Information Literacy and the Evolving MBA Degree

Abstract

MBA program curriculums have been the target of criticism since the financial scandals of the early 2000s, with the main focus being that many programs sacrificed the teaching of useful, real world skills in favor of impractical scientific research, while also neglecting areas such as ethics and social responsibility. The financial collapse prompted many MBA programs to implement reforms which include adding experiential learning programs among other changes. These reforms provide opportunities for librarians to introduce or increase information literacy components in the programs. The current state of MBA information literacy practices is discussed, with several initiatives highlighted and some new approaches suggested.

Big Need Not Be Bad: A Case Study of Experiential Leadership Development in Different-Sized Classes

“…Boyatzis and McLeod (2001) long ago asserted the need for curricular reform in management education; Ritter et al (2018) more recently continued to identify a “gap” between what is taught in management education and what is required by employers. In the interim, Bennis and O’Toole (2005) blamed increasingly science-oriented curricula for a lack of “useful skills,” and Hesseldenz (2012) linked the lack of “real world skills” in business school graduates to the economic crisis of 2008. Clearly, business schools as a whole must do a better job of developing relevant skills in their graduates.…”

Client-based experiential learning and the librarian: Information literacy for the real world

“…Similarly, the fact that deceptively simple questions like "what is the market size for widgets?" may require labyrinthine research-and may not even have an answer-can provide opportunities to introduce deeper principles of information literacy (Hesseldenz, 2012;Phillips, 2010).…”

Strategies to Ensure Deep Learning Occurs in MBA Information Literacy Workshops

“…This section reviews and assesses the following ideas discussed by Hesseldenz (2012) for integrating IL into evolving MBA programmes. …”

“…(Hesseldenz, 2012) Middle Tennessee State University and Illinois Wesleyan College are two libraries which collaborated with marketing undergraduates in relation to conducting and analysing surveys concerning student attitudes.…”