Required and Elective Marketing Courses: How Far Have We Come in Twenty Years?

Abstract

Business schools and marketing departments have been called on to meet the needs of the ever-changing business world. Since 1983, thirty eight new academic journals have been created to develop and disseminate new marketing knowledge to address these needs. Benchmark studies conducted in 1975 and 1984 assessed the extent to which undergraduate marketing programs provided both required and elective courses needed in a changing world economy. This study updates that research and finds that CORE undergraduate marketing courses are somewhat stable, while the makeup of the overall undergraduate curriculum (ELECTIVES) has changed to meet the needs of the external business environment.