Business Education: Addressing the ‘What’ Question

In an attempt to diversify the economy and stimulate private enterprise development, government agencies and private institutions in many countries have emphasized the importance of setting up and developing small and medium-size enterprises and promoting entrepreneurship. An important question confronting policy makers, however, is how they can both promote local economic growth and enhance social development. Undergraduate and graduate business education is seen as a prerequisite if the objectives of economic growth are to be realized. This paper calls for a serious evaluation of current business education, particularly in Middle Eastern countries. As US business schools start to encounter numerous problems concerning the validity and viability of business courses and their methods of delivery, critical debates have arisen. The overwhelming majority of business schools in the Middle East are imitations of US schools and hence suffer similar problems. This paper seeks to raise awareness of such debates to stimulate more discussion and so to address issues of concern. Research propositions are formulated to serve as a basis for phase two of this study, which will involve empirical data collection. Thus the contribution of the paper lies in the adaptation of established knowledge and theory to meet specific challenges in the emerging economies of countries in the Middle East and beyond.