Montana State University-Bozeman College of Business

Learning Goals with Operational Definitions (2002-2003)

·          Acquire Knowledge of Current Business Practices and Theory and Be Conversant in the Language of Business

Prior to formal admission in the College, students will have successfully completed courses requiring them to demonstrate basic skills in oral and written communication, mathematical and statistical concepts, economic theory, computer technology, accounting systems, and preparation of financial statements.  This prerequisite course work serves as the foundation for upper-division business courses by focusing on the following: acquisition of a common body of knowledge and vocabulary of the discipline, as well as the development of professional competencies in communication, quantitative problem solving, and critical thinking. 

COB students are expected to build on these competencies and basic knowledge as they progress through the junior-level business core courses. They must become knowledgeable in the following areas: theory and practices of organizational management, operations, and human resources; corporate finance; law; information systems and technology; and marketing.  As they further progress and specialize, students must demonstrate their ability to integrate these competencies and knowledge in solving business problems.  They must also be able to articulate, defend, and/or critically evaluate current business practices in ways that would allow them to effectively communicate to a variety of audiences, e.g. business professionals, clients or laypersons, and other parties.

·          Competency in Rational and Ethical Decision Making

Rational and ethical decision making deals with issues of human conduct and the rules that should govern human action. It is characterized by respect for others, an awareness of justice, and sensitivity to the universal application of rules of conduct.  Rational and ethical decision making explicitly focuses on two critical questions: “What is right or wrong?” and “What is good or bad?”  A graduate of the COB will be competent in rational and ethical decision making when s/he is able to assess critically her/his actions and the actions of others with respect to these two questions. 

Reference: O. A. Johnson, ed., Ethics: Selections from classical and Contemporary Writers, 3^rd edition.  New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974.

·          Competency in Current Technology

Competency in current technology encompasses the ability to use information technology when undertaking business decisions.  The specific skills include: (1) navigating the Internet, (2) developing a document using a word processor, (3) collecting and analyzing data using a spreadsheet, and (4) presenting ideas using a presentation graphics package.  Competency should also include the ability to independently learn new software.

Reference:  Computer Self-Efficacy and Perceived Computer Skills measurement forms at the University of Calgary, Canada. 

            http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~newsted/q5229.htm  and
            http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~compeau/selfeff.html

·          Leadership

The essence of leadership is influence over followers (Yukl 1998).  In the COB leadership is defined as the capacity of an individual to influence the attitudes or behavior of others toward the accomplishment of a goal.  The COB strives to develop students’ influential abilities in such a way that they elicit enthusiasm and volunteerism from others.  Leadership effectiveness is the extent to which the leader’s informal or formal group or organization performs its task successfully or attains its goals.

Reference:  Yukl, G. (1998). Leadership In Organizations. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. 

·          Become Lifelong, Self-Directed Learners 

Following the work of Knowles (1990), the COB defines lifelong, self-directed learning as the process by which "individuals take a lifelong initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their own learning needs, formulating their own learning goals, identifying human and material resources for their own learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies and evaluating their own learning outcomes".  

Reference: Knowles, M. S. (1990). The Adult Learner. Houston: Gulf Publishing.

·          Problem Solving and Critical Thinking

Problem solving refers to the ability to comprehend, master, memorize and replicate knowledge, information, skills, facts, algorithms, techniques, approaches and methods.  

Critical thinking is defined as the ability to structure and synthesize ambiguous information, to sort relevant from irrelevant information, to apply technical knowledge to new problem settings, to analyze and summarize information and to interpret the results of analysis.  Brightman rightly defines problem solving and critical thinking via facets of the Bloom, Englehar, Furst, Hill, and Krathwohl taxonomy of cognitive objectives.            

Problem solving can be defined as the beginning levels of the Bloom taxonomy: memory, knowledge and comprehension; critical thinking is defined in terms of the higher cognitive objectives: application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

Brightman, H. J. (1987). Toward Teaching Excellence in the Decision Sciences, Decision Science, 18(4), 646-662.

·          Oral And Written Communication

Oral communication is defined as facility with standard presentation forms including impromptu, extemporaneous, informational and persuasive speaking, and demonstration of the cognitive abilities contained in Bloom’s taxonomy.  Written communication is defined as facility with standard literary and business forms of writing.  Such forms include APA Citation Format, legal brief, outline, memo, letter, financial plan, business plan, research proposal/report and legal contracts, as well as demonstration of the cognitive abilities contained in Bloom’s taxonomy.  Graduates will demonstrate through speaking and writing their competence in memory, knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

To see year-by-year standards developed by Montana faculty for written and oral communication, follow this link.

Reference:  See Brightman (above) for a review of Bloom’s Taxonomy