Use of Student Field-Based Consulting in Business Education: A Comparison of American and Australian Business Schools

Abstract

This study reports the results of a comparative study of American business schools and Australian schools of commerce regarding utilization of field-based consultancy and associated critical variables. Respondents in the survey were 141 deans of Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited business schools in the United States and 71 heads of Australian commerce programs. Overall, student field-based consultancy is widely used in both countries. This indicates that it should be possible to implement international field-based consultancies between American and Australian business schools, which would, in turn, lead to increased potential for international study abroad for business students of both countries.

Keywords:

• American business education
• Australian business education
• Field-based consulting
• Management education
• Service learning

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the faculty of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University and the College of Commerce at Adelaide University for help with previous versions of this manuscript and the survey instrument. In addition the authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Education for Business for numerous helpful comments which have improved this manuscript.