Appreciation Six Swift Simulations on Globalization Overview of BASF Delegate Program