TAKE A HIKE: PROMOTING INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING AND SUSTAINABLE VALUE WITH DESIGN THINKING

Abstract

This generation of students enters a workforce that increasingly demands interdisciplinary thinking to solve complex problems and create sustainable value. The global pandemic, climate crisis, and state of social inequality call for future business leaders to practice a broader intellectual vision to “see” across domains and apply diverse lenses. However, the traditional silos within universities, business colleges, and marketing curriculum constrain student exposure to narrower paradigms. To help address this challenge, this paper introduces a field-based exercise called “Designing a Greenspace for Sustainable Value.” The exercise promotes learning objectives for interdisciplinary mind-sets, sustainable innovation, and developing value propositions in teams. Experimental results reveal positive effects on a scale measuring students’ Interdisciplinary Competence. Moreover, qualitative feedback uncovers students’ experiences, perceived barriers for interdisciplinary thinking, and reflective paths forward. The exercise can be incorporated into a variety of marketing courses, and it has been effectively implemented in both undergraduate and graduate contexts as well as in-person and digital modes of delivery. To promote retention, students are encouraged to literally and metaphorically “take a hike” to other fields to develop their interdisciplinary mind-set for solving complex problems.

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