Abstract:

Purpose:
In the last two decades, the term ecosystem has extensively become a topic of discussions beyond the field of biology. Businesses alike are transitioning from traditional boundaries or models, formed in silos, into an ecosystem approach. This inevitable change should be addressed by business schools as they play a pivotal role in creating future business leaders. Business schools should be able to remodel their curriculum in order to follow and comply with the evolving era that now apparently leads to the ecosystem approach.
To date, such studies on how to design and develop this kind of curriculum lack robust foundations and provide little guidance for business schools. Our study makes a number of contributions. Firstly, we will provide a more detailed understanding of whether the existing models of curriculum possess adequacy into the needs of learning through an ecosystem approach. Afterward, we develop a model of the ecosystem-based curriculum which covers two aspects, both as a structure and as an attitude or mindset that can be employed by business schools around the world.

Methodology:
We conducted a literature review on the existing body of knowledge of the curriculum and business ecosystem. We gathered several models of curriculum design. Afterward, we conducted a critical review of those models in order to assess the adequacy of the models to fit the current needs of an ecosystem-oriented education at business schools. In parallel, we also conducted a critical review of business ecosystem theories and models. We identified two perspectives that define the term of ecosystem in literature, namely the structural and mindset views. Finally, we developed our model of ecosystem-based curriculum based on those two perspectives. We validated the model by using the expert review methodology. We recruited several experts who provide critical reviews of the model. We took their reviews into account and revised the model accordingly.

Results:
The structural view of the ecosystem-based curriculum is represented by a new model called SOV (Skills, Orientation, and Knowledge) Model (Nasution & Arnita, 2018). This model is aimed to create a flexible curriculum structure that allows business schools to connect with different disciplines and simultaneously redefine their roles according to the current business situation. Meanwhile, in building the ecosystem mindset, we construct a pedagogy which enables students to create or work in an ecosystem following the constantly changing business world.

Keywords:

Ecosystem, business school, curriculum, structure, mindset.