ABSTRACT
Business school graduates frequently have a difficult time viewing business organizations from an interdisciplinary perspective, are limited in their ability to work and communicate effectively with others, and are unable to solve unstructured problems. At the University of Oklahoma, undergraduate students have the opportunity to enroll in a comprehensive service-learning-based program called the Integrated Business Core (IBC), which addresses directly all three problems cited by Porter and McKibbin. The primary motivation for the initial design of IBC was a desire to enable students to develop a cross-disciplinary view of business organizations. IBC students are very much on their own with respect to organizing themselves, creating a business venture, and developing and implementing a significant community service activity. The IBC program also provides community service through the financial resources that result from the profits of the start-up business ventures. The response of the business community to IBC has been overwhelmingly positive.
