Integrating GIS into Business School Curricula

In today's digital era, most businesses occur in geographical locations and their use of geographical information systems (GIS) and advanced technology become crucial for their business growth. Consequently, creation and use of geospatial data has been rapidly growing with increasing number of satellites that enable communication, earth monitoring, and web-enabled sensor networks. Many industries including oil, minerals, agriculture commodities, and banking are using substantially geospatial data in their businesses. It is becoming essential for entrepreneurs and business executives to have an ability to represent, understand and interpret geospatial data in map-like projections, and to make decisions based on the geographic information. As a result, demand for business graduates who understand geographical information systems has gradually increased over the time. To address this need, business schools have started incorporating GIS into their academic programs and curricula. These programs offer geospatial technology that aims to help students in preparing for job markets and support them in gaining knowledge and spatial perspective of business. The research highlights the role of GIS in business development and a strong need for business graduates with GIS specialization. This study investigates how business schools can integrate GIS into their academic programs in order to ensure that business graduates have opportunity to develop GIS knowledge and meet the demand from companies. It also suggests to introduce GIS in the business programs at the higher educational institutions in Mongolia and provides potential integration strategies for business schools in the country. In addition, opportunities and challenges are listed for potential research and studies in this area.