Business Majors Research Articles

The impact of explicit and implicit power motivation on educational choices

Abstract The aim of three studies was to examine the differences between business majors and non-business majors, in their level of implicit (measured by an Implicit Association Test [IAT], Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwarz, 1998) and explicit power motivation (measured by Power Motivation and Helping Power Motivation scales, Frieze & Boneva, 2001).It was predicted that there are no differences between these two groups in the general (implicit) level of power motivation, but that differences exist in the way it is explicitly expressed: through desire for leadership and prominence vs. desire for helping. Results of Study 1 indicated that business majors (management, N=79) declared a higher leadership motive and a lower helping motive than non-business majors (history, psychology, linguistics, N=62).Study 2 addressed question whether the above differences in power motivation stem from socialization at the university level or from pre-selection. The relationship between high school students’ (N=134) academic major preferences and their power motivation was tested. It was found that the more they were business-oriented, the higher their scores were on leadership, and lower on helping scales. In Study 3, business majors (economics, N=75) and non-business majors (psychology, N=82) completed the same questionnaire as participants in previous studies, as well as performed the IAT. Non-business majors declared stronger explicit helping motive, while business majors expressed stronger prominence and leadership motives. Furthermore, for non-business majors, IAT results could be predicted by their helping score. Implications and possible limitations of the presented results are discussed.

Redesigning the Information Systems Analysis and Design Course: Curriculum Renewal

To meet the challenge of stable low enrollments in the Management Information System (MIS) programs, the renewal of the MIS curriculum and the pedagogies is imperative. While he MIS renewal strategies vary depending upon the university programs, the redesign MIS major courses for all business majors can be a feasible approach to increasing the enrollment of MIS courses in the business programs where many business majors demand advanced information technology courses. This paper presents a case of redesign of the information systems analysis and design course for all business majors. It explains the motivation of redesign, the major consideration of redesign, and the implementation of redesign of this course. Our preliminary study for the assessment of the redesigned course has indicated that the information systems analysis and design course can be a valuable MIS elective course for all non-MIS majors.

The Evolution of an Undergraduate Actuarial Mathematics Program

Bryant University was originally a school for business majors and offered only a few mathematics courses. After becoming accredited by the New England Association of Colleges and Universities in the 1960s, the college was required to upgrade its offerings in the area of mathematics. In the 1970s, the department offerings were increased to include computer electives, advanced topics in mathematics, and graduate-level quantitative business courses. As the department grew, majors were established in the department, including a major in Actuarial Mathematics. This major has grown from its first graduating class in 1986 of five students to a current total student enrollment today of 172. This paper discusses the evolution of the major and the success of the program. We provide the curriculum and highlight changes, which were necessary to conform to the ever-changing requirements for becoming an actuarial Fellow. We also discuss unique aspects of our program such as the SAS Certification in Data Mining that has greatly increased the marketability of our students.

Do Differences in GPA Impact Attitudes About Group Work? A Comparison of Business and Non-Business Majors

Using survey data the authors investigate the impact of grade point average (GPA) on students’ preferences for classroom group work and its structure. Topics range from general attitudes and beliefs (benefits to grades, impact on mastery of material, professors’ motives) to administration (group composition, grading, peer reviews, group leadership). It was hypothesized that students act as GPA maximizers (prefer higher grades if holding all else equal) and therefore high achievers would answer many of the questions differently than low achievers. Regression results suggest that, generally, GPA better explains survey results for non-business majors than for business majors.

Cognitive Processes and Information Literacy: Some Initial Results From a Survey of Business Students’ Learning Activities

A survey of classroom learning activity and research skills was conducted to obtain data on information literacy competence and critical thinking requirements among all undergraduate students enrolled as business majors at Memorial University of Newfoundland, which is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Initial findings confirm past larger-scale studies, particularly business students' preference for electronic resources over print, prior skills acquisition being largely self-taught, and reluctance to consult with a librarian during the research process. Regarding critical thinking, survey results can be interpreted as indicating ceremonial conformity in educational discourse versus classroom teaching.

Why Do Gen Y Students Study Abroad? Individual Growth and the Intent to Study Abroad

We propose that Generation Y college students’ motivations to study abroad are rooted in the desire for individual growth, which, combined with other motivation factors—gender, parents’ educational level, prior international experience, age, and household income—drives the intent to study abroad. The study samples juniors and seniors in business majors, thereby attempting to shorten the temporal distance between study abroad intent and action. A significant number of students declare intent to study abroad as freshmen, yet fail to act on those intentions when the opportunity presents itself a year or two later. Results showed that the desire for individual growth was significantly and positively related to Gen Y business students’ intention to study abroad. Students’ prior experience visiting foreign countries and younger age positively moderated the effect of the desire for individual growth on intent to study abroad. The time lag between intent and action, and the fact that study abroad is a high involvement activity creates promotional challenges on how to best promote study abroad to Gen Y students. The article suggests practical implications and suggests how schools might increase study abroad participation among Gen Y college students.

Teaching Creativity to Business Students: How Well Are We Doing?

As calls for enhancing the ability of business students to think creatively and develop innovative goods and services have become universal, researchers in the area of creativity have expressed concerns that the U.S. educational system may not foster creative thinking. The authors’ research is based on a sample of 442 undergraduate business students enrolled in marketing classes at two different universities. Students’ creativity was assessed using a creativity scale that measured ways of thinking in six different areas. The authors compared creativity scores of different business majors in each of these six dimensions and found that contrary to earlier research findings, students in the quantitative business disciplines of accounting, finance, economics, and information systems outperformed other business majors in some categories of creative thinking. Specific recommendations are presented to include training in a greater variety of dimensions of creative thinking in the business curriculum.

Perception of Non-Law Students on the Combined Lecture- and Problem-Based Learning Approaches

To fulfill the accreditation requirements of professional organizations, business law is commonly included in the business programs in higher education. However, business students, particularly at the sub-degree level, are often challenged to study law. The literature suggests that a combination of lecture-based learning (LBL) and problem-based learning (PBL) approaches can enhance student learning and outcomes. This study evaluates the perceptions of accounting and business majors on the effectiveness of these combined teaching modes in studying business law. Survey data were collected from 262 respondents who enrolled and studied business law with this dual teaching mode during the academic year 2012–2013. Findings reveal that under this approach of learning, students are motivated and more engaged. They benefit from group dynamics, including collaborative and peer learning, social interaction, teamwork, task allocation, and confidence building. Overall, students are satisfied with this teaching mode.

JANUARY 2014 PLACEMENT ADS

JANUARY 2014 PLACEMENT ADS

Pitching Environmental Science to Business Majors: Engaging Students in Renewable Energy Choices

Pitching Environmental Science to Business Majors: Engaging Students in Renewable Energy Choices

Intro Stats Students Need Both Confidence and Tolerance (Intervals)

Tolerance intervals are typically not taught in introductory statistics courses aimed at business, engineering, and science majors. This is regrettable, since students are likely to encounter practical problems that should be analyzed using tolerance intervals. Additionally, contrasting tolerance intervals against confidence intervals will improve students’ understanding of confidence intervals, eliminating frequent confusions. In this article, we make the argument for teaching tolerance intervals in introductory statistics courses, and we offer suggestions about what to teach.

Assessing sustainability education in a transdisciplinary undergraduate course focused on real‐world problem solving

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the results of a classroom assessment aimed at determining the extent to which key sustainability competencies develop in students during an introductory transdisciplinary sustainability course.Design/methodology/approachThe paper summarizes three previously identified key sustainability competencies and describes teaching methodologies used in the introductory course described here to foster these competencies in students. The development of these competencies over the course of one semester is assessed using a pre‐/post‐test based on case analyses. The implications of these findings for academic sustainability programs are discussed.FindingsBased on the assessment used here, the sustainability competencies developed differently in students with different disciplinary affiliations as a result of the introductory sustainability course. Business majors did not improve any of the key competencies, sustainability majors improved systems thinking competence only, and sustainability minors who were majoring in another traditional discipline improved all competencies.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to undergraduate sustainability education by shedding light on how sustainability might best be incorporated into specific academic programs. This information may help create more effective sustainability courses and academic programs, which may maintain the viability of current sustainability programs and promote the institutionalization of sustainability in higher education in general.

Framing Sustainability

Corporate social responsibility is a topic that is increasingly incorporated into business school curricula. This article describes a study of undergraduate business majors who wrote about an environmental topic in response to an Analytical Writing Assessment question in the Graduate Management Admission Test™. Of 187 students, only 76 mentioned natural resources in their responses. The study examines this smaller corpus for stance, framing, and argument. The results indicate that the majority of those 76 students supported sustainable practices but were less adept at presenting their perspectives, invoking a personal frame over a professional one. The authors suggest ways to help students develop stronger skills in writing about corporate social responsibility.

A Prescription for Global Education in Health and Human Services

Study abroad might be associated primarily with humanities or business majors, but San Diego State University has mandated an international experience for all its health and human services students. Here's why.

Has the Quality of Accounting Education Declined?

For decades, accounting practitioners, academics, and professional bodies have argued that the quality of accounting education is falling. There are two specific claims in the literature. First, that the knowledge acquired by students in accounting programs has become less valuable and second, that the best students self-select away from accounting degree programs. In this study, I use several large, publically available datasets to empirically test both claims. I measure the quality of accounting education using a model of the private economic returns to accounting education relative to the returns to education in non-accounting fields and find no evidence of a decline in the returns to accounting education from either 1950 to 2010 or 1970 to 2010 relative to all non-accounting workers or all non-accounting workers in business occupations. To assess the quality of students selecting into accounting degree programs, I model the quality of students expressing interest in various college degrees after controlling for a number of their demographic characteristics. I find that, relative to students pursuing all non-accounting majors, the quality of freshmen interested in accounting has by most measures been steady over 1971 to 1999. Relative to freshmen interested in non-accounting business majors, the quality of freshmen interested in accounting has significantly declined over the sample period. The results are broadly inconsistent with the hypothesis that the quality of accounting education has declined, but they do suggest that accounting programs have fared increasingly poorly in the competition for the best and brightest students in business schools, a fact that could have contributed to the perception that the quality of accounting students has declined.

Educating The Next Generation Of Business Students

Business students take courses in Financial Accounting where they learn the basic financial statements and how to present and analyze them. Accounting majors immediately experience a frustrating situation as they continue their studies with the Intermediate Accounting I course. Practicing accountants realize when they attend continuing education courses that understanding how to apply accounting concepts/theory is difficult. Other business majors may not experience the same frustration until they start their careers and find difficulty applying what they learned in Financial Accounting on the job. The authors argue that in all the above cases, including the use of acronyms in solving accounting problems is a critical teaching strategy for all business majors.

Accountability in Higher Education and the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, 2008

In recent decades, an accountability movement has swept through higher education with hundreds of colleges and universities subscribing to instruments that assess academic performance, among them the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA), the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA). Meanwhile, social work education has proceeded on a tangent, relying on a subjective framework, the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), to determine the efficacy of professional education. In 2011, the inferiority of CSWE’s strategy came into sharp relief when higher education researchers found that undergraduate majors in social work and education scored far below engineering/computer science, communications, health, humanities/social sciences, and science/math on the CLA; only business majors fared worse (Arum & Roksa, 2011). Disturbingly, the researchers ‘‘observe[d] no statistically significant gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills for at least 45 percent of the students in our study. An astounding proportion of students are progressing through higher education today without measurable gains in general skills as assessed by the CLA’’ (p. 36). Defensively, the President of the National Association of Social Workers editorialized that ‘‘increasing student skills in critical thinking, reading comprehension, and writing [are] essential to career success’’ (Anastas, 2012, p. 3), but failed to note the pernicious influence of EPAS. If social work education is to burnish its academic image, it should institute a validated instrument to assess professional training. Since its promulgation in 2008, EPAS has been referenced primarily as a backdrop for articles about pedagogy (Grady, Powers, Despard, & Naylor, 2011; Heidemann, Fertig, Jansson, & Kim, 2011; Holosko, Skinner, MacCaughelty, & Stahl, 2010; Morrow, 2011; Regehr, Bogo, Donovan, & Anstice, 2012). Prior to its 2008 iteration, EPAS required social work programs to document learning outcomes of students. Adhering to that format, faculty at California State University, Long Beach determined to evaluate student outcomes through a combination of self-efficacy instruments (the Multicultural Counseling Inventory, the SelfAppraisal Inventory, the Knowledge Inventory, and the Comprehensive Skills Evaluation), complemented by student focus groups, assessments by field instructors, and an alumni survey. This effort to alter educational programming vis-a-vis student performance was interrupted with the introduction of the 2008 EPAS. ‘‘The consensus of the Assessment Team members now is that it is as if the team is back at the starting point as we begin to tackle the new standards,’’ noted the Long Beach academics with regret (Meyer-Adams, Potts, Koob, Dorsey, & Rosales, 2011, p. 504). The 2008 EPAS modified accreditation standards by replacing learning outcomes with student competencies, the achievement of which was to be determined by educational programs as they saw fit. The most recent version of EPAS, thus, imposed two quite different requirements on social work programs: ‘‘measurable educational outcomes, which [have] traditionally been interpreted through a positivist lens’’ and ‘‘a desire to respond to changing practice and educational approaches to diversity and difference, rooted in a postmodern perspective’’ (Jani, Pierce, Ortiz, &Sowbel, 2011, p. 297). It is noteworthy that postmodernists continue to misconstrue empiricism, applying dated criteria from the humanities that were in vogue during the 1970s and 1980s, a position refuted by Thyer (2008). Karl Popper contended that empirical falsification is logically superior to positivist verification, a position widely adopted by the scientific community (Calhoun, 2002, p. 372). Thus, postmodernists, in disputing positivism, erect the equivalent to a conceptual straw man. Regardless, postmodernism became formalized in social work accreditation, a repudiation of the profession’s adherence to the logic of science as the optimal method for determining efficacy. Using diversity as a pretext, postmodernism effectively sabotaged the possibility of empirical analysis of social work education:

A Discussion on the ‘Engineering + Business’ Inter-Disciplinary Talents Cultivating Model - Taking Zhejiang University City College as an Example

As the prosperous development of market economy has promoted the growth of business majors, the demand for business talents is increasing. However, the inter-disciplinary talents of economic management with the engineering background are more popular in the market. We are exploring a cultivating model of ‘Engineering + Business’ for the engineering undergraduate students in our college in order to optimize the source of students, improve the training quality and adapt to the socio-economic development.

Teaching managerial responsibilities for internal controls: Perception gaps between accounting and management professors

Abstract An organization needs a proper managerial tone to maintain a sound control environment. However, managers cannot support a control environment they do not understand. This misunderstanding generates a perception gap between corporate managers and auditors concerning internal control responsibilities, which may extend to academia as well. This research examines the perceptions of accounting and management professors concerning the understanding of who is ultimately responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls over financial reporting and finds a statistically significant difference of opinion between the two groups. A large number of management professors surveyed relegate this role to internal auditors instead of management. These findings indicate management professors may not be fully aware of the responsibilities placed on managers of publicly traded companies for internal controls over financial reporting by the Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002. The survey also finds a statistically significant difference in the perceptions of accounting and management professors concerning where the topic of internal controls should be taught and who is most qualified to teach internal controls to non-accounting business majors. This disconnect between management and accounting professors could potentially generate a business curriculum that leaves non-accounting business majors with little or no exposure to the roles and responsibilities of managers concerning internal controls over financial reporting. This research highlights the important role of accounting professors to help minimize this disconnect and provides specific recommendations to improve the exposure necessary for non-accounting business majors.

Understanding Students’ Attitudes About Group Work: What Does This Suggest for Instructors of Business?

A survey was administered to college students to gain insight into their attitudes about classroom group work. Students responded that group work is generally a positive experience; however, they do not necessarily prefer it to individual assignments. Students’ responses also indicated concerns about instructors’ motivations for using group work, management of the process (or lack thereof) by instructors, free riding by teammates, and being accountable for the work of others. When comparing business and nonbusiness majors, some interesting, statistically significant differences are found. For example, business majors are more willing to be held accountable for the work of others and are more willing to terminate group members.