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  Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
Strategic Management Course within the Holistic Christian Worldview

Evelyn Setiawan

Universitas Pelita Harapan, Surabaya – Indonesia

evelyn.setiawan@yahoo.com

Satya Hedipuspita

Universitas Pelita Harapan, Surabaya – Indonesia

ABSTRACT
A leader must have sufficient knowledge and a right perspective so that he/she can make a wise
decision. The purpose of this study is to propose a detailed implementation of strategic
management course. This includes syllabus, assignment and examination with emphasize in the
holistic Christian worldview. The implementation of this study will prepare the next Christian
leaders to bring positive changes in the workplace for the glory of God.
Keywords: Strategic management, Holistic education, Christian worldview

Introduction

Recently economy moves merely on profit oriented basis. Decision making is rarely done
by humanitarian and spiritual aspects. These fundamental aspects of human life are neglected
because the decision makers were not taught on holistic based education. Decisions that are taken
partially and pragmatically will only solve a small portion of a bigger problem; it also has a full
potency to create another problem in society. Pragmatic way of thinking is characterized by its
inability to see in a higher perspective.

This is a library research on holistic teaching methods in Christian universities. University

is an educational institution and plays a significant role to construct moral and character on the
students. The process of earning bachelor degree in university is the last step of preparation stage
before they enter to the real work-life. Thus, university is responsible to provide skills and
knowledge necessary at work for students. More importantly, university needs to build students
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to a complete human being. A university is expected to apply holistic education for the sake of
the students.

Religion-based university is supposed to have standardized guidelines on moral and

character building for the whole academics; that is some particular religious scripture and
doctrines. Therefore, a Christian university is expected to use Bible as the main and only core
source on which they build the whole curriculum. All presumed facts and opinions are tested by
the Word of God, instead also must be life-related. The whole activity of teaching learning
process in such university is done for the glory of God (Nyabwari, Katola, & Muindi, 2013).
However, Christianity is not a required religion for everyone in the university, especially for the
students.

This research is conducted in business faculty because it is the most popular faculty in the
higher education. The economic and business activities are the major activities undertaken all
over the world. The most frequent decision makings in daily life are made in economic and
business activities. Economic is interesting part of human life where all good and bad things
emerge. As God’s highest creation, human has been given wisdom and intelligence to do good
deeds. Unfortunately, the decisions taken in the economic and business recently just focused only
on some people’s interest and damage the interests of the society.

To achieve deeper discussion and applicable result, this research focuses on one course
which is strategic management. As a capstone course, strategic management is given in
department of business across universities all over the world in decades (Martinez, 2003). This
course provides understanding about the procedure of strategic decision making in business and
corporate. Thus, in real work field, it is expected that alumni can make the right decision to
sustain and position the business a step ahead to its competitor.

The aim of this study is to propose a detail implementation of holistic Christian education
in strategic management course. While it appears to be a relatively large body of literature which
explores the theoretical framework underlying holistic education, there is relatively less research
that directly examines the work of educators implementing holistic education theory into practice
in school settings (Neves, 2009). However, material that examines strategic management from a
uniquely Christian perspective is also very limited (Martinez, 2003). Teachers and professors in
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Christian universities and colleges have certainly developed individual approaches to this
integration. They even take shortcut by neglecting holistic principles in teaching approaches.

There are several questions that are tried to be answered through this study. First, what
does it means by holistic Christian education? What is a Christian view of strategic management?
Then, how should we teach strategic management to this perspective? Should we use a totally
Biblical interpretation for the entire concept, or should we still tolerate for “the secular
perspective”? Finally, how this imaginer concept can be implemented in the real strategic
management course?

This research is expected to give real contribution in the world of academic teaching,
especially strategic management teaching method to equip Christian leaders and decision makers.
In the long run, the results of this research are expected to improve Christian Leaders’ mindset,
analytical ability, and leadership for a better change at workplace. This research is also expected
to encourage every Christians to serve in their own fields and churches for the glory of God.

This paper is divided into seven sections. The first section explains the background on the
importance of this research. The second section explains the theoretical framework of Christian
worldview. The third and the fourth contain brief description on holistic education and strategic
management within Christian worldview. The fifth section explores the teaching method of
strategic management in the scope of holistic and Christian worldview. Next, the sixth section is
the application of the analysis provided on the fourth section, it proposes a design of strategic
management course activity in one semester; include syllabus, assignment, and examination. The
last section is conclusion, limitation of the research, and suggestion for further research.

Christian Worldview

Sire (2009) define worldview as a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true,
partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or
inconsistently) about the basic makeup of our world. Shortly speaking, worldview is perspective
or framework of life; a pattern in an individual to perceive his surrounding and values driving his
behavior.
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Worldview is not a neuter science; instead it is a manifestation of someone’s theology and
philosophy characteristics. Particularly, worldview deals with the frequently asked question that
is what the ultimate reality is. We should all think in terms of worldviews, that is, with a
consciousness not only of our own way of thought but also other people’s view. Thus, we can
first understand and then genuinely communicate with others in our pluralistic society (Sire,
2009).

Indeed not everyone discusses and understands their worldview, but each person must
have their own worldview. This means the number of worldview should be the same as the
number of people in this world. To simplify this numerous worldview, people try to classify
worldview into some categories that tend to be associated with beliefs.

A Christian should have a Christian worldview as the basic of their activities and thought.
By comparing Christian worldview and his/her own worldview, someone can evaluate how
he/she life and improve it as God’s will. When we discuss worldview within Christian
perspective, actually we are acknowledging the belief in the existence of God as the basis for
values and paradigms. Therefore Christian worldview is a theistic worldview. It is unique since it
relies on the belief in personal God, Creator of Heaven and earth, continuously preserve the world
with His wisdom and power, because of His love for His creation, He had redeemed and restored
His creation to achieve Godly purpose.

Anselmus in Proslogion mention “Credo ut intelligam”, which means I believe, therefore

I understand. Understanding and knowledge relies on the basis of faith. We cannot understand all
things, but we can understand what we belief. The true wisdom is not ours-human. It is God
given. Science should be explored and understood within this understanding. True wisdom comes
from Him, The Wisdom and The Source of Wisdom Himself, naturally the quest for true science
is building on this belief. Without belief in God of the universe, Creator of Heaven and earth,
there is no true science. Truth derived from Him the True One.

Anselmus also said “fides quaerens intellectum” which means faith seeks understanding.
Those who are faithful will strive to seek for the fundaments of their belief and express what they
believe. Faith is not dead; he is alive and develops insight human being. Someone who does not
strive for the fundaments of his belief actually does not believe anything. Realm of education
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seeks for understanding based on certain beliefs. Now, the question is whether the underlying
fundamental belief is based on faith in Christ or any other worldly views?

In the realm of education, worldview is extremely important as a framework of life and

personal values for students. Therefore, Christian worldview is not taught as an independent
course, but being incorporated within and throughout all courses in education. Christianity is not
a mere rhetoric, but the soul of all courses.

Holistic Education and Christian Worldview

Holistic education is an approach aimed at teaching the whole person and attempts to
cover all the significant aspects of the human experience. It is focused on the balance of different
developmental aspects of individual (intellectual, physical, spiritual, emotional, social and
aesthetic). It also focused on the relationships between the individual and other people, the
individual and natural environment, the inner-self of students and external world, emotion and
reason, different discipline of knowledge and different form of knowing (Miller, 2006;
Mahmoudi, Jafari, Nasrabadi, & Liaghatdar, 2012).

Holistic education aims for the fullest possible human development enabling a person to
become the finest human being and fully develop his/her capacities (Forbes, 2003). High
economics’ and politics’ pressures forced citizen to prepare themselves in order to be fitted into
the needs of a globalized, economic dominated world. This condition leads to an opinion that
limit learning solely only to the rational intellect and fragmented knowledge. Holistic education
rejects conventional education approaches. Otherwise, it supports concept about
interconnectedness of experience and reality (Miller, 2006; Schreiner, 2010).

Whole person education is not a new issue in the Indonesian education system. It has been
listed in the Guidelines of State Policy (Garis-Garis Besar Haluan Negara – GBHN) and the Act
No. 2 of 1989 on national education goals. However, this good essence has not been implemented
well, because there are no specific guidelines to its implementation.

Holistic education is distinguished from traditional educational practices for its spiritual
element (Miller, Karten, Denton, Orr, & Kates, 2005). Miller (2005) stated that spiritual is the
defining aspect of holistic education. In line with this, Neves (2009) also said that spiritual
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development of children in educational setting is one of the most essential characteristics of
holistic education and sets holistic education apart from mainstream education.

Maria Montessori, one of the most important holistic educators in the past century,
believed in the importance of nurturing the spiritual development of students in educational
settings (Mahmoudi, Jafari, Nasrabadi, & Liaghatdar, 2012). Maybe a common definition of
spirituality is difficult because of the complexity of the term and its use. For educational
purposes, the term spirituality includes a religious contribution, as well as acknowledging a
spiritual dimension to living that covers values, commitments and aesthetic concerns (Schreiner,
2010).

Holistic Christian education is based on yearning to transform each individual into the
image of Christ (Romans 8:29). This does not mean Christianization, especially for non-Christian
students. Becoming like Christ means teaching students to have a Christian value and implement
it in their everyday life. From a Christian worldview, each student is uniquely valuable persons
and should be educated to use their God-given capabilities. Holistic Christian education will help
students to grow spiritually, intellectually, physically and socially in ways that reflect a Biblical
life pattern. It is based on the premise that each person finds identity, meaning, and purpose in
life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to spiritual values such as
compassion and peace (Nyabwari, Katola, & Muindi, 2013).

The purpose of Holistic Christian education is to deepen the students’ understanding

about their being in relation with God, their selves, others and the world. They should have
wisdom to discern what is good and evil, to interpret their lives, to relate with others and to
engage in the world. Thus, after graduation, they can be responsible member of society and give
great impact to the community.

Strategic Management and Christian Worldview

Strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating
cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives. It is defined as
“science” because strategic management attempts to organize qualitative and quantitative
information in a way that allows effective decisions to be made. It is also an “art” because based
7   Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
on past experiences, judgment, and feelings, most people recognize that intuition is essential to
make good strategic decisions (David, 2011).

The purpose of strategic management is about gaining and maintaining competitive

advantage, anything that a firm does particularly well compared to rival firms. This is the answer
of the popular question: “Why do some companies succeed while others fail?” Therefore,
strategic management focuses on integrating management, marketing, finance/accounting,
production/operations, research and development, and computer information systems for making
effective decisions in an organization under conditions of uncertainty to achieve organizational
success (Hill & Jones, 2009; David, 2011).

From the definition above, we can conclude that strategic management is about analyzing,
planning and making effective decision for organization. There is always an analysis to be done
and decision to be made in the strategic management process, even in the implementation and
evaluation phase. Strategic management is important because the decision gives impact to the
stakeholder in the organization as a whole. That is why every people involved in this process
should have knowledge, wisdom, and good character to make the best possible decision.

The important role of strategic management in the organization is very interesting to be

explored within Christian worldview. The Lord taught His disciples to be salt and light in the
world (Matthew 5:13-14). If Christians are given a chance to be involved in the strategic process
in an organization, what will they do? Are their analyzes, decisions, and actions the application of
commandment of the Lord? Are their actions right, fair and the best for all concerned? Can they
become a living witness in the workplace to glorify God’s name?

Being strategic leaders who can make an impact for the people around is not an easy job.
Strategic leaders require wisdom that comes from God. They should have the humility to rely on
God to do everything (Psalm 127:1, James 4:13-17). It is based on the concept of stewardship that
everything belongs to God (Isaiah 66:1-2). Men are responsible for and should take care of the
resources He provides (Genesis 2:15; 1 Timothy 6:20).

Haskins & Smith (2004) describe that a Christian Strategic Leader refers to the one who is
called and equipped by God to lead the entire organization and its resources from a Christian
Biblical worldview for the glory of God. God placed certain people in certain position with
8   Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
specific aims and objectives. But God will not leave them without providing them with these
gifts, abilities, talents, skills and characteristics to do the vocation God has called them to. They
must respond by using and developing the God-given talents to the best possible (Luke 19:12-
27).

In 1 Peter 5: 1-11, the Apostle Peter explained the ways need to be done in dealing with
and managing the church at Ephesus. Although the letter is pastoral counsel for the church, the
same principles can also be used as a basis for governing the organization / company. Indeed
shepherding the church is not a business, but business is one form of ministry. Therefore, it
should be done as well as possible, with full responsibility, according to Biblical principle, and
with the purpose to Glorify God's name.

Teaching Strategic Management within Holistic Christian Worldview

The basic strategic management model suggests that a company’s strategies are the result
of a plan in an inspiring – easily understood statement of vision and mission, that the strategic
planning process itself is rational and highly structured, and that the process is orchestrated by top
management. Therefore, strategic management textbooks and courses are about identifying and
describing the strategies that managers can pursue to achieve superior performance. The aim is to
give a thorough understanding of the analytical techniques and skills necessary to identify and
implement strategies successfully (Stacey, 2011).

Nevertheless, the real condition does not always suit that formal model, at least for three
main reasons: the unpredictability of the real world, the role that lower-level managers can play
in the strategic management process, and the fact that many successful strategies are often the
result of serendipity. In other words, strategy can emerge from deep within an organization in the
absence of formal plans, as lower-level managers respond to unpredicted situations. These facts
above make us realize that the point of strategic management is not simply about the
predominantly accepted tools and techniques which can be applied to an organization to yield
strategic successes and avoid failures of leadership and communication. However, the course
should focus on ways of thinking on strategic management and how this body of knowledge has
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evolved. Without reflecting on how and why we are thinking in the way we currently do we find
ourselves mindlessly trapped in (Stacey, 2011).

As a Christian educator, we certainly want our students could become salt and light of the
earth (Matthew 5:13-16). Therefore, teaching provided must be able to direct them to that goal.
Teaching strategic management ways of thinking within the holistic Christian worldview is
expected to shape the moral, character, way of thinking, and decision-making patterns of the
students to give positive impacts in their work later.

This strategic management curriculum is addressed to answer the struggle. First, the
syllabus is an expression of the lecturers’ faith. Second, it is an expression of the lecturers’
responsibility in educating those who entrusted to them to believe in and follow the Lord.
Delivering strategic management course in Christian perspective suggest that Christianity is not
just a rhetorical appendage used only for religious rituals, but it is a life transformed in the value
of teaching to form real Christians who follow Christ with all of their heart.

There are three things we want to achieve in this study. Strategic management course
should cover knowledge acquisition, character reformation, and skills development that can be
applied by students in the workforce. For sure, those three things should be conducted based on
Biblical perspective.

First, this course is intended to equip the students with adequate knowledge about
strategic management. Students should understand the nature of Christianity as well, that is the
God’s Truth. God is the One who is sovereign over human life, who entrusted all creatures in the
world unto humans to be managed. Humans have accountability to the gifts received from God
(the concept of stewardship).

Second, strategic management course is expected to provide enlightenment for the

students so that they discover the ideas that change their character and their lives as well.
Students are expected to have a passion, values and live actions like Christ because every human
being is created to the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Third, strategic management course is intended to make students master skills as it is

trained in the classroom. Such skills can be immediately applied in everyday life practice, using
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the Biblical perspective. These skills are not only used for their self-interest, but also to
encourage others through strategy or decision they made.

It is difficult to teach students that have lack of managerial experience about strategic
management principles. Strategy teaching methods need to somehow make real of the
organizational contexts. Traditional methods, such as texts and teaching case studies, are no
longer thought to be adequate because they are likely to be insufficient in bridging the gap
between these students’ knowledge, experience, and their preparation for the real world.
Ambrosini, Billsberry, & Collier (2009) argue that films may be a useful addition to the strategy
instructor’s arsenal of educational tools because they offer elaborate multidimensional and multi-
layered contexts which mirror the reality of business. Chang (2003) show that overall the new
business venture simulation provides a more successful learning experience than in-company
consultancy project and the case method, while Kraus and Kauranen (2009) combine strategic
management with entrepreneurship.

Proposal of Strategic Management’s Class

We can divide strategic management course in four big parts; introduction, strategic
formulation, strategic implementation, and strategic evaluation. The main references we use in
this study are David (2011) and Martinez (2003). In one semester, there are 14 weeks of class
meeting and 2 examination weeks. The class meets twice a week for 100 minutes in each
meeting. The first meeting of each week will be teaching material and class discussion, which
will be applied directly and presented at the second meeting in the same week. In the 8th week to
the 13th week, students will implement the concept they have learned into a real business project.
In the last week, they will evaluate what they have done according to the strategic evaluation
principles.

Syllabus

Introduction (Week 1). Introduction is the initial stage as well as the most important
stage in the strategic management course. Initial meeting in each course will affect students’
interest towards the courses in one semester. In addition, preliminary understandings to a new
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course will be a base for acceptance of further materials in that course. This phase provides the
“big picture” of what is strategic management, why is it important, what strategic managers do,
and how the strategy-making process affects company performance. This phase also gives a brief
view about the phase of strategic management process that is strategic formulation, strategic
implementation, and strategic evaluation.

Research indicates that organizations using strategic management concepts are more
profitable and successful than those that are not. Joel Ross and Michel Kami, as quoted by David
(2011) stated that without a strategy, an organization is like a ship without a rudder, going around
in circles. It is like a tramp; it has no place to go. Strategic management determines the future
direction and competitive position of an organization for a long time.

Students also need to know the ultimate goal of strategic management course that they
follow. This includes what competencies they will have, how can they achieve these
competencies, and what can they do with these competencies when they work. Thus, students
have a guideline while studying this course and can motivate themselves to follow each stage of
this course to achieve the goal.

In relation to university's core belief, the understanding of strategic management was

conducted in a Christian perspective. It should be emphasized on the concept of stewardship that
everything is belongs to God (Isaiah 66:1-2) and humans are only the stewards, not the owners
(Genesis 2:15; 1 Timothy 6:20). All resources must be used for His glory and the common good.
Humans must be held accountable for the results management to "The Truly Owner".
Management is "the manager" and strategic management is “a tool” used to manage the creation.

Strategy Formulation (Week 2-6). In the strategy formulation stage, the student will
learn how to decide which alternative strategies will benefit the firm most. This includes
developing a vision and mission, identifying an organization's external opportunities and threats,
determining internal strengths and weaknesses, establishing long-term objectives, generating
alternative strategies, and choosing particular strategies to pursue.

The development of vision and mission is a critical step in the strategy making process.
Vision is what the organization wants to become and mission is a declaration of an organization’s
12   Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
“reason for being”. Therefore, students need to know what should be the vision and mission of
the organization, how the vision and the mission made, and what would happen if an organization
does not have a clear vision and mission statements.

Identification of organization’s external opportunities and threats requires discussion on

the influence of the external environment on the company's success. The basic theory used in this
stages are Industrial Organization View (I/O view) Theory saying that the external (industry)
factors are more important than internal factors to achieve firms’ competitive advantage because
organizational performance will be primarily determined by industry forces. Therefore, firms
must strive to compete in attractive industries avoiding weak or faltering industries, and gain a
full understanding of key external factor relationships within that attractive industry.

Determining organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses requires explanation on the

influence of internal environment on the company's success, especially for gaining competitive
advantage and building corporate culture. This stage is based on Resource Based View (RBV)
Theory in which internal resources are more important than external factors to achieve and
sustain competitive advantage. Firms should develop and exploit their unique resources and
capabilities, and continually maintain and strengthen those resources so that other firms are
unable to duplicate that strategy.

Based on the vision, mission, and environmental analysis, a company will set the long
term objective and choose strategy type that will be used. Objectives and strategy options will be
the direction for management to run the company's operations. Strategy selection is done by a
variety of analytical tools, which are generally in the form of matrix. In order to make an accurate
assessment, the matrix must be designed objectively, critically, and thoughtfully.

Explanations used in the strategic formulation phase should also be aligned with the
Biblical perspective. Students should be reminded again about the concept of stewardship, yet the
responsibility is not an individual burden, but rather the entire human races. Each person is given
unique talents and abilities. Therefore, every human should be together, hand in hand , doing the
God’s work in the earth (Romans 12:6-8).

Work is more than just to fulfill human needs. It is based on the understanding that the
center of human life is not his own, but God's. Therefore, work is a part of ministry using the gifts
13   Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
that God has bestowed (Genesis 1:28). The purpose of working is not to satisfy them but to please
God. Such a view makes people are willing to share (not greedy) and consider others as
colleagues, not as an enemy or a rival to be defeated. This spirit of togetherness adds a meaning
to the work to the glory of God.

Strategy Implementation (Week 7-8). In the most difficult stage, strategy

implementation, firms will establish their annual objectives, devise policies, motivate employees,
and allocate resources so that formulated strategies can be executed. In this stage, each division in
the firms must carry out their functions in the same goals. It is not easy because different
divisions might have different goal, different workflow, and different mindset. However, all these
parts must be united in one view and one purpose, to realize the vision and mission of the
company. Therefore, the successful implementation of the strategy is largely determined by
commitment, discipline, and willingness to sacrifice from every stakeholder. Not for one day or
one month, but for a long time, as long as the company is still operates.

With the stewardship concept, students are reminded again that everything belongs to
God. Everything must be managed in accordance with the God’s will, to glorify Him (Psalm
127:1; Jacob 4:13-17). Christ disciples are also required to have a strong commitment, discipline,
and willingness to give themselves as Christ was giving Himself to men (Philippians 2:5-11).

Strategy Evaluation (Week 9). Strategy evaluation stage is the time to review whether
the particular strategies are working well or not. Every firms must always evaluate its strategy,
even if they feel everything are working well, because external and internal factors are constantly
changing. It is not easy to evaluate the strategies that have been running for several reasons. First,
people do not like to be evaluated because they felt they did everything well. Second, if the things
that should be changed have been discovered, it is not easy for someone to get out from their
comfort zone.

In this section, the students are still being reminded that the ultimate goal of each job is to
glorify God (Colossians 3:23). Men must always learn. The learning process should be based on
willingness, humility, and awareness that the study will bring an improvement. The improvement
14   Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
will improve the quality of work and quality of the whole company as well. Automatically, this
improvement will increase business’ market share.

Assignment

In order to equip the students with a deep understanding about strategic management
concept in the holistic Christian worldview, they should prepare a final project. This project is an
implementation of the three phases of strategic management concept in the real business. Details
of the project will be explained below.

Assumed strategic management course consists of 30 children, which will be divided into
6 groups. Each group is assigned to design a business plan, implement the plan, and then evaluate
it in accordance with what they have learned from strategic management course. There will be 2
different business types, and each type will be conducted by three groups. For example, groups 1,
2 and 3 will be engaged in the food business, while groups 4, 5 and 6 will be in retail business.
All sales activities for all groups will be conducted in one place (ideally in the faculty/university)
which has been determined by the lecturer.

This project consists of three steps, namely strategy formulation, strategy implementation,
and strategy evaluation. Strategy formulation will be prepared in the 2nd week to the 7th week.
Strategy implementation will be conducted in the 8th week to the 13th week. The last steps,
strategy evaluation, will be performed in the 14th week. Each group will present their work in the
2nd meeting for each week. While one group makes a presentation, the other group will criticize
their works and make suggestions for improvement

Students can acquire many lessons through this task. First, with the group formation, they
will learn to work together. Each student in the group will have different skills and capabilities.
They should learn to divide the job well according to their respective capabilities. They should
also learn to respect each other. In addition, they will encounter many problems, challenges, and
obstacles in the process of this task. Here students will learn how to adjust different thinking and
willingness to achieve the same goal.

Three groups that run similar business type will make students learn about business
competition. They should learn how they should behave as a Christian businessman to their
15   Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
“competitors”. They should also learn how to seek competitive advantage to gain market share
according with Christian principles. The two different business types will make students learn
about the concept of business integration. The lessons include what benefits they can get by
working with other companies of different business scope and what kind of cooperation they can
do. This business selection process also makes the students learn about coordination, either with
their own group members and the other group.

Time limit provided to do each part of this project make students should manage their
time effectively in the middle of their other activities. Each team member need to share tolerance
and mutual support among them to arrange the time table effectively.

A long implementation process (6 weeks) will train students to commit themselves, to

discipline and to follow the plans that have been made previously. On the other hand, students are
also trained to be critical, to be able to make decisions quickly and flexibly, because what they
will face in practice is not fully in accordance with the plans. At this stage students will also be
trained to sacrifice, either in time, physically, and materially in order to achieve the common
goal.

The evaluation process will train the students to have an open mind and humility to
correct themselves and to be corrected by their friends for the future improvement. This process
also trains them to express their opinions, criticism, and suggestions in a good way so that does
not hurt the others’ feelings.

During the assignment, it is emphasized to the students that the assessment will also be
based on the process, not just the end result. Thus students are taught that the end result is not
everything and the process will not only make them be able to complete the project, but also to
develop their personality. But this does not mean that the end result is not needed. As an
economist, the end result of the business remains critical.

Assessment is not absolutely given by the lecturer. The other members of the team and the
other students in class also give assessment to each student. This system is expected to be
objective because they know better about the work done by each individual than the lecturer.
Moreover, this system will motivate students to work diligently and not just become a free rider
in the group.
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The third assessment will be provided by the market. The definition of the market is
someone outside the classroom (for example: lecturer from other faculty, staff, students from
other majors) that became target market of the business. Students do not know who would be
their market appraisal. Hence, this assessment is expected to be objective and can be a motivation
to the students to serve every customer well.

In addition to the benefits mentioned above, there are other benefits that can obtained
from the students’ assignments. Students who take the strategic management course are final
year’s students who will soon entering the workforce. Therefore, this business may be an
alternative choice of employment, either as permanent job or sideline job, either in groups or
individually managed.

Examination

We proposed two examinations in one semester, which is mid examination and final
examination. Mid examination is a written examination that examined students’ understanding
(not memorizing) about the strategic management concept in the holistic-Christian worldview.
An example of a question raised is students are asked to write a personal vision that includes
technical issues and Christian calling; or students should explain the economic system and the
Biblical basis of business competition. Through this mid examination results, the faculty can
evaluate students’ capabilities and understanding of what has been taught. This understanding is
important because if students do not have a strong and correct understanding, they will not able to
do their project well.

Final examination is divided into two parts. The first part is a written examination where
students should tell what lessons they have gained during the strategic management course. The
second one is a group work to accomplish the project they have made, based on critiques,
suggestions, and feedback from their classmates and lecturer. The results are then printed and
kept for reference in the next strategic management course. Moreover, in the final examination,
students were asked to provide critiques and suggestions about this course (with no affect the
assessment). Thus, lecturer gets a feedback that may be used as input for course improvement.
17   Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
Conclusion and Recommendation

From the discussion presented above, it is clear that this proposal does not try to totally
change the common content and goals in strategic management course. This study gives deeper
and thorough interpretations to the strategic management course. The interpretations are not only
for personal use and non-profit organization but also for communal and business oriented.
Thereby even in the business world we can glorify God in both the processes and business
results.

This study has several limitations. First, this study was a literature study that still needs to
be implemented. Second, this study is limited to strategic management course and still can be
developed for the other course. Therefore, this research requires more input and suggestions for
improvement.

God is the source of wisdom and knowledge. Therefore all the good and right things in
this study will be returned to Him. Soli Deo Gloria.
18   Strategic Management Course Within The Holistic Christian Worldview

 
 
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