Undergraduate Business Students Research Articles

IMPLEMENTING DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC WRITING SUPPORT FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE OMANI CONTEXT

This paper evaluates how a writing centre in a private higher education institution in Oman supports discipline-specific academic writing for undergraduate students in Computing, Business, and Electronics Civil and Mechanical Engineering. One of the key interventions introduced by the centre was adopting a writing in the disciplines (WID) approach by offering scheduled writing classes for selected modules in these disciplines and incorporating genre-based pedagogy in final-year capstone projects. The embedded sessions were designed to support 550 students enrolled in seven modules across the three disciplines in meeting their coursework requirements. Integrating this intervention into the curriculum involved close collaboration with subject teachers to understand the assigned genres, designing relevant course materials for synchronous and asynchronous learning, and implementing innovative and research-informed pedagogies. Students were also offered individual consultations to complement the support offered during the classroom sessions. This study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of these embedded modules and the genre-based pedagogy approach for the capstone projects undertaken by final-year students. Feedback was collected from students, as well as the faculty members involved, through the institutional module evaluation surveys and feedback forms. The findings indicate that there is significant improvement in the quality of assignments of those students who availed the services of the center. Although the interventions are specific to these programmes and contexts, they may provide a model for other writing and language centres to develop innovative pedagogical models to support disciplinary student writing at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Students' assumptions of Entrepreneurs’ performance: The paradox of excess entry and missed opportunity

Most variables in entrepreneurship are not distributed normally. Instead, they are characterized by positive skew and heavy tails featuring influential outliers. Yet, this fundamental asymmetry in entrepreneurial endeavors is rarely discussed in entrepreneurship education, which often oscillates between highlighting everyday entrepreneurs and high-growth ‘unicorn’ startups while overlooking the distributional context for these extremes. Therefore, this paper explores whether students accurately comprehend the non-normality that pervades entrepreneurship. We conducted two studies wherein undergraduate business students at a large, public university in the Midwest US estimated entrepreneurial performance. We elicited students' estimates of the range of performance exhibited by entrepreneurs using a real-world vignette and performance data for an online learning platform. By providing empirical evidence that students may carry largely inaccurate assumptions of performance distributions, this paper highlights the paradoxical risks of excess entrepreneurial entry on the one hand and missed opportunity on the other.

Think manager – Think male or female: exploring the content of gendered stereotypes of the managerial role among undergraduate business students in Ireland over a 10-year period

PurposeUsing Schein’s Descriptive Index (SDI), this paper aims to first examine gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics among Irish business students over a 10-year period. Then, the paper investigates whether there have been changes in gender role stereotypes during this period and subsequently unpack the reasons behind any changes recorded.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 1,124 students from the same business student population rated men, women and managers in general, using SDI. Data was collected first during the academic year 2008–2009 and again in 2018–2019 to determine stability or change in gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics. Intraclass correlation coefficients scores were computed to determine the relationship between gender and requisite managerial characteristics and identify differences and similarities between the two samples. To explore the content of gender stereotypes, an examination of the specific descriptive items was conducted by performing a factorial analysis using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. Finally, the authors adapted the scales developed by Duehr and Bono (2006) to determine whether broad gender stereotypic characteristics with respect to communal and agentic, attributed to men, women and managers, differ by sample.FindingsThe overall findings indicate changes in the extent of gender role stereotyping of the managerial role among the male cohorts studied. The subsequent analysis of the descriptive items identified that the change among the male cohort is due to the levels of agency they perceive women to now possess.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors contribute to the literature on both gendered and managerial stereotypes by showing changes in the pro-male stereotype of the managerial role and contribute to the existing debate on a shift towards a more androgynous view of leadership.Practical implicationsThese findings help understand the content of gender role stereotypes that recent graduates bring with them to their first job post-graduation. The observed changes in the level of agency ascribed to women by their male counterparts could prove to be an important step forward for women’s advancement to managerial positions.Originality/valueThe findings indicate that both male and female cohorts in Sample 2 perceived men and women in general to possess the same levels of communal and agentic traits as their managerial counterparts.

Debunking True Purchase Price Limits in Teenagers

This project aims to explore whether or not the endowment effect, a concept in behavioral economics, holds true for adolescents, since this population has not been studied before. The endowment effect occurs when there is a gap between a buyer’s willingness to pay (WTP) and a seller’s willingness to accept (WTA) at a certain price. A WTA:WTP ratio equal to 1 would exhibit traditional economic rationality, and a ratio above 1 would exhibit the endowment effect. This study used survey research in the form of having participants explicit state prices, to investigate how the WTA-WTP discrepancy, a measurement of the endowment effect, varies across economic goods and survey procedure (or how survey questions were worded). The final conclusion that can be drawn from this paper is that high school students exhibit the endowment effect only for durable goods (shoes and electronics), and exhibit the reverse trend of the endowment effect for perishable goods (food and beverage). Additionally, the survey procedure and socioeconomic status were not a contributing factor to the endowment effect. These results, which differ from previous literature regarding the endowment effect, emphasize the increased importance of studying teenage purchasing pricing preferences, compared to prior studies that focused solely on undergraduate business students.

Impact of Teaching Accounting Ethics on the Ethical Decision-Making of Future Managers

This study aims to emphasize the necessity of dealing with cognitive moral development from the undergraduate level and contribute to the literature by testing two major ethical decision-making models considering perceived overall harm and perceived social pressure concepts that emerge from the literature with a combined approach. For this purpose, the ethical decision-making processes (Rest Model) and moral intensity components (Jones Model) are used to better understand individual factors as well as a standalone ethics course impact on the moral sensitivity and ethical decision-making process. So, the ethical differences between business undergraduate students who took the accounting ethics course, undergraduate students, and MBA students who did not take this course are compared. To do the research, the participants responded to scenario-based questions where an accounting officer is forced to capitalize expenses fraudulently. The analysis is realized using T-test, One-Way Anova and Two-Way Manova tests to shed light on the interaction and the differences between groups. Generation, work experience, and gender are other individual factors used for cross-group comparison. Overall, all hypotheses of the research are partially accepted. The results highlight that the students who do not take the ethics course are significantly negatively different from the MBA students and the students who take the ethics course in terms of overall harm. Other findings conclude that a student who has taken an ethics course is as aware of ethical decision-making processes and moral sensitivity as someone in professional life. Keywords: Accounting Ethics Course; Ethical Decision-Making; Moral Intensity; Individual Factors

Examining Business Undergraduate Students’ Intention for Creating Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Indonesia

This paper examined how intention to create sustainability entrepreneurship among undergraduate business students is influenced by various variables. Implementing the theory of planned behaviors from previous research, a framework model is created and analyzes a sample of undergraduate students majoring in business at Universitas Prasetiya Mulya, Indonesia. The result of this research provides an initial picture of how various antecedents affect the intention of sustainability entrepreneurship compared to previous research in Indonesia. Practical findings suggested that, in order to leverage the intention to participate in sustainability entrepreneurship, it is imperative to focus more on creating intrinsic motivation for next- generation entrepreneurs by implementing an integrative approach in the educational context with a focus on real-life, action-based sustainability projects and focus more in utilizing digital platform and social media.

Effect of Undergraduate Business Students’ Entry Characteristics on Academic Success

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of undergraduate business students’ entry characteristics (West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE), General Certificate of Education (GCE) ordinary level certificate, and matured entry) on academic success in terms of cumulative grade point average (CGPA), competencies (soft skills), acquired, and overall academic performance. Through a cross-sectional survey, 382 final year business students were selected from two universities in Ghana to participate in the study. Academic records of the students were obtained and complementary primary data were collected from these same respondents through questionnaire administration. Data were analyzed using PLS–SEM. The only statistically significant results the study established were that WASSCE has a positive relationship with competences and overall academic performance, and mature entry also had a negative relationship with competence. The study recommended revisions to the current admission criteria as universities need to entrench individualized curricula to cater the diversity occasioned by the variety of entry qualifications students. While direct applicants (e.g., applicants with WASSCE) may follow the current curriculum, bridging courses may be necessary to bring the mature applicants to the level of the direct applicants to ensure parity of knowledge.

Teaching Undergraduate Business Students Data Analytics: Differences Between Male & Female F2F-WEB Students

Teaching Undergraduate Business Students Data Analytics: Differences Between Male & Female F2F-WEB Students

Gale Business: DemographicsNow

Gale Business: DemographicsNow combines business reporting, psychographic tools, and geo-mapping into one comprehensive platform. Demographic, company, and residential data sets covering more than 24 million US businesses and 206 million US customers are easily accessed, customized, and shared as tables, charts, lists, or maps. Data set sources include the US Census, Simmons, Experian, Dun & Bradstreet, and Mosaic Lifestyles. Using Google mapping technology, users can quickly create unique locations, drive-time maps, and data visualizations for business insights, market research, and advertising plans. DemographicsNow would be a dynamic resource for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and undergraduate business students.

Failing to Learn: Design Thinking and the Development of a Failure-Positive Mindset in the University Classroom

Meaningful and impactful learning experiences are rife with failure. And yet, students struggle with framing, tolerating and attributing failure in a positive manner within the post secondary learning context. This paper explores whether using design thinking as a pedagogical approach might help students learn to tolerate, reframe and attribute failure in a more productive way. Findings from this comparative study of 600 undergraduate business students enrolled in a common first year marketing class reveal the ways in which design thinking-based learning approaches might be used to re-orient student’s conceptions of failure as a part of their creative problem-solving skill development process. Students were surveyed to learn more about how they perceived the concept of failure within their learning, to whom they attributed failures within their learning, and how well they tolerated failure as a part of their learning experience. Results from the nearly 400 responses to the online survey suggest that integrating design thinking focused approaches to learning into the post secondary classroom has a positive impact on the development of a student’s self-reported failure tolerance and may change the way that failure is attributed and framed in students’ descriptions of their individual learning. I find that design thinking-based learning might be used as an effective pedagogical approach in classes where the development of a failure-positive mindset is considered an essential competency or learning objective, and I offer practical recommendations for educators seeking to develop a failure-positive mindset within their learning communities.

Financial Literacy, Attitude, Internal Control Locus, and Money-Associated Behavior of Undergraduate Students

Financial literacy becomes the guideline for its users to perform financially well. As educated users, undergraduate business students are expected to behave well in managing their money. Furthermore, to test this tendency, this study employs the financial attitude and internal control locus as additional determinants. This research also takes 150 students in the management department of business faculty at Maranatha Christian University as a population. Considering some batches utilized, this study employs stratified random sampling to take the samples. Besides, this study uses a survey method to obtain their response related to demographic and academic features, covariance-based structural equation model, and the related statistic: the probability of critical ratio to analyze the data and examine the first, second, and third hypotheses. After testing them, this investigation concludes that the more financially literate the students are, the more they behave financially. With a better financial attitude and internal control locus, the students can manage their money well.

Examining the impacts of out-of-class student engagement on student competencies in the context of business students in Vietnam – evidence from universities in Hanoi

PurposeThe topic of student engagement (SE) has received considerable attention in the literature for its robust correlation with many positive educational outcomes in higher education (HE). However, among these desirable outcomes, student competencies have rarely been examined despite their importance in employability. While universities are expected to improve graduates' competencies and prepare them to adapt in an uncertain and complex workplace, the results are still limited. Therefore, this study attempts to examine the impacts of SE on student competencies in HE in Vietnam, focusing on the out-of-class environment. It also aims at developing a measurement instrument for out-of-class SE.Design/methodology/approachBased on student self-reports, this study collected two different datasets of 492 and 490 undergraduate business students in Hanoi to implement separate exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The measurement instrument of out-of-class engagement was adapted from the literature review and developed based on qualitative research, which combined the four subconstructs of participatory, emotional, cognitive and agentic engagement.FindingsFindings confirms four subconstructs of SE in the out-of-class context where agentic engagement is a valid and distinct aspect. Findings further show that, among these four subconstructs, cognitive and agentic engagement have significant impacts on all four important student competencies for business students, while participatory and emotional engagement do not.Research limitations/implicationsThis study confirmed out-of-class SE has significant positive impacts on student competencies in HE, especially with out-of-class cognitive and agentic engagement. The findings show evidence of different impacts between participatory and agentic engagement, in which while participatory has no impacts on student competencies, agentic engagement significantly contributes to competencies of managing self, communicating and managing people and tasks. This implies different outcomes can be expected from different levels of engagement.Practical implicationsFrom a managerial point of view, the findings of this study strongly suggest that higher education institutions (HEIs) should view the out-of-class environment as an important extended learning context for students' complete development. Besides, as student out-of-class participatory engagement is not sufficient to the formation of student competencies, HEIs should strengthen out-of-class cognitive and agentic engagement among students. From the leadership perspective, building a good campus environment with various opportunities to involve students in diversified extra-curricular activities is beneficial to university students.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the body of knowledge in SE by establishing a theoretical linkage between out-of-class engagement and student competencies and provides sufficient statistical significance. In addition, it validated out-of-class agentic engagement as a separate and distinct subcomponent of out-of-class SE and confirmed the positive impact of out-of-class engagement on student competencies for business students.

Examination of the Relationships Between Diversity Appreciation, Self-Monitoring and Cooperative Conflict Management

This research study examines the mediating influence of self-monitoring (SM) on the relationship between diversity appreciation (DA) and cooperative conflict management (CCM). Two hundred and twenty-one undergraduate business students completed self-assessment measures of DA and SM, and identified a close associate who completed an observer version of the problem-solving component of the Dutch conflict management style scale. Product moment correlations were used to examine the hypothesized relationships between CCM and both DA and SM, and the Hayes process and the Sobel test were used to test the hypothesis that SM mediates the relationship between DA and CCM. CCM was significantly correlated with both DA (r = 0.30, p < 0.01) and SM (r = 0.37, p < 0.01). DA was significantly correlated with SM (r = 0.31, p < 0.01). Both the Hayes process and Sobel test (Z = 3.29, p < 0.001) confirmed that SM partially mediated the relationship between DA and CCM. Educators and practitioners need to be aware of the influence of DA and SM on CCM. Development activities that integrate diversity appreciation, sensitive responses toward the expressed behavior of others, and appropriate modification of self-presentation are likely to promote a cooperative approach to conflict management. This is the first study to examine the interrelationships between DA, SM and CCM. The results highlight the importance of promoting both diversity appreciation and self-monitoring as part of the process of encouraging more cooperative conflict management and strengthening the link between diversity and performance.

A desire for a loud car with a modified muffler is predicted by being a man and higher scores on psychopathy and sadism

BackgroundAlthough people are familiar with loud automobiles, equipped with modified mufflers to increase the volume, it is unclear who is most attracted to these vehicles.Participants and procedureA sample of 529 (52% men) undergraduate business students were surveyed and were asked if they viewed their car as an extension of themselves, how much they thought loud cars were “cool”, and if they would make their car louder with muf-fler modifications. Cronbach’s α of the three car items was .76; therefore an aggregate was generated. Also a self-report measure of the dark tetrad was completed.ResultsUsing linear regression, the car aggregate was predicted by being a man and having higher scores on psychopathy and sad-ism, with the model accounting for approximately 29% of the variance.ConclusionsAs car modifications are illegal in some countries, these findings may be of interest to those heading campaigns to halt these activities.

Impact of video-based learning in business statistics: a longitudinal study

Many undergraduate business students in the United Kingdom (UK) find themselves during the initial stages of their degree programmes required to study numerical subjects which, for many, have not been encountered since completing compulsory education. This paper considers the utilisation of a technology-based approach in order to support first-year undergraduate students engage with and achieve in the business numeracy subject area. The purpose of this paper is providing background introduction to new pedagogy through the use of technology. Through a longitudinal study conducted within a modern university in the UK over a 11-year period (2006–2017), this paper qualifies the impact of a video-based learning (VBL) approach on the achievement profiles of first-year undergraduate students within a modern business school. Results indicate that the use of a VBL approach such as that adopted within this study supports not only improvement in the number of students gaining an overall pass, but also an overall improvement amongst higher achieving students within business numeracy. Findings also demonstrate those characteristics of a VBL approach that support continuation of student engagement with the subject matter throughout their studies. Whilst such findings offer a range of benefits to both students and educators in enhancing student achievement, these also serve to introduce a new learning model which will be explored in subsequent research.

Students' satisfaction with their academic majors and study commitment: The mediating role of academic psychological capital

AbstractThis study examines the effect of students' satisfaction with their academic majors (major satisfaction henceforth with) on their study commitment. Also, it examines the mediating role of academic psychological capital dimensions in the major satisfaction and study commitment nexus. Data were collected from 726 fourth‐year business undergraduate students, and a path analysis was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings showed that students' major satisfaction had a positive significant association with the four components of academic psychological capital namely; self‐efficacy, optimism, resilience and hope, and study commitment. Also, each component of the academic psychological capital positively mediated the effect of students' major satisfaction on study commitment. The findings present important contributions to students' major satisfaction in the higher education context and promote the need to manage students' academic psychological capital to enhance their study commitment.

Impact of Entrepreneurial Education on Entrepreneurial Intention of Students : Analysis of Bhutanese Business Colleges

It has been observed that youth unemployment and entrepreneurship are two sides of a coin in the context of Bhutan. Entrepreneurship education initiatives in Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) target motivating Bhutanese youths towards entrepreneurship despite their general preference for white-collared jobs or civil service jobs. Thus, this research tried to focus on influence of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurship intentions among undergraduate business students in Bhutan. The most widely used Theory of Planned Behaviour has been utilized for the study taking into consideration the mediating role of the factors subjective norms, attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and perceived behavioural control. For testing these assumptions, data were collected from 427 students of three business colleges in Bhutan. The findings suggest that all three dimensions of Theory of Planned Behaviour show significant association with entrepreneurial intention. Although the correlation and regression analysis support the hypotheses, not all the dimensions play the same part in influencing entrepreneurship intention (EI).

Social determinants of mental health: the roles of traumatic events, financial strain, housing instability, food insecurity, and commute time

Objective To identify social determinants of mental health embedded within college students' living and learning conditions. Participants Participants included 215 mostly undergraduate (95%) business students at a diverse, urban west coast public university (48% women; mean age 24). Methods Participants completed an online self-report survey measuring affective state, global mental health, anxious and depressive symptoms, as well as social determinants of mental health. Data were analyzed using multiple regression controlling for self-esteem, gender, and race/ethnicity. Results Results suggest that higher family income is positively related to mental health, whereas more adverse events (e.g., assault, robbery, serious illness or injury), food insecurity, and commute time are negatively related to mental health. Moderation results indicate a moderate buffering effect of belonging on global mental health among students who experience zero adverse events. Conclusions Social determinants can shed light on student's precarious living and learning conditions and resultant effects on students' mental health.

CSR and Organizational Attractiveness: The Impacts of Crisis and Crisis Response

This study explores whether different sources of CSR information (i.e., the organization itself vs. the third party) and CSR reputation (i.e., leading vs. backward) affect job applicants’ attraction to organizations. This study demonstrates the interaction effects of sources of CSR information and CSR reputation on organizational attractiveness and contributes to the literature by identifying the impact of crisis and crisis management strategies of the organization on its organizational attractiveness. From a Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), we examined the impacts of the crisis on organizations and what the crisis response strategies (i.e., excusing, apology, and scapegoating) organizations applied influence their organizational attractiveness. A fictitious food company was created for the experimental study. In total, 345 undergraduate business students at a university in central Taiwan were randomly assigned to 13 groups in different experimental settings. ANOVA and paired-sample t-tests were used to test the hypothesis. We found that (1) significant impacts made by the interaction effects of CSR reputations and the sources of CSR information of organizational attractiveness; (2) crisis events decreased organizational attraction dramatically regardless of the interaction of the sources of CSR information and CSR reputations; and (3) crisis management strategies effectively reduced the damages of crises on organizational attractiveness.

Integrity, positive psychological capital and academic performance

PurposeIn this study, the authors consider the mediating role of psychological capital (i.e. PsyCap) in the relationship between integrity and academic performance. Specifically, the authors propose that integrity is a relatively stable and distal character strength that is likely to have a minimal direct effect on academic performance. Going further, the authors argue that integrity is more likely to have an indirect effect on academic performance via the psychological resources that encompass one's PsyCap.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from a sample of 179 undergraduate business students and student grade point average (GPA) data, the authors find support for the notion that PsyCap partially mediates the relationship between integrity and academic performance.FindingsThese findings reveal the key role that PsyCap plays in translating a student's integrity toward behaviors that lead to higher levels of academic performance.Originality/valuePrior research suggests the direct relationship between integrity and academic performance has been mixed. In this study, the authors consider how mediation may help explain this relationship. The authors believe this to be among the first empirical studies to consider integrity, PsyCap and academic performance.