Executive Master Of Business Administration Research Articles

Design Thinking in the Executive MBA

This article describes the redesign of a Strategic Vision course in an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program in the United States, and the subsequent use of design thinking as a critical problem-solving tool in the program itself. Using Design Thinking as the curricular framework, this experiential course aims to introduce business executives to solving business challenges through design thinking methodologies. Over eight weeks, student teams work with external project partners to produce creative business solutions to current and complex organizational challenges. Teams are introduced to Design Thinking and practice steps in the Design Thinking process by applying them to a real-life business challenge. Here, we describe the genesis of the course redesign, iterations on its content, and the feedback it has received from students, faculty, and project partners, in the hope that it will contribute to the curation of new design frameworks in higher education.

Evolving shared value, sustainability and the leadership challenge: Grootbos Private Nature Reserve

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes of this study are to assess the shared value model and elaborate on new multi-stakeholder approaches to business, where the stakeholders include the founders, investors, partners, employees, clients and the surrounding community; to consider the synergies between community development, environmental stewardship, sustainable business practices and the long-term health of organisations and communities, considering these as the new fundamentals of business; to examine the interconnectedness of vision, strategy, purpose and leadership in creating and evolving the shared value model; to explore the relationship between shared value practices and collective well-being, and a specific reference to nurturing transformative experiences through nature, personal development and community upliftment is made; and to assess Grootbos’ ability to translate their purpose and value proposition into a strategy and sustainable vision with a possibility of Grootbos achieving global impact through its evolving model, beyond the founder. Case overview/synopsis This case study explores the evolution of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and Foundation, a luxury hospitality lodge and award-winning ecotourism destination, from humble beginnings in the Western Cape of South Africa to a global example of conservation, community, commerce sustainability and transformative experiences. The establishing of Grootbos and its growth and widespread recognition can be attributed to the vision and inspirational leadership of its founder, Michael Lutzeyer. Although much success has been achieved in conservation, community upliftment and individual development of community members within their region, Lutzeyer’s and ultimately, Grootbos’ vision extended well beyond South Africa and aspired to elevate their floral kingdom and model of development and conservation to a global platform of awareness. Although a shared value vision and strategy had transformed the business, placing Grootbos as a leader in transforming their industry and sparking an evolution in the shared value model itself through the interjection of transformative experiences, the larger question remained: How can Grootbos extend the impact, towards people and planetary well-being, beyond the scope of their individual place-based business and their industry? And in terms of the dilemma Lutzeyer and the management team at Grootbos faced: How will this vision and global ambition continue through succession, beyond Luzeyer’s personal drive at the helm? Complexity academic level Experienced leaders within a graduate degree program, executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) or executive education in the areas of leadership development, strategy, shared value and international business. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS4: Environmental management.

A study on EMBA students’ cognitive and decision-making models in learning through play

In light of rapid changes in global sectors, the cultivation of middle-senior managers have become more important than ever. And as such, numerous incumbent middle-senior managers across different companies have chosen to complete their Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) while still working full-time at their jobs. Needless to say, EMBA students’ profound experience in decision-making at their relevant career domains serves as an invaluable source of data for related researches. Therefore, by investigating and analyzing the cognitive and decision-making models of EMBA students, we can potentially formulate innovative teaching strategies that can cultivate more management talents. In this study, lag sequential analysis has been chosen to process the cognitive and decision-making models of EMBA students as they learn through play. The differences in cognitive and decision-making models of students in different performance groups have also been analyzed. The study found that the cognitive and decision-making models of EMBA students are highly interactive in nature. Not only that, the cognitive and decision-making models of students in different performance groups reveal significant differences. By comparing students in the two groups, the study would recommend business schools and enterprises adopt learning through playing or establish systems of adaptive game-based learning for students.

Dozee: crafting opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic [1

Research methodology This case was developed from secondary sources. The secondary sources included company websites, social media and news reports. This case has been classroom tested in multiple executive master of business administration (MBA) courses on business model innovation and entrepreneurship. Case overview/synopsis The case traces the entrepreneurial journey of Dozee, a remote patient monitoring system in India. Dozee was manufactured by Turtle Shell Technologies Private Limited, cofounded by Mudit and Gaurav. The primary customers of Dozee’s offering were households with elderly citizens and health-conscious individuals who sought preventive health care. The cofounders identified the unmet need for a convenient and user-friendly contactless health tracker. Dozee team built a thin sensor-embedded sheet and module that can be placed beneath the mattress to track sleep patterns and health vitals. They also provided data analysis and data interpretation services. After four years of conceptualization, Dozee launched its product and service in 2019. Although the initial response was lukewarm, the onset of the COVID-19 crisis led to significant changes in the health-care industry. Demand for virtual assistance and contactless monitoring devices became increasingly important elements of COVID-19 treatment. Unlike other sensor-based fitness trackers, the sheet could be easily placed under the patient’s bed to capture health vitals. Choosing to pivot from a home-based individual customer segment to a medical-grade device provider for hospitals could significantly increase the scale and scope of the offering for Dozee, but it would also place Dozee in direct competition with other health monitoring devices from different business categories. Complexity academic level This case is appropriate for MBA and executive-level courses related to entrepreneurship and business model innovation. The case explores issues such as digital disruption and how start-ups can design a go-to-market strategy. The case works well in the classroom, even if people are unfamiliar with the health-care industry. Participants can certainly relate to the concept of adopting artificial intelligence–enabled devices for monitoring their health. The instructor should be able to quickly engage participants in a lively discussion about Dozee’s vision and the opportunities and challenges in adopting digital solutions in health care.

Students’ Perceptions of Postgraduate Research Supervision at Botswana Open University

Research supervision in higher education is considered essential in promoting lifelong learning and the creation of knowledge. At Botswana Open University (BOU) research supervision is conducted at a distance. However, this mode of supervision is not without its challenges. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students on research supervision in three master’s programmes namely: Master of Education (Educational Leadership), Commonwealth Executive Master of Business Administration and Commonwealth Executive Master in Public Administration. The problem was that despite graduate students being allocated supervisors there continued to be a significant number of students who fail to complete their research on time or even failed to complete their programme of study due to the incomplete dissertation. This study was situated within the theory of Transactional Distance by Moore (1991). The study adopted a qualitative approach to gather data and purposive sampling was preferred to gather data from students who were in their final year of the identified programmes. A thematic approach comprising students- supervisor relations, supervision models, and research support was adopted for analysing the data. Some of the key findings revealed that students encountered a series of challenges regarding supervision, indicating that their experiences were varied. There were variations in student supervisor relations and student research support for the different programmes. Education students had a positive supervision experience while Business students indicated having had challenges with their supervision. In conclusion, the study recommends possible strategies that could enhance graduate research supervision experience and student research completion.

Does benevolent leadership consistently lead to employees' voluntary behaviors?

PurposeBenevolent leadership is a leadership style in which leaders show consideration for their employees' work and life. Empirical studies have shown inconsistent relationships between benevolent leadership and employees' voluntary behaviors. Therefore, this study examined benevolent leadership's mediating (gratitude) and moderating (trust) mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachOverall, 792 questionnaires were collected from Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) and continuing education students at a public university in Taiwan. The research model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis and the PROCESS module.FindingsBenevolent leadership influenced three voluntary behaviors of employees directly and indirectly through enhanced gratitude. Emotional trust moderated the relationship between work care and employee gratitude such that the positive relationship was stronger for employees with higher emotional trust levels.Practical implicationsBenevolent leadership is an effective leadership style that cares about employees' work and lives, enhancing their gratitude and engagement in voluntary behaviors.Originality/valueThe mediating effect of gratitude and the moderating effect of trust provide a possible explanation for the inconsistent relationships between benevolent leadership and voluntary behaviors.

The long-term impact of coaching in an executive MBA program

Purpose The purpose of this qualitative study is to conduct an exploratory investigation of the impact and sustainability of coaching on career and leadership development of students and later, alumni, in an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program. Design/methodology/approach The sample for this qualitative study consisted of 14 alumni of an EMBA program at a private university in the Southwestern US who graduated between January 2012 and May 2019. Eleven alumni participated in the focus groups, and three alumni participated in personal interviews. Findings The open coding of the data resulted in three emergent themes (personal development by overcoming personal deficiencies, coaching translates to learning about leadership and coaching motivates sustained change) that confirmed the positive long-term effect of coaching as part of an EMBA program. Practical implications By participating in an executive coaching engagement, the EMBA students learned a development process that they could repeat for themselves after graduation and transfer to others. In addition, the EMBA students were able to leverage knowledge gained from the coaching experience for the development of others. Originality/value While the positive impacts of coaching are well-documented, its long-term impact on EMBA students/alumni has not yet been studied. This study builds on other evaluative studies to identify the benefits of executive coaching.

Executive MBA (EMBA) Degree–Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Certificate Integrated Program at the University of Rochester: A Pathway to Earn a Specialized Finance Degree During Residency Training

Executive MBA (EMBA) Degree–Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Certificate Integrated Program at the University of Rochester: A Pathway to Earn a Specialized Finance Degree During Residency Training

Enlarging sustainability learning through integrative thinking with a focus on cultivating virtues

PurposeIn the African context of business practice, the authors face two interrelated challenges. First, executives need to deal strategically and sustainably with growing levels of inequality, under-employment and declining levels of wellness and safety. Second, executive development needs to develop virtues to help executives to address these problems. This paper aims to articulate an integrated, sustainable business education approach that aims to prepare executives to practice integrative thinking while simultaneously cultivating virtues that enhance their lives, thereby enabling them to make ongoing sustainable impacts to their worlds.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a mixed method analysis including both quantitative and qualitative data from student course feedback evaluations from Business Model Innovation (BMI) and Phronesis Development Practice courses run over four consecutive years between 2018 and 2021 at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business as part of the Executive Masters of Business Administration degree.FindingsThe program’s pedagogical approach integrates a philosophical habituation process with a core course on BMI practice. This philosophical integration is one in which there is a sustainable focus on cultivating specific “process” and “practice” virtues which foster awareness amongst executives of their everyday mundane skilful coping in the world. This leads to candidates becoming attuned to ways, in which they can strive for more authenticity and to step into newer ways of being, that allow them to reflect their values and evolve cultural practices.Originality/valueAs the first business school in Africa to base a BMI course on the affordances of the phenomenon of being-in-the-world and a philosophical habituation process, the authors hope to inspire more business schools to adopt holistic, sustainable approaches to executive development that goes beyond the competence paradigm.

The role of founder reign in explaining family firms' R&D investment: evidence from China

PurposeBased on the socioemotional wealth theory, this study aims to empirically investigate how founder reign, that is a founder serving as a cheif executive officer (CEO) or chairman, influences family firms' research and development (R&D) investment in emerging economies (e.g. China).Design/methodology/approachThis study empirically tested the hypotheses based on a sample of listed Chinese family companies from 2008 to 2018.FindingsFounder reign has a negative impact on family firms' R&D investment. Particularly, the negative impact of the founder serving as chairman on family firms' R&D investment is larger than the negative impact of the founder serving as CEO on family firms' R&D investment. Founder's military experience weakens the negative impact of founder reign on family firms' R&D investment, but founder's executive master of business administration (E)MBA experience has no moderating effect on this relationship.Originality/valueFirst, the authors contribute to the family firm innovation literature by providing an alternative but complementary explanation of why family firms have relatively low R&D investment levels. This research shows that founder reign is a key reason for family firms in China eschewing R&D investment. Second, by incorporating the founder serving as CEO and the founder serving as chairman into the analytical framework, and then examining their impact on family firms' R&D investment, our research helps us to fully understand the impact of founder reign on firm strategic actions. Third, we contribute to the “founder reign-firm strategic actions” framework by revealing how founders' human capital profoundly affects the relationship between founder reign and family firms' R&D investment.

How to Assess the Learning of Executives Enrolled in Your Managerial Communication Course

In this article, I provide you, the instructor of a graduate level communication course, with an example of a take-home comprehensive final exam, which for me has proved to be practicable, and enjoyable for students. I started using this assessment in fall 2013 because students enrolled in our Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program at Prairie View A&M University are seasoned executives, and would find routine lower-level multiple choice questions boring and mundane (See Bloom’s [1956] Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application vs. analysis, synthesis and evaluation). Therefore, the 20 questions featured in my take-home final exam, shown in the body of this article, are in-depth, higher-level cognitive questions, designed to assess learning at the synthesis and evaluative judgment levels concerning managerial communication literature. There are 26 items in the reference section, including classic books on management, which are the required readings from the course syllabus, to supplement the two course textbooks: Bell and Martin (2019a) “Managerial communication for organizational development; Bell and Martin (2019b) “Managerial communication for professional development.” Serious executives appreciate reading communication chapters from great books, for example, Barnard (1938); Hall (1971); Katz and Kahn (1966); Simon (1976); Drucker (1973); Mintzberg (1973); Peters and Waterman, (1982); Phillips (1985); Schein (1992); Bennis and Nanus (1985); Brown (1973); Daft, Bettenhausen, and Tyler (1993); Ulrich and Lake (1990); Zuboff (1988); and Deal and Kennedy (1999). Over the years, this type of exam has resulted in a rich learning environment for my students. By-the-way, students learn how to answer the 20 questions throughout an 8-week term, by means of various reading assignments and the Socratic approach.

Post acquisition brand identity: acquisition of Flipkart group by Walmart Inc.

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: factors to be considered in devising the best post-acquisition brand identity and outline market research techniques, which can be used to identify the best-suited post-acquisition brand identity strategy. Case overview/synopsis The case study discusses the brand strategy, which Walmart Inc needs to adopt post its acquisition of Flipkart Pvt. Ltd (Flipkart) Group in India. Flipkart had acquired Myntra Designs Pvt. Ltd (Myntra) and Novarris Fashion Trading Private Limited (Jabong), but had kept their brand identity intact; Walmart Inc was faced with the decision on moving ahead with the brand strategy of keeping individual brand identities or merging all of these into a single brand identity. The study aims to provide valuable insights into the decision-making process adopted by Walmart Inc. It includes also the role of cause-related marketing in the positioning of Myntra as a socially responsible brand. The case study opted for an exploratory research design study using the qualitative research method of in-depth interviews. In total, 10 experts in the area of marketing, market research and marketing communication were interviewed. The qualitative data were analyzed using a template approach, which analyzes the text using a codebook or an analysis guide. The analysis guide already has clearly defined themes or categories. As the qualitative interviews progress, these themes get revised. These themes are analyzed qualitatively rather than statistically. The case study suggests to the management of Walmart Inc that they need to merge Myntra and Jabong based on the degree of similarity of consumer demographics, income/social class of buyers, brand identity and buying behavior. Myntra needs to retain as opposed to Jabong, as Myntra is perceived to be a socially responsible brand that creates a purchase disposition in the minds of the consumers. A more extensive quantitative study would offer better generalizability. It was not feasible to conduct a quantitative study due to time constraints. This research would have used advanced brand imagery assessment techniques such as multi-dimensional scaling to suggest if an overlap exists between consumer segments of Myntra and Jabong. The case study provides a decision-making framework to firms and individuals who are part of organizational teams to create a post-acquisition brand strategy in the e-commerce market. The case study fulfills a need for many academicians and practitioners to understand the decision-making process followed in devising a post-acquisition brand strategy in India. Complexity academic level Senior undergraduates; Master of Business Administration; Executive Master of Business Administration. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.

Managing inventory at GoUNESCO

Learning outcomes This case calls out the following inventory management learning objectives in a project context: to understand the project categories of inventories and their drivers for planning purposes, to learn how to manage different categories of inventory and to learn the importance of effective allocation of inventory at different project locations. Case overview/synopsis GoUNESCO is a start-up formed with the objective of providing a platform for laypersons to engage with places of heritage value. Among others, one of the key components of this platform is “go heritage runs,” in short GHR. In the past three years, the popularity of runs organized under the brand GHR has been increasing, both in terms of locations and the number of participants in each location in successive years. Inventory planning and management for projects is tricky. Different categories of inventory have different implications of shortages or excesses. The case dwells into inventory planning and management of t-shirts and medals, to drive home this point. Complexity academic level The case can be positioned in service operations management or supply chain management courses while covering inventory management topics for both Master of Business Administration (MBA) and executive MBA students. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Understanding emotional empathy at postgraduate business programmes: what does the use of EEG reveal for future leaders?

PurposeThis paper focusses on the leaders' ability to recognise and empathise with emotions. This is important because leadership and particularly transformational leadership are principally focussed on an individual's social interactions and their ability to identify emotions and to react empathetically to the emotions of others (Psychogios and Dimitriadis, 2020). Many leadership theorists suggest the ability to have and display empathy is an important part of leadership (Bass, 1990; Walumbwa et al., 2008).Design/methodology/approachTo examine the extent to which those who work in jobs with a significant element of leadership education can recognise and empathise with emotions, 99 part-time postgraduate executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) students took part in an emotional recognition test. First, all participants were shown a sequence of pictures portraying different human facial expressions and the electrical activity in the brain as a result of the visual stimuli were recorded using an electroencephalogram (EEG). The second stage of the research was for the participants to see the same seven randomised images, but this time, they had to report what emotion they believed they had visualised and the intensity of it on a self-reporting scale.FindingsThis study demonstrated that the ability to recognise emotions is more accurate using EEG techniques compared to participants using self-reporting surveys. The findings from this study provide academic departments with evidence that more work needs to be done with students to develop their emotional recognition skills. Particularly for those students who are or will go onto occupy leadership roles.Originality/valueThe use of neuroscientific approaches has long been used in clinical settings. However, few studies have applied these approaches to develop the authors’ understanding of their use in social sciences. Therefore, this paper provides an original and unique insight into the use of these techniques in higher education.

UNDERSTANDING triggering skills for ENTREPRENEURS: The case of ESIC

The aim of this paper is to present the methodology and results of a study on the role played by an institution in higher education, the ESIC Business & Marketing School, in teaching different master's degree programmes to examine whether they respond to the demands of potential entrepreneurs who are seeking to acquire the tools and develop the skills necessary to eventually become successful. The main conclusions were that the students with the intention of achieving a higher level of entrepreneurial skills were enroled in the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) programme without omitting other master's degree programmes also chosen by students with entrepreneurial concerns. It was also found that the variable with the highest impact on entrepreneurial motivation was family environment. Our data lead us to maintain that these students were not always going to start up a new business. The originality of this paper comes from our survey with 1,135 responses from the master's degree programmes taught in five cities in Spain with the inclusion of an analysis for LATAM students.

What next for Tech SA? Aligning leadership, culture and strategy

Learning outcomes Identify, compare and contrast current and aspirational organisational cultures. Describe desired leadership capacities and how these contribute to building a culture and strategy. Describe ways to align culture with strategy including building an ambidextrous organisation. Case overview/synopsis Growth remained flat for Tech SA towards the end of 2016. As a subsidiary of a global information technology services firm, Tech SA was under pressure to meet its growth plan. With this in mind, a new culture and values framework to be more innovative, collaborative and responsive had been adopted. This was to match the demands of the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world the company finds itself in. While the organisation had a tradition of serving long-standing clients and contracts to high standards, it was not used to working with radical change and disruptive innovation. To achieve this, significant changes in leadership behaviours were required. The organisation had recognised the need for these changes and a leadership development programme was devised to enable 200 of its top leaders to make the required cultural and behavioural shifts to lead in these times. Although the leadership programme was well into its second year, the targets of the growth plan had not been achieved and the leadership behaviours had not yet been instilled across the business. If the growth plan was not achieved, John would need to consider cost-cutting and retrenching. This was the last thing John wanted to do as he had worked alongside his colleagues for 12 years. What else could John do and say to the leaders to make the required changes urgently needed as a matter of survival? What would it take to deliver to existing clients and explore new products and markets? Complexity academic level Masters, Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Executive MBA and Executive leadership. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.

Game—Rolling the Dice on Global Supply Chain Sustainability: A Total Cost of Ownership Simulation

Sustainability in management education is a potential solution to societal challenges, influencing students’ worldviews and attitudes to contribute to a more profound social change. Through this innovative dice-based classroom simulation, students are exposed to supply chain sustainability, total cost of ownership (TCO), and risk management while also understanding their linkages through effective instructor debrief. Student teams compete by selecting sourcing options such as supplier location, transportation methods, and sustainability reputation from a menu, then see how their decisions fare as the product-line life cycle is simulated with a dice. The debrief facilitated by the instructor compares and contrasts results across the teams, generating insights into the interrelationships between supply chain sustainability choices, TCO, and risk management. Successfully conducted by multiple instructors, in multiple countries, and across all levels of management education (undergraduate, master of science, and executive master of business administration), survey results (n = 350) plus a pilot study (n = 31) confirm that this dice-based simulation accomplishes multiple learning objectives while also providing a highly engaging experiential learning classroom environment for this sample.

Fun while it lasted: Executive MBA student perceptions of the value of academic research

ABSTRACTThe extent to which academic research informs both student learning and practice has been repeatedly debated in the accounting and broader academic literature. However, despite its supposed symbiotic relationship, the nexus between research and teaching, as well as research and practice, has rarely been investigated within the confines of a single study. In this research, we compare and contrast the perceptions of Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) students studying accounting in two Australian universities in relation to the perceived usefulness of published academic research embedded in an accounting curriculum in (i) explaining, clarifying and learning accounting principles; and (ii) informing current and future practitioners. Our findings indicate that although EMBA students readily embrace the use of accounting research in the classroom, there is a need for educators to explicitly demonstrate the credibility of academic research if the findings of such research are to be adopted in practice.

Determinants of the Performance of Chinese Funded Projects in Kenya: A Case of "One Belt One Road" Initiative Project

A Research Project Submitted to the School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of Executive Master of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, June, 2019

Silulo Ulutho Technologies: African social enterprise driving inclusive business practice

Learning outcomes This paper aims to present an opportunity to explore the opportunities and challenges involved in running a business with a strongly ingrained social vision in the complex, multi-dimensional environment of an emerging economy. Key learning areas are as follows: How the concept of inclusive innovation applies to the real-world difficulties faced by businesses operating in informal economies. By exploring the tensions between growth and inclusivity in Silulo’s development, students will grasp the challenges entrepreneurs face as a business starts to gain momentum and change, and gain appreciation for the trade-offs that occur when choosing between franchising and organic growth. The challenges of a rapidly evolving technological environment, the need to adapt service offerings at pace, and the importance of balancing financial considerations with deeper social values will find application far beyond the informal economy context of the Silulo story. Case overview/synopsis This teaching case looks at Silulo Ulutho Technologies via CEO Luvuyo Rani and the challenges he faces in balancing expansion and profitability with its mission of empowering disenfranchised communities – challenges exacerbated by a changing telecommunications environment, with more widespread internet availability, mobile phones and online training courses encroaching on Silulo’s traditional service offering. Complexity academic level This case focusses primarily on the processes of inclusive innovation and is suitable for graduate courses in social entrepreneurship, business model innovation, sustainability, business and society, strategic management, emerging markets, business in Africa and organisational studies in general. The case is suitable for Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive MBA academic programmes and delegates on Executive Education programmes. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship