“Business meets Arts” strategy in business education: RISEBA case

Abstract

The purpose of this research paper is to prove the viability of “Business meets Arts†strategy in training and assessing transferable skills in business education. A longitudinal research over a 2-year timeframe including an analysis of focus groups, interviews, descriptive research in transferrable skills subjects for the participants coincided with a theoretical analysis of art-based approaches. Major findings demonstrate “Business meets Arts†strategy having a great impact on transferrable skill training and application, ascertained by study participants, professors and peers. Continuous involvement in arts based projects helps students achieve an understanding of real-life application of the in-class material. Research limitations - small number of research subjects, compared to the overall number of students; a rather small period over which the concept has existed and been employed. Future researches can encompass a longer period, higher number of research participants and a third party such as potential employers. In practice, research findings can be used to motivate education personnel to participate in Business meets Arts projects and incorporate them in their study courses. The research can also boost the image of the institution and establish a competitive edge for employing “Business Meets Arts†strategy in the education process. The current research paper addresses the viability of the strategy, which has not been analysed in practice, therefore would be interesting to the management as well as to potential employers ascertaining a higher professional value of the institution graduates.      

Keywords: Business meets art; innovate vs. conventional approach; transferrable skills; business education; cross-cultural; cross-functional.