Bridging Management Practice and Theory: New York State's Public Service Training Program

Abstract

Skill-based learning' has become an increasingly important topic in management education (Walter and Marks, 1985). Conferences are being devoted to the topic, skill-oriented textbooks are appearing, and an increasing number of traditional courses are being modified. In the typical management school, however, one seldom sees an overall, skill-based curriculum or even a curriculum which is balanced between traditional and skill-based approaches. Typically, such curriculum changes evolve in uneven and unpredictable ways. Most often, modifications occur in a single course or in a single area such as human resource management, finance, marketing, or management information systems (MIS). A systematic and global approach is rare. By contrast, however, a comprehensive approach was systematically taken in the development of two core curricula for a management education and development program designed for practicing managers in New York State. The two curricula were built around a framework of leadership and organizational performance factors. They were designed by an advisory committee of management education and development experts from across the United States. Curriculum development followed a skill-based approach to learning. These curricula are currently being delivered by management schools in 15 different public and private sector colleges and universities in New York State. This paper describes the basic conceptual framework upon which the curricula are built, the process used to select the specific skills and topics included in each course, the process used to generate the two curricula, and the implementation and impact of the curricula after the first few years of the implementation.