This article describes an innovation called the Integrative Business Experience (IBE) that links a set of required core business courses to an entrepreneurial practicum course in which two things occur. One is that students are concurrently enrolled in the required core business courses and a practicum course while they create a start‐up business (based on an actual bank loan) and use the profits to finance a hands‐on community service project. The other is that the core courses are taught using the Team‐Based Learning (TBL) to shift the focus of class work from content delivery to content application, and promote the development of interpersonal and team skills. The wide acceptance of the value of active learning over the past 30 years has supported the foundation of Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory, i.e., learning is transformed through experience. IBE provides students with a transformative experience that can engage them in every learning style in Kolb's model. IBE combined with TBL fosters development of the teamwork, interpersonal, and communication skills necessary for effective problem‐solving. This article uses Kolb's cycle of learning to describe how and why the real experience provided by IBE enables students to develop the ability to engage in analytical thinking through practical reasoning, reflective exploration of meaning, and multiple framing. Further, because students’ experiences in IBE are real, they are able to reflect on their personal identities and values as they make decisions in both their business and service activities, and experience the consequences of their choices.

Mandates from the United States government may create drastic changes in the university landscape. The Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) Mandate that was expected to go into effect in December of 2016 provided a means to understand how required changes impact the human resource (HR) departments within institutions. This paper addresses the primary concerns of institutional human resource departments as the FLSA mandate required status changes for up to 15% of the campus workforce. Analysis of forecasted issues with employee engagement generated central issues regarding ability to communicate with constituents, resources available to HR departments, faculty and staff morale, compensation fairness, while not concentrating on employee engagement.

This study discusses critical strategic factors associated with concerns over implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) mandate of December 2016. Emergent Human Resources (HR) strategies developed by human resource managers were investigated, as well as how these managers influenced issues directly linked with employee engagement, communication, employee status, and organizational responses. Interviews were facilitated less than four months prior to the mandate’s implementation. Investigators found the FLSA mandate created concerns for human resource managers based on current organizational practices, compensation, and bonus structures, as well as employee morale challenges. Specific findings included a desire for organizational communication concerning changes due to the mandate, but a universal lack of strategic planning or implementation of a process to preserve employee engagement. Further, HR management concerns regarding employee morale and consequent action were investigated, as a change in status from exempt to non-exempt would be perceived as a demotion by most employees. This research finds that the ability to communicate changes with constituents, help manage implementation for HR employees, care for morale and cultural repercussions, and demonstrate fairness in compensation are critical factors to consider for a large-scale change and implementation in HR policy due to sweeping regulatory changes.

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