Journal of Management Education RSS feed -- OnlineFirst Articles

Enhancing Reflection Skills Through Learning Portfolios: An Empirical Test

Scott, S. G. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:17:44 PST

This article reports the findings of an empirical study of the effectiveness of port-folios as learning tools in a sample of MBAs. The results showed that portfolio use was positively related to reflection, defined here as the conscious awareness and questioning of personal experience, a search for alternative explanations and interpretations, and identification of areas for improvement. The positive relationship between portfolio use and improved reflection remained significant irrespective of students’ entering GMAT, gender, work status, and age. But the strength of the relationship between portfolio use and reflection score declined with increasing GPA. Age, gender, GPA, and work status did influence students’ willingness to voluntarily participate in the portfolio program. The study provides one of the first systematic tests of the usefulness of portfolios as learning tools. Given the effort and cost of their implementation, this is an important contribution. The implications of the study for schools considering portfolio use are discussed and recommendations are offered for implementation.

Designing Effective Projects: Decision Options for Maximizing Learning and Project Success

Volkema, R. J. — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:37:28 PDT

In recent years, more and more business schools have introduced team-based projects into their curricula as a means of addressing corporate, small business, and community-service issues while teaching students a variety of project management skills (technical and sociocultural). In designing a project-oriented course, an instructor has a number of options available with respect to project identification, project focus and scope, team size, composition and leadership, course content, content delivery, and student project evaluation. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these various options, as well as the factors that are most likely to moderate an instructor’s choices in seeking to maximize student learning and project success.

An Integrated Set of Exercises for Increasing Student Awareness of Issues Facing Female Expatriates

Lovelace, K. J., Chung, Y. — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:37:28 PDT

Opportunities for expatriate assignments are increasing and many students are interested in gaining international work experience. However, females are underrepresented in this expatriate applicant pool. This is because organizational members often perceive that female expatriates would be less successful than male counterparts and thereby females are less preferable for foreign assignments. To increase awareness of this discrepancy and teach effective human resource strategies for increasing the success of both male and female expatriates, a lecturette is offered with a set of integrated exercises, including a Jeopardy activity, for addressing facts and myths about female expatriates, cultural influences affecting global assignments, human resource practices and implications, and strategies for expatriate success.

The Divide Between Diversity Training and Diversity Education: Integrating Best Practices

King, E. B., Gulick, L. M. V., Avery, D. R. — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:13:48 PDT

The fields of diversity training and diversity education have developed in a disconnected manner. This divide ensures that each field advances slowly and with narrow focus. The authors argue here that the divide should be bridged with attention to the best practices that diversity training and diversity education offer. By integrating the best that each perspective has to offer as outlined here, both fields of inquiry and practice may be enhanced.

The Diversity Education Dilemma: Exposing Status Hierarchies Without Reinforcing Them

Amoroso, L. M., Loyd, D. L., Hoobler, J. M. — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:20:20 PDT

A diversity education dilemma occurs when exposure to information concerning status hierarchies, related to demographic and other socially salient identity groups, reinforces those hierarchies in the classroom. Discussions of diversity-related issues in a variety of management courses (e.g., immigrant issues in labor relations, the composition of executive leadership teams in strategy, workplace compliance issues in human resource management) may highlight or draw attention to status differences as individuals identify with—and are identified by others as belonging to—higher or lower status groups (e.g., based on race/ethnicity, gender, or physical disability). As a consequence, the "real world" status hierarchy is strengthened within the classroom with negative consequences for student learning. This study uses status characteristics theory to provide a framework for understanding ways in which one’s best-intended practices may be undermining student learning. The authors also propose a series of practical ways that instructors can mitigate the status hierarchy to create a more equitable learning environment while simultaneously tackling issues related to diversity.

Enhancing Group Decision Making: An Exercise to Reduce Shared Information Bias

Baker, D. F. — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:25:21 PDT

Research on shared information bias has shown that group members involved in a decision-making task tend to undervalue information that a single member shares with the group, especially when that information conflicts with their prior conclusions. The group activity in this article is intended to heighten awareness of this shared information bias on group decision making. Students must choose among three candidates in a hiring simulation that uses a hidden profile methodology. In a sample of 20 student groups, only 4 groups chose the candidate with the most positive qualities, indicating most did not uncover the hidden profile. The exercise concludes with a discussion about the individual and group-level biases that affect group decision making and methods to enhance impartial deliberation of information.

The Why, What, and How of Reviewer Education: A Human Capital Approach

Sullivan, S. E., Baruch, Y., Schepmyer, H. — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:46:21 PDT

Reviewing has long been recognized as a critical part of the academic process of knowledge creation, development, and dissemination. However, as evidenced by recent findings from focus groups and an international survey, the relative lack of effective formal training in management PhD programs on how to review is surprising given the impact that reviewing has on the management field. Despite the importance of reviewing to the success of the management field and the careers of those in our profession, many scholars still learn how to review by the inefficient method of trial and error. In response to recent criticisms and calls for the rehabilitation of the review process, the authors discuss why doctoral students need to be educated in order to be effective reviewers, what major topics should be covered in this training, and how certain techniques can be used to educate students while also enhancing their human capital and future career success.

Taking Stock of Management Education: A Comparison of Three Management Education Journals

Beatty, J. E., Leigh, J. S.A. — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:34:56 PDT

The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) relies on peer review of scholarship. Although definitions of SoTL vary by discipline, publication of SoTL research is considered an especially robust form of peer review. Understanding the similarities and differences in the management pedagogy publication outlets can help researchers develop their work for publication. This study analyzes the focus and format of the core management pedagogy journals: Journal of Management Education, Academy of Management Learning & Education, and Management Learning. Mission, format, author characteristics, topics, and distinct topic concentrations are examined and compared; an analysis of core concentrations for each journal is presented. Results show distinct topic concentrations for the three journals and higher representation of authors from U.S.-based, research-intensive universities. Findings highlight questions for consideration regarding how SoTL is defined in management.

Recreating the Arsenal of Venice: Using Experiential Activities to Teach the History of Management

Stovall, S. A. — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:34:56 PDT

In works by Van Fleet and Wren and by Smith, a strong case is made for including a greater emphasis on the historical aspects of management in undergraduate introductory-level management courses. This article builds on these two works by providing specific experiential activities to assist instructors who wish to offer more depth to their classroom discussions on the history of management. Specifically, three exercises are provided that address key managerial concepts such as the assembly line, interchangeable parts, team building, the Hawthorne Effect, and the four functions of management. In addition, the first part of the article reiterates the importance of including more management history in an undergraduate principles course. Two appendices offer additional experiential activities and a brief timeline of management history milestones.

Growing Up and Growing Out: Emerging Adults Learn Management Through Service-Learning

Fairfield, K. D. — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:00:09 PDT

This article describes a journey introducing service-learning based on large-scale projects in an undergraduate management curriculum, leading to supplementing this approach with more conventional small-group projects. It outlines some of the foundation for service-learning. Having students undertake a single class-wide project offers distinctive advantages. The difficulties experienced in early iterations of the course, however, prompted the author to reflect on the literature on developmental psychology and "emerging adulthood." This reflection led to introducing a second course based on more modest small-group projects, which can serve as a useful prerequisite for the more ambitious class-wide project enterprise. The smaller scale project class focuses on personal skills, individual effectiveness, and team leadership. Moving later to a larger scale project allows students to learn more about delegating to others, managing performance, designing tasks and organizations, and gaining a sense of impact as a collective unit. Results so far suggest the benefit of both classes taken in sequence.

Understanding Organizational Culture and Communication through a Gyroscope Metaphor

Bisel, R. S., Messersmith, A. S., Keyton, J. — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:00:21 PDT

To fill a critical void in organizational culture pedagogy, the authors present an instructional system that employs the metaphor of a gyroscope to help students understand implicit assumptions in culture research. Working from Martin’s nexus approach to organizational culture and Fairhurst and Putnam’s tripartite theory of organizational discourse, the system in this study illustrates three interpretations of the relationships between culture and communication implicit in the literature. Each relationship is defined, exemplified with culture research, and critiqued. Pedagogical applications of the gyroscope metaphor are also outlined.

Three Models for Short-Term Study Abroad

Sachau, D. A., Brasher, N., Fee, S. — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:03:57 PDT

Nearly 250,000 U.S. college students participate in study abroad programs each year. A growing proportion of students are participating in short-term study abroad programs. Despite the large number of students in these programs, there are relatively few articles that describe how to start or manage a short-term, business-related, study abroad program. With this in mind, this article includes three examples of short-term study abroad programs: the summer semester abroad, the study tour, and the service-learning trip. Benefits of short-term study abroad programs are discussed. The article also includes tips for designing and managing the programs. The article is intended as a resource for faculty who are considering taking students abroad.

Service-Learning by Doing: How a Student-run Consulting Company Finds Relevance and Purpose in a Business Strategy Capstone Course

Robinson, D. F., Sherwood, A. L., DePaolo, C. A. — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:03:57 PDT

A challenge for undergraduate learning in strategy is that the students lack professional work experiences. Without a rich background of experience, many strategic management topics are difficult to grasp. Our solution has been to develop a strategic management capstone course that combines service-learning and problem-based learning. The experiential design puts students in charge of a consulting company serving struggling local nonprofits and small businesses. By consulting, students have access to strategic decision makers and learn to understand the missions of their organizations. Students acquire a sense of urgency to solve strategic problems and develop a commitment to improving their community. In this article, the authors describe their motivations for the course design and how service-learning enhances the design’s efficacy. In addition, the authors explain the use of a matrix structure for the student consulting company, how the company operates, and the strategic process consultation approach its consultants use. This study also describes the student leadership structure and just-in-time lecture technique that enables the instructor to provide on-demand instruction. The authors conclude by explaining the assessment system of quality checks, presentations, and reflection papers that allows instructors to maintain student learning in a very flexible and student-driven learning system.

Developing Enlightened Leaders for Industry and Community: Executive Education and Service-Learning

Rhee, K. S., Sigler, T. H. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:20:02 PDT

What does it take to develop enlightened leaders who can transform their organizations and communities? The quest to develop enlightened leaders who are self-aware, learning centered, adaptable, interpersonally competent, and team oriented is a challenge faced by many management programs. The Master of Science program in Executive Leadership and Organization Change (ELOC) was designed to develop enlightened leaders who can demonstrate outstanding and transformative leadership in their organizations and communities. The ELOC program is an innovative executive-level master’s program designed to develop leadership and change management skills through the pedagogical framework of ACT (action learning, competency development, and teamwork). ELOC students participated in a public engagement practicum course in the first summer of their program. A description of the ELOC program as well as a description of the service-learning course is presented. Key components in the program and course that facilitated the desired executive leadership development are highlighted.

Social Entrepreneurship and Community Leadership: A Service-Learning Model for Management Education

Litzky, B. E., Godshalk, V. M., Walton-Bongers, C. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:20:04 PDT

This article provides a "how to" guide for developing and teaching a service-learning course in social entrepreneurship and community leadership. As the framework of the course, service-learning operates through faculty to student, student to student, and student to client interactions. The discussion articulates the planning and faculty commitment necessary as well as the goals, objectives, project examples, and outcomes associated with the class. A unique aspect of the course, the pairing of graduate student mentors with high school student protégés within teams, is described. The service-learning activities required throughout the course are generalizable to several management education contexts that wish to enhance learning and leadership by creating partnerships between the university, its students, and its community.

Integrating Service-Learning Into an Introduction to Entrepreneurship Course

McCrea, E. A. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:20:04 PDT

Despite fairly widespread recognition that entrepreneurship occurs in both profit and nonprofit enterprises, a review of experiential learning techniques in entrepreneurship education does not explicitly mention service-learning. This omission may be because of a perceived lack of relevance of the pedagogy to entrepreneurship, the belief that inexperienced students are not interested in or capable of the work, and/or faculty concern about the approach’s time-consuming nature. Yet service-learning can be a powerful pedagogy for teaching the skills and body of knowledge pertaining to entrepreneurship. This article chronicles the author’s experience integrating service-learning into an introductory undergraduate entrepreneurship course and offers it as a model for others to adapt to their own preferences and teaching context. It includes the author’s rationale for using service-learning, an abridged course syllabus, sample student reflection assignments, a project grading rubric, and other course materials. Client and student feedback as well as the author’s personal reflections on the learning experience are also provided.

Service-Learning and Integrated Course Redesign: Principles of Management and the Campus Kitchen Metaproject

Flannery, B. L., Pragman, C. H. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:20:03 PDT

This article describes the process of redesigning a Principles of Management course to integrate a service-learning metaproject. The metaproject was Campus Kitchen, a food recovery and delivery program operated on a handful of university campuses across the United States. We used L. Dee Fink’s integrated course design approach as well as systems theory thinking to structure the redesign. The redesign was comprehensive starting with a scan and an evaluation of the many broad and specific situational factors shaping the course. This information required us to rethink everything from how we structured the delivery of course content to how we assessed learning and project outcomes. The article concludes with our reflections about what we learned by using this exciting, yet demanding, pedagogy.

Service-Learning and Negotiation: An Educational "Win-Win"

Kenworthy, A. L. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:20:03 PDT

Negotiation is one of the most popular elective business courses offered across tertiary educational programs today. Yet, in many undergraduate and graduate programs, the "practice" of negotiation takes place solely through role-plays and simulations. The purpose of this article is to provide a "how to" template for negotiation instructors who are interested in extending their students’ experiences beyond the sole use of in-class role-plays and simulations into the real world. The project described in this article is a semester-long, undergraduate service-learning group consulting project that has been used and refined over an 8-year period.

A Situational Approach for Assessing and Teaching Acculturation

Molinsky, A. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:20:04 PDT

This article introduces a situational approach for assessing and teaching acculturation that captures how a person’s level of competence and authenticity in a foreign cultural setting varies across the various situations the person encounters. Whereas previous research, such as the U-curve and Berry’s dual identification model, portrays cultural adaptation at a broad, general level, the current approach provides a more nuanced perspective on acculturation by taking into account situational variability as well as variability in experienced competence and authenticity. The benefits of the framework for cross-cultural training and education are illustrated within the context of foreign MBA students in the United States.

Crossing the Line: Framing Appropriate Responses in the Diversity Classroom

Kirk, D. J., Durant, R. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:20:03 PDT

The assignment for the students was to write honestly about how they felt regarding specific current events dealing with diversity. However, what resulted was a kairos moment for the professor—an instance that called for her best response even when she did not know what that was—when a student crossed the line in terms of respectful communication. Our story picks up there and follows us through our own emotions and dialogues as we worked to make sense as to why the student responded as he did and how the emotionally charged issue could be turned into a teachable moment around language, boundaries, understanding, and acceptance.

Expanding Possibilities Through Metaphor: Breaking Biases to Improve Crisis Management

Cirka, C. C., Corrigall, E. A. — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:37:11 PDT

In this article, we demonstrate that an exercise using metaphors to overcome cognitive biases helped students to proactively imagine and prepare for an expanded set of potential crises. The exercise complements traditional textbook approaches to crisis management and incorporates creativity skill building in a realistic context. Learning outcomes included an enhanced appreciation of detrimental effects of cognitive biases, improved skill in using metaphor to overcome these biases, an understanding of the benefits of proactive crisis management, and experience in formulating a crisis management plan. We describe the exercise, suggest debriefing questions, and discuss benefits to students.

Project Management in Real Time: A Service-Learning Project

Larson, E., Drexler, J. A. — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:25:10 PDT

This article describes a service-learning assignment for a project management course. It is designed to facilitate hands-on student learning of both the technical and the interpersonal aspects of project management, and it involves student engagement with real customers and real stakeholders in the creation of real events with real outcomes. As such, it helps students internalize project management principles and value project management tools. Student teams design and implement plans for events intended to result in significant contributions in support of various charitable organizations. They create the planning and execution documents required of project management teams. The article describes the assignment and its results and discusses some cautions and alternatives.

Putting "Organizations" into an Organization Theory Course: A Hybrid CAO Model for Teaching Organization Theory

Hannah, D. R., Venkatachary, R. — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:08:23 PDT

In this article, the authors present a retrospective analysis of an instructor’s multiyear redesign of a course on organization theory into what is called a hybrid Classroom-as-Organization model. It is suggested that this new course design served to apprentice students to function in quasi-real organizational structures. The authors further argue that the quality of students’ apprenticeship experiences was influenced by three factors: (a) the relevance of the course content, (b) the authenticity of classroom exercises and activities, and (c) the physical context of the course. The authors substantiate their arguments by incorporating quantitative and qualitative data from eight rounds of course evaluations in their analyses. It is believed that the ideas discussed herein will be particularly interesting to instructors of organization theory and to other instructors who use Classroom-as-Organization models.

Retracted: Preparing Leaders to Deal With Sustainability

Boxer, L. — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:33:33 PST

RETRACTED: Linear-Nonlinear Thinking Style Balance for Improved Management Education and Development

Vance, C. M., Groves, K. S., Paik, Y., Kindler, H. — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:59:16 PST