TITLE:
From Conceptual Mastery to Managerial Action: An Integrated Executive Communication Framework for Management Education
AUTHORS:
Barry Sanders
KEYWORDS:
Management Education, Executive Communication, Cognitive Load, Managerial Decision Making, Experiential Learning, Business Communication
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.17 No.10,
October
27,
2026
ABSTRACT: Management education develops students’ analytical knowledge, yet graduates are often expected to create value in settings where knowledge must be translated into concise, audience-centered recommendations. This article introduces the Integrated Executive Communication Framework (IECF), a theoretically grounded model that conceptualizes managerial communication as a developmental process connecting conceptual understanding with organizational action. The framework integrates four stages: Conceptual Mastery, Cognitive Translation, Executive Communication, and Managerial Action. Drawing on research in conceptual learning, cognitive load, bounded rationality, experiential learning, and managerial communication, the article develops four propositions explaining why each stage is necessary and why weakness in an earlier stage may constrain later performance. An exploratory classroom implementation involving 146 undergraduate business students across four upper-level business courses is presented as feasibility evidence rather than causal validation. The same students completed one pre-implementation and one post-implementation presentation, both scored with the same four-dimension, five-point anchored rubric. Following concise guidance emphasizing clear understanding, simplicity, brevity, and actionable ideas, pooled descriptive scores increased across all four indicators, with the largest changes in simplicity and brevity. Because the implementation used one instructor, no comparison group, and an instructional rubric without independent psychometric validation, the findings are interpreted cautiously. The article’s principal contribution is theoretical and pedagogical: it offers management educators a decision-centered model for moving students from knowing, to translating, to prioritizing, to recommending.