Master of business administration (MBA) programs are under intense pressure to improve efficiencies, lower tuition, and offer refreshed curriculum that is of high quality and regarded as relevant by the marketplace. In light of this environment, the authors propose a conceptual framework for effectively employing operations management (OM)…

The main goals of this article are to (a) assist business schools in understanding the curriculum alignment process, and (b) uncover critical success factors in curriculum alignment. Based on a case study conducted at the College of Business at Abu Dhabi University, a detailed curriculum alignment process description is provided. The process…

Most undergraduate business students simply do not appreciate the elegant mathematical beauty of inventory models. So how does an instructor capture students' interest and keep them engaged in the learning process when teaching inventory management concepts? This paper describes a competitive and energizing in-class simulation game that introduces…

This article offers a critical discussion of the role of the business plan in current enterprise educational practice. In addition to reviewing recent work that considers the "for" and "against" arguments about the use of business plans in higher education, the authors suggest that the context of student learning is largely…

Drawing on the author's experience as director of a long-lived school-university partnership, this essay describes how one such organization can "do it right" and enhance the development of teacher leadership in schools. It also provides a cautionary tale about how that same organization can "do it wrong" and achieve the…

We illustrate a class organization process utilizing the concept of the Product Life Cycle to meet the needs of today's millennial student. In the Introduction stage of a business course, professors need to build structure to encourage commitment. In the Growth stage, professors need to promote the structure through multiple, brief activities that…

Three community colleges--El Paso Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, and Patrick Henry Community College--incorporated technology into the curriculum to support student progress in mathematics through developmental education. Each college took its own path: El Paso developed a self-accelerated emporium-style computer lab, Patrick…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) SLO-Based Grading Makes Assessment an Integral Part of Teaching (Nagy N. Bengiamin and Christina Leimer); (2) Editor's Notes: Assessing Assessment's ROI (Trudy W. Banta); (3) Assessment Plans: A Tool for Sanity (Shannon M. Sexton); and (4) Lessons from…

Critical Chains project management focuses on holding buffers at the project level vs. task level, and managing buffers as a project resource. A number of studies have shown that Critical Chain project management can significantly improve organizational schedule fidelity (i.e., improve the proportion of projects delivered on time) and reduce…