DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS EDUCATION

The purpose of this study is to understand how disruptive innovation is affecting teaching and learning practices in business education. Disruptive technology such as e-learning is forcing higher education institutes to deliver easily accessible and customised education. Traditionally government policy and accreditation bodies such as AACSB and Equis have driven business education compliance within universities. Universities are now faced with government funding cuts driving the higher education sector to seek innovative ways of managing costs and adding value to education offerings. This traditionally has been administered through entry scores dictating the selection process for accepting prospective students into business courses and receiving government funding. Current technologies such as the internet have allowed greater access to attending university through online education and increasing student enrolments. However, the internet is being used to disrupt the traditional teaching model of business schools via free online courses developed by business schools that have been leading traditional business education. For example, disruptive innovation theories have been applied and have influenced new business models offering free online business courses through the EdX initiative by Harvard, MIT and Berkley universities appealing to the global mass market. Many other universities are using the free online model such as Coursera and OCW Consortium to increase course offerings in an attempt to provide high quality content developed by the leading academics in their field. A qualitative approach has been utilised to explore this phenomenon and its affect on teaching and learning practices. A phenomenological paradigm has been selected for this research due to the exploratory and theory-building nature utilising case studies as the prime methodology for this research. In-depth interviews were conducted with business academics and international students studying business education. Multiple sources of data were used for validity and reliability through triangulation. Initial findings show that academics possess business and management theory and lack internet technology skills, students are more advanced in using internet technology compared to academics. Yet, academics who integrate internet technologies into courses have higher student engagement and satisfaction ratings. In conclusion research skills alone are not going to provide the knowledge in keeping up with trends in business education, teaching and learning unless academics embrace disruptive technologies that are changing the education game. In order to keep up with disruptive innovation academics need to learn how to use disruptive technologies to customise courses based on learning needs of the student.