Making business teaching a good business

The lesson from the training transfer literature, in that context, is that more practice takes students further down the learning curve for a given set of knowledge, skills and abilities.

Another finding of the training transfer literature is that transfer of knowledge is more likely if the knowledge is inculcated in the form of general principles rather than specific procedures. Courses should thus develop a deeper, causal understanding as opposed to providing a step-by-step guide on how to perform a task. As social psychologist Kurt Lewin put it: "There is nothing more practical than good theory."

Having students learn the general principles depicted in management theory requires their cognitive effort in relating the principles to their own experiences, intuitions and cases provided in class. It is this cognitive effort that helps students to internalize knowledge, enabling them to access it whenever required in the future.

Teaching general principles, as opposed to specific procedures, is advantageous in management-related disciplines also because management processes vary considerably across organizations. If students have really understood a generally applicable principle, they will be able to apply it across a wide range of unfamiliar situations at work. The specific procedure, in contrast, is not only less likely to be remembered but also less likely to be applicable in future jobs.

Also, knowledge transfer depends on whether students can recognize situations in which the taught knowledge is applicable when they come across them and whether they will be able to overcome barriers to knowledge application in such situations.

To increase the odds to recognize relevant situations and overcome barriers, students should be taught to anticipate scenarios in which the acquired principles might be applicable.

A vital insight from the training transfer literature is that interactive teaching elements, such as case study discussions, allow students to rehearse the application of knowledge and, thereby, increase the chances of knowledge transfer from classroom to workplace.

The author is assistant professor of human resource management, Nottingham University Business School China, University of Nottingham Ningbo China.