MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE: STRUCTURE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Abstract

Many employers nowadays often complain that business graduates do not hold appropriate knowledge and skills to meet job requirements. Reasons cited include teacher/teaching method, learner/learning method, curriculum or facilities. An important but less mentioned factor is the intrinsic attribute of the business/management knowledge. This study analyses the attribute and the structure of management knowledge based on two different perspectives, namely usage and manifestation. An aggregation of the two ways of classification yields four different forms of management knowledge. Each form has its own characteristics that determine the value and the extent of the teachability and acquisition of management knowledge. Implications are drawn for teachers, learners and employers of business/management graduates.