Are General Managers Well Prepared to Manage It? the Role of it in General MBA Programmes in Australia

Abstract

This paper reports on the results from a survey of the provision of information technology (IT) course units in general MBA programmes in Australia. The results establish a baseline for future studies. They show widespread penetration of IT courses in general MBAs, but the amount and type of content they provide is only sufficient to give students a partial preparation for the general management task with respect to IT. There is an internal expectation gap between what IT academics view as core and the time and space available in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) curriculum. There is an external expectation gap between the issues currently of concern to business and the topics taught. At present the gap is widest in respect of business managers’ concerns about information infrastructure and organizational learning. The evidence suggests that neither expectation gap will decline over the next 5 years and may increase. We conclude that there is a need for increased provision in the curriculum. Recommendations are made for two core courses, with more attention to be given to topics of current concern to business managers.