Project-based strategic management education: A client perspective on key challenges

Authors

  • Mariano Garrido-Lopez Western Carolina University
  • Yue Cai Hillon Western Carolina University
  • Wendy Cagle Western Carolina University
  • Edward Wright Western Carolina University

Abstract

This paper explores the benefits of project-based learning from the small business client perspective. The reflections of a sample of small businesses were collected through a feedback survey after participating in a semester-long project-based learning process developed for the Strategic Management curriculum in the College of Business at Western Carolina University (WCU). The clients that participated in projects are primarily local and regional businesses in Western North Carolina; they were sourced through the Small Business Centers (SBC) located at the area community colleges and the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) located at WCU. Most participating organizations are existing small businesses or start-ups with a high probability and capacity for growth that will enhance the economic development of the region. Literature review of both small business and project-based pedagogy challenges demonstrated the potential for co-creation of value. This study laid out the steps we took to organize a project-based Strategic Management pedagogy. Our analysis of both close- and open-ended client feedback revealed four key success factor themes for developing a mutually beneficial project-based pedagogy: communication and interaction, project organization and student preparation, quality of work, and co-creation of value; the specific priority actions for each theme are detailed in the paper.

Downloads

Published

2018-06-18

Issue

Vol. 28 No. 2 (2018)

Section

Articles

License

The Journal of Small Business Strategy (the “Publisher”) and the Author(s) agree as follows:
 
1.Author(s) hereby grant to Publisher all right, title, and interest in and to the Work, including copyright to all means of expression by any method now known or hereafter developed, including electronic format. If Publisher does not publish the Work within two (2) years of the Effective Date, copyright shall revert back to the Author. Publisher agrees to always credit Author(s) as the author(s) of the Work.
 
2.Publisher hereby grants Author a royalty-free, limited license for the following purposes, provided the Work is always identified as having first been published by Publisher.
    •The right to make and distribute copies of all or part of the Work for use in teaching;
    •The right to use all or part of the material contained in the Work in a book by the Author(s), or in a collection of the Author(s)’s work;
    •The right to use and distribute the Work internally at the Author(s)’s place of employment, and for promotion and any other non-commercial purposes;
    •The right to use figures and tables from the Work for any purpose;
    •The right to make presentations of material from the Work;
    •The right to use and distribute the Work on the Author(s)’s Web site and on the Author(s)’s university’s institute repository;
Such license shall be effective when the Work is first published in the Journal of Small Business Strategy.
 
3.The Author(s) represents and warrants that the Work: (a) is the Author(s)’s original work and that Author(s) has full power to enter into this agreement; (b) does not infringe the copyright or property right of another; (c) contains no materials which is obscene, libelous, defamatory or violates another’s civil right, right of privacy, or is otherwise unlawful; and (d) has not been previously published, in whole or in part. Author(s) shall indemnify and hold Publisher harmless against loss or expenses arising from breach of any such warranties.

How to Cite

Project-based strategic management education: A client perspective on key challenges. (2018). Journal of Small Business Strategy (archive Only), 28(2), 68-79. https://libjournals.mtsu.edu/index.php/jsbs/article/view/817