Asking Questions and Breaking Assumptions

By: Jake
Prompt #1

Before truly researching the field of business many people, including myself, have preconceived notions about business people and the field itself. Some that I have found are:

1. Accounting is the only business major that makes good money
2. Business majors have it easier than everyone else
3. All business majors do in college is drink and party
4. Every business major is greedy
5. Business is not a degree that can be taught
6. The main goal of businesses are to make money
7. Most US workers are members of labor unions
8. Data and information are synonyms
9. Computers are smarter than most managers
10. Farming is not a business
11. There are far more large businesses than small businesses in the United States

Through the library system at Michigan State University I was able obtain "A Practical Introduction to Business" by Koontz and Fulmer. 

This textbook gives an introductory explanation of what the field of business is and addresses common misconceptions of what business is from a very technical and practical aspect. Although this book is outdated (1984), it does give us a very basic understanding of business concepts and misconceptions. 

Before reading any of the textbook, I knew that not all of these preconceptions were accurate. For instance, a simple google search would give light to misconception 1 and inform you that the average supply chain management major makes just as much, if not more than the accounting major. My previous experiences at college have also made me understand that misconceptions 2 and 3 are not completely accurate as well. It is true that business majors' courses are not as intense as those in physical sciences or engineering degrees. But that does not mean we have it "easy." Through talking to alumni and upperclassmen, I have come to understand that even the prerequisite courses for the business college at Michigan State, such as accounting 201 & 202, as well as Marketing 315, can be very challenging classes which test business majors academically. Furthermore, business majors do drink and party a lot. But from my experiences it has been no more than the average college student, including those in intensive degrees. 

Through my professional experiences I was also able to disprove the preconceptions 4 and 5. I have learned many skills through both class and real world applications within business that make me believe that business absolutely can be taught. Furthermore, after working with several State Farm agents in a field that is commonly thought of as greedy, I believe the practice can be one of the most ethical and selfless fields around. It is very true that not every business man or woman is ethical, but 100% of the business professionals have stood out to me as people I would happily do business with because of their morals and beliefs. 

Because of the date of our textbook, along with its basis around practical aspects of business, they chose different preconceptions around the business field as I had previously thought of.  Although I will not go into detail on these topics, it is very interesting to think about these misconceptions and how they are not accurate to business, both in 1984 and today. 

One very interesting part of the book is in section one where it addresses the question: "What Do College Students Want?" It was very interesting to read about how a students desire for involvement and challenge in the business field. Through my experiences at Michigan State, I believe this is very accurate. Business students have been some of the most involved and motivated students I have ever met.

Generally I did think the textbook was a good resource. It was very dated and focused mostly around the technical aspect of the business field, but I enjoyed learning about the content. I was able to find similarities between our topics and it was very interesting that I was able to draw the same conclusions as the authors did back in 1984. 

Sources:
Koontz, Harold, and Robert M. Fulmer. A practical introduction to business. Homewood (Ill.): Richard D. Irwin, 1984. Print.