New Major for Business Students??? Renaissance Parallel

As I have done a lot of research about the digital age and how it has transformed the world of business, I came across a scholarly, peer-reviewed article in the Harold B. Lee Library that had a full plan laid out for a new business major.


"The rapidly emerging digital economy is challenging the relevance of existing marketing practices, and a radical redesign of the marketing curriculum consistent with the emerging student and business needs of the 21st century is required. To remain relevant to our students and to the ultimate consumers of our output, businesses, the marketing curriculum must evolve with both the changing technological environment and the way marketing is perceived by its own academic architects" (Wymbs).

This wasn't just another emphasis, similar to finance or entrepreneurship, rather, it was a new creation for the business world that never existed prior to the digital age... Here is how it is structured and its purposes--how important is this? Is it critical that it be implemented in higher education? If so, how quickly does this need to happen?

• Area: Consumer Behavior in Digital Marketing

 Careers: Direct and Interactive Marketing, Digital Advertising

 Courses: Direct and Interactive Marketing, 

Digital Advertising, e-Business Technologies

• Area: International Supply Chain Management

 Careers: Supply Chain Management and B-2-B 

Marketing

 Courses: Internet Law, Innovation, Technology, and the Global Enterprise (B-2-B), Business Buying Behavior

• Area: Digital Entrepreneurship

 Career: Entrepreneurs

 Courses: Social Media Marketing and New 

Ventures,  Direct and Interactive Marketing, 

Digital Advertising, Consumer Behavior or 

Business Buying Behavior     

(Wymbs)

I found this to be major evidence of the current digital revolution that the world is experiencing. When I was reading the article, I thought about how this is similar to what was happening during the Renaissance. One definition I found on Wikipedia about the Renaissance is "an attempt by intellectuals to study and improve the secular and worldly, both through the revival of ideas from antiquity, and through novel approaches to thought."

Society today is largely focused on novel approaches to thought. Much of the digital technology is making way for new ways to go about research and different types of learning. As shown in the article by Wymbs, the changes happening today is causing people to "re-think" many of the current systems such as education, government, and business. Overall, I feel that the new major proposed by Wymbs IS relevant and, in fact, I believe it is absolutely necessary for a student to be prepared for the new economy that has evolved from digital technology.

REFERENCE

Wymbs, C. (2011). Digital marketing: The time for a new “Academic major” has arrived. Journal of Marketing Education, 33(1), 93-106. doi:10.1177/0273475310392544