The School does not attempt to teach a man the technical details of any job. The requirements for different positions vary so widely with individual concerns that this would not be feasible. Rather the attempt is made to equip the student with a broad back-ground of business training and an understanding of business methods which will enable him to comprehend and master more quickly the technical details of the work of the particular company with which he becomes connected.

Organization of Courses

The first year course is divided functionally into five groups: the two main branches of business, Production and Distribution, the means through which these are carried on, Finance, and the two tools of business, Accounting and Statistics. These five subjects vary widely at the beginning, but by the end of the year they have become coordinated into a comprehensible unit, and their interaction and mutual dependence are clearly brought out in the mind of the student.

In the second year the student specializes in a chosen field, such as banking, accounting, retail distribution and so forth. Be takes two or at the most three courses in his field and completes his schedule with courses associated with it in a general way. It is impossible for a man to specialize too narrowly, but on the other hand no schedule is approved which does not show a sensible correlation of courses in a given field.

Instruction is by the case or problem method followed by most of the leading law schools in the country. First year classes meet in sections of about 100 men. Second year classes vary between 40 and 100. The professors do not so much lecture as lead and direct a general discussion. The result is a tutorial system similar to that at the college, but on a larger scale.

Attempt to Teach Thinking

The aim of all the instruction is to teach the student to thing rather than to absorb facts, to seek to solve problems by critical analysis rather than by rote. In short, effort is made, not to train a man in "standard business practice" or to make him a specialist, but to develop a well rounded "general.