Business School Research Articles

Tailoring Management Education – Insights from a Two-Decade Longitudinal Study of Iranian EMBA Programs

This paper investigates the evolving subject areas required in management programs within business schools over a two-decade period through a survey of Iranian managers. The study identifies six clusters of subject areas and visually presents the evolving learning needs. It addresses the significance of the marketability and employability of graduates from management programs, contextualizing management education, fostering adaptability, and conducting cross-cultural studies. The paper discusses limitations and offers recommendations for future research, including the impact of cultural and contextual factors on management education. It argues that in today's rapidly changing business landscape, management programs must adopt a comprehensive and flexible approach to meet the diverse learning needs of managers from various backgrounds, ensuring the continued relevance and effectiveness of management education in preparing future leaders to address the dynamic business challenges.

Nonperforming Loan Disposals Without Resolution

Using proprietary data on nonperforming loan (NPL) transactions in China, we document that banks conceal NPLs in disposal transactions that are supposed to resolve NPLs. In these transactions, banks provide financing and retain the credit risks and debt collection obligations. Transaction prices contradict underlying credit risks: Despite being delinquent for 4.5 years, the median NPL package is sold at face value with zero haircut. The majority of NPL packages are resold at a premium to banks’ non–government-owned borrowers, further supporting the concealment view. Banks under stricter regulation conceal NPLs more and engage in more illicit concealment. NPL-concealing banks increase zombie lending, suggesting that an ineffective resolution exacerbates credit misallocation. Recognizing the hidden NPLs implies the total NPLs in China is two to three times the reported amount. This paper was accepted by Victoria Ivashina, finance. Funding: B. Charoenwong acknowledges financial support from the Singapore Ministry of Education [AcRF Tier 1 Research Grant A-8000760-00-00]. T. Ruan acknowledges financial support from the National University of Singapore (NUS) [Start-Up Grant A-0003870-00-00]. B. Charoenwong and T. Ruan acknowledge financial support from the NUS Business School Financial Database [Grant N-311-000-251-001]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.02163 .

Can Transformational Leadership Retain Employee through The Role of Job Satisfaction as a Mediative at The Sunan Drajat Lamongan Boarding School Business Unit?

This study highlights the strategic significance of Islamic boarding schools as historic contributors to Islam's development in Indonesia. The pivotal role these schools play in community empowerment is realized through their business units. The research aims to analyze the influence of transformational leadership on turnover intention, mediated by job satisfaction, in the business unit of Sunan Drajat Lamongan Islamic boarding school. Employing an explanatory research method, the study utilizes transformational leadership as the independent variable, job satisfaction as the intervening variable, and turnover intention as the dependent variable. Data is collected through questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) processed with SmartPLS. The findings indicate that transformational leadership significantly positively impacts job satisfaction, while job satisfaction significantly negatively influences turnover intention. However, transformational leadership alone has an insignificantly negative effect on turnover intention. Job satisfaction acts as a mediating factor in the influence of transformational leadership in preventing turnover intention. However, transformational leadership without job satisfaction, fails to prevent employee turnover intention. In this context, Islamic boarding schools can optimize transformational leadership and job satisfaction strategies to minimize employee turnover intention, thereby enhancing employee performance and contributing to community empowerment

Применение экосистемного подхода в образовании

Educating young people in an educational environment is a process of formation and development of person-ality, which is influenced not only by the educational organization, but also by other participants: accelerators, business schools, collective cooperation platforms, the professional community (employers), and the state. In this regard, it is appropriate to consider the interaction of participants in youth education using an ecosystem approach. The inextricable connection between education and work, the interaction of many stakeholders in the process of youth development, the presence of an organizational culture (collective values and principles), self-organization of interaction participants (including youth interested in personal development), mutually benefi-cial cooperation, as well as the availability of an information technology tool, allowing to track the process of personal development of young people, are direct forms of interaction in ecosystems. Based on a generaliza-tion of scientific provisions on the application of the ecosystem approach in education, as well as the definition of the features of the modern ecosystem, the author’s structure of interaction between participants in the pro-cess of educating young people is proposed, corresponding to modern challenges of society.

Stress among Private School Teachers

The modern lifestyle is accompanied by a great amount of stress, and private school teachers are also not far from it. The workplace is also more stressful than it used to be. Stress among private school teachers is influenced by a multifaceted phenomenon. For the completion of this research, the predetermined objectives were set first. The objectives of this study were to analyze and address the factors contributing to stress among private school teachers in order to implement effective support mechanisms and promote overall well-being within the educational environment. Altogether, 19 respondents, among them 1 principal, 2 management committee members, and 16 teachers (8 from the basic level and 8 from the secondary level) of a private school in Solukhumbu, were selected purposefully. The data and responses were collected from management committee members, principal, and teachers through an open ended questionnaire, and the responses were interpreted and described qualitatively according to the defined objectives. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory is interconnected in this study to understand stress among private school teachers and use appropriate remedies in a specific order, starting with basic physiological needs and progressing to higher-level needs. 16 respondents working as a school teacher in a private school were burdened with excessive tasks, responsibilities, and demands within their professional role. They were facing high teaching loads with numerous classes, subjects, and students to manage. They had very limited time for lesson preparation and other innovations. Strategies such as workload management, providing adequate resources, promoting work-life balance, and offering support for professional development can help alleviate the stress associated with work overload and enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Further, private school teachers in Solukhumbu were not getting the facilities of professional development opportunities like seminars, workshops, research, on-the-job training, and other soft skills workshops from the school administration. To address this issue, it would be essential for private school teachers, school administrators, and relevant stakeholders to collaborate and advocate for the importance of professional development. Additionally, government policies or initiatives that support and incentivize private schools to invest in teacher training and other professional development courses. The responses of all the respondents showed that job security and stability are big worries for them. The survey showed that private school teachers in Solukhumbu had a lot of uncertainty about job security and stability, which is creating stress for the teachers. The school management committee and school administrators should prioritize clear policies regarding employment terms, the school's future plans, bonuses, insurance, retirement plans, disability coverage, and other wellness programs. All 16 respondents from different backgrounds responded that teaching is stressful and sensitive enough to address cultural differences, language barriers, and varying learning styles, which requires extra effort from the teacher. The school management committee and administration should prioritize the pressure of the sociocultural sensitivity of diverse students to the teachers. Limited participation in decision-making can generate stress by undermining teachers' sense of professional value, autonomy, and job satisfaction. Addressing these stressors involves implementing effective feedback mechanisms by the concerned authorities that provide constructive insights, recognize achievements, and support teachers. Maslow's theory is a psychological theory that suggests teachers are motivated by a hierarchy of needs, starting with basic needs and progressing through safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. While Maslow's theory is primarily focused on motivation, it can be indirectly related to stress management. Implementing these recommendations requires the commitment of school administrators, policymakers, and educators to create a supportive and conducive environment for teaching and learning in private schools.

Knowledge and Attitude regarding Emergency Contraceptive Pills among Non-medical Students of Pokhara University

Introduction: Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECP) refer to a birth control modality that when used with in certain time limits after unprotected intercourse can prevent an unwanted pregnancy and its adverse outcomes especially unintended births and unsafe abortions. The study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude towards Emergency Contraceptive Pills among non-medical students of Pokhara University. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used to conduct this study. Study population consisted of students of the School of Business and School of Development and Social Engineering of Pokhara University. A proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select 217 students. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were collected in the month of August, 2022 and were then analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentage, mean and SD) and inferential statistics chi-square test. Results: Result revealed that only 36.4% of respondents were aware of ECP, and 28.2% of respondents knew the correct meaning of ECP. Despite the lack of knowledge about ECP, 53.9% respondents showed a favorable attitude towards ECP. None of the demographic variables factors like age, gender, ethnicity, residence, marital status, type of family, and educational level of the respondents were found to be statistically associated with the level of knowledge. Conclusion: This study concludes that non-medical students tend to have poor knowledge regarding ECP, but a favorable attitude towards ECP. Their demographic characteristics like age, gender, ethnicity, residence, marital status, type of family, and educational level are unlikely to influence their knowledge regarding ECP.

Business Schools’ Students Willingness to Embrace the Principles of Global Ethics in Management Education and Learning

Business Schools’ Students Willingness to Embrace the Principles of Global Ethics in Management Education and Learning

Unveiling Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence Usage in Higher Education

This study explores the utilization and perception of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools among students in higher education. With the growing accessibility of AI technologies, their integration into educational settings presents a new frontier for enhancing learning experiences. This research adopts a mixed-methods approach, including surveys and interviews, to delve into how students employ AI tools and their perceived benefits and drawbacks of AI usage in the context of entrepreneurship education in a business school. The findings reveal a diverse range of AI applications, highlighting benefits such as increased productivity, personalized learning, and enhanced linguistic capability. However, concerns regarding academic integrity, over-reliance on AI, and the need for clear usage guidelines are also identified. This study contributes to the understanding of AI's role in higher education and provides much-needed empirical evidence of AI usage from students’ perspectives. Our findings underscore the importance of balanced, informed, and ethical use of AI tools in higher education.

Economic and geopolitical uncertainty vs energy variables: exploring connectedness in the LNG freight market

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the literature by applying quantile connectedness methodology to explore the impact of geopolitical and economic uncertainty on the volatility of LNG freight rates. Our findings justify modelling this market using econometric methodologies that depart from the classical Gaussian assumptions. First, we find asymmetric spillover effects between LNG freight rates, uncertainty, and energy variables, with the impact of uncertainty on the LNG rates becoming more intense at the tails of the distribution. Second, we find that the marginal variation in LNG freight rates after a shock is attributable to geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as the energy variables appear to absorb the marginal effects. Our results point to profound spillovers in the LNG freight market resulting from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and government interventions to mitigate the adverse impact of these developments. These findings contribute to the LNG freight rate risk management. This article is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled «Assessing the Impact of uncertainty and energy variables on LNG freight rates: A dynamic quantile connectedness analysis» presented at European Financial Management Association (EFMA) 2023 annual conference, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, on Thursday, June 29, 2023.

SDGs in master’s theses: a study of a Finnish University of Applied Sciences

PurposeHigher educational institutions, such as universities of applied sciences, have a significant role in promoting progress towards a sustainable future as defined by the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper aims to identify how the UN SDGs are featured in master’s theses set in work–life contexts.Design/methodology/approachUsing a descriptive review and content analysis, this study identified the number of SDGs appearing in 31 master’s theses. Sustainable development (SD) and corporate social responsibility were reflected using the approaches and models in the literature. Finland’s eight objectives for committing to SD were used to examine the commitments made by the business school of the university of applied sciences to achieve Agenda 2030.FindingsEmphasising the value of higher education for SD, this study found that SDGs three, eight and 12 appeared most frequently in the theses. Sustainable and responsible dimensions reflected several issues concerning both the worlds of business and industry among the firms and organisations investigated by the master’s degree students in the business school at the Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences.Practical implicationsThis research holds practical and pedagogical value, serving to encourage master’s and PhD students to further explore research on SDGs and to shape public policy.Originality/valueSustainability was looked at in a new way as investigated by the theses. Ways to integrate the SDGs into management degree programmes and conduct research in the fields of business administration, tourism and hospitality management were identified.

DEVELOPING WHAT CAN’T BE TAUGHT: CREATING AN EFFECTIVE PORTFOLIO OF STUDENT OUTCOMES THROUGH A STUDENT-RUN DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to provide an extended case study of the development of and early outcomes of a student-run digital marketing agency. Employers are looking to hire graduates who are “work ready.” In the area of digital marketing, this is especially challenging given the rapid pace of change in the industry where new technologies, companies and business processes seem to be introduced on a weekly basis. To build a bridge between the undergraduate marketing curriculum and the practice of digital marketing, an AACSB-accredited business school in northern New England created a student-run digital marketing agency that functions within and alongside the marketing course structure. This required the development of an ecosystem to support the agency and provide the business school’s undergraduate students with an opportunity to work with real clients and industry professionals using the latest tools and techniques. Initially focusing on the application of hard skills of digital marketing and industry technologies, we found that equal or higher value and interest for our students were the soft skills and client interactions they developed as part of the agency experience.

Mastering the Field: A Critical Analysis of 'Entrepreneurial Finance' by Leach and Melicher

About The Book Book Name: Entrepreneurial Finance, 7th Edition, 2020 Authors Name: J. Chris Leach, and Ronald W. Melicher, Publisher: Cengage Learning Publishing, Identifiers: ISBN 0357130731, 9780357130735 About The Authors J. Chris Leach is a distinguished academic and Professor at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado at Boulder. He is known for his exceptional teaching abilities, entrepreneurial background, and research in finance. Leach has received awards for teaching and has played an active role in startups since the 1970s. He is also a faculty advisor and mentor for the Deming Center Venture Fund. Ronald W. Melicher is a distinguished Professor of Finance at the same university. He is celebrated for his teaching abilities and has held key positions in the Finance Division. Ronald's expertise spans various finance topics and has taught at prestigious institutions globally. He is also recognized as an expert in financial management and firm valuation, offering consultancy services and conducting research in critical areas of finance.

Technology-Enabled Agent Choice and Uptake of Social Assistance Programs: Evidence from India’s Food Security Program

Problem definition: Beneficiaries of social assistance programs with transfers of undifferentiated commodities often have a designated agent to collect their entitlements from. This gives monopoly power to agents over beneficiaries. When coupled with weak government monitoring, agents do not have incentives to adhere to stipulated operating guidelines, leading to reduced uptake by beneficiaries. Some governments are attempting to break the monopoly by allowing beneficiaries to choose agents. However, the impact of choice on uptake may be limited by lack of alternate agents in beneficiaries’ vicinities, restricted ability of agents to compete with undifferentiated commodities, and collusion among agents. Methodology/results: Using a reverse difference-in-differences framework on data from a food security program in two neighboring states in India, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, we find that providing agent choice results in a 6.6% increase in the quantity of entitlements collected by the beneficiary households. We also find that increase in uptake is about four times higher in regions with high agent density compared with those with low agent density. This emphasizes the importance of having an alternate agent in the vicinity for choice to be effective. Nearly all of the increase in uptake is attributable to new beneficiaries collecting entitlements from their preassigned agent. This is suggestive of agents improving adherence to operating guidelines in response to choice. We find associative evidence for this response in the number of days agents keep their shops open. Managerial implications: Governments executing in-kind transfers of undifferentiated commodities are piloting interventions to provide choice to their beneficiaries. Replacement of in-kind transfers with cash, an increasingly popular intervention, may be challenging in volatile markets, as the magnitude of the transfer needs to be periodically adjusted. Our results indicate that alternate designs of providing choice even in a limited form, that is, the place where the beneficiaries can collect their entitlements with products and prices fixed, can present a viable alternative. Funding: This research was partially supported by a grant from the Omidyar Network to the Digital Identity Research Initiative at the Indian School of Business. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0528 .

Business scholars’ time allocation under the lens of the self-managed approach of academic’s role and the outcome-focused perspective of university’s strategic management

PurposeThis article explores whether six broad categories of activities undertaken by Canadian business scholars’ academics: publications record, citations record, teaching load, administrative load, consulting activities, and knowledge spillovers transfer, are complementary, substitute, or independent, as well as the conditions under which complementarities, substitution and independence among these activities are likely to occur.Design/methodology/approachA multivariate probit model is estimated to take into account that business scholars have to consider simultaneously whether or not to undertake many different academic activities. Metrics from Google Scholar of scholars from 35 Canadian business schools, augmented by a survey data on factors explaining the productivity and impact performances of these faculty members, are used to explain the heterogeneities between the determinants of these activities.FindingsOverall, the results reveal that there are complementarities between publications and citations, publications and knowledge spillovers transfer, citations and consulting, and between consulting and knowledge spillovers transfer. The results also suggest that there are substitution effects between publications and teaching, publications and administrative load, citations and teaching load, and teaching load and administrative load. Moreover, results show that public and private funding, business schools’ reputation, scholar’s relational resources, and business school size are among the most influential variables on the scholar’s portfolio of activities.Originality/valueThis study considers simultaneously the scholar’s whole portfolio of activities. Moreover, the determinants considered in this study to explain scholars’ engagement in different activities reconcile two conflicting perspectives: (1) the traditional self-managed approach of academics, and (2) the outcomes-focused approach of university management.

Entrepreneurial Marketing – 4Ps Approach in MSME Industrial Clusters of Karnataka

Historically speaking, Many scholars though argue marketing and entrepreneurship as has been looked upon as a something what distinct and unreasonable relationship components, unrelated to each other, However, several the studies argue in favour of done till today have contributed to collate interlinking these two disciplines. In the last two decades, efforts have been made to theoretically as well as empirically Studies have also identified and evaluated the relationships between these two fields, which has led to the emergence of new area of theoretically as well as practically. In the last two decades, a new area of marketing is identified and, focused, and called known as “Entrepreneurial Marketing”. Entrepreneurial Marketing has grown both as a discipline as well as a subject in various management schools. Entrepreneurial Marketing helps the firms to adopt bold postures in changing the business environment. Entrepreneurial Marketing is originates from two major discipline’s, namely, Entrepreneurship and Marketing. Entrepreneurial Firms, Commonly as owner -managed firms, have the characteristics of Opportunity Focus, Pro-activeness, Customer Intensity, Risk Taking, Innovation, Resource Leveraging and Value Creation which are seen similar to Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Marketing identified by various scholars/academicians over a period of time. The aim of this paper is to bring out the origin and development of Entrepreneurial Marketing, How the definitions of Entrepreneurial marketing and its dimensions have changed over a period, and measuring dimensions of Entrepreneurial Marketing in MSME Entrepreneurial Firms along with 4Ps in selected Industrial Clusters of Karnataka.

Implementation of Knowledge Management in Universities of India

This article examines the essential need for and difficulties related with the adoption of knowledge management (KM) strategies in institutions across India. The implementation of information Management, a methodical strategy for acquiring, arranging, and distributing institutional information, is becoming more and more crucial in the swiftly changing environment of higher education. The essay explores the specific circumstances of Indian universities, where a variety of academic fields, cultural subtleties, and administrative intricacies provide particular obstacles to the efficient administration of information. The use of Knowledge Management (KM) at Indian institutions is examined in relation to worldwide patterns and the revolutionary influence it may have on academic and administrative procedures. The paper emphasizes the possible advantages, such as increased cooperation, better decision-making, and optimized resource allocation. It also acknowledges the need for a cultural transformation inside academic institutions to promote a culture of sharing information among academics, students, and administrative personnel. Moreover, the study analyses the necessary technology infrastructure for effectively implementing knowledge management in Indian institutions. The text highlights the significance of using sophisticated information systems, cloud computing, and data analytics to enable effective generation, storage, and retrieval of knowledge. The significance of leadership in spearheading this cultural and technical transformation is underscored, as successful knowledge management requires robust institutional backing and strategic foresight. The article discusses the obstacles that arise while adopting Knowledge Management (KM) at Indian universities and business schools, including opposition to change, concerns over data security, and the need for capacity training. The article suggests implementing a gradual and flexible strategy, customized to the specific attributes of each university, to address these obstacles and optimize the advantages of knowledge management in promoting the academic objectives and overall efficiency of higher education institutions in India.

A Study of Employee Digital Supply Chain Skill Needs and Business School Executive Education Program Coverage of These Skills

Digital technologies are being widely adopted to bring visibility and efficiency to supply chains, but employees often lack the technology skills needed to use them effectively. This situation presents significant opportunities for business school executive education programs to access new pools of students and remain relevant as a source of employee technology training, even as they face stiff competition from a myriad of online training providers. This study examined business school executive education websites to determine the extent to which they are meeting the digital supply chain training needs of corporate employees. Findings indicate that, although employee format preferences for short, online, customized, flexible courses have been built into executive education programs, a number of critical digital supply chain topics are covered by only a few business school programs or not at all.

Corporate governance mishap in a startup: a case of GoMechanic

Learning outcomes The case study is designed to help students understand how the “growth at all costs” attitude can lead to compromised corporate governance in a start-up leading to disastrous implications for all the stakeholders. This case study aims to make students understand the components of the fraud triangle, the impact of financial fraud on various stakeholders, the role of venture capitalist (VC) investors and the importance of good corporate governance in start-ups. The case study presents an excellent opportunity for students to discuss the consequences of ignoring good governance in the pursuit of growth in a start-up. After analyzing the case study, the students shall be able to explain the concept of the fraud triangle and to be able to identify the motivation, opportunity and rationalization of financial irregularities in a start-up; analyze the impact of financial irregularities on various stakeholders; comprehend the business model of VCs and evaluate its influence on VC-funded start-ups; and appraise the importance of good corporate governance in start-ups. Case overview/synopsis The case study revolves around the confession of financial irregularities made by one of the cofounders of GoMechanic, a start-up headquartered in Gurugram, India. On January 18, 2023, Amit Bhasin confessed to financial irregularities in the company’s financial statements, leading to laying off 70% of the workforce of the company. GoMechanic had earlier raised close to US$62m [1] from maverick global investors including Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Orios Venture Partners and Chiratae Ventures, and was negotiating to raise Series D financing from the Japanese multinational SoftBank with aspirations to be a unicorn (start-up with a valuation of over $1bn). The confession led to a debate about the consequences of the “growth at all cost” culture being followed by start-ups as well as VCs. GoMechanic was not an isolated instance of a lack of governance in the start-ups. The confession had consequences not only for the GoMechanic but for the entire start-up ecosystem of India, which was the third largest in the world. Bhasin stated that the founders take full responsibility for the situation, and they were working on a plan which was most viable under the circumstances. However, it was not going to be easy to regain the confidence of the investors. Complexity academic level The case study is best suited for senior undergraduate- and graduate-level business school students and in executive education programs in courses such as corporate governance and ethics, private equity and entrepreneurial finance. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 1: Accounting and finance

A Smart Leader in VUCA World: Presenting Key Components of Strategic Leadership Using SLR Method

The current study compiles and summarizes the key findings of the researches conducted on strategic leadership to meet VUCA world’s demand for organizational excellence, sustainable growth, competitive advantages and people centric approach using SPAR-4-SLR protocol technique. Reputed international journals of ABDC A*, A & B ranking are referred to extract corresponding findings of quality research articles on strategic intents of progressive and transformational leadership. Using SLR method the study tries to collate relevant evidences based upon ‘systematic procedures and rationales’ disclosing key parameters of smart leadership required in today’s dynamic business world. Here, ‘smart’ word refers to a ‘learnt leader through experience’ than ‘a trained leader in a business school’. With the help of ‘Systematic Literature Review (SLR)’ technique, the study finds ‘idealized influence (4 component), intellectual stimulation (2 factors), individual consideration (4 factors) and inspirational motivation (4 factors) are identified as the key components of a strategic leadership in today’s VUCA world. The research also presents four elements of a smart leader viz. social intelligence, emotional intelligence, professional wisdom and spiritual intelligence.

Introducing a Problem-Posing Protocol to Encourage Management Students’ Reflections on Sustainability Premises

The goal of this article is to examine and develop problem-posing case study teaching methods to promote business students’ reflections on their premises around sustainability practices. Literature on transformative learning in sustainability informed our hypothesis that problem-posing instead of problem-solving case study teaching would yield greater incidences of students’ premise reflections at the deepest level. For our quasi-experimental design, undergraduate students at a business school were presented with a teaching case of corporate sustainability then half were given problem-solving prompts for critical reflection while the other half were given problem-posing prompts. Resultant responses were classified to expose differences in the nature and levels of reflection between these two groups. This pedagogical research indicated that the problem-posing group reached deeper levels of reflections, though further research is needed to better understand this phenomenon. We advocate for the utility of a problem-posing approach in sustainability education. This study contributes a problem-posing protocol for business schools, curricula, and professors, as well as suggestions for further research for theoretical understanding of problem posing for transformative learning in sustainability.