Educators' Views on Small Business Training
调查了美加商学院教师对小企业管理课程的看法，发现多数认为商学院对小企业关注不足，但课程质量近年有所提升。
Educators' Views on Small Business Training Small businesses play an integral role in the U.S. and Canadian economies. In the U.S. alone there were some 119,000 new business starts in 1985,1 and it is estimated that roughly 99.8 percent of all businesses can correctly be classified as small.'2 1 The State of Small Business: A Report of the President, 1986 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986), p. 3. 2 Robert A. Peterson and Gerald Labaum, Sources of Capital for Very Small Business,' in Raymond M. Smilor and Robert L. Kuhn, Corporate Creativity (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1984), p. 24. Yet even a cursory examination of the typical curriculum of U.S. or Canadian business schools suggests that most courses are directed toward preparing students or careers in Fortune 500-type companies, large non-profit organizations, or the public sector. The relative importance of small businesses to the U.S. and Canadian economies is not reflected in the typical business school's curriculum. To obtain a better understanding of the state of small business management training in U.S. and Canadian business schools, faculty members in 250 colleges, universities, and junior/ community colleges that offer small business programs were surveyed. All of the faculty were members of the International Council for Small Business.3 While these individuals could be expected to be biased toward advocacy of strong small business curricula, they represent the group of business school academics who by training and interest are most aware of current educational programs and the needs of the small business community. 3 The questionnaire was sent to U.S. and Canadian members of the ICSB, based on the organization's 1985 membership roster. If there was more than one ICSB member at any one institution, the instrument was sent to only one individual. The survey, conducted during the late summer and early fall of 1986, was designed to determine how respondents view the attention given to small business by institutions of higher education and to ascertain the nature of various small business programs. One hundred ten responses (44 percent response rate) were received. Small Business Management Importance and Appeal Table 1 provides the reactions to seven questionnaire statements dealing with the importance of small business management courses and their appeal. Almost nine out of ten survey respondents believe business schools do not give adequate attention to small business (statement 1). Some respondents indicated that they believe small business should be separated from the standard business curriculum and that universities and colleges should offer a special surriculum for small business subjects. Fewer than 20 percent feel that each functional area should offer its own small business course (e.g., small business accounting, small business marketing) instead of the current small business management course (statement 2). Almost 40 percent feel that such courses should be offered in addition to the current small business management course (statement 3). The survey results indicate that almost three-quarters of the respondents believe the level and quality of small business management courses has improved dramatically in the last few years (statement 4). This is perhaps an indication that the academic area of small business has become sufficiently well-defined to permit instructors to conduct interesting, informative, and organized class sessions. It may also reflect the more widespread availability of suitable materials (e.g., books and journals). Finally, the respondents' reactions to this statement on course quality probably indicate that many instructors have seen small business courses as worthy of significant course development time. Despite the view that business schools should give more attention to small business and that small business courses have improved, the majority of the respondents do not believe that a small business management course should be required of all business majors (statement 5). …