US Business Schools Research Articles

A Comparative Study Between UK and US: The Student Satisfaction in Higher Education and its Influential Factors

In this study, several service quality variables and concepts were used to examine differences in the perception of education quality, and the main factor affecting that perception, between students in the USA and the UK. 322 US and UK postgraduate business school students were asked about their satisfaction with their education, compared with their expectations with respect to various quality aspects.

Lost, Dysfunctional or Evolving? A View of Business Schools from Silicon Valley

Recent articles have rekindled discussions around the direction and relevance of US business schools. The two main viewpoints are distinct but equally critical. On one hand, business schools are considered overly focused on scientific research and having lost their connection to real world and management issues. On the other hand, schools are considered dysfunctionally focused on media rankings and short-term superficial marketing fixes. Our study of educational opportunities and workforce development in Silicon Valley suggests a different viewpoint. We agree that both approaches correctly identify the challenge of preparing managers in globalized world. However, we believe they misdiagnose the cause of the failure. Rather than being lost or dysfunctional, we believe business programs - like the firms and students they serve - are in the process of evolving to meet a shifting global and local environment. Our findings indicate that business schools face structural, content, and program shifts. Educationally, business programs continue to be seen as doing a good job of educating their students in core functional areas and processes. However, they do less well in teaching their graduates interpersonal skills, real-time decision-making, recognition of contexts, and integration across functional areas. These are increasingly the skills demanded by the global business environment. Even more challenging is meeting the demand for both sets of skills within very specialized fields like technology management. Structurally, new types of students and learning demands are placing stresses on traditional full-time two-year programs and their business models. Women and minority groups increasingly form the majority of the future student population, with distinct needs and demands for part-time and executive education. This shift is also evident in demands for life-long learning and engagement as opposed to a fixed, one-shot program experiences. These challenges require business schools to build upon what they do well, while innovating to serve new business and student needs.

Reinventing ourselves: Collaborative research initiatives between Singapore & US business schools

To show how coordinated activities involving shared assessment instruments and results between two business schools, one in Singapore, the other in the US/Midwest, have helped faculty shift their research and teaching from a focus on language to an emphasis on communicative competence in English for the global workplace.

The Business School ‘Business’: Some Lessons from the US Experience*

abstract US business schools dominate the business school landscape, particularly for the MBA degree. This fact has caused schools in other countries to imitate the US schools as a model for business education. But US business schools face a number of problems, many of them a result of offering a value proposition that primarily emphasizes the career‐enhancing, salary‐increasing aspects of business education as contrasted with the idea of organizational management as a profession to be pursued out of a sense of intrinsic interest or even service. We document some of the problems confronting US business schools and show how many of these arise from a combination of a market‐like orientation to education coupled with an absence of a professional ethos. In this tale, there are some lessons for educational organizations both in the US and elsewhere that are interested in learning from the US experience.

Brand Management in US Business Schools: Can Yale Learn from Harvard?

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used to evaluate the performance of top US business school in maintaining reputation among members of the academic and business communities. The authors generate efficiency measures and identify peers against which underperforming schools should benchmark.

Business Research In Eight Business Disciplines

This study recorded nearly 1.5 million citations to measure research productivity of the 4,918 full time faculty members with doctoral degrees at 51 leading US business schools. These schools had been included at least once in the 25 most recent ranking lists produced by three major business publications. This research included lifetime citation counts for each faculty member, and resulted in 1,497,162 citations that were recorded between March and June 2003. The citation counts were cumulated by academic discipline. The disciplines for which rankings were made were accounting, economics, finance, information systems, marketing management science, organizational behavior, and strategy. Ranked lists of the top 25 schools in each disciple are included. The paper contains a review of the literature on citation analysis, and suggests how citation analysis might be used as an assessment tool by business school administrators, professors, students, and corporate managers.

Not your father's MBA [technology management degree programs

The last two decades have seen a change in traditional MBA programs to give way to graduate degrees tailored to the business world's increasing emphasis on technology, global expansion and the rise in entrepreneurship. At the same time, new MBA programs are striving to accommodate the working engineers' need for flexible class schedules and relevant curricula, as more midcareer professionals enter managerial positions. There are currently more than 100 engineering management programs which teach engineers how to bring together different disciplines and practice engineering in a team environment. As the business world becomes increasingly multinational, management training programs are also taking a more global outlook. US business schools have formed alliances, satellite campuses and joint and exchange programs with non-US universities to give students the experience of tackling complex business and technical concepts in an international setting. Many MBA programs also give students the option of distance learning through mailed class work and learning guides as well as access to study groups and tutors via the Internet, video conferencing, phone and fax. Cooperation between academia and industry is expected to become more prevalent as companies continue to streamline manufacturing.

The Fifth Discipline in a highly disciplined Singapore: Innovative Learning Organisations and national culture

SummaryThis paper argues that the Learning Organisation (LO) concept is not culturally neutral and that any assessment of its usefulness must be situated within an understanding of the national cultural framework in which organisations are embedded. Although the Learning Organisation (LO) concept is popular amongst both practitioners and academics in a wide range of countries, the theory is largely grounded in the thought of US business schools and the experience of large US corporations. National culture is invisible in the LO literature. This is primarily written from an American standpoint and the degree to which it is relevant to international practice is debatable. This paper surveys the LO concept within the context of globalisation, focusing on Singapore organisations. It draws on a critical examination of Holitede’s national culture dimensions to create a framework for the study of the adoption and adaptation of the LO concept by Singapore organisations.

A Complex Case: Using the case study method to explore uncertainty and ambiguity in undergraduate business education

The case method is a definitive and foundational technology in business education. It was first developed as a vocational training tool equipping students for future employment. In this conception, the organisation was seen as a machine, and managers as the engineers who would maintain it through planned interventions. The case method allowed aspiring managers to practise intervention skills in a safe environment. Since the origins of the case method in US business schools before the First World War, conceptions of organisations have moved on. They are no longer seen as machine-like, but as complex, ambiguous, and protean. The 'wicked' problems that potential managers will face in an uncertain world require the development of critical thinking and sensemaking abilities. While the traditional approach to the case continues, its use as a vehicle to explore and manage complexity and ambiguity is emerging, although this is facing resistance from some students and staff.

Business-to-Business Marketing Textbooks: A Comparative Review

ABSTRACT Even in this high-tech age, textbooks remain a very significant teaching instrument. Half of all lecturers at US business schools use textbooks as the basis for their business-to-business marketing courses. Against this background, a comparative analysis of a selection of English-speaking textbooks on b-to-b marketing was conducted. The objective was to identify the various strengths and weaknesses and hence suitability for different purposes through a systematic, methodologically valid comparison, of state-of-the-art textbooks on the subject. Criteria and methods for comparison are derived from the stated objectives of b-to-b textbooks. Bloom's (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives serves as the framework for the systemization of objectives. In a concluding evaluation, the results are discussed and potential areas that could be addressed by future textbooks are considered.

A survey of international accounting education in the US and some other countries

Abstract This study compares the extent of coverage and methods employed by US and non-US business schools to internationalize the accounting curriculum. Using a survey methodology, the study comparatively explores: (1) approaches to internationalize the accounting curriculum: separate course vs integration; (2) relative importance of international accounting topics; (3) strategies and obstacles to implement the integration approach to internationalization; and (4) the level of satisfaction with the internationalization achieved. The findings of the study should benefit both schools currently involved in internationalizing their accounting curriculum as well as those planning to internationalize their programs in the future.

African Americans in business: contrasting the attitudes of African American and white college business students

Rounds up the literature on the continuing discrimination of African Americans in US businesses, particularly with regard to salary and promotion into senior management levels, and suggests that years of anti‐discrimination legislation have led to a change from overt exclusion to “covert subrogation”; considers the changing demographics of the US labour force which should allow ample opportunities for African Americans to fulfil career aspirations and seeks to identify the artificial barriers which could prevent this, through a study of attitudes to African Americans as managers undertaken among graduating business majors at two US business schools (one historically attended by African Americans, the other predominantly white). Presents the results in brief, which suggest that, although attitudes to African Americans in management held by whites have improved, they still are not as favourable as those held by African Americans themselves; touches on the business case for organizations becoming more accepting of minority managers.

The Very Visible Hand of Reputational Rankings in US Business Schools

How do business schools respond to reputational rankings? Is there a pattern to business schools' responses to the rankings? What implications do these rankings have for business school education? These are some of the questions that I set out to examine in my doctoral dissertation research conducted at New York University in 1996–97. The findings of my study raise interesting questions about how business schools are dealing with being ranked. It also suggests some possible concerns about reputation management that may apply to other service businesses.

The interdisciplinary needs of organizations

This paper discusses the need for and possible resistance to interdiscplinary education and development in the US business schools today. In‐depth structured interviews were conducted with executives from 12 companies located in the Mid‐Atlantic states of the USA, each of which is included in the Fortune 1000 listing. Interview questions sought input on the appropriateness of recent new hires’ knowledge and skill level to meet organizational demands. Content analysis of interview responses produced five major content themes. These themes indicate that newly hired employees need to possess greater: communication skills in speaking, writing and interpersonal relations; team‐oriented skills; cross‐functional/ interdisciplinary perspective; change receptivity; and intercultural awareness. One approach for meeting these organizational needs and increased interdisciplinary interaction among the faculty is presented.

Small firms, big opportunities: the potential of careers for business graduates in SMEs

States that students graduating from US business schools need to be aware of the tremendous career opportunities being created by small and medium‐sized firms. The modern business climate is enabling small firms to emerge and grow at a faster rate than large firms. Growing firms are important to the job market because they create advancement opportunities for their employees. Suggests that the business school graduate is wise to search for an employer who shows good prospects for growth and offers a working environment which satisfies his or her personal preferences. Students need to know the sources of job information relevant to small and medium‐sized firms. They should also be cautioned to enter the job market with realistic expectations about how small firms will provide them with fulfilling work. Investigates recent career and small business research to profile the potential of careers in small firms.

The Relative Importance of Teaching, Research and Service in Performance Evaluation of Marketing Faculty

This paper analyzes mail survey data from chairs as well as members ofperformance evaluation committees of marketing departments with and without doctoral programs at US business schools. Specifically, it looks at perceived and desired weights for teaching, research, and service activities used during merit evaluation and promotion and tenure decisions. The following results are documented: (1) while the respondents, in general, perceive and desire that research play the most important role in promotion and tenure as well as merit evaluation procedures, schools with doctoral programs in marketing place more emphasis on research and less on teaching; (2) all schools place higher weights on research (and lower weight on teaching and service) for promotion and tenure decisions than for merit evaluation decisions; (3) the level of resources an institute commits to research increases the perceived importance of research in the evaluation process; (4) there is a uniform desire for more emphasis on teaching and less on research. This pattern is apparent in both doctoral and non-doctoral programs in marketing.

Judging the quality of research in business schools: The UK as a case study

This article examines how the research quality of management departments and business schools may be assessed. We define the most influential business and management studies journals by their 10-year citation impact. Most of these journals are based in the US. We examine the extent to which UK business schools publish in the most cited journals, and find a surprisingly small presence, even from those business schools classified as ‘internationally excellent’ by the most recent government-sponsored Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). Comparisons are made with US business schools. We then show that British academics publish mainly in British-based journals. Reasons for this situation and reactions to it are discussed.

Anticipated Changes in the Business School Curriculum: A Survey of Deans in AACSB Accredited and Non‐Accredited Schools

A survey was mailed to the deans of AACSB accredited schools and 50 per cent of the non‐accredited AACSB affiliates, to determine their perceptions of how the changes in accreditation criteria might affect their curricula and what methods might be used to make these changes. The sample was classified according to the Porter‐McKibbin categories and significant differences were found among these categories for perceived ease of accreditation; changes in programme quality; resource allocation changes; use of mission statements in decision making; curriculum component emphasis, and curriculum evaluation methods. While the overall amount of change expected in the next five years seems modest, the nature of the changes expected could have significant effects on the curricula of US business schools.

Lessons of the US Business Schools for Hungary: A Comparison

Discusses changes in management practice and its educational base in Central and Eastern Europe as moves are made from the centrally planned economy to a market one. The business school system is seen as an attractive pattern to follow in Hungarian business and management education at university level. Answers the question of how this is possible by looking to comparisons between US business and management education and the Hungarian system for the practical solutions that are required by the Hungarian economy in transition.

US business schools

Report of a study tour to examine MBA and executive programmes offered by US business schools. Comments on their international activity, learning methods and the place of the case study. Examines the role of research and touches on the course environments. Concludes that US business schools are placing less emphasis on the statistical and scientific approaches to management and more on the global business environment.