Student and Employer Perceptions of Desirable Entry-level Operations Management Skills

Most four-year business degree programs have a common body of knowledge (CBK) or Òbusiness core,Ó composed of courses from all the major disciplines in the business curriculum. All business majors, regardless of specialization or area of concentration, are required to take these courses, or their equivalent, as a part of their degree programs. On many campuses, non-business majors are also enrolled in these courses. Some of these non-business students are required by their curriculum programs to take specific business courses; others take them as electives. The result is a mixture of students with varying backgrounds and interests in some CBK classes. This mix of business and non-business majors in the same course raises several questions, three of which were examined in this study. In a mixed course, is there any difference between business and non-business majorsÕ attitudes about the course? Is there any significant difference in performance between business and nonbusiness majors in the same course? What are the attitudes of faculty who teach such courses concerning student performance and instruction of the course? A survey was administered to study perceptions of business and non-business majors concerning a single CBK course at one institution. In addition, course grades for business and non-business majors at that institution were compared. Another survey was administered to ascertain the opinions of professors teaching the same CBK course at institutions located throughout the southeastern United States. Results of the surveys showed that faculty and students had different perceptions and that student grades tended to differ by major.