Aligning University Education with Industry Needs Through Cross-Functional Teamwork
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Authors
Qadri, Bushra Rayyan
McAdams, Arthur
Baker, Ali
Tenney, Dan
Cavanaugh, Peter
Issue Date
2025-04-04
Type
Other
Language
en_US
Keywords
Cross functional teamwork , Industry aligned education , Multidisciplinary collaboration
Alternative Title
Abstract
Universities and corporations are organized in hierarchies in which each division or department has its own expertise and associated culture that shape their goals and objectives. While this segregation encourages focused expertise and knowledge, it often hinders collaboration across departments, resulting in negative effects on organizational success. Previous academic research described this as mutual incomprehension between two cultures—the arts versus the sciences. In the corporate world, scholars identified a similar cultural clash in the U.S. automobile industry between technical and financial departments, referred to as “Car Guys vs Bean Counters,” which was considered a major factor in the financial crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. This communication gap can often be interpreted as uncooperativeness, leading to failure. To address this problem, five professors at the University of Bridgeport are conducting graduate-level multidisciplinary courses within the Business and Engineering Schools. In these courses, students from different disciplines and backgrounds collaborate on team projects related to course material. The goal is to better prepare students for corporate environments by equipping them with the skills necessary to collaborate across multiple divisions, departments, and disciplines.
Description
UB Rise 2025
School of Business & School of Engineering
University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT