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Abstract

Improving the ability to set and assess learning outcomes for students has been a challenging task and not one that has been well documented or executed. This article presents a protocol for the development of a content- and skills-based management curriculum that is based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Performance Criteria and the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET database as a means to define learning outcomes and to assess skills-based performance measures. The O*NET database has career-related data for 965 occupations. Because the data are collected from thousands of job incumbents in a representative sample of the U.S. labor force, this database can be used to help determine the desired learning outcomes of employers. In this article we first look at existing means to evaluate the quality of an academic management program through the popular press ranking criteria and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) standards. Then the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program Criteria and Balanced Scorecard will be applied to the establishment of standards of performance as an alternative way of measuring learning. Next, the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET database will be used to demonstrate how to define specific needed skills for an MBA or undergraduate management program. Bringing together the elements of the Baldrige Award criteria and O*NET database will help focus management education into a learning outcome mentality that better meets AACSB accreditation standards and managerial job requirements.

Keywords

Learning outcomes assurance of learning O*NET Baldrige Balanced Scorecard

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The Management Curriculum and Assessment Journey: Use of Baldrige Criteria and the Occupational Network Database

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