In Business, Students Find Out Almost Everything Is Debatable

Jeremy Handel

Staff Writer

Fear or respect in managing? Managing without expertise? Personal values in professional decisions?

All of these are questions students may have to address in their careers. In this business class, they were the on-the-spot topics up for discussion in a classroom lesson on debating. SMC Director of Human Resources Callie Cable sought to show some of the challenges professionals face in real-world management situations with an activity called speed debating.

“The goal of the exercise was to encourage students to step outside of their own experiences and perspectives and think critically about how decisions are made in organizations,” Cable said.

During the exercise, a number of topics were posted on desks and students sat opposite each other to defend a specific side of the topic. Then, like speed dating, after a short period of time, they would shift to the next seat where they faced debate on another topic.

Topics covered a range of business decisions or subjects they may face in the future, including:

• Should managers be feared or loved by employees?
• Should managers reward effort or results?
• Is it ethical to monitor employees’ productivity with surveillance software?
• Is leadership innate or learned?

“I learned that everyone’s opinions on business and how it should be run are different,” said Noah McDowell, a freshman majoring in sport management. “It shows the difficulty of finding the right balance in running a business.”

The activity served as more than just a lesson on business decisions, it also provided a lesson in debate and discussion to come to a consensus on a decision. It illustrates the College’s commitment to the Camak Core and providing students with the workplace skills that will help them succeed in their careers, Cable said.

Students felt it did provide them with an opportunity to hone their debating skills and learn more about how others may approach debate.

“I enjoyed expressing my opinion, but it was challenging having to defend both sides of an issue. Sometimes it made my opinion not make sense,” said Logan Norton, a freshman studying business administration.

“I was nervous about some of the questions, but excited because I love to debate,” said Eternity Mathews, a freshman business management major. “Some of the questions really made me think about how I was going to defend a particular side of an issue.”

Cable said she thought the students really took to the activity well and put their full effort into it. They were quick to engage with the topics and try to wrap their heads around how to defend the side of the issue they were assigned.

“My hope is that this activity helps these future leaders begin to refine their skills and reflect on the kind of leaders they aspire to become,” she said.