Don’t switch boats in midstream.
That could be the motto of the University of Memphis Fogelman School of Business.
Despite the instability of the stock market and economy in recent years, the business school has not changed its curriculum or teaching philosophies.
Instead, it focuses on established principles of business.
“Business education cannot respond to the ups and downs of the economy,” said Coy Jones, associate dean of undergraduate programs. “It’s a cyclical process.”
Jones believes the school must stick with the fundamentals of business education and work on quality issues to improve.
According to basic business philosophy, the purpose of business is to create value, not profit. Jones agrees that profit is important, but gives an analogy.
“Profit is like oxygen,” Jones said. “You must have it to survive, but you wouldn’t say that getting it is your purpose in life.”
While Wall Street lost sight of this basic paradigm with the inflated values of dot-com’s in the 1990s, many companies, like Johnson and Johnson, Microsoft and DuPont remain productive because they produce value, he said.
The business school seeks to improve its current level of quality with new organizations and policies.
A board of advisors from each department meets to discuss ideas and plans for academic development and enrollment. Through an exchange of ideas from different departments, they hope to address problems that affect all area of business education.
The business school also developed the new career management and academic advising program. This program will integrate academic advising with the career counselling process to provide students with smooth transitions into the business world.
Jones hopes a new generation of business leaders will improve the public’s perception of business.
Until then, he said he wants to be sure people don’t get the wrong idea.
“Business is about putting scientific discoveries into products that people can use,” Jones said. “We want to help society, not hurt it.”
