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Article
Cultivating Systemic Thinking in the Next Generation of Business Leaders
Academy of Management Journal of Learning and Education
  • J. B. Atwater
  • Vijay R. Kannan, Utah State University
  • Alan A. Stephens, Utah State University
Document Type
Article
Publisher
Academy of Management Learning & Education
Publication Date
3-1-2008
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0
Abstract

In response to criticism that they do not train students to be effective decision makers, many business schools have attempted to modify their graduate management programs. We suggest that a primary ingredient missing from these attempts is a comprehensive treatment of systemic thinking. While most business functions teach about the systems housed within them, we suggest that few teach their students to think systemically. We propose a 3-part description of systemic thinking and provide results of a survey that investigates the claim that students are not being taught to think systemically.

Comments

(Finalist, 2008 ‘Best Paper’ Award, Academy of Management Journal of Learning and Education)

Citation Information
J.B. Atwater, V.R. Kannan, A.A. Stephens, ‘Cultivating Systemic Thinking in the Next Generation of Business Leaders’, Academy of Management Journal of Learning and Education, 7 (1), 2008