Bringing Arts and Business education closer together

This is an exploratory discussion on the opportunities to connect taught elements from arts and business degree programmes to improve inter-disciplinary collaboration and enhance graduate outcomes. The authors have experience... [ view full abstract ]

This is an exploratory discussion on the opportunities to connect taught elements from arts and business degree programmes to improve inter-disciplinary collaboration and enhance graduate outcomes. The authors have experience of managing arts and business faculties in linked institutions and are interested in considering how a collaborative agreement between the institutions may be beneficial. The paper reviews some key literature, presents a broad review of the context of arts and business education from the authors’ experience and proposes a set of research questions. The scope of the work is to validate and consolidate the research questions with an informed audience with a view to embarking on a programme of deep qualitative research with a set of relevant stakeholders. The ultimate aim of the research is to improve collaboration between disciplines and linked institutions, where it can be demonstrated that this would be beneficial to students and their future success.
Two academic leaders, one from an institution concentrating on the creative arts, the other from a business school, consider ways in which it makes sense to combine their respective disciplines with the other, for potential mutual benefit. There are several motivating factors: the potential for collaboration between colleagues with different perspectives, the political landscape calling for rationalisation of programmes and institutions, but above all a sense that there is an ethical motive to bring the disciplines into contact. Namely, those who choose to study arts have a need to root their work in the context of being able to apply skills in a way that has economic value; conversely, we can argue that business students would benefit from the broader “liberal arts” aspect of a comprehensive tertiary education to improve their view of the world and their approach to work and collaboration with diverse colleagues.
The authors have been involved in the negotiation of an inter-institutional collaborative agreement, which is agreed in principle but has remained at a high level. In order for the agreement to deliver tangible results, it is necessary for detailed consideration to be given to measures to amalgamate elements of taught programmes across the partnership. Such collaboration could take the form of shared courses, shared modules within courses, reciprocal delivery of courses and joint degree programmes.
Both of the authors have significant experience in the design, planning, delivery and revision of undergraduate degree programmes to large student populations. It is felt that respective student cohorts in the arts and business fall into stereotypes, whereby arts students are thought to lack career focus and business students are thought to lack a general appreciation of the broader developmental aspects of higher education. Like all stereotypes, these views are somewhat crude but, based on the authors’ substantial observations, they can be considered valid and useful as general characterisations when considering the broad experience, aims and deficiencies of degree programmes on offer in the disciplines in question. It is axiomatic to the discussion that generalisations about degrees in arts and business are accepted as valid in order to consider how the two compare, and how they may be brought closer together. After all, degree programme design aims must themselves be devised and applied in general terms in order for new degrees or changes to be practicable.
Looking at the design inputs for degree programmes, we can consider the aptitudes of potential students, the interests of involved academics, the philosophy of the parent institution and inputs from external partners, such as secondary schools and employers.
As well as considering the needs of students, graduates, schools and employers as sources of perspectives in programme design, we can think about desirable learning goals in terms of our ethical needs. Thus it is valid to factor in an institution’s philosophy or policy, the observed needs of society and the business community, and the moral development of students when considering what to teach and how to teach it.
Research questions and method
In the context of potentially offering programmes that combine aspects of arts and business disciplines, it is interesting to consider some of the following broad ethical questions:
1. Should business graduates take with them a commitment to lifelong learning and development to make them responsible employees, and if so, how can this be formulated and implemented?
2. Is it acceptable to focus in the creative arts on the technical skills needed to excel in a discipline without also giving graduates a foundational understanding of how they need to manage their skills in order to make a living?
3. Do business schools have the necessary expertise to equip graduates to act responsibly in an evolving business landscape?
4. For those graduates trading in the business of the arts, is there a way to develop a keen sense of how products of the arts (including design) can be traded in a manner that brings commercial benefit to those who contribute the greatest creative input?
This paper reviews the current body of literature dealing with education at the intersection of arts and business and explores design issues and ethical drivers for the development of programmes of education for undergraduate students to receive a broader, balanced education, whether from the primary perspective of business with arts as a background, or from an arts footing with an enhanced development of business understanding. As a conference contribution, we explore these developments in the spirit of exploratory discussion, with an eye to worthwhile changes that may be introduced to existing programmes of study. This lays the foundations for more elaborate research, which may comprise the proposed development and implementation of new programme structures, combining disciplines, institutions and learning traditions, leading to scope for medium term experimental testing and measuring of such developments. The research method will evolve into detailed conceptual discussions with colleagues interested in curriculum design, the achievement of learning outcomes and the validation of new programme offerings.

Findings
This study is at an early stage of development, so findings at this stage are limited to the views of the authors, informed by their experience of programme development, and an initial review of literature in the field.
Implications
We hope to provide evidence that there is support for the research questions presented above, so that those involved in developing new programmes and refining existing offerings may be informed and motivated by our results, to help motivate positive changes in curriculum. Further, the third-level institutional environment encourages collaboration between partner institutions where this can offer greater availability of learning outcomes for students and sharing of knowledge and practice between the institutions. In addition to potential links across disciplines between partner institutions, there may be scope for rationalisation and more efficient programme design and delivery within each of the respective partner institutions.
References
Some key publications in the field include:
Baker, D. F., & Baker, S. J. (2012). To “catch the sparkling glow”: A canvas for creativity in the management classroom. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 11(4), 704-721.
Barry, D., & Meisiek, S. (2015). Discovering the Business Studio. Journal of Management Education, 39(1), 153-175.
Glen, R., Suciu, C., & Baughn, C. (2014). The Need for Design Thinking in Business Schools. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(4), 653-667.
Hong, C., Essig, L., & Bridgstock, R. S. (2012). ‘The enterprising artist and the arts entrepreneur: Emergent pedagogies for new disciplinary habits of mind’, in Exploring more signature pedagogies: Approaches to teaching disciplinary habits of mind, 68-81.
Kearney, G., & Harris, P. (2013). Supporting the creative industries: The rationale for an exchange of thinking between the art and business schools. International Journal of Education through Art, 9(3), 311-326. https://openair.rgu.ac.uk/bitstream/10059/989/1/Harris%20IJETA%202013%20Supporting.pdf
Madden, Laura T. and Anne D. Smith (2015) ‘Using Photographs to Integrate Liberal Arts Learning in Business Education’, in Journal of Management Education February 1, 2015 39:1 116-140
Minocha, Sonal and Reynolds, Martin. (2013). ‘The Artistry of Practice or the Practice of Artistry: Embodying Art and Practice in a Business School Context’, Journal of Management Inquiry April 2013 22: 173-192.
Shrivastava, P., & Ivanaj, S. (2012). Transdisciplinary art, technology, and management for sustainable enterprise. Transdisciplinarity and Sustainability. Atlas Publishing, Lubbock, 112-128.

Undergraduate degree design, curriculum refinement, learning outcomes, inter-institutional collaboration [ view full abstract ]

Undergraduate degree design, curriculum refinement, learning outcomes, inter-institutional collaboration