Enhancing Relationships between Business Schools and Language Departments

Kelm, CIBER 2005, Park City, Utah

Enhancing Relationships between Business Schools and

Language Departments

Orlando R. KelmUniversity of Texas at Austin

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/orkelm/[email protected]


Why We Address This Topic

Business Schools and Liberal Arts programs have traditionally looked at educational objectives differently. Business School: preparation for employment Liberal Arts: emphasis on global citizenship


Liberal Arts Mission Statements The mission of the College of Liberal Arts is to make a free people

wise, by educating its students in the ways of freedom, and by providing a model for education at other universities. The heart of a democracy is that the people must judge. Through education in the humanities and social sciences, the College of Liberal Arts will give its students the power and confidence to judge well... The College's central mission is to provide a good foundation in the humanities and social sciences to all its students, whether or not they are working towards pre-professional degrees. All students should know how to read critically, write cogently, and speak persuasively. All students should understand the basic methods of the sciences, and all should be conversant with mathematics.


Business School Mission Statement The mission of the McCombs School of Business is to educate the

business leaders of tomorrow while creating knowledge that has a critical significance for industry and society. Through innovative curriculum, excellent teaching, cutting-edge research, and involvement with industry, the school will bring together the highest quality faculty and students to provide the best educational programs and graduates of any public business school. We believe that to prepare students to become leaders in our very diverse, multicultural society, it is essential that they have the opportunity to become involved with students whose backgrounds differ from their own. To facilitate such an involvement the school wants to have a culturally and racially diverse student body.


Spanish Department Mission Statement The main goal of our department is to guarantee that

every student receives the highest quality education. Our general program is an integral part of the education provided by UT’s College of Liberal Arts and seeks to assist students to develop an informed appreciation for Luso-Hispanic languages, literatures and cultures as well as to acquire basic skills in critical thinking, effective writing, and oral communication in Spanish and Portuguese.


Accounting Department Mission Statement The mission of the Department of Accounting of the

University of Texas at Austin is to further excellence in the accounting discipline within the mission of the University and the College and Graduate School of Business. In the context of the Department this means: To expand and create knowledge through scholarship of

theoretical and practical impact, and To communicate knowledge of the accounting discipline

through teaching undergraduate and graduate students, training accounting scholars and educators, and interacting with the external business and policy-making community.


…as a result:

Business Schools Primary focus is

domain specific skills (accounting, finance, marketing, etc.)

Secondary focus is generic cognitive skills (problem solving, critical thinking, cultural competence)

Liberal Arts Primary focus is

generic cognitive skills (problem solving, critical thinking, cultural competence)

Secondary focus is domain specific skills (morphology, phonology, etc.)


… as a further result:

Business Schools Continually modifying

and adjusting program structure to respond to marketability of students.

Liberal Arts Maintains program

structure and resists modifications.


Example of Business School flexibility WSJ Guide to Business Schools: Recruiters' Top Picks

(2004, September 22). The Wall Street Journal, pp. R1-R10. If a business school wants to be a leader in the next decade, it

will have to redesign its curriculum and make it more career-oriented by incorporating a lot more specialized courses.

Knowing Spanish and English should be a requirement for every graduate in the world.

Getting hired requires writing skills, oral presentation skills, communication, teambuilding.


Example of Liberal Arts tradition The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at XXX

University invites applications for a generalist tenure-track assistant professor position in Spanish effective August 22, 2005. Candidates must have Ph.D. in Spanish in hand by time of appointment. Native or near-native fluency in Spanish and English required. Only candidates with specialization and/or teaching experience in one or more of the following areas will be considered: Trans-Atlantic Cultural Studies, Spanish for the Professions (medical, business or translation), Spanish American Colonial Literature, Golden Age Peninsular, and Spanish for Heritage speakers. The teaching load is…


Communication Misunderstandings: Business Language Departments will jump at the

chance to teach business language. If you can teach language, you can teach

business language. One semester of language should solve

the problem. Role of English in business.


Communication Misunderstandings: Lib. Arts “We have a more noble mission.” Business schools have all the money so

they should pay for it. Business language means business

vocabulary. Spanish speakers go to Latin America.


What can we really learn from one another?


From Liberal Arts

What sets the really good business professionals apart from the others are the generic cognitive skills, precisely the strength of liberal arts. Consequently business language should focus on the development of generic cognitive skills. The whole proficiency emphasis of the 5 C's (communication, connections, culture, comparisons, communities) fits right in with the need to focus on cognitive skills. If we follow the standards of foreign language learning, we are teaching language for special purposes. It is impossible to truly incorporate the 5C's without also identifying the role of foreign language within the context of a specific purpose.


From Business Schools

Techniques that are used to teach business in general can be modified to teach business language too. For example: Case Study Method Mental Maps Laddering Technique


Case Study Method: Executive Summary

Introduction: A brief, one paragraph, description of the major issues presented in the case. This should include any economic, political, social or competitive issues. It may include organization issues, technical issues, financial issues, ethical issues, policy considerations, etc.

Problem Statement: A specific statement of the problem or issue, usually not to exceed two sentences. Remember this is not a question, but a statement of the situation.

Analysis: This is the most critical component of the summary. Readings, frameworks, class presentations, etc. must be used to analyze (not merely describe) the critical issues in the case. The analysis should serve as the foundation for alternatives and recommendations.

Alternative strategies: Possible alternative solutions to solve the problem should be given. These should be based upon the analysis and should be distinct from one another. Briefly note the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative.

Recommendations: Based upon the analysis, a specific recommendation must be made. Explain your recommended strategy, why you selected that particular one and how it solves the problem. Be sure that your recommendation can be supported by the analysis.


Mental Maps

By mental map we mean a brief one-page diagram or flowchart that shows the relationship among the words, phrases and concepts that are presented in the body of the text. In this way one may systematically show the relationship among the subordinate and main ideas. The first step of the mental map is to carefully read and analyze the text, focusing on the various elements, concepts, and theories, etc. Second, synthesize these elements into diagrams, drawings, or flowcharts. The mental map becomes a powerful tool in being able to organize information and in outlining the concepts and content from the readings. The mental map should be created on a single slide of a presentation program. (Carlos Romero Uscanga, ITESM)

INICIATIVA CON FIRMAS EN MEXICOINICIATIVA CON FIRMAS EN MEXICO

INFORMACION

RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL

-Filantropía EstratégicaInvolucra alianzas entre la empresa yla causa que vamás alla de una donación dedinero o en especie.-Mercadeo Relacionado con Causa SocialEmpresas y organizaciones crean una alian-za mutua: comunicación, recursos humanos,mercadeo y relaciones públicas

BENEFICIOS

Relación entre las empresas y ONG´s1. Fortalece la imágen de la empresa2. Refuerza el reconocimiento de marca3. Aumenta moral y motivación personal4. Establece credibilidad ante la sociedad

CEMEFI-CTRO.DE FILANTROPIA

Unión entre empresas y sociedad han demostrado generar mayor sustentabilidad que la filantropía tradicional y de beneficencia

PROYECTOS RECONOCIDOS

Responsabilidad Social está determinada porcompromisos que buscan el éxito del negocio

Siguieron el ejemplo de

Ellos son

Ellos son

EMPRESAS

Para tener éxito necesita convivir en unasociedad saludable. Mejorar la calidad vida

ALIANZAS.

CULTURA DE AYUDA EN LAS EMPRESAS

Resultados de la encuesta a 360 empresas:•No demuestran un compromiso 100%.•Van avanzando en responsabilidad social.•Poca ética profesional en sus empleados.

EMPRESAS SOCIALMENTE RESPONSABLES

2001-2002, 45 empresas en total : •ALFA Corporativo, Andersen México•Nestlé México, Grupo Apasco•Coca-Cola de México, Grupo Bimbo,etc•Incremento de más del 50%.

10 MAS ADMIRADAS EN MEXICO

2001: Cemex, Bimbo, Telmex, Grupo Modelo,Grupo Carso, Fomento Económico,Nestlé,Banamex, Procter Gamble.2002:Bimbo, Cemex,Telmex, Infored, Grupo Modelo, TV Azteca,FEMSA, Grupo Reforma, DHL, Wal-Mart

1966 "Construyamos sus Sueños "DANONE - OBJETIVOS•Crearon un vínculo emocional entre comunidades y productos•Aumentó la fidelidad de comunidad •Cumplieron responsabilidad social •Mejoraron la imagen por 6 añosSocial:beneficiaron a la niñez.Económico: lograron reunir más de50 millones pesos, niños con cancer

CONCLUSIONES

•Boom de ayuda comunitaria:fundaciones,organizaciones ypersonajes para ayudar a la causa•Ejemplos para otras empresasdestacado por el presidente de lafundación televisa, E.Azcárraga.•Es más facil ayudar a cualquier causa, personas y empresas.•Responsabilidad social se tradu-ce en publicidad, reconocimiento del mercado y reputación•Beneficio para la sociedad.

MEXICO

FILANTROPIA EMPRESARIAL

POPULARIDAD DEL MARKETING

CEMEFI,USEM,DESEM,COPARMEXEvaluadas por

DANONE-PIONERA


Laddering Technique (Wansink, 2000) The laddering interview will be like playing psychologist with your interviewee

acting as the "patient." You will be analyzing the consumer's purchase through a series of questions in an attempt to reveal the personal reasons for which the consumer made his purchase.

The first step in effective laddering is to choose a brand champion… The purpose of initially interviewing brand champions is that they are uniquely capable of articulating the key aspects of the product they most like. Knowing this can show how to turn moderate consumers into champions.

Good questions to start out with are ones that get the customer talking about the product. You may or may not gain any insights other than what you can see by the physical properties of the product, but it will help put your brand champion at ease and get them accustomed to answering your questions about the product in question.


Laddering Technique, cont. The whole purpose of this first round of questions is to find what properties of the product

caused the interviewee to purchase and champion that brand. Once you have identified several attributes of the product and answers begin to become repetitive, it is time to move on.

Your questions should always link to the previous response given by the interviewee. In this manner, you begin to construct a ladder establishing links between the attributes, consequences, and values. The second round of questions is a good time to begin asking why certain attributes are important. When a consequence is found, sometimes it is good to keep delving deeper into that consequence toward finding the underlying value--the real reason the purchased is made. This requires the interviewee to reflect upon the purchase and, therefore, it's important to keep rolling with the idea. Stopping and returning to a consequence at a later time will often result in the interviewee losing their train of thought about a given consequence. This can make it difficult for both you and the interviewee.

The ultimate goal of laddering is to develop an insightful and extraordinarily effective marketing campaign. Laddering is an excellent tool for discovering why customers really buy and also for developing a list of key insights that will be the platform from which a marketing campaign can be built.


Recommendations Take on the role of consultant. Find out the needs

of the business school and work from there. Provide realistic expectations about language

learning. Observe techniques in business training and adapt

for language purposes. Take advantage of experience in teaching generic

cognitive skills (problem solving, critical thinking, cultural competence).


Unresolved Issues

Who should teach business language courses?

What kind of course structure works for less-commonly taught languages?

How do we resolve the time necessary to develop proficiency versus the limited time students have to work on language?


References

Wansink, B. (2000, Summer). New techniques to generate key marketing insights. Marketing Research, 12(2), 28-37.

WSJ Guide to Business Schools: Recruiters' Top Picks (2004, September 22). The Wall Street Journal, pp. R1-R10.

Enhancing Relationships between Business Schools and Language Departments

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