Abstract
The critical cross-field outcomes (CCFOs) formulated by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) are generic competencies designed to underpin all national qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). They are intended to provide the basis for lifelong learning, personal growth, honest business acumen, critical, creative thinking and aesthetic appreciation. However, little work on these important learning outcomes has been published, despite their high face validity, and this exploratory study amongst MBA graduates is intended to stimulate interest and further research into this important area.Although the findings cannot necessarily be generalised due to the specific sampling methodology among 53 MBA graduates from Wits Business School (graduating between 1998 and 2002), it was found that the CCFOs were collectively important to their careers, although individually, some were considered more important than others. The sample also perceived that the CCFOs were developed through the course of their studies, with use of information being developed the most, and use of technology the least.These findings are encouraging as they imply that most of the CCFOs are intuitively important to both faculty and management students and mechanisms for systematically embedding the CCFOs into curricula may be sought and implemented to the benefit of MBA students and the business community.
Highlights
This study offers further analysis of the findings reported by Carmichael and Sutherland (2005), and focuses on MBA graduates’ perceived importance of SAQA’s (RSA, 1995 & 1998; SAQA, 2001a & 2001b) critical cross-field outcomes (CCFOs), as well as the perceived development of these generic meta-competencies during MBA study
It was in no way intended to validate the CCFOs as they currently stand, nor to claim generalisability, but rather to review possibilities relating to their relevance in the world of business and explore their development through MBA programmes, and, further, to stimulate interest, application and further research among educators and business executives alike
The mean value associated with each CCFO is expressed as a percentage of the sum total importance of all CCFOs
Summary
This study offers further analysis of the findings reported by Carmichael and Sutherland (2005), and focuses on MBA graduates’ perceived importance of SAQA’s (RSA, 1995 & 1998; SAQA, 2001a & 2001b) critical cross-field outcomes (CCFOs), as well as the perceived development of these generic meta-competencies during MBA study.The study was exploratory in nature, since there is little published work on the CCFOs, in the arena of management education. The information available suggests that they were originally drawn up on the basis of a comparison with similar generic outcomes from comparative research carried out in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Tanzania, the United Kingdom (NTB, 1994; RSA, 1996; Isaacs, 1995) and later in the United States, New Zealand and Scotland (HSRC, 1995). The intention of these generic competencies was to underpin and enable the development of the specific outcomes of learning units (Hanrahan, 1996; Hager, 1996; Bird & Gamble, 1996). If this enabling function is valid, it follows that lack of attention to the CCFOs could hinder the transformation of education in South Africa
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