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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
An Analysis of the Curricula of Business
Administration Departments in Turkish
Universities With the Perspective of Civil Society
Awareness
Aytul Ayse Özdemir & Muammer Sarikaya
To cite this article: Aytul Ayse Özdemir & Muammer Sarikaya (2009) An Analysis of the
Curricula of Business Administration Departments in Turkish Universities With the Perspective of Civil Society Awareness, Journal of Education for Business, 84:5, 313-317, DOI: 10.3200/ JOEB.84.5.313-317
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.84.5.313-317
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
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he world of business is devel-oping into a platform on which continuous and heavy competition is experienced every day and on which theunderstandingofcorporaterespon-sibilitydevelopsgradually.Oneofthe topicsinthisframeworkistherelation between business and society. There has been an improvement in the con-ceptofnongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs) with the increase of democ-racy. Above all, the state cannot per-form social responsibilities efficiently andrequiresthemutualcooperationof NGOs and business enterprises. Edu-cating contemporary business admin-istration students, who will eventually holdplacesonthisplatform,isamong the major cases that have been under-lined in recent years. Learning about potential problems and obstacles that they will encounter, and about their possible solutions, during their years inschoolprovidesstudentswithasolid basis for a future in business life. For business administration students pre-paring for business life, it is of great importancetoreceiveaneducationon social responsibility and NGOs and to develop such an awareness. In the presentstudy,weidentifiedthecours-es that provide information on NGOs and social responsibility by examin-ing the curricula of business adminis-tration departments of the universities inTurkey.
ReviewoftheLiterature
Civil society, which stands some- wherebetweenstate,market,andfami-ly(Chandhoke,2002),isawideconcept thatincludesNGOs,tradeassociations, professional chambers, religious orga-nizations, student orgaorga-nizations, and all organizations defined as interest groups by political scientists (Caroth-ers,Barndt,&Al-Sayyid,1999).Being a part of this concept, NGOs have a crucial role in developed and develop-ingcountries.
NGOsareestablishmentsthatendeav-ortoaccomplishspecificobjectivesand act independently from the state and market on the basis of volunteering. Members of NGOs gather in accor- dancetotheircommoninterests,identi-ties, or needs and form interest groups (Teegen,Doh,&Vachani,2004).These kinds of establishments are also called
civil-societyorganizationsor third-sec-tororganizations.
TheneedforNGOsismorenoticeable indevelopingcountries.Suchaneedfor thedevelopmentofNGOsisevenmore emphasizedincountriessuchasTurkey, becausetheysupportcivilparticipation andcivileducation,attempttopromote individual rights and freedoms, and— most importantly—offer to direct the civil-societypolicyinthecountry.
In the 1990s, the formation of civil society grew much stronger in Turkey whenthecountrywastryingtomeetthe
AnAnalysisofthe
CurriculaofBusiness
AdministrationDepartmentsinTurkish
UniversitiesWiththePerspectiveofCivil
SocietyAwareness
AYTULAYSEÖZDEMIR MUAMMERSARIKAYA
ANADOLUUNIVERSITY KAFKASUNIVERSITY
ESKISEHIR,TURKEY KARS,TURKEY
T
ABSTRACT.Theauthors’goalwasto analyzethecurriculaofbusinessadminis- trationdepartmentsinstateandprivateuni- versitiesinTurkey,whichhavebeenoffer-ingcoursessuchasbusinessandsociety, socialresponsibility,businessethics,and managementofnongovernmentalorganiza-tions(NGOs).Ofthe74universitieswith businessadministrationdepartments,4had coursesonNGOs,and30includedcourses onsocialresponsibilityandbusinessethics. Inaddition,12departmentshadcourses coveringbusinessandsociety.Therefore, thelackofcoursesonNGOsin70of74 universitiesrequiresarevisionofthepro-gramsofferedbybusinessadministration departments.
Keywords:businessethics,businessand society,curriculaofbusinessadministration departments,socialresponsibility
Copyright©2009HeldrefPublications
VIEWPOINT
requiredstandardsforEuropeanUnion membership. People noticed the defi-cienciesofthestateandrecognizedthe importanceofNGOsinmakingupfor thesedeficienciesineventssuchasthe Marmaraearthquakeof1999.
When analyzing NGOs in general, researchers can see that the NGOs in Turkey have never shown a bottom-up formation. The lack of cooperation among NGOs and their considering each other asthe others have stood as obstacles hindering their development. Paralleltotheworlddevelopmentsafter the 1980s, and the increasing effect of humanrights,thenumberofNGOsthat havealsodevelopedinTurkishsociety has reached 150,000. This quantitative success is required to become a quali-tative one. However, the state-focused policy, lack of democracy, and inad-equacyoflegalarrangementsinTurkey continuetodeceleratethedevelopment ofNGOs(Keyman,2004).
Becauseofthecurrentsituation,there aresomeobstaclesstandingintheway of the development of NGOs, such as staff-andfinancial-resourcelimitations, thelackofcooperationamongthevari- ousNGOs,beingunderstrictstatecon-trol,and—thebiggestproblem—having low levels of confidence and social capital (Türkiye Üçüncü Sektör Vakfı [TÜSEV],2006).
Theprivatesectorhasagreatrespon-sibility to strengthen NGOs in terms of structure and promoting their exist-ing and potential roles in the society. However, in practice, the weakness of the relation between the NGO and the privatesectorisnoticeable.Inthereport, “CorporateSocialResponsibilityofPri-vate Sector:Analysis of 10 Companies inTurkey,”Özdemir(2002)showedthat companies in Turkey are indifferent to NGOs. Companies do not have clear strategies on how to set objectives and which projects to support. Cooperation with NGOs is mainly limited to spon-sorship activities in the fields of envi-ronment, arts and culture, and sports, whereas human rights, social justice, economic development, urbanization, culture,andimprovementofwork-place conditions are all left out (TÜSEV, 2006).Businessenterpriseshavecrucial roles in raising civil-society awareness in the enterprises. Among the policies
servingthisaim,providingeducationfor the undergraduate business administra-tionstudentsisstrategicallyimportant.
It is especially necessary to aban-dontraditionalstructureandalignwith currentconditionsinbusinessadminis-tration education, particularly because of the recent corporate failures and scandals. Enterprises should improve their social-responsibility approaches and display activities for furthering society to attain success.At this point, the content of business administration education and the information level of students and instructors play key roles (Hawawini,2005).Porter(2006)stated that “the ability to recruit appropriate human resources, for example, may depend on a number of social factors that companies can influence, such as the local educational system,” andis a necessity of business enterprises for making social responsibility invest-ments and preparing for competitive environments(p.84).Inthisway,busi-ness enterprises would preserve their organizational images, avoid potential risks,and—mostimportantly—increase their social capital by strengthening relationswiththeirshareholders.
Thesecondpoint,whichnecessitates the revision of business administration education, is the increasing number of NGOsandtherolesthattheyplayinthe development of society and promoting social capital. In consideration of the difficultiesexperiencedintermsofstaff andfinancialresourcesandlackofeffi-cientmanagement,NGOsshouldemploy graduatesfrombusinessadministration departments, and such employment wouldpavethewayforthestrengthen-ing of NGOs (Knight, 2006). Numer-ousmethodsofbusinessadministration have crucial roles in the development of NGOs, but when this connection is established, the structure and char-acteristics that are unique to NGOs shouldnotbeignored.Educationthatis focused only on business enterprises is not adequate for the efficient manage-ment of NGOs. Enterprises and NGOs have common characteristics, but they differ in terms of basic components. Theobjectives,values,andmanagement of NGOs that are different from those ofenterprisesdistinguishtheirmanage-
mentunderstandings.Therefore,provid-ing lectures about the management of NGOswillalsobringabouttheefficient managementoftheseorganizations.
Undergraduates in business adminis-tration departments who are preparing forcareersinbusinessshouldbeaware ofthesocialresponsibilitiesoftheenter-prises and should be well-equipped to undertake these responsibilities. There- fore,educationthatisprovidedtounder-graduates in business administration should not have an economic point of view only. However, existing business administrationeducationfocusesonthe conceptsofenterpriseandprofit,anda management model based on economy is taught to students (Ghoshal, 2005; Pfeffer, 2005). A worldview based on socialresponsibilityshouldbeengrained in undergraduates. Furthermore, their awareness regarding the consequences that this world view entails should be increased (Giacalone & Thompson, 2006).Otherwise,youngpeoplewhoare thepotentialinvestorsoftomorrowand whowillbeinvolvedinbusinesscareers in the future will be incapable of com- prehendingandactualizingtheexpecta-tions of society and the responsibilities oftheenterprises.Studiescomparingthe sensitivityofundergraduatesinbusiness administration and other departments to social and ethical values reveal that thetechnicalandanalyticaltrainingthat is received by business administration undergraduatescausesthissensitivityto decrease(McCabe,Dukerich,&Dutton, 1991). C. S. White and Dooley (1993) argued that receiving an education that focusesonpracticabilityformanyyears has resulted in students putting practi- cabilityfirst,ratherthanbehavingethi-callyorin accordancewiththeirsocial responsibilities. According to Wood, Longenecker, McKinney, and Moore (1988),instructingegoismandindividu- alismpredominantlyintheexistingbusi-ness administration programs leads to studentsperformingunethicalbehaviors when they have to make choices. Fur-thermore, the existence of these kinds of lectures has positive effects such as increasingundergraduates’socialsensi- tivity.Lecturesregardingsocialrespon-sibilities of enterprises enable business administrationundergraduatestoextend theirperceptionsofcivillife,andthese lectures have a positive effect on their
attitudes and behaviors related to this matter (Angelidis & Ibrahim, 2004; Stewart,Felicetti,&Kuehn,1996).Uni-versitiesandtheeducationtheyprovide have indisputable effects on the devel-opment of moral judgment and interest in social topics (B. J. White & Mont-gomery, 1980; McCabe et al., 1991; Stead & Miller, 1988). For example, it was discovered that the existence of trainingsonenvironmentalissuesinthe curriculumofthedepartmentofbusiness administration at Middlesex University inLondon,Englandpromotesstudents’ sensitivity toward and awareness of the environment. Above all, research-ers determined that training regarding environmental issues is of great impor-tanceinobtainingasetofbehaviorsfor environmentalprotectionandinlearning about the technology and instruments that individuals use in environmental management(Holt,2003).Inadditionto thelecturesregardingsocialresponsibil-ityandNGOsinbusinessadministration education, and their part in paving the way to increased awareness and con-sciousnessinstudents,researchershave found that having a positive attitude aboutthesecourses(Sleeper,Schneider, Weber, & Weber, 2006) is necessary (Gardiner&Lacy,2005;Stewartetal., 1996).However,inpractice,theexisting university education system has defi-cienciesregardingeducationintheareas ofcivilsocietyandsociallife.
StatementoftheProblem
Today, the responsibilities of busi-ness enterprises have expanded with theirrolesinsociety.Furthermore,the interest in societal issues and prob-lems—and, in turn, the number of NGOs—are increasing. That the con-cepts of corporate social responsibil-ity and social capital are emphasized in business life and that NGOs are importantstakeholdersinthisemphasis who have received training on these topics gradually increases because responsibilityandsocialcapitalprovide aconsiderablecompetitiveadvantage.
Theaimofthepresentstudywasto determine whether any courses can (a) enhance the awareness of civil society amongthebusinessadministrationstu-dentswhowilloccupyvariouspositions in corporations in the future and (b) provide those students with informa-tionaboutthemanagementofNGOsin a professional manner. In accordance withthisaim,weanalyzedthecurricula of departments of business administra-tioninstateandprivateuniversitiesthat educated students for a minimum of 1 year in Turkey. Also, we revealed whether those departments provided courses on business and society, man-agementofNGOs,socialresponsibility, andbusinessethics.
Wealsotriedtoaccessthecurricula of business administration departments oftheseuniversitiesbywayoftheWeb sites of the related faculties. We con-tacted the faculties that did not pub-lishtheircurriculaonlineandrequested theircurricula.
Findings
Weidentifiedthecoursesintheaim ofthepresentstudybyexaminingcur-ricula of the aforementioned business administrationdepartments.
Inthepresentstudy,wedeterminedthat 36of74universitieswithbusinessadmin-istrationdepartmentsprovidedcourseson civilsociety,businessandsociety,social responsibility, and business ethics. Fur-thermore, 38 universities that had busi-ness administration departments did not haveanycoursesofthistype(seeTable 1).AsTable2shows,inthepresentstudy thecoursesforimprovingthecivil-society awareness level of students in business administration departments are grouped under three main categories: courses on NGOs, courses on social responsibility andbusinessethics,andcoursesonbusi-ness and environment. By analyzing the contentofcoursesrelatedtocivilsociety inbusinessadministrationprograms,such classification was found to be appropri-ate for the present study.Table 2 shows the result of the analysis that we car-ried out according to this classification: the number of the courses regarding the improvement of civil-society awareness levelandtherolesandresponsibilitiesof theenterpriseinsociety.
Of74universitieswithbusinessadmin-istrationdepartments,4includedcourses regardingNGOs,and30includedcourses regarding social responsibility and busi-ness ethics. In addition, 12 departments had courses on business and society. In this context, the lack of any courses regardingNGOsin70of74universities suggeststhatarevisionoftheprograms of business administration departments is necessary. Furthermore, two findings werestriking:Of74universities,44did business administration departments of theuniversitiesinTurkey.However,we emphasizethat7ofthe10NGO-related
courseswereinonlyoneuniversity. We observed that the percentageof thecoursesconductedintermsofsocial responsibility and business adminis-tration has increased over the past 10 yearsinTurkey.Therefore,thenumber of courses concerning business ethics andsocialresponsibility(25courses)is higherthanthatofthenumberofother relatedcourses(seeTable4).
It is important for the undergradu-ates in business administration depart-ments, who will occupy various posi-tions in enterprises in the future, to be well grounded in the topics of soci-ety and environment and to develop awareness of environmental manage-ment. In particular, it would be useful toincludecoursesregardingsustainable developmentandbusiness–environment cooperation in the programs of busi-ness administration departments. As Table 5 shows, the number of courses concerning business and environment
TABLE1.NumberofBusiness AdministrationDepartmentsin TurkeyRelatedtoRaisingCivil SocietyAwarenessCourses (N=74)
Numberof
Variable departments
Departmentsthat
havecourse(s) 36 Departmentsthatdo
nothaveanycourses 38
was limited to nine, which proves that the scope of the programs of business administration departments was not at thedesirablelevel.
Conclusion
Intoday’sworld,inwhichsustainabil-ityisgainingimportanceandinwhich managerialapproachesthatareprocess-focused rather than output-managerialapproachesthatareprocess-focused are adopted, business life should also be consideredasaprocess,anditsdynamics shouldbeestablishedaccordingly.This process can be achieved by providing business administration undergraduates witheducationandequipmentthatsat- isfytheserequirements.Theeducation-alprogramsthatresultintheperception of business enterprises as units acting independentlyofsocietymayhavedet-rimentaleffectsintheshortorlongterm
for individuals preparing for business life. Those business enterprises whose social efficiencies have been growing daily and NGOs that defend the inter-ests of society without expecting any corporate interests require individuals to be educated in accordance with this consciousness.Inthepresentstudy,we
aimedtoanalyzethecoursesofferedin universitiesandthedistributionofthese courses according to the issues they focusedon(e.g.,suchasNGOs,social responsibility,businessethics,andbusi- nessandsociety)todeterminethefore-sight of the universities with business administrationdepartments.
In the present study, we found that 74universitieshadbusinessadministra-tion departments. We found that only 36 of the 74 departments had courses regarding civil society, social respon-sibility, and business ethics. In other words, more than 50% of the business administrationdepartmentsdidnothave any courses of this type. More striking conclusionsemergedwhenthesecours-es were analyzed and grouped under threecategories.Ofthe74departments, 70 lacked courses regarding NGOs, 44 lackedcoursesregardingsocialresponsi-bilityandbusinessethics,and60lacked courses regarding enterprise and envi-ronment.Theresultsofthepresentstudy indicatethegapbetweenuniversitiesand NGOs.Literaturepointsoutthateduca-
tionisthebasicrequirementinenhanc-ing individuals’ awareness of NGOs in society and also business society. In developing countries such asTurkey, thereisagreatneedforthedevelopment of democracy, civil rights, and social capital. However, the results obtained fromthepresentstudysignaltheurgent needforcurriculaimprovementinbusi-nessadministrationdepartments.Itisof great importance for today’s business schoolsto educate individuals who are awareoftherolesandresponsibilitiesof businessenterprisesinsociety.Business administration undergraduates should comprehend the importance of all the
TABLE2.DistributionofCoursesRelatedtoRaisingCivilSociety AwarenessinBusinessAdministrationDepartmentsinTurkey(N=74)
Courses Courses
Courses relatedto relatedto relatedto businessethics business nongovernmental andsocial and Variable organizations responsibility environment
Departmentsthathavecourses relatedtocivilsociety
awareness 4 30 12
Departmentsthathaveno coursesrelatedtocivil
societyawareness 70 44 62
TABLE3.NumberofCourses RelatedtoNongovernmental Organizations(NGOs)in BusinessAdministration DepartmentsinTurkey(N=9)
Numberof Coursename courses
Managementof
managementinNGOsa 1
EconomyofNGOsa 1
Financialaprroach
toNGOsa 1
NGOsandsocial
engineeringa 1
NGOs 1
aIndicatescoursesthattookplaceatthe
sameuniversity.
TABLE4.NumberofCourses RelatedtoBusinessEthics andSocialResponsibility inBusinessAdministration DepartmentsinTurkey(N=33)
Numberof Coursename courses
Ethicsinmarketing 1 Socialresponsibility
andbusinessethics 25 Businessethics
andgovernance 1 Managerialethics
inorganizations 1 Businessandsociety 3 Societalresponsibility andtaxconsciousness 1
TABLE5.NumberofCourses RelatedtoBusinessandthe EnvironmentinBusiness AdministrationDepartmentsin Turkey(N=9)
Numberof
Coursename courses
Businessand
environment 4 Urbanandenvironmental management 1 Problemsofenvironment 1 Sustainabledevelopment andenvironmental
management 1 Environmentallawand management 1 Environmental
accounting 1
individualsandgroupsthatareaffected byenterprisesorthataffectenterprises, and educators should give the under-graduates an education in this scope. Forthisreason,thecurriculaofbusiness administration departments of the uni-versitiesinTurkeyshouldberevised,and the number of business administration courses—especially those on manage-ment of civil society in particular— shouldbeincreased.
NOTE
AytulAyseÖzdemirworksintheDepartment of Labor Economics and Industrial Relations at Anadolu University in Eskisehir. She teaches undergraduate-level organizational behavior and organizational psychology, and global organiza-tionalbehavioratthegraduatelevel.Herresearch interests include social capital in organizations, conflict management, women entrepreneurship,
andsocialentrepreneurship.
MuammerSarikayaworksintheDepartment of BusinessAdministration at Kafkas University inKars.Heteacheshumanresourcemanagement andbusinessadministrationattheundergraduate level. His research interests include corporate social responsibility, stakeholder management, NGOs,andsocialentrepreneurship.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Aytul Özdemir, Anadolu Uni-versity, Faculty of Business and Administration Sciences, Department of Labor Economics and Industrial Relationships, Yunus Emre Campus 26470,Eskisehir,Turkey.
E-mail:aacengiz@anadolu.edu.tr
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