Organizational Learning Contracts and Management Education

We present a new concept called an organizational learning contract. A learning contract creates specific, shared expectations among students, faculty, and educational administrators concerning the learning outcomes, learning environments, and educational assessment system of an institution. Learning contracts can serve as diagnostic tools to help educational institutions assess their effectiveness; they also can help prepare students for their university training by aligning their expectations with forthcoming experiences. We find little evidence that the main ideas underpinning learning contracts are being implemented by business education standard-setters, management educators, or leading business programs. We discuss how learning contracts can be used in the diagnosis and redesign of management education