Preparing Future Technology Users

There are many demands made upon the undergraduate business school curriculum. Business organizations and accrediting associations provide valuable input concerning curriculum content and focus. Not only are accounting and financial abilities required, but also collaborative group work skills and communications skills. Additionally, as firms encounter global competition and the pressures to become global, there is a demand for graduates with an international understanding. Computers are ubiquitious in the business organization; connection to the Internet is becoming omnipresent. Linkage to the Internet allows organizations to advertise services and products, to research the competition and to reach many on-line consumers. A recent survey of Information Systems managers (Chow 1994) rated oral communications and interpersonal skills for participation in development teams the two most important abilities required by industry. At Marquette University, with help from the business community, faculty are “Improving the oral and written No longer is it sufficient for a graduate of a business school to be knowledgeable about a specific business functional area; there are additional skills and abilities required by a business organization. Employees in every specialty, at every level in a business organization, are using technology to enhance their performance. Knowledge of productivity software such as word processing, spreadsheets and presentation packages is assumed. However, the combination of technological and domain knowledge still does not guarantee a successful career. Business organizations are concerned with a graduate’s communications skills, both written and oral, collaborative skills, an international awareness and an ability to do research. Trying to provide every opportunity for the student to obtain these skills and abilities, many business schools have undergone curricula revisions and redesign. This paper describes a redesigned undergraduate Information Systems course in the School of Business and Public Management at George Washington University that attempts to provide future technology users, in any functional area, exposure to and practice in these career enhancing skills and abilities. The objective of this course is the integration of fundamental organizational social dynamics, with research and technical skills, in order to prepare graduates to meet the evolving challenges of their future careers.