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September 14, 2006
Majoring in IBM, with a minor in Credit Suisse
Companies like IBM, Credit Suisse and BMW are now designing and funding curricula changes at major universities, partly in response to the perception that today's graduates lack certain fundamental skills for a global economy. This means more than just donating free computers or books for a class - it means developing the curriculum from scratch, awarding financial incentives to universities to change the way they teach certain courses, and sometimes even providing the "professor" to teach the course -- all in the name of producing graduates that are better prepared to work for their companies in the future.
As the Wall Street Journal explained earlier in the week (sorry, no link available), IBM has even developed a new academic field, "Service Sciences, Management and Engineering," or SSME, that combines studies in such disparate fields as computer science, engineering, management sciences and business strategies. According to IBM, "these areas are too segregated in higher education, to the detriment of students, companies and, ultimately, the economy."
The basic question, of course, is whether the extensive role played by IBM in creating and promoting the new curriculum represents a breach of academic integrity. For its part, IBM claims that the new SSME curriculum will help students even if they never eventually work for the company. Yet, at the same time, IBM acknowledges that business considerations are driving the "services science" initiative at a growing number of universities.
For example, Cal-Berkeley has already worked with IBM to create a certificate in "Services Science. Management and Engineering," while a course taught at Berkeley's School of Information ("The Information and Services Economy") includes must-read articles and journal selections written by IBM employees. Other universities jumping on the IBM bandwagon include North Carolina State University, Arizona State and (to a more limited degree) NYU. As one professor sucked into the IBM vortex explains, "It's a serious idea from a serious company with serious money. You have a big gorilla jumping up and down. How can you not listen to it?"
While the idea of FORTUNE 500 companies invading the hallowed halls of our nation's best universities is a bit alarming, I have to admit that the whole field of services science is fascinating - check out the presentation slide above from IBM about the emerging field of services science.
Tags: IBM services science innovation
[image: The Academic Context for Services Science]
Posted by dominic at September 14, 2006 7:14 AM | Recommend this! | +dlc | +dig
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