Twenty-First Century Managers and Intuition: An Exploratory Example of Pedagogic Change for Business Undergraduates

Throughout the 20th century, business organizations have been subject to and have contributed to enormous changes in the way they work and the situations with which they have to deal, from revolutionary technology developments to the changing competitive environment. Since 2007, business has changed following the financial crisis. Management education needs to take account of these changes when developing degree programs that prepare students for business life. This article is based around a case study of the 1st year of a business studies degree in the United Kingdom. The degree was redesigned in the light of an understanding of what employers want from graduates, and the design was informed by pedagogic and organizational ideas ranging from Aristotle's concept of ‘phronesis,’ to Grint's work on wicked problems, to the need to balance rational and intuitive aspects of management, as identified by Sadler‐Smith and Burke. Running through the new design was an intention to equip students to make effective and appropriate decisions in a complex and continually evolving environment. There is a recognition that changes in the business landscape have led to changes in decision science. Within the article, three modules which form part of the redesigned 1st year are discussed, and the contribution of each module to the overall pedagogic approach is analyzed. Experience from delivering the three modules supported the view that it is possible to construct worthwhile learning experiences which take undergraduate students out of their comfort zone, and which build the competencies that can be expected to be valuable in their graduate employment. However, to achieve this required overcoming some resistance from a minority of students who were reluctant to accept any innovative approaches to learning.