Co-operation – the missing value of business education

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that co-operation is a vital behavioral skill that should be developed in educational systems, particularly business and management programs, because it is an intangible factor that boosts productive output.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains why co-operation is an important intangible factor for organizations and the larger economy. It recommends the development of educational designs to remediate the pedagogical lack of focus on the cooperative disposition.

Findings

Co-operation is contingent on trust – an indispensable factor to engage in distant relations, accept rule of law across nations, and confer in intermediaries the authority to arbitrate unresolved differences between organizations. In other words, without co-operation, people within organizations commit themselves to parochial concerns, inhibiting efforts to combine resources toward a collective goal. The lack of a cooperative attitude is not destiny – it can be forged through careful educational designs and organizational strategy.

Research limitations/implications

There is little empirical data available to measure co-operation in a diverse environment and co-operation is an intangible concept that is difficult to pin to specific organizational habits. The concepts developed here based on broad social science data would do will to be tested in an empirical framework at the micro level.

Practical implications

Low co-operation arises in an environment which does not foster trust. Management might inadvertently reward low organizational capacity by not evaluating co-operation and monitoring narcissism. Recruiters need to adapt recruitment strategies that pinpoint individuals capable of managing the specific co-operation needs of situational organizations, especially in diverse situations. A successful managerial education program will target training that optimizes thoughtful and sustainable co-operation.

Social implications

Co-operation is a factor of sustainability for development but also for the modern organization. It is both a moral and methodological disposition that fosters collective action positively, while inhibiting in-group interests.

Originality/value

Formal management training to instill a thoughtful sense of co-operation would complement the current emphasis on teamwork and leadership. Without the moral and methodological goal of being co-operative for the greater good, organizations waste human resources and fail to reap benefits from collective productions.

Citation

E. Witte, A. (2014), "Co-operation – the missing value of business education", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 357-373. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-02-2013-0027