Should business education transform in the disruption era?

Rapid change in the business sector, demanding the world of campuses - graduate suppliers can meet the needs of users, whether companies or public agencies. So, what is business education? Business education is an educational activity directed at the study and research in the field of business. At the higher education level, the learning achievement of business education aims to prepare students to be able to practice what is learned in the work they do in the future in business or business-related fields. The profile of graduates from business education is working in companies or government agencies with supervisors and managers or becoming entrepreneurs. 

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) sets the standards of business education criteria as follows: In undergraduate (Bachelor) programs, 25 percent or more of teaching is related to traditional business courses, while in Graduate Programs, 50 percent or more of teaching is related to traditional business courses, considered a business degree program. Traditional business courses include accounting, business law, decision science, economics, entrepreneurship, finance (including insurance, real estate, and banking), human resources, international business, management, management information systems, management science, marketing, operations management, organizational behavior, organizational development, strategic management, supply chain management (including transportation and logistics), and technology management. 

In the era of disruption there has been a shift in the demands of skills from college graduates required by the industry. According to the World Economic Forum (2016), there are five skills whose demand growth will be highest based on several industrial sectors, where previously the sector did not need it much. The five skills are Cognitive Abilities (52%), System Skills (42%), Complex Problem Solving (40%), Content Skills (40%), and Process Skills (39%).  Due to changes in the demands of human resource skills in various industries today, business education began to make changes. Some strategies and policies that business education organizers need to pay attention to be able to adapt in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 include.  

First, business education organizers must clearly establish the study program development strategy. To date, there are two models of business education: conventional (economics, management, and accounting study programs) and renewal (digital business study programs). In the conventional model, traditional study programs are maintained by providing a touch of digital technology utilization in each course offered. This strategy demands the readiness of educators and adequate information technology infrastructure.  

Second, restructure the business education curriculum. The demands of today's market tend to be on graduates who are generalist, not specialists. While the profile of graduates in the curriculum must be formulated with specifics. Therefore, the business education curriculum as a reference and reference in the implementation of the teaching and learning process must clearly be constantly updated, so as not to miss the needs of the market. The curricular renewal is aimed at providing reliable management capabilities in answering business problems and maintaining the company's competitive advantage in a changing business landscape. Students who will become business leaders no longer run the business as usual, but instead build innovation-based businesses and encourage multidisciplinary collaboration, as well as create increasingly relevant business designs to support the company's excellent performance.  

Third, related to the development and enrichment of learning content. The content of learning must continue to be adapted to existing developments and changes. You need to achieve the meaning of learning. Study materials may remain unchanged, but the focus of emphasis in lectures must change. The use of big data that is happening in the field and coding needs to be taught in business classes to be able to synchronize technological advances with the knowledge obtained by students. In addition, business education should begin implementing hybrid learning systems or blended online learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Thus, the enrichment of learning materials is not limited to space and time. For example, classroom teaching can be recorded and viewed online by learners in a fun way. Forums and discussion groups to explore the understanding of lecture concepts can be done online by involving many learners without obstacles and low cost through applications such as Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts.  

Fourth, the increase in partnerships between business education and the industrial world. Criticism of higher education in Indonesia so far is the unpreparedness of graduates to work in the industry. The implementation of the link and match concept is far from expected. The phenomenon that is happening today is a very rapid change in the world of work. Graduate users demand that business education organizers pay close attention to the development of information technology and markets. Increasing partnerships with the industrialized world is important.  Academic partnerships between business education organizers and the industrial world must be intensified. Applied research in business that engages students for the preparation of their thesis, and dissertation, and strengthened by direct working practices or internships in the industrial world will strengthen cooperation between the campus and the industrial world.  

Fifth, improving the quality of critical and complex thinking skills for business education students. Business education institutions must be able to build the ability to think critical analysis of students. The goal is that business school students can respond to the rapid flow of information in the era of technology and have the skills to sort and also criticize the accuracy of information (data and digital literacy). If students are directed to plan business strategies based on predictions of the future with a high level of accuracy, now it can no longer be done because it considers the increasing uncertainty and complexity of the business. Instead, they are geared toward being able to identify alternatives that can occur while designing innovative and flexible businesses in the face of these conditions. Learners need to be equipped with other soft skills that are not accommodated in the learning curriculum.  

Sixth, changes in learning methods. The role of educators in business schools must go from simply transferring knowledge to being a facilitator in discussions, practitioners in business who are rich in experience, and able to become directors of ethical values / guardians in business (attitude). So far, ethical character and moral attitude in business are still needed so that students are not dragged into business behavior that is solely oriented towards profit maximization and overrides ethical aspects in business. Educators can play a good role here, if they have rich experience, are able to develop the impossibility of case studies based on field data (project-based learning) as a discussion material, able to criticize practices in the business world from the ethical side. Recognition of work experience in the field, as well as the skills or skills acquired through short, certified courses, provides an opportunity for business education to add certification programs that are relevant to its students in addition to the formal education provided. 

Seventh, build an entrepreneurial-oriented academic atmosphere through the creation of entrepreneurial universities as part of a hidden curriculum.  This can be realized through policies and programs that are pro-climate entrepreneurship at the university. 

After all, business education must change. The transformation of business education will succeed if stakeholders – business education organizers, the industrial world, and the government – collaborate harmoniously. Clarity of each stakeholder's function and role needs attention so that there is no overlap between policies and programs.