The Importance of Business Education in the Digital Era

More than two decades ago, my wife and I took a young African refugee under our wings, initially by making donations, later by funding his college education. As you can imagine, he became a fast friend, almost a son. His name is Boas and he’s now thirty-six years old. Boas was born into an African bush tribe. They were a true tribe living in crude huts, hunting, planting crops, and fishing to survive. Education for them occurred daily, late in each day, when the elders of the tribe took turns teaching the children about life…how to make a fishing net and catch fish…how to build a shelter…how to hunt various kinds of game…how to take care of their bodies…the core beliefs of the tribe…and all the many skills necessary for the children, and the tribe, to survive and flourish That was an education in life, but it was also a “business education” because it included teaching the kids how to produce things of value for others and receive things of value in return. 

Isn’t that the very most basic definition of a business?…creating value for others and receiving value in return.

In tribal times it was mothers and fathers teaching daughters and sons about the crafts necessary for daily survival. In modern times it’s teaching students the enormous complexity of business-based economies, entrepreneurship, and the myriad skills necessary for a business to survive and thrive.

I’m going to claim that business education is no more—and no less—important than it has been since the dawn of civilization. I’ll also claim that it was business—creating value for others and receiving value in return—that created civilization in the first place. 

There is no education that is more important than business education. In fact, all education—and yes, I mean all of it, including education in religion, the arts, psychology, medicine, government—all of it contributes to business in one form or another. Business drives civilization, and it always has. Before business, there was no civilization.

What about religion? Isn’t the fundamental function of religion (in addition to telling us about our beginnings and our afterlife) to enable people to coexist peaceably, to respect and cooperate with each other, to follow worthy life purposes, and to live worthy lives? Isn’t the highest value, expressed various ways in various religions, “do unto others as you would have others do unto you”? Doesn’t that sound a lot like, “create value for others and receive value in return”?

This may sound like heresy, and I guess it is, but isn’t the basic, on-the-ground nature of a religion—within a spiritual context, of course—doing and believing things that benefit others and receiving the benefits of things done by others? It’s the ultimate, highest form of business…isn’t it? Human beings are cooperative creatures, even in the worst of times, and our underlying ground of being is transactional—interactive—and that’s the essence of business.

So, the first part of my response to the proposition put before me is this: business education is enormously important in any era. If business education fails, civilization fails. It’s as simple, and as complex, as that.

All that, of course, begs the question, “What is ‘business education.’ I’m not going to claim that religious education, social studies, medical education, etc. are all forms of business education. If you buy into my arguments above, you’ll see that I think they are, in an essential, fundamental way, but I don’t want to get bogged down in that particular argument. 

I want to examine business education briefly, and I’ll start by observing that a business—actually any organization of human beings—operates at three different levels, and that each level requires its own education. If any of the three levels fails in a business, the business itself fails. The three levels are: The entrepreneurial level, the management level, and the operational level.

The entrepreneurial level of business thinking is the design and development of the business. We sometimes call it the “entrepreneur’s dream.” It’s the level at which the business model is created, and which places the business somewhere among all other businesses, operating in service to specific target markets, and adopting a culture that will enable the people in the business to best serve customers and each other. It’s the level at which principles—not operational details—must rule our thinking. 

What is a business principle? It’s an underlying business reality. It’s a “rule of nature” for the business. “Profit equals revenue minus costs” is a business principle. “The customer comes first” is a business principle. “Business systemization” is a set of principles that enable organizations of people to work cost-effectively to achieve the goals of the business. Goal setting is itself an important business principle. 

Conventional education conflates entrepreneurship, management, and leadership, but it shouldn’t. They’re distinct, and they each require different ways of thinking. They’re all necessary for successful business creation, management and operation, but they require separate, but closely coordinated, habits of mind. Business education needs to recognize that basic fact and adjust its teaching to that reality.

The managerial level is the practice of putting entrepreneurial thinking into action by building an organization, designing the systems that will enable the business to operate smoothly, to the best standards of quality, and cost-effectively, and to develop the right culture for the business and its customers.

The operation level is where the rubber meets the road. That’s where the work gets done by people, systems, and machines, all operating under the supervision and control of management, within the strategic principles and plans established by the entrepreneurial mind.

And threaded through it all, at every level, every minute of every day, is leadership. Leadership itself follows clear, learnable principles. Leadership isn’t inborn, it’s learned, and therefore can be taught. Actually, leadership must be taught…it must not be left to chance because mistakes of leadership are fatal at every level, and good leadership powers a successful business…and a successful civilization.

So, finally, back to the subject: The Importance of Business Education in the Digital Era…

Digital era or Stone Age…is there any doubt? Business education has always been, is now, and will always be, in any age, not only important, but foundational to all that we as a civilization are and aspire to be.