Top business schools see value of communication skills

What's this? Listening skills, communication strategy, corporate identity, media training and even writing skills being taught by top MBA schools, right along side quantitative analysis, production theory and finance?

In their efforts to better reflect the needs of industry, leading business schools are now incorporating the "soft" management skills of communication.

Although none of the nine leading MBA schools I contacted offers a communication major, many are including some form of management communication in their programs. These programs include workshops on presentation skill-building, course segments on crisis communication management and entire courses devoted to corporate communication.

Dartmouth's Tuck School of Management offers one of the more comprehensive communication programs among business schools. During the first year of the two-year MBA program, Tuck students learn about corporate communication as a component of a management communication class. In their second year, students wishing to learn more about the field can take a corporate communication elective.

The second-year course covers the functional areas of corporate communication, presents case studies, brings in outside speakers, and requires students to complete projects that analyze specific companies' corporate communication. As a result, Tuck's communication department was named the best among business schools by U.S. News and World Report (March 21, 1994). "The only challenge is finding jobs for our corporate communication students," says Paul Argenti, a communication professor at Tuck. About six to 10 graduating students (out of a class of 180) go into corporate communication.

Harvard University exposes its MBAs to communication skill-building before classes even start. During orientation, new students participate in a written and oral communication skills workshop to help them in writing and speaking, says Stephen A. Greyser, professor of marketing and communications.

During their second year, MBAs can take a corporate communication elective, which focuses on crisis communication, corporate identity and image, investor relations, advertising and other similar subjects. The course addresses broad strategic issues that involve positioning the corporation from the perspective of the board of directors or senior executives. "The course is rooted in a basic, underlying communication theory, similar to what you would have in a journalism school," says Greyser.

Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management offers three management communication electives for second-year MBAs. Each course teaches students about persuasion techniques in a business setting, including internal and external communication. One course focuses on writing skills, another on oral presentations, and the third on crisis communication. Karen VanCamp, who teaches the oral presentation course, says the challenge is "getting the students to think critically and understand their audiences."

For the writing skills course, Professor Judy Messick focuses on employee communication that goes up, down and across the organization. Her students act as managers and learn how to write effective memos and E-mails by fitting the message to the audience. Each course uses a variety of teaching methods, with an emphasis on application.

At the University of Michigan School of Business, incoming MBAs must take a strategic writing course (or test out of the requirement through a writing assessment). The communication department also offers electives in strategic oral communication based on persuasion principles and a class that focuses on communicating with the media during crisis situations. The media course teaches students a variety of communication skills, ranging from preparing press releases to talking in front of a television camera, says Herbert Hildebrandt, chair of law, history and communication. In addition, corporate representatives from Detroit provide their insights to Michigan MBAs as guest lecturers in the media communication class.

Outside of the communication department, the organizational behavior department incorporates communication strategies in many of its courses as well. One of the core organizational behavior classes all MBAs take includes an organizational design component, which teaches students about information processing strategies such as when it is better to use face-to-face communication versus printed material.

Another course that deals with crisis management requires students to reenact different corporate crises each week. Some of these involve both internal and external communication strategies. The course, taught by Gerald Meyers, former CEO of American Motors, brings in corporate representatives to evaluate students and provide insights. Another course addresses the work place in the 21st century. By using Lotus Notes and simulating a "virtual learning community," the course uses technology as a means of communication for learning.

Stanford University takes a unique approach to teaching its MBAs about communication by offering students management communication programs, which are short workshops or seminars that focus on specific areas of communication. The workshops use a combination of methods, ranging from lecture to interactive participation. Topics include public speaking, listening, media training and writing. "About 98 percent of the MBAs take at least one workshop during their time at Stanford," says Barbara Kent, acting co-director of the management communication program.

Through one of the workshops, students make several video-taped speeches for which they receive feedback from other students and also one-on-one feedback from an evaluator reviewing the video. A listening workshop provides an interactive setting in which students act as managers dealing with an emotionally charged crisis situation. A media-training workshops provides students with tactics for getting management's message across to media, including a mock interview with aggressive reporters. Writing workshops help students learn how to construct clear documents and focus on setting not only the style, but also the tone, of written documents to meet the needs of the audience.

Although the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Management is traditionally known as a quantitively oriented school, "there is a recognition in recent years that communication is much more important to management," says Patrick McLaurin, assistant director of the MBA communication program. Wharton requires all first-year MBAs to take a management communication course, which focuses on the relational and task dimensions of communication (such as superior-subordinate relations), goal-oriented communication and influence/persuasion techniques.

Wharton also offers special topic workshops, which include crisis communication, organizational communication and writing. One area of focus is on the international aspects of communication. With a large percentage of international students, Wharton includes multinational and multicultural communication skills in its workshops and courses, says McLaurin.

Indiana University's Graduate School of Business features a core curriculum for first-year students that integrates multiple disciplines into one large class. "Communication is infused into the curriculum as a functional aspect of business instead of as a separate area," says Joe Pica, assistant dean and director of the MBA program. Students learn about communication strategies through seminars, team projects and in-class presentations.

For second-year students, Indiana University offers an elective in management communication, which focuses on the analysis and application of communication strategy, oral presentation skills, listening skills, writing skills, corporate communication strategy and communication with the media. Another communication-related elective in the management department is a course on power, persuasion, influence and negotiation. In addition, both first- and second-year courses require students to work in teams. "The fact that students must work with others creates a communication opportunity," says Pica.

In Canada, the University of Toronto requires all first-year MBAs to take a course called Management Skills Development. This course includes several modules related to communication. In one module, students learn about written communication skills. In another, students focus on their oral presentation skills. Presentation topics include persuasion and "How I Conquered the Fear of Public Speaking." Another module helps students learn how to work with the media and how to prepare for an interview with the media. The final communication-related module teaches students about interpersonal communication. This includes one-on-one meetings, problem-solving, giving reviews and evaluations, and more. During their second year of the program, MBAs have the option to take a negotiating skills course.

Jack Siegel, professor of the Management Skills Development course, emphasizes the importance of communication and other "soft skills" at the MBA level. In fact, "Published studies show that companies are looking for these skills among MBAs," he says.

At the University of Western Ontario, MBAs are required to take a management communication course during their first year. In this course, students learn about organizational communication, dealing with the media, crisis communication, giving effective presentations and interacting with an audience. For each of these components, Professor Kathleen Slaughter tries to bring in an outside expert to meet with the students. "For example," she says, "for the crisis communication segment, I may bring someone in from the chemical business. Or I may bring in a media consultant for the media training." During their second year, MBAs can take electives in the organizational behavior department that touch on communication areas such as interpersonal or negotiating skills.

Based on this initial survey, top business schools are moving toward an integrated and holistic approach to business management education. Specifically, educating MBAs in cross-functional skills is becoming the dominant strategy among business schools. Part of this strategy includes the recognition that a key component of cross-functional education is teaching MBAs how to effectively communicate in all directions within and outside an organization.

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