Business School Research Articles

A Model of Lecturers Professional Development in Business School of Research Universities in the 21st Century

In the era of the 21st-century knowledge economy, research universities serve as strategic pillars for fostering an innovative nation, leveraging their unique strengths to establish national scientific and technological forces that support high-level self-reliance in science and technology. Meanwhile, the professional development of lecturers constitutes a crucial component of research activities within these institutions. Nevertheless, inadequate research has been conducted in this domain, leading to a deficiency in societal impact. This study employs content analysis to explore the lecturers professional development in business school and to build a model of the lecturers professional development in the business school of research universities in the 21st century. According to the content analysis, the results indicate that lecturers effectively advance their professional development by fully exploiting the ample resources offered by business schools within research universities, integrating their attributes, international training programs, and scientific research for personal enrichment. The article suggests establishing a novel mechanism to foster the professional development of lecturers and facilitate the exchange and recruitment of talented individuals. Encourage professional development among lecturers and foster the dissemination of innovative resources, ultimately resulting in heightened production of high-quality research in academic institutions.

A Path Study on the Integration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education and Professional Education: Taking the Marketing Major of Guilin University of Electronic Science and Technology as an Example

School of Business, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin The integration of innovation and entrepreneurship education with professional education is of great significance in promoting teaching reform in universities and improving the quality of talent cultivation. Taking the Marketing major of Guilin University of Electronic Science and Technology as an example, based on the OBE concept, synergy theory, and Herzberg's two factor theory, this study deeply constructs a path for the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship education and professional education from multiple levels such as the target layer, action layer, and support layer, in order to provide reference for further promoting the deep integration of innovation and entrepreneurship education and professional education in Chinese universities.541000, China

Examining the Foundation: Scaffolding “soft” skills from entry to graduation in an undergraduate business program

Critical thinking, creativity, communication, teamwork, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, empathy, resilience, ambition, grit, innovation... (Heckman & Kautz, 2012). These skills, known as a contentious four-letter “S” word (soft), are considered a requirement for employment and advancement for the 21st-century graduate (Carnevale & Smith, 2013). Within a School of Business, in an environment highly regarded for technical skill achievement in diploma and degree graduates, faculty set out to investigate the contentiousness and inclusion of human skills in curriculum outcomes. While not directly built into the curriculum, there is an institutional understanding that human skill development is innately a part of the programs. The intention is that human skills (LeBusque, 2020), or power skills (PMI, 2022) naturally occur during course delivery, creating a commonality across foundational courses to reinforce the skill sets identified, developed, and refined as students complete their credentials. However, industry reports (Lapointe & Turner, 2020; RBC, 2019) and the authors’ own institutional data collected from new graduates and employers indicated room for improvement in these skills. To gain a better understanding, the authors undertook a critical examination through a document analysis of all common core courses that form the program foundation. This involved 24 common courses, comprising 1,442-course objectives or outcomes, resulting in a range of 134 Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs. In this paper, the authors begin the first phase of this comprehensive study with a return to the course foundations. Through this analysis, the authors present a framework to better understand and strengthen the learning foundation, to proceed with realignment and strategic scaffolding of both technical and human skills from entry through graduation. Keywords: business education, skill development, course objectives, Bloom's Taxonomy, 21st-century graduate, document analysis

A “Going Concern” and the Need to Fully Integrate Economics in the Business School Curriculum

A “Going Concern” and the Need to Fully Integrate Economics in the Business School Curriculum

What Earnings Management Has to Do with Corporate Social Responsibility

With the continuing rise of attention towards societal challenges like, e.g., climate change, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) becomes an increasingly important topic for companies. While there is no question that CSR activities are on the rise, the connection towards Earnings Management in companies is less clear. Therefore, this research paper not only aims to provide an up-to-date picture on the literature addressing this interconnection, but also provides a profound base for a more solid theoretical framework. Thus, it delivers a critical basis for further empirical analyses in this field. In order to illustrate this interconnection between those two topics, this paper presents an SLR analysis of articles published in the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) or Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC), focusing on empirical analyses of CSR performance and Earnings Management. Overall, it can be stated that CSR performance has a negative influence on Accrual-Based Earnings Management, while findings on the influence on Real Earnings Management are contradicting. Furthermore, the relationship of CSR performance and Accrual-Based Earnings Management/Real Earnings Management is especially vague when the used methods are moderated by different variables such as family involvement or managerial entrenchment. While the connection between Accrual-Based Earnings Management and CSR performance is widely covered in the existing literature, the relationship between Real Earnings Management and CSR performance is clearly less outlined. This research paper makes key contributions to the existing literature, as it combines and structures results of conducted studies during the last ten years and elaborates on the differences on commonalities of the results. This analysis also suggests that other factors that possibly influence Earnings Management or CSR should be included in a future research model for upcoming analyses. It places the findings of earlier studies into the context of the Ethical Approach, creating a roadmap for the future.

An Empirical Research on the Effectiveness of the English Communication Ability Cultivation Program for International Applied Talents in Guangzhou College of Commerce

With the acceleration of globalization, Guangdong, as one of China's emerging economic development engines, has an increasing demand for international applied talents, among which English communication ability is particularly critical. This study designed a cultivation program to enhance the English communication abilities of international applied talents in Guangzhou College of Commerce, an institute in Guangdong, which included a series of training courses. The program was implemented over a one-year period with 300 college students. Through empirical research methods, by comparing the English abilities of participants before and after the training, the effectiveness of the cultivation program was verified. The results showed that participants' English communication abilities were significantly improved after systematic training, thereby affirming the positive role of the proposed cultivation program in enhancing the English communication abilities of international applied talents in Guangzhou College of Commerce. This study not only provides useful references for the training of international applied talents in Guangzhou College of Commerce and other institutes in Guangdong, but also offers new perspectives and practical foundations for future research in related fields.

Assessing journals through a three-dimensional framework based on article citation, author and institution influence

Journal assessment is of great significance to promote the development of academic platforms. Citation analysis is a recognised tool to assess the citation performance of journals. However, due to the shortcomings such as the inflated Journal Impact Factor and heterogeneity of the citations, additional dimensions are necessary to be considered to balance with the article citation. This article constructs a three-dimensional journal assessment framework to measure the comprehensive influence of a journal based on article citation, author and institution influence. The CRITIC-Entropy weighting method is employed to calculate the weighted average scores for the three dimensions, respectively. Then, a newly defined Pareto-dominated set-based sum of TOPSIS score (PDS-based STS) approach is developed to assess the comprehensive influence of journals. A sample of 76 journals in Economics field is selected to demonstrate the effectiveness and validity of the proposed assessment method. The Chartered Association of Business Schools’ Academic Journal Guide 2021 (CABS-AJG 2021) which is an expert-based journal rating is chosen as a baseline model. It has been found that the assessment method using PDS-based STS shows a more rational journal ranking than that based on the Journal Impact Factor if using the CABS-AJG 2021’s ratings as the benchmark model.

Does Transformational Leadership Matter for Employee Performance?

The positive role of the employee cannot be underestimated in the organization's success because employees are the main asset of any organization; these unique assets must be fascinated through an organizational learning culture (OLC). They must also adapt to the changes in the organization to accept the challenges of the current era. Subsequently, this study expects to evaluate the impact of transformational leadership (TL) on faculty performance in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In addition, it examines the mediating role of organizational learning culture (OLC) between transformational leadership and employee performance (EP). Data is collected from HEIs in Pakistan. The questionnaire was adopted from past studies and distributed to 400 faculty members of business schools in Pakistan. The result of the study indicates that transformational leadership significantly impacts employee performance (EP) in the presence of a learning culture (mediating variable). The study's findings can be used in other organizations in Pakistan rather than only in academic institutions.

Effectiveness of Social Media as Perceived by the Graduate School Students in the University of Baguio

Social media platforms significantly transformed the flow of communication of a company's product or service brand to its target market. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of social media marketing among graduate school students at the University of Baguio. This paper utilizes a descriptive quantitative-qualitative evaluation survey with a questionnaire checklist and an informal interview. Further, this study deploys the convenience sampling method in determining the 74 respondents from graduate school students and 1 Dean. The quantitative aspect of the data is measured using frequency, percentage, weighted mean, and ranking. The findings reveal that Facebook emerged as the most popular social networking platform. The very high influence of social media creates attention, visibility, and awareness of subject content. The increase in enrollment is a confirmation of the effectiveness of social media marketing produced by institutions. Strategic initiatives related to the marketing and promotion of the Graduate School under the School of Business Administration and Accountancy deal with the 4Ps—Product, Place, Price, and Promotion.

Writing differently: Finding beauty in the broken

AbstractThis article presents our “multi‐vocal memory work” of collaborative researching and writing experiences as women academics in UK Business Schools. Set against the backdrop of the broken neoliberal academy, we use Daoism as an analytical lens to identify two emergent themes: 1) emotional contradictions and 2) institutional and social structures: micro‐creative and collective change. Examining ourselves and the academy as broken, we learn to find beauty in the flaws as they signify healing. Thus, sharing our emotions and vulnerability through collective research and writing enables us to “put ourselves back together.” Methodologically, we draw on memory work to explore different ways of researching and writing. We argue that there is emergent hope in identifying and raising the profile of growing spaces within the academy for alternative forms of writing.

Millennials’ CSR Adoption: A Stakeholder Approach and the Impact on Profit

Business education emphasizes an analytical approach to decision making and strategy development. However, certain factors, such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), are challenging to quantify in corporate strategy. The consideration of CSR, including Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance, by Boards of Directors, is among these difficult-to-quantify factors. Business schools now teach students to focus more on a CSR/stakeholder approach, in line with updated standards such as Advance Collegiate Schools of Business Standard 9, which has increased the focus on societal impact in curricula. The CSR/stakeholder approach has emerged as a global strategic management option but is not without challenges, including non-homogeneous CSR issues and potential greenwashing. Moreover, a measurable stakeholder approach might lead to decreased profitability. Individual differences, particularly among millennials, influence support for or against CSR initiatives. This paper evaluates these differences and their impact on decision-making, which will significantly influence society as millennials rise to leadership roles.

Career Goal Setting Knowledge and Practices among Mid-West University Students

This study examines Mid-West University student's career goal setting knowledge and practices among Mid-West University students. Main objective of the research is to assess and describe MU student's knowledge and real life practices in the course of their career goal setting efforts and getting desired success. Thematic analysis associated with qualitative approach was used to analyze qualitative data derived from students studying at Mid-West University School of Management (MUSOM), Central Campus of Education and Central Campus of Humanities and Social Sciences. To explore and describe the ways students perceive career goal setting process, experience faculty member's teaching, view linkage between courses and career, importance of hearing parents, conducting internship, ideological influence, pressure, and network in terms of shaping career path. 220 graduates were asked questions related to career goal setting and practices via email and group interview. Six themes were generated from the data collected through the purposive sampling. 20 students were provided the list of questions for collection of more comprehensive information and 200 students were provided just list of activities they could use when developing career goal. The interpreted data offers the conclusion that graduates lacked analytical skill to contextualize their understanding. But they clearly understood different activities such as seminar, presentation, workshop, research, networking, planning and developing communication and leadership skills, and continued reading for making them aware of developing relevant career goal and achieving practical outcomes.

Employing memories of biopolitical racism for consciousness raising across time and space

This critical autoethnographic account describes a journey from marginalization, as a racialized Muslim minority woman in the age of American Islamophobia and biopolitical racism, to a position of dominance as my identity changed with my move from the United States to Pakistan. I reflect on the feelings of solidarity that welled up inside me with those being marginalized in my new political space and how this ended up shaping my pedagogical practice. The analysis allows me to make several contributions to the scholarship on academic activism. First, I show that it is possible for constructed vulnerabilities to be carried to a time and space where they no longer appear relevant. When management educators draw upon their own racialized encounters, they can engage in academic activism more authentically and powerfully. Second, the focus of a pedagogical framework that privileges academic activism should be on local contexts, perspectives, and knowledges. My experience demonstrates that to decolonize management education that is premised on the American managerialist model, faculty and students have to step out of the elite space of the business school classroom. Finally, I push business school academics to pursue relentless humility and reflexivity for decolonizing does not come naturally to the neocolonial elite.

Product Service Outsourcing: Impact of Environment Uncertainty and Partial Observability

Problem definition: Product service plays a crucial role for brands to retain customers and spur revenue growth. It is, however, often outsourced to a third-party provider, driven by cost savings and the ability to focus on core businesses. Although there is a large body of literature studying service outsourcing, the impact of service environment uncertainty (i.e., changing customer needs and shifting resource requirements) has received sparse attention in the past but is becoming a major concern because of increased market turbulence. This research explores how environment uncertainty in service provision influences a brand’s intent to outsource, and, if the brand decides to outsource, how it can retain the potential cost advantages offered by a third-party provider. Methodology/results: This research develops a normative model to explore key drivers that impact service outsourcing outcomes under environment uncertainty and partial observability. We find that environment uncertainty can accelerate a brand’s propensity to outsource, and a brand typically benefits from outsourcing initially. Yet, we show that such benefits can dissipate over time because of partial observability. Monitoring efforts help to mitigate the adverse impact of environment uncertainty and partial observability, but cannot attain anticipated outsourcing benefits unless monitoring is costless. In contrast, nudging service providers to self-report the cost of resources is effective even if the monitoring cost is high. Managerial implications: Brands should carefully consider environment uncertainty, partial observability, and monitoring ability when deciding whether to outsource product services to third-party providers. A heuristic monitoring policy can be effective when the monitoring cost is very high or very low but can perform poorly when the monitoring cost is in the intermediate range. Thus, outsourcing is more attractive when environment uncertainty is significant, but the value of outsourcing can only be realized when (a) partial observability is insignificant, (b) monitoring is inexpensive, or (c) provider self-reporting can be nudged. If none of the conditions hold, then the brand can suffer significant losses from the anticipated benefits of product service outsourcing. Funding: This research is partially supported by the first author's 2022 Dean’s Excellence Summer Research Grant from W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0222 .

From Allston to Ahmedabad: American hegemony in management education reexamined

Purpose This paper aims to study the origin story of Harvard Business School’s involvement with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to study the reasons for the spread of American management education. It introduces both the explicit influence of Cold War politics and Indian development imaginaries to the export of American management thought in the early 1960s. Design/methodology/approach This paper relies on archival research for its primary source material, drawing upon rich archives of documents found at the Baker Library of Harvard Business School. Findings Harvard’s role in Ahmedabad was explicitly influenced by the Cold War anti-communist foreign policy of the USA, but did so opportunistically and contrary to the Ford Foundation’s (FF) original plans. Vikram Sarabhai, who was a key player in the Indian national imaginary of development, invited Harvard on his own initiative and forced the foundation to follow his interests rather than being a mere “subaltern.” Research limitations/implications This paper could additionally add to the historical debate about the scope and periodization of the Cold War and the role of non-state actors. Originality/value This paper covers new ground in exploring the early connection between the Indian development imaginary and business education. It concludes that the export of hegemonic US management education was not successful during Cold War, and the FF was not as dominant as it was made out to be.

Bridging ancient wisdom and modern management: Enhancing I Ching learning with ChatGPT

This study aims to investigate the integration of artificial intelligence, specifically ChatGPT, into the learning process of the I Ching, and its impact on students' understanding and application of this ancient Chinese wisdom in modern management practices. The research adopts a quantitative approach, utilizing surveys to collect data from students. ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence language model, is employed as a learning tool to assist students in applying the principles of the I Ching to solve business problems. The surveys evaluate students' perceptions of ChatGPT's usefulness, ease of use, and its effectiveness in practical applications of the I Ching. Additionally, the study examines ChatGPT's responses to determine its knowledge of the I Ching. The findings affirm that ChatGPT possesses a fundamental understanding of the I Ching and can effectively apply it to solve problems presented in textbook cases. Students perceive ChatGPT as user-friendly and highly beneficial in learning how to apply the I Ching in practical scenarios. The integration of ChatGPT as a learning tool has not only enhanced accessibility to the I Ching but also elicited increased interest and engagement among students. This integration serves as a valuable bridge between ancient Chinese wisdom and modern management approaches. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, students can dynamically and interactively explore the depths of the I Ching, thereby enhancing their comprehension and application of its principles. Consequently, this integration not only facilitates the learning of the I Ching but also fosters greater interest and engagement among students in business school.

Identification of the strategic intents in Iranian public schools

what has been felt for years in the field of education planning and management is the evaluation of clear, accurate planning, measurement, strategy and evaluation for the future. In the field of very complex activities that today's organizations determine the influencing factors, the speed of change and transformations, organizations need strategic planning and strategic management and identification of strategic intent in order to achieve long-term success and survival.This article identifies the strategic intents of developing public schools and prioritizing them.The statistical population of current study includes the experts who are aware of the strategic and educational planning, education management and public schools of Iran. Using judgmental sampling, 20 experts were selected as samples.The methodology is a mix of Delphi-survey method. According to the stages of study, using Delphi method, the strategic intents of developing public schools were first identified. Then, through Freidman test, the identified strategic intents were prioritized. The used tools to gather data is researcher made questionnaire. 44 identified strategic intents for developing public schools were categorized in three dimensions of opportunism, growth seeking and futurism. The obtained results of study indicate that 1) prior strategic intents in dimensions of opportunism are “learners’ steps towards their talents”, “attention to the sustainable development” and “providing proper human resources for society”, 2) prior strategic intents in dimension of growth are “moving towards knowledge-based societies”, “the growth of culture, education and research” and “expanding and deepening the culture of research and evaluation” and 3) prior strategic intents in dimension of futurism include “creating the model of developmental education”, “approaching to the global development” and “modern and excellent Islamic civilization”

How cosmopolitan capital shapes the valuation of international credentials: A comparative analysis across cities in China and the United Arab Emirates

AbstractThis study investigates the career paths of 33 graduates from Swiss Hospitality Management schools in China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), exploring the nuances of international credential valuation. It identifies two key factors influencing access to management positions: (1) the degree of internationalization in major cities, which impacts the significance of international versus local skills and (2) individual cosmopolitan capital's role in shaping local career opportunities. The paper introduces a post‐colonial conceptualization of cosmopolitan capital, encompassing institutionalized, embodied and objectified forms, challenging Western‐centric views. By doing so, it reveals how mechanisms of racialization influence the assessment of international qualifications. In Hong Kong and Shanghai, returning Chinese are prospering in corporate head offices by mobilizing both local/national and international capital, challenging the white privilege of Western managers in this sector. Meanwhile, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the competition is for a pool of ‘international talent’, even though being perceived as ‘Arab’ or ‘white’ seems to improve career prospects.

Designing Sparse Graphs for Stochastic Matching with an Application to Middle-Mile Transportation Management

Given an input graph [Formula: see text], we consider the problem of designing a sparse subgraph [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] that supports a large matching after some nodes in V are randomly deleted. We study four families of sparse graph designs (namely, clusters, rings, chains, and Erdős–Rényi graphs) and show both theoretically and numerically that their performance is close to the optimal one achieved by a complete graph. Our interest in the stochastic sparse graph design problem is primarily motivated by a collaboration with a leading e-commerce retailer in the context of its middle-mile delivery operations. We test our theoretical results using real data from our industry partner and conclude that adding a little flexibility to the routing network can significantly reduce transportation costs. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, optimization. Funding: This work was supported by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an Alibaba Cainiao Research Grant, and the Singapore Ministry of Education [NUS Startup Grant WBS A-0003856-00-00]. Supplemental Material: Data and the online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.01588 .

Status of Sustainability Management Education in African MBA Programmes: A Web-based Research Approach

Abstract Emerging evidence suggests that business schools in Africa are lagging behind in promoting sustainability education. Grand challenges that point to a limited focus on transformative sustainability education such as environmental pollution, conflicts, inequalities and unemployment still persist in African economies, with the profit motive remaining central to businesses’ operating philosophy. Informed by the clarion call for business schools to be key drivers of sustainability education, this study reviews the African master of business administration (MBA) curricula with the objective of assessing the status of sustainability management education. The content of the MBA curricula of 42 African business schools accredited with the Association of African Business Schools was analysed using a web-based research approach. The findings indicate that the concept of sustainability has not been sufficiently embedded into the African MBA curricula. The values and mission statements of the majority of business schools were found not to be aligned with the principles of sustainability education. It was also found that shareholder value oriented modules constitute the core curriculum of the majority of MBA programmes reviewed. An incremental elective approach was found to be the most dominant strategy used by African business schools to incorporate sustainability education in the MBA curricula. An integrative approach of embedding sustainability education focusing on re-orientation of the business schools’ values, mission, curriculum, systems, operations and governance is recommended. The increased use of experiential learning is also recommended as an effective teaching pedagogy for equipping MBA students with practical aspects of sustainability education.