Academic-Capital

Someday we might be looking back at those old laptops and cell phones and blow the dust off the keyboards as you would the cover of some rare hard bound book. Across the nation educational platforms are changing bringing with it uncertainty about the future of higher education. As technology disrupts the foundation of business colleges there will be a closer alliance between businesses and academia to generate new solutions that improve the skill sets of graduates. According to a Business Education Jam session it is possible to use technology to narrow the gap between academic and industry stakeholders (Freeman, 2014). The traditional gap that exists between academic knowledge and business knowledge is narrowing as stakeholders and universities take advantage of new technologies that offer a chance to connect at multiple levels. Technology has advanced to the point that communication is moving at a much faster pace than in the past. New generation technologies and the way these t

A common question arises about how to raise the value of higher education. With any societal institution there are stakeholders who look on at the changes and scratch their head as if to state something helpful. Alas nothing comes out! Connecting the business community and their ideas to higher educational may just help raise the value of a college education while promoting higher forms of experimental knowledge. The end user is the ultimate feedback loop that evaluates the product as successful or a failure. The same concept applies to higher education, government, or retail outlets. If the end users are not happy with the product then it will have less value in the future. Turning the scratching of heads into  useful dialogue may just shed a little light on methods of improving higher education output for public consumption. Advanced economies encourage the creation and dissemination of knowledge for growth. Higher education is the formal institution in charge of that process a

Education has an important role in developing people and nations to higher levels of performance. Business education is a fundamental component of fostering stronger economic performance. A paper by Ugwuog, et. al. (2013) explores how education is beneficial for national development and offers a few tips for colleges to improve upon their teaching activities.  In general terms, education can be broadly defined as acquiring the physical and social skills needed to function within their birth society. The type of education depends on the society in which one exists. In ancient times this may have occurred informally under a tree while in modern times it could include online classrooms. Because education improves upon people’s abilities it is considered an investment. The central place of education is to recognize its capital investment in people (Francis & Hezel, 1974). An investment may improve performance but also raise costs which makes strong business curriculum ad

Sales management is an important skill in a global community where products buzz world round in only a few days. Executives are having a hard time finding college graduates that have sufficient skill to compete for top sales positions. The demand for sales professionals has outpaced supply at colleges. A study by Deeter-Schmelz & Kennedy discusses their findings of why business colleges are having such a hard time filling this need (2011).  Few studies have explored why colleges are not graduating a sufficient supply of college prepared sales professionals that can step into a more complex world. Problems span an array of issues ranging from the changing nature of sales management in a larger world to a lack of preparedness of professors. Their paper focuses on the assessment of the state of sales education in a global business environment.  Marketing has changed over the past decade becoming more complex with high technology functionality. There are hundreds of way

Faculty have many responsibilities that include teaching, volunteer work, and research. A paper by Dan Worrell (2009), talks about the differences between teaching and research in universities. He indicates that research universities have an advantage in the market but may not be focused on the more important aspects of teaching. The focus is based primarily in the way schools are ranked by outside organizations but this may not be the best use of professor's time.  According to the authors, U.S. News and World Report, BusinessWeek, and the Wall Street Journal often rank schools based upon their research capabilities. This creates emphasis to engage professors in research to move their rankings upward. These rankings naturally have influence on student choice and other financial benefits.  As professors engage more in research they have reduced teaching loads and higher levels of autonomy. Their research activities are often rewarded within universities with higher sala

Are professional or traditional doctorates more significant in today’s economy? A paper by Banerjee and Morley reviewed the growing trend of professional doctorates and the possibility that they are more aligned to the executive needs of running modern companies. A professional doctorate is more focused on applied type research based within real world business scenarios. Traditional Ph.D.’s are primarily focused on theoretical underpinnings and are more concerned with a broader theoretical base.   Should one earn a DBA or a Ph.D. in business? Some have argued that the professional doctorate is superior because it focuses more closely on workplace issues and uses theory in a practical and applicable manner.   The traditional Ph.D. is seen as an academic degree most applicable for teaching and academic research. Fundamentally, the two degrees are perceived as having two different purposes with the professional doctorate more in align with corporate needs.  It is believed th