AN INTEGRATED, MBA-LEVEL MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION COURSE

David Lynch, Ed.D.
Arizona State University, Main

Abstract 

The pedagogy and content of MBA-level management communication courses have been affected by the same forces influencing current businesses: to increase quality, lower costs, and reduce the time it takes to complete the degree. This article describes how one such course has been structured to respond to these forces by employing a faculty team and occasional guest speakers to deliver an MBA-level communication course that integrates writing, speaking, team dynamics, and career management.

 Global competition has forced business firms to increase productivity, raise quality, and lower costs. Taxpayers, who have been experiencing the effects of these forces while on the job, have been demanding no less from both state and federal government. Colleges of business in state-funded universities, therefore, have had to redesign curriculum and courses to deliver instruction that is economical, timely, and relevant. Graduate-level business courses such as management communication have had to change emphasis to meet the needs of managers employed in contemporary business organizations.

Several studies point out how management communication has changed over the years. In an early study, Munter (1983) reported on the trends in management communication in selected graduate schools while a more recent study (Bogert and Butt, 1996) reviewed syllabi of communication instruction in selected MBA programs. A comparison of these two studies reveals a continuation of a problem-solving approach, instruction in both written and oral communication either through integration or separate courses, and use of simulations and case studies. The more recent study, though, did find a greater emphasis on skill development, the application of theory, rather than an emphasis on theory per se.

This article will explain how a graduate-level business communication course is taught and the topics included in a full-time day, MBA program in a college of business in a large state university.  Since it is of value to understand the context in which the communication course is taught, the MBA program is first described and then specific information about the communication course is given.

 The MBA Program

The structure of the full-time, day MBA program is the result of some of the same forces that have affected and are affecting business firms: the need to raise quality, lower costs, and reduce time it takes to complete the MBA.

Previously, students with an undergraduate major in business could complete the degree in one year and a summer (nonbusiness majors had to complete a year of prerequisite courses); to insure quality, the entire program now takes two years to complete for all students regardless of undergraduate major. The additional year for undergraduate business majors insures that these students have sufficient competence in all of the core subjects. The two years of coursework gives all students the opportunity to develop a broad knowledge of business as well as to develop greater knowledge in a subject specialty.

The first year is intensive. In it, students build basic skills and get instruction in core knowledge. Basic skills consist of information in analysis, ethics, teams, leadership, and written and oral communication. Courses in the core cover such topics as accounting, organizational behavior, economics, quantitative analysis, marketing, finance, management, global issues, and strategy. The second year allows students to specialize in one of five subjects in which the college has established national prominence: information management, supply chain management, services marketing, health management, and financial management.

To lower costs, the number of faculty has been reduced through resignations,

transfers, and retirements while the graduate student enrollment has increased. Though the current program began with less than 100 students, it now has 185 and next year's goal is 250. Class sizes have increased to about fifty, and instructors have had to employ more effective ways, such as team teaching and cooperative learning, to deliver economically instruction to an increasing number of students.

Finally, to reduce the time it takes to complete the core, the entire program is taught in 10-week trimesters rather than 16-week semesters. Full-time students can now complete the foundation courses in one year rather than one year and a summer and specialize in one of the five subjects mentioned earlier in the second year. Between the first and second year of instruction, students are encouraged to find summer internships with companies that they might want to join as permanent employees.

The Management Communication Course

Over the years, the management communication course has gone through constant change relative to time, faculty, and content. Early on, it was a one-semester elective; later, as the need for MBAs to have communication skills became more widely recognized, it became a one-semester, required course. Initially, each section was taught by one instructor; and as enrollment increased and resources declined, it was team taught. The content has also changed from about equal emphasis given to writing, speaking, listening, interviewing, conducting meetings, handling conflict and communication crises to primary emphasis on writing, speaking, career management, teams, and leadership. Primary emphasis is on skills development, the application of theory to situations the students are likely to encounter finding employment and while on the job. Feedback from students has indicated that they want to develop further their writing and speaking skills rather than have the opportunity to learn additional theory because they tend to get a lot of theory in their other MBA courses. The course described here, therefore, tends to reflect the emphasis described by Bogert and Butt (1996) and manifest in the majority of MBA programs.

Currently, the management communication course is taught during the first two trimesters to all students and is a three-credit, 40-contact-hour course. It is designed to prepare students for assignments requiring communication in other MBA courses and for communication on the job. The course has integration of subjects within and between several other MBA courses, is taught by a faculty team with occasional guest speakers, employs both large- and small-group instruction, and includes various types of assignments. In addition, a variety of problems related to the course have occurred.

Integration

The management communication course is designed to build on basic skills necessary for organizational leadership and is, as mentioned earlier, an integration of various subjects: written communication, oral communication, team skills, and career management. The Dean suggested that he wanted a "seamless" content among the subjects taught; therefore, the common theme that runs through all of these subjects is communication, and students are required to complete written and oral assignments that demonstrate some theoretical knowledge and enhance skill development. Exhibit 1 gives an overview of the more important topics addressed within the subjects covered.

In addition to integration of various topics within the communication course, some

integration between the communication faculty and other core faculty have occurred. For example, communication faculty have occasionally evaluated student team oral presentations in quantitative business analysis classes and written cases in organizational behavior classes. Faculty in both disciplines are currently seeking ways to increase integration.

 

Faculty Team

The course is taught by a faculty team and occasional guest speakers. The attempt is made to have the most qualified people discuss the various topics as well as inform students of current philosophy and practices in business.

Three tenure track faculty and the Associate Director of Career Management teach the various subjects integrated into the course. Specifically, there are two management communication faculty, one of whom specializes in writing and the other in oral communications. A Department of Management faculty member teaches team dynamics, and the Assistant Director of Career Management addresses job preparation issues. The management communication faculty member who specializes in oral communication is responsible for course design while working in concert with other members of the instructional team. This person arranges meetings, creates a schedule of teaching times, and decides with other team members when within-course subjects are taught. Because the course is taught to MBA students and runs two trimesters, it is considered a full teaching load for the communication faculty but only a partial teaching load for the Department of Management faculty.

In addition to regular faculty, during the past several years, guest speakers who have in-depth knowledge and demonstrated expertise have made presentations to students. These speakers give skilled presentations and lend credibility to the need for and importance of communication on the job. Some examples are:

• Writing consultant on persuasive communication
• Expert on creating and using visual aids during oral presentations
• Facilitator on how to conduct effective meetings
• An authority on storyboarding
• Corporate recruiter to discuss behavioral interviewing
• Corporate manager to talk about self-directed teams
• Visiting CEOs to talk about leadership and communication issues

 

Large- and Small-Group Instruction

The communication course is structured to have large and small classes. All first-year MBA students meet in a large lecture hall most Wednesdays for two hours from 1:30­-3:30 p.m. In addition, two-hour, workshop-type classes, most required and some optional, are scheduled during various weeks on Thursdays from 1:30-3:30 p.m., on Fridays from 10:00 a.m.-Noon and from 1:30-3:30 p.m. For the workshop-type classes, the total number of students enrolled in the Day Program are divided into four sections--A,B,C,D--of about forty-five students each and assigned to required workshops that are scheduled at various dates and times during the first two trimesters. Scheduled over a two-trimester time period, the workshops for speaking, writing, teams, or career management are presented so that only one section--A, B, C, or D--will meet on a particular week, thus giving the instructors time to review and give written feedback about a writing or speaking assignment.

Each faculty team member decides which topics he or she will teach and whether to teach these topics in a large or small group. Most large group classes are used by instructors and some guest speakers to disseminate factual information and by visiting CEO's to talk about leadership and communication issues. In general, large classes follow a lecture format with some time for question and answer. Occasionally, large classes are divided into small groups to complete in-class exercises. Workshop-type sessions are used mainly to develop further writing, speaking, job interviewing, and meeting skills.

 

Various Types of Assignments

Throughout the two trimesters, students must complete a variety of assignments. In addition to in-class cases, exercises, and role playing, the following written and oral assignments must be completed and most are graded:

• Writing principles

Case: informational report

Case: persuasive report

• Oral presentations

Videotaped, individual oral presentation

• Self-and peer-analysis of videotaped presentation
• Team oral presentation
• Team dynamics

Written analysis of leadership styles (Students are shown a videotape illustrating four types of leaders; after the video, they write a short paper and tell in which situation each might be effective or ineffective.)

Meetings exercise (Students are divided into small groups and role play to accomplish a meeting objective; each student assumes a different role [e.g., "know it all," "controller," "silent member"];entire group assesses affect of each type on outcome and suggests in writing techniques for dealing with each personality type.)

Unit exam on teams

Case analyses

• Career

Internet job research report

Job search & follow-up correspondence

Behavioral interviewing (Students see a role play of an actual company recruiter and interviewee; the recruiter demonstrates various types of questions and favorable answers; students have open discussion of the process.)

Videotaped recruiter interview (Each MBA student is interviewed on videotape by a visiting recruiter; the results are discussed by student and recruiter.)

Self-analysis of recruiter interview (written)

• Quizzes (in any area)
• Final examination (short answer, essay, case)

  Various Problems

Team teaching a communication course with integrated subjects and a rather large

number of students presents a number of problems:

• Because of conflicting work schedules of team members, determining meeting times to coordinate activities is often difficult since faculty are housed in different locations within the College of Business building. To solve this problem, faculty have frequent formal and ad hoc meetings. The ideal solution to this problem would be to have an MBA faculty housed in the same office complex. This situation could occur in the distant future.
• Getting agreement among team members about instructional time for the various topics given the 40-contact-hour, three-credit constraint requires a good deal of tact, diplomacy and flexibility. Faculty have spent a lot of time resolving this issue. Any conflict is resolved through consensus.
• Finding and scheduling classrooms large enough and at the times needed for workshop-type classes given also the need to schedule day undergraduate business classes have been difficult. This situation will become more difficult as Day MBA enrollment increases. The number of work-shop sections can be increased to keep numbers of students assigned to each within classroom-size limits. This, approach, however, would increase the number of sections the limited faculty would have to teach and thus allow them less time to do research and service.
• Having the various team members return students' papers within a reasonable amount of time has occasionally been a problem. A possible solution will be to put students' papers in individual mail boxes that will be installed in the student lounge in the MBA Suite. These mail boxes will enable instructors to return papers to students on days other than Wednesdays when they meet in large groups.
• Providing attention to individual students given their large number is a difficulty. All faculty have liberal office hours and encourage students with questions to visit. In addition, after assessing student assignments, faculty make appointments with students whom they believe have problems or need face-to-face feedback.
• Because of continual changes in curriculum and core faculty who teach in the MBA program, the communication faculty have had difficulty working regularly with other core instructors to assess student written and oral presentations. Stability in curriculum and core faculty would allow greater integration between the communication and core courses, but this situation has yet to occur.
• The communication faculty would like to integrate regularly with other faculty who teach in the core. For example, students' written and oral presentations given in organizational behavior could be assessed for presentation as well as content. The problem is that given the time constraint of the 10-week trimester, faculty teaching in the core have barely enough time to cover their own course content, thus no time for substantive discussion of communication. The communication faculty do not want to become merely graders of papers and oral presentations for core faculty. Therefore, this type of integration has been limited. No answer has as yet been found to remedy this problem.
• Perhaps the greatest difficulty that the communication faculty face is the continual challenge to find ways to do more with less. While enrollment in the MBA program has increased, the number of faculty assigned to teach communication has remained constant. Students' written and oral communication needs to be assessed, and this assessment is a labor intensive activity. Communication faculty therefore will need to employ other assessment strategies (such as peer evaluation) more frequently as enrollment increases.

 

In spite of these problems, though, because they are exposed to a variety of instructors and topics, students do have a rich learning opportunity. The mix of assignments given by the faculty team help students to further develop their communication skills while the visiting CEO's validate the importance of learning such skills. Because of the dynamic nature of business and the MBA program itself, constant changes in content and pedagogy will have to be made in the years ahead to keep the communication course current.

References

Bogert, J. & Butt, D.  (1996, June).  Communication instruction in MBA programs:  A survey of syllabi.  Business Communication Quarterly, 20-44.

Munter, M.  (1983, Winter).  Trends in management communication at graduate schools.  The Journal of Business Communication, 5-11.