Business school education must be a finely balanced fix of area, subject specialization

The month of October rules back-to-business-school. Another academic year approaches and yet again the business news and the business education industry remain dominated by Asia and the Chinese economy in particular. While Europe and the US remain sluggish at best, all the talk about business success now and probably long into the future is still about emerging markets, Asia and China in particular.

But are business schools really preparing students for business success in Asia and China? Are sufficient time and resources allocated to the teaching and understanding of such culturally different and changing business environments? And are business school academics suitably knowledgeable and experienced in emerging markets such as China?

Or is the general, business function approach to business and management education well past its use-by-date?

As will always be the case, the measurement of business education success lies ultimately in the subsequent industry performance of the students involved and the companies they work for. One Western corporate misfortune after another in China, for example, strongly suggests that business students desperately need a new approach. Tesco and Marks & Spencer, to name but two, provide prime examples of Western corporate heavyweights whose success in Britain and other parts of Europe has been followed by failure in China. Tesco's senior managers and their management philosophy recently unraveled spectacularly in China, despite years of success in Britain.

Certainly the top business schools around the world continue to operate in a very similar way, based largely on the Harvard approach. Lectures, where business and management theories and models are presented, explained and applied, are closely followed by seminars in which theories are challenged and a fairly hefty case study is analyzed. This may still provide a very useful business and management education, even if it is general and superficial.

Business schools still provide programs based solely on separately taught business subjects, reflected also in a typical B-school organization structure. A typical MBA program will consist of the same separate modules that emerged about 40 to 50 years ago in the US and spread across Europe. As a result, business school academics become fiercely protective and loyal to their academic team, defined by a typical business subject such as marketing or finance. B-school academics will, therefore, invariably define themselves by the business subject and team before perhaps delving into a recognized sub-division of this subject. Academics from a finance team may, for example, present themselves as specialists in budgeting, and marketing academics as specialists in branding.

More recently, and particularly in the case of China, university academics and whole departments have emerged with an area focus. China or Chinese studies departments are now commonplace across Europe. While the academics, who are often firmly based in, for example, a China studies department, will probably define their specialty within the sphere of a typical business subject, they nearly always remain driven by a desire to gain and pass on further understanding of their specific geographically defined area of study. As a result, such is their depth of knowledge and expertise that their contribution to any business education that focuses on their area has become vital.

However, area specialists such as academics in a typical China studies department are unlikely to possess anything like the required depth of understanding of the academic theories and models that underpin, quite rightly, the teaching of most business subjects. For example, any program on management in China taught only by China studies academics and residing solely in the China studies department, is unlikely to contain the theoretical intensity and rigor delivered by a general management module as part of a business school's program portfolio.

The way forward, therefore, is to achieve a perfect blend and fusion of business subject specialists and area experts. In this case, that means a symbiotic collaboration between China studies and B-school cognoscenti.

Such cooperation and collaboration are required across all business functions but most of all in those areas that are far more influenced by cultural, social and personal factors such as management, marketing and human resources. It is imperative that education in these areas involves this dual input from business school academics as well as China specialists. Too much or too little from either and the student experience and learning outcomes will fall fatally short.

From the outset the credibility of the academic or academics charged with delivering any business and management education specifically on China will be highly questionable if he, she or they are based in the business school of China studies departments only.

Further, if we take into account the detailed implementation of any business and management China education, it is inevitable that business school academics, even those with some knowledge of China, will structure their approach and provide detailed teaching material according to the well-known business and management text books and neglect any consideration of what could be a totally different approach. Equally, if left solely to China specialists, any business and management education on China will undoubtedly lack the very necessary academic theories and models that have fuelled the professional development of management and managers across the globe.

It is perhaps the area of Chinese culture, in this context business culture and Chinese consumer culture, where any education necessitates this China specialist-B-School academic approach. Core modules such as marketing's consumer behavior and management leadership and management of change, as well as human resources' team work are all areas where blended delivery is called upon.

So, how to move towards this blended approach where a finely balanced fusion of area specialization meshes with subject specialization?

There is no easy answer here and plenty of political hurdles that may remain insurmountable for some time to come. For the more progressive European universities though, keen to move ahead before market demand forces big changes, the formation of an umbrella organization, such as a China center, independent of any China studies department and business school, may provide an answer.

Many European universities already display such a center on their organizational charts, and often it is staffed by academics from a wide range of academic departments including business schools. However, it is still not apparent that any China center exists primarily for the purpose of marrying business subject experts with area, in this case China, specialists.

A China business center, still a rarity in European universities, is therefore an urgent addition and essential requirement if business education on China is to progress and deliver programs that enable Western students to acquire profound insight into the complexities of all aspects of the Chinese business environment.

Of course, the key challenge in all of this organizational re-arranging is breaking down current barriers between departments and establishing good working relationships between, in this case, business schools and China studies departments.

Sadly, it is hopelessly simplistic to assume that establishing this umbrella organization will lead simply to far more effective China business education. Indeed, it is almost certainly the case that a climate of suspicion and even animosity between B-school academics and area/China specialists will remain. However, such apparent internecine conflict could be turned to positive effect if managed carefully. In this case, conflict could lead to even greater professional pride, resulting in a richer student learning experience. The key to achieving this is a revolving but always neutral management team.

Any China business center or other umbrella organization that seeks to create a symbiosis between established departments, such as a business school and a China studies department, should never be managed by staff from either camp.

Emerging markets, China in particular, are of course the future of business education, but they are not just changing the nature of business; they also necessitate a major rethink over the design and delivery of business education.

The author is a visiting professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and a researcher at Nottingham University's School of Contemporary Chinese Studies. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

( China Daily European Weekly 09/20/2013 page12)