The Importance of Basic, Applied Research

Among many audiences there is a general sense that universitybusiness education is failing to meet the needs of the marketplace.Moore and Diamond (1996) suggest that the pressure to respondto the marketplace has increased in recent years because of thelow entry barriers for new education vehicles, the high exitbarriers for existing education institutions, and the proliferationof alternative ways to deliver university level education inbusiness.We illustrate this pressure by noting that non-conventional,distance learning educational opportunities increased by 800%between 1993 and 1997. We suggest business schools in researchuniversities can compete effectively if we focus on researchthat is both basic (influencing further knowledge development)and applied (problem driven), and if we differentiate our offeringby incorporating the findings of our basic, applied researchinto our curriculum.