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Well‐documented corporate demands for crossfunctionally competent employees have instigated a wide variety of efforts by the educational community to integrate business curricula. Many colleges and universities struggle to functionally integrate business programs that historically have been delivered by well‐defined, and often well‐siloed, disciplines. Drawing from the numerous published and unpublished case studies of cross‐functional integration attempts, this study develops a framework of critical issues to consider when developing an integrated program. The framework develops five major categories of issues (strategic, leadership, administrative, faculty, and student) to help universities identify typical program decisions and potential roadblocks that may inhibit the development of a successful program.

This chapter reports on the pilot of an innovative approach to business education that was instituted at a small university in the United States. In the program, students were divided into three learning cohorts. Each group was encouraged to learn as a community while taking three integrated classes. Teams competed within their cohort and cohorts competed against other cohorts. Students took introductory managerial accounting, introductory computer information systems and introductory management in the first semester and financial management, operations management and an introductory marketing course in the second semester. The program was designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice by helping students gain a better appreciation of how business functions are integrated. After the first semester, an anonymous survey revealed some useful insights that could be incorporated to enhance such programs. The structure of the program, its benefits, limitations and insights from the survey are reported in this chapter.

Admission standards are commonly employed as a means of maintaining the quality of an academic program’s student pool, and as a result, the program itself. The past decade has seen a number of efforts to integrate academic content and incorporate models of team‐based learning. While the emphasis and demands of these programs have changed, as well as the expectations of incoming students, admission standards have not. This study considers whether undergraduate business admission requirements developed and validated for traditional curricula remain valid admission standards for integrated programs. The relationship between student performance in various predictor courses and performance in upper level business courses is compared for students in an integrated program and those taking the traditional curriculum. Results indicate that the traditional predictor courses remain valid predictors of performance for the integrated program. Additionally, opportunities for improvement exist in the addition of courses emphasizing communication and reasoning skills.

To examine the efficacy of admission requirements as predictors of academic success in core business coursework, and as a rationing mechanism for limited course capacity, for both transfer and non‐transfer students following integration of the core business curriculum.

Regression analysis is used to test the efficacy of admission standards in explaining transfer and non‐transfer student performance in the core business curriculum, before and after substantial curricular revision. Fisher's r‐to‐z transformation is used to test differences between student groups and core curriculum formats. Stepwise regression was used to identify an accurate predictor of transfer student performance for the integrated business core.

Efficacy of the admission standard decreased for transfer students following introduction of the new curriculum. While adequate for all students taking the traditional business core, it is a much less effective predictor of success for transfer students under the new curriculum. A modified admission standard for transfer students restored efficacy to previous levels.

The paper considers only one school's experience with revision of its core curriculum.

Re‐examination of admission standards following curricular revision is necessary to ensure effective screening of transfer students. The root problem, however, may not be addressed in its entirety by a unique transfer student admission standard. Non‐transfer students benefit from acculturation as freshman and sophomores, as well as prerequisite courses specifically modified to prepare them for the integrated curriculum.

This paper documents a potential problem for business schools that have, or are considering, significant curricular revisions.

Asserts that over 75 per cent of business transformations fail. Suggests that two of the main problems are lack of communication with employees, and the failure to recognise the impact of change. Presents the successful case of Guinness, who wished to strengthen its brand presence globally. In order to do this, it partnered with the management consultancy firm, Druid plc. Guinness, therefore, embarked on a project that broke down geographic barriers to ensure that its business processes and IT systems supported its brand development. This insight from industry describes and discusses the processes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate New Entrepreneur Scholarships, a government‐funded programme that aims to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds to become self‐employed.

A case study methodology is employed.

The programme has been very effective in helping people who would not otherwise overcome the barriers in setting up a business to establish themselves in self‐employment.

Tacking the issue of qualifications remains an issue as there is no clear demand for a qualification. Resources are also needed to further promote the success of New Entrepreneur scholars within their own areas to that they can be role models to others and so that enterprise can be seen as a viable option for other members of their communities.

This paper explores the issue of the types of skills required of leaders and followers in new organizational forms. It reviews the concept of virtual teams in organizations. The paper addresses the role of training in facilitating boundary spanning in organisations using case examples.

The purpose of this paper is to account for, and conceptualize, the internal and external forces that influence higher education business schools as they strive to integrate sustainability issues into their curricula in the effort to achieve a more sustainable (yet capitalist) world.

A case study approach is used for the research, which is grounded in the relevant literature, to investigate sustainable development issues in the context of a Swedish business school (university level). The empirical data consists of a review of internal documents plus e-mail surveys and interviews and discussion seminars with university teachers/researchers and key administrators.

Two tentative models are presented that map the various internal and external forces behind business schools’ curriculum change. One important finding describes how supply and demand influences business schools and recruiters of business students.

Because this research is based on a single case study, the analysis and the mapping in the paper are somewhat limited in their general applicability. However, the research context of the business school permits drawing conclusions that may apply to a broad class of colleges or departments in higher education. In addition, because the research is supported by significant ideas from the literature, general inferences may be drawn about business school curricula.

The two tentative models provide a holistic framework that adds to the understanding of the composition and interrelationship of influential forces on business schools when major changes in curricula and their management are contemplated.

To explore the organisational issues involved in implementing an enterprise resource Planning (ERP) system as the main approach to change management within a large global organisation, from a management perspective.

A case based research approach is used which includes participant observation and semi structured interviews with all of the case management team.

The findings indicate that ERP should be incorporated within a wider change programme, with changes to people management and cultural practices, in addition to process change. Much more consideration should be given to organisational change issues prior to design and implementation of ERP.

The study is limited to that of a management perspective.

The findings can be used to guide management teams in designing and implementing ERP as part of a wider approach to organisational change.

The paper contributes to the need for ERP studies that go beyond technical implementation issues and which address associated complex change management.