2008 - Marketing Educators' Association

INCORPORATING WRITING IN THE MARKETING CURRICULUM: A BUSINESS SCHOOL INITIATIVE TO
IMPROVE STUDENT WRITING SKILLS
Anu Phene, Gary Grikscheit, and Mary Hasak, University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business,
1645 East Campus Center Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84112; anu.phene@business.utah.edu
ABSTRACT
Research has documented the need for effective
student writing skills. Our paper chronicles the
efforts of a marketing faculty at a leading business
school to institute a writing initiative in one course
and analyzes the impact of the initiative on student
writing skills. Our results suggest that student
characteristics such as gender and grade point
average in the core writing course have a significant
impact on student writing performance in
subsequent classes. More importantly, we find
empirical evidence supporting the value of multiple
written case assignments (practice), as well as
revisions and rewriting (repetition), manifest in the
student’s ability to clearly mount logical arguments
and to provide supportive evidence. Our findings
point to a need for a concerted emphasis on three
factors: student characteristics, practice and
repetition in order to produce a graduate with strong
writing skills.
INTRODUCTION
No marketing educator should need to be reminded
of the importance of preparing students to write well.
Business leaders, faculty members, and students
have almost universally recognized effective writing
skills and the ability to analyze complex problems as
essential for success in business (Bok, 2006;
Hansen & Hansen, 1995; Korkki, 2007). A recent
survey of business leaders prepared by the National
Commission on Writing, affiliated with the Business
Roundtable, provocatively titled its report, “Writing:
A Ticket to Work…Or a Ticket Out,” underscoring
the importance of writing effectively in the world of
work (National Commission on Writing, 2004). The
chair of the Commission said, “Writing is both a
‘marker’ of high-skill, high-wage, professional work
and a ‘gatekeeper’ with clear equity implications.”
He continued, “People unable to express
themselves clearly in writing limit their opportunities
for professional, salaried employment.”
While the ability to write convincingly has always
been an important leadership skill, globalization
requires employees dispersed around the world to
rely more heavily on e-mail, putting a premium on
well-written documents (Dillon, 2004; Ellet, 2007). In
addition to accuracy, timeliness is increasingly
important because written content is more
perishable than it was in the past (Mitroff, 1998). In
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this context Ellet suggests, “Well-written documents
can be a hidden source of competitive advantage”
(Ellet, 2007, p. 8). In most American colleges,
English composition is obligatory, but as Bok (2006,
p. 83) has written, “And yet, when it comes to
implementing the writing requirement, few
institutions have managed to do what is necessary
to achieve success.”
If the objective of marketing education is to learn to
apply concepts, solve problems, or develop
judgment, cases are more appropriate than lectures.
Using cases gives students practice in applying
concepts to real world situations. The best way to
learn marketing is through practice. While class
discussions can provide one kind of experience,
individual written case analyses give students an
opportunity to have their thought processes
evaluated by credible experts in both business
analysis and writing. A high proportion of business
failures are marketing related. In most cases, this
does not occur because people do not understand
the concepts, but rather it happens because
marketers do not apply them in an intelligent and
creative way.
Our paper chronicles the efforts of a marketing
faculty at a leading business school to institute a
writing initiative (WI) in one course and analyzes the
impact of the initiative on student writing skills. We
assess the effectiveness of the WI by using data
collected from participating students. Our results
suggest that baseline factors such as gender and
grade point average in the core writing course have
a significant impact on student writing performance
in subsequent classes. More importantly, we find
empirical evidence supporting the value of multiple
written case assignments (practice), as well as
revisions and rewriting (repetition), manifest in the
student’s ability to clearly mount logical arguments
and to provide supportive evidence.
THE WRITING INITIATIVE AT THE
BUSINESS SCHOOL
The impetus for this study had its genesis in 2001.
Under the leadership of a new dean, the business
school held a goals conference to create a forum for
faculty and staff to discuss the objectives of the
school, assess progress over the prior year, as well
as suggest recommendations for the future. To
generate insight, discussions including all