|
Identifying the Specific Behaviors that Define Teamwork –
A Review of the Literature and Integrative Meta-Model
for Business School Applications
Charles J. Hobson, Indiana University Northwest – Gary, Indiana, USA
Jana Szostek, Indiana University Northwest – Gary, Indiana, USA
Andrea Griffin, Indiana University Northwest – Gary, Indiana, USA
Derek Lusk, Hogan Assessments – Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Krysta Rydecki, Grand Valley State University – Allendale, Michigan, USA
ABSTRACT
Seven prominent research-based models of teamwork effectiveness were reviewed and content analyzed. The result was a meta-model consisting of 41 specific positive and negative behaviors, grouped into four critical competencies and two major factors. Applications of the meta-model in teaching, assessing, and developing teamwork skills in collegiate business schools are discussed along with suggestions for future research.
Keywords: teamwork, teamwork effectiveness, teamwork meta-model
Team Assignments: Planning a Collaborative Online Learning Environment
Diane Cairns, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan, USA
Patricia A. Castelli, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan, USA
ABSTRACT
Teamwork is an essential part of an organization’s success. Yet many online business programs do not use a methodological approach for ensuring students are learning critical teamwork skills and effectively applying them during the course of a semester. The purpose of this paper is to present best practices for implementing teamwork into an online business class and how assessment rubrics can assist in making meaningful changes and improvements to enhance student collaboration in online experiences.
Keywords: teamwork, collaboration, online instruction, adult learner, assessment
Video Production to Enhance Multimedia Presentations Skills: An Undergraduate Business Project
Anne M.A. Sergeant, Ph.D., Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Patrick A. MacDonald, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Abstract
In this article, we argue that multimedia video presentations are going to be a useful (almost necessary) tool for business professionals. The technology is readily available for anyone to make basic videos and thus it will become more commonly used. Current students, anticipating a long business career, will need to develop basic video production skills. To understand the video making thoughts and skills of current business students, we report survey data about the attitudes, aptitudes, and experiences of a sample of undergraduate business students. The results indicate that some students have strong video making experience, particularly from high school, while others have no video making skills or experience. Most believe they will need to be able to make videos for successful careers in business. Editing is the skill most students report as lacking. We also present a class-tested, video project that endeavors to help undergraduate business students develop video production skills while also developing content knowledge. The project requires students to individually research careers in accounting, and then produce a video as a group that is intended to persuade undergraduate students to consider a career in accounting. Rubrics are provided along with implementation guidelines. Overall, students successfully produced short video segments, and reported improvements in many areas of video production.
Keywords: business, accounting, education, presentation, video production, multimedia, oral presentation, collaborative learning, active-learning, careers in accounting, rubric
Online Teaching Effectiveness with Instructor-made Video Tutorials: A Case of Using Explain Everything™
Litao Zhong, Indiana University East, Richmond, Indiana, USA
ABSTRACT
With the increase in popularity of online education, how to effectively teach online classes has become increasingly researched. Educators have attempted to adopt technologies and social media applications to their courses in order to improve their teaching effectiveness (Williams & Jacobs, 2004; Duffy & Bruns, 2006; Blau et al., 2009). Among the various technologies and social media applications utilized, online video is the most common resource used (Moran et al., 2011). As such, this paper introduces a little-known video producing tool, Explain Everything™, that can be used to make high quality video tutorials. For the purposes of this study, the tool was utilized in two fundamental online economics courses. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of the student evaluations reveal that the instructor-made video tutorials were effective teaching methods for the online course. Statistically, strong correlations were shown between student satisfaction and the instructor’s teaching effectiveness.
Keywords: Teaching Effectiveness, Instructor-made Video Tutorials, Explain Everything, Course Evaluations
The Quest for Impact:
Increasing the Value and Visibility of Business Schools’ Research
Sheree Corkern, Mississippi College, Clinton, MS, USA
William A. Morehead, Mississippi College, Clinton, MS, USA
Mark I. Morgan, Mississippi College, Clinton, MS, USA
ABSTRACT
Continuous quality improvement in business and management education through engagement, innovation, and impact is the key focus of the newer 2013 accreditation standards of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Specifically, the focus on impact, described generally as both the qualitative and quantitative measurement of the schools performance of their research, has created quite a buzz among schools of business. Each accredited or accreditation-candidate school must now demonstrate how their research is aligned with its mission and strategies; and also, the school must provide evidence that the research has impacted the value and visibility of the school among its various stakeholders including the classroom, school, community, and practice.
Keywords: AACSB, Impact, Accreditation, Research, Engagement, Innovation, Business Schools
Aligning Assurance of Learning Activities with the 2013 AACSB Standards
Faye X. Zhu, Rowan University, New Jersey, USA
Robert S. Fleming, Rowan University, New Jersey, USA
ABSTRACT
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) revised and adopted its business accreditation standards in 2013. This paper focuses on one of the major revised components in the new standards: assurance of learning (AoL). It presents an AoL model implemented at the business school of a middle-sized public university in New Jersey in compliance with the new AACSB standards and discusses a number of implementation issues and lessons learned.
Key words: Assurance of learning; 2013 AACSB accreditation standards; Assessment
Engagement, Impact, and Innovation: Utilizing an Integrated Experience
Joseph Reising and Kathleen Dale, Minnesota State University-Mankato, MN, USA
ABSTRACT
The Integrated Experience (IE) is a hands-on, experiential learning opportunity that has become the signature program of a College of Business for implementing its mission of offering students real-world learning experiences. The IE is a 12-credit program that requires cohorts of students to concurrently take part in three core courses (Principles of Management, Principles of Marketing, Business Finance) and apply concepts they are learning in those core courses to a fourth course called the IE Practicum. In the IE Practicum, students develop and operate a business as a class. The contributions the IE makes in providing evidence of a curriculum that is continuously improving in terms of innovation, engagement, and impact are discussed.
Keywords: experiential learning, engagement, impact, innovation
Building Students’ International Perspective Using Business Startups
Kimberly M. Green, University of West Georgia, Georgia, USA
John W. Upson, University of West Georgia, Georgia, USA
Susana Velez-Castrillon, University of West Georgia, Georgia, USA
ABSTRACT
Examples in the business classroom often use large, established companies that students readily recognize. To be recognized by most students, firms likely have already grown to a significant size. Further, when explaining how environmental factors affect businesses, these large firms tend to be somewhat insulated because of their resource stocks and diversification. Therefore, the visible effects of location on business may be more evident in smaller businesses and entrepreneurs than in large businesses. In this article, we describe four databases that are useful for comparing physical conditions, approaches to business, and opinions about business across countries of the world. We present three exercises in which students utilize these data sources. These include a statistical analysis, a country analysis, and a company analysis. The data and the exercises facilitate a focus on start-ups and small businesses and the factors they face in different countries.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Small Business, International Business, Undergraduate Research, Classroom Exercises
We Believe in “Hire” Education: Establishing an Experiential Professional Pathway Program
Linda C. Rodriguez, University of South Carolina Aiken, SC, USA
Michael J. “Mick” Fekula, University of South Carolina Aiken, SC, USA
ABSTRACT
There is a difference between being properly prepared for professional life and being proactive in choosing a suitable professional pathway. Although business schools are capable of providing an excellent education, some, if not many students engage in the learning process without asking where it will lead them. This paper describes a systematic process to bridge the gap between college and professional life through a professional pathway program. In order to make such a program effective, students must be involved in the process of proactively assessing their future. Although experiential learning is important throughout a student’s business education, supplementing an experiential professional pathway approach with robust future career reflection can play a critical role in setting the stage for the effective pursuit of a particular profession.
Keywords: Profession, career strategy, experiential learning, curriculum, course design, online programs
Experiential learning in digital marketing: A library social media takeover
Daisy DeCoster, Interim Director, O’Toole Library, Saint Peter’s University, NJ USA
Mary Kate Naatus, Associate Professor, Saint Peter’s University, NJ USA
ABSTRACT
While most academic libraries engage in some form of social media communication, questions have been raised as to the effectiveness of social media in building library community and the appropriateness of adding social media communication to the wide array of job duties librarians take on each day. In the spring of 2016 Saint Peter’s University Libraries allowed a student team from a Digital and Social Media Marketing class to conduct a “social media takeover” of the library Facebook account and to kickstart a library Instagram presence. This successful project led to the establishment of a social media plan for the library and the creation of a new work study position focused on digital marketing and social media outreach. This case study will describe the experience of transitioning from librarian-run to student-run social media at a small urban university library, as well as examine the effect of this experiential class component on attainment of student learning outcomes in a digital marketing class.
Keywords: experiential learning, digital marketing, social media, student-run social media, marketing projects
The Blocks Exercise: Interactive Teaching Strategy for Introducing the ‘Climate of Performance’ in a Management Course
Kerry P. Gatlin, University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama, USA
Lisa Cooley, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas, USA
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses an exercise that serves as a fun but thought-provoking introduction or follow-up to the study of
traditional motivation models in management courses at the undergraduate, graduate and executive education level. The main lesson from the exercise is that the organizational climate may impact performance as much as internal
factors that are typically stressed in traditional motivation models. In the exercise, two groups of four students each perform a task consisting of individually making a single stack of children’s alphabet blocks in one minute. The exercise shows how a manager can influence expectations and performance in a workgroup. The results of the exercise, completed hundreds of times in the U.S. and in Asia, has always ended with the same outcome. The first group of students establishes an average goal of 10-12 blocks in their individual stacks. The second group, working with the same number of blocks and same time constraints establish an average goal of 18-20 blocks. The exercise focuses on helping to understand why this happens. This activity, along with information that follows address elements in the ‘Climate of Performance’ that fall outside traditional motivational models. The exercise results in substantial student engagement. It requires very few resources. The exercise and discussions that follow can be completed in a 50-minute class session.
Keywords: Interactive learning, teaching with games, climate of performance, expectations, feedback, delegation.
Building a Better Jigsaw Puzzle: Using a
Corporate Partnership as the “Missing Piece” in the
Introduction to Business Course
Paulette McCarty, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Edward G. Wertheim, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
ABSTRACT
For decades, the Introduction to Business/Management course has been a central, introductory component of most business education undergraduate programs; yet this course continues to be problematic for both students and faculty. This paper describes an innovative approach developed for this course. Our challenges were threefold: to better integrate course concept areas, strengthen the pedagogical foundation of the course, and more effectively link content and delivery. The key piece in our course design, the piece that helps address the various challenges, is a partnership that we developed with a locally headquartered corporation. The partnership model has helped us achieve the course educational goals and support the central role the course plays in the curriculum.
Keywords: Introduction to Management, Introduction to Business, Emerging Adult, Corporate Partnership
An Integrative Case Study of Market Models for Principles of Economics’ Courses: Connecting the Student to the Business World
Lane Boyte-Eckis, Troy University, Dothan, Alabama, USA
ABSTRACT
Integrating case studies within a principles of economics course can be challenging due to the size of a class, mode of delivery, and instructor’s styles. This article focuses on the generic concept of market models, covered in the majority of principles courses in economics. It provides the instructor with a simple, effective case study to implement in their course to help elucidate student learning outcomes, promote engagement, and improve critical thinking skills within the field of economics. This exercise also encourages students to secure a mentor and research the field of study they are interested in, which adds greatly to any program’s end goals.
Keywords: market models, economic education, integrative study, ball python snake, microeconomics, mentor
Teaching Graduate Students to Write Persuasively for Business Decision Making: A Workshop Approach
Lan Wu, California State University, East Bay, California, USA
Sweety Law, California State University, East Bay, California, USA
ABSTRACT
Although writing skills are vital to a successful career in business, graduate students receive little instruction on how to develop such skills. In a pilot study, we designed and conducted a writing workshop, teaching graduate students to persuasively communicate business decisions. The one and half a day workshop focused on three topics: “thesis writing”, “how to structure and develop a persuasive essay”, and “language mechanics”, along with homework, in-class writing assignments, and prompt feedback. Professional writing techniques were also introduced, which helped students learn how to compose a multi-paragraph persuasive essay in a timed context. Students’ response towards the workshop was extremely positive.
Keywords: decision making, persuasive essay, writing workshop, business education
Teaching R2 in Regression
Kenneth Sutrick, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, USA
ABSTRACT
In regression the coefficient of determination, , measures how well a regression line fits a set of data. How does do this? Exactly what does measure? It is taught that is the percent of explained variance. These are nice words but what do they really mean? The measure is perhaps the most confusing topic in regression and is confusing to students. This paper suggests ways to teach what the coefficient of determination and its components and interpretations are about.
Keywords: regression, coefficient of determination, R2, RMSE, percent of explained variance.
SCICAP Credit Union: A Theft of $2.7 Million over 37 Years
Mitchell Franklin, Madden School of Business at Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, USA
ABSTRACT
SCICAP Credit Union failed as a result of an embezzlement scheme by a long-term employee that went undetected over a period of 37 years. Through this case, the student is exposed to the concept of internal controls, and also will discuss how internal controls can be established and maintained within a financial institution setting.
The student will reflect on the responsibility of the Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee for the well being of a financial institution, as well as issues that may be faced if one were in a supervisory role of an organization and suspicious of an active fraud. This case allows students to understand and apply internal control concepts at several levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy within the setting of one case.
Keywords: Fraud examination, internal controls, auditors, case study
Unleashing Disruptive Leadership – Teaching Carpe Diem!
Maryann Billington, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Birgitte Ellersgaard, Copenhagen, Denmark
www.wavespartners.com
ABSTRACT
Today’s managers and leaders face an unpredictable business future, stiff competition, a culturally and generationally varied workforce, a constant need for change as well a need for a different way to manage change, and a volatile customer base. They need to lead differently and courageously. Disruptive strategy calls for disruptive leadership. Faculty and facilitators who teach business topics in colleges, universities, and executive programs are responsible to address this new concept of disruptive leadership. Learn more about the leadership competencies required to face digitalization, global markets, rapid innovation, a “VUCA” world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity, 2008), and how to practice emotional intelligence.
Keywords: Disruption, innovation, disruptive leadership, leadership, VUCA, volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, competencies, globalization, emotional leadership, digitalization, change management, business transformation.
Counterrevolutionaries in the Financial Services Industry: Teaching Disruption – A Case Study of RoboAdvisors and Incumbent Responses
Natalia A. Gold
Steven R. Kursh
D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University - Boston, Massachusetts, USA
ABSTRACT
This paper addresses our teaching of strategies for incumbents to follow in response to disruption. We discuss Fintech and, specifically, Robo-Advisors, and how incumbent financial services companies have and will likely continue to respond to Robo-Advisors and other Fintech-driven innovations.
While the use of Robo-Advisors has disrupted the wealth management and financial services industries, we question whether legacy institutions (aka incumbents) may suffer ill results if they are late coming to the table or if they take the wrong directions. We consider possible strategies, including those discussed in Richard A. D’Aveni’s paper in the Harvard Business Review, that incumbents may follow in response to Robo-Advisors and, more broadly, Fintech companies, and how we teach this material in our courses.
Keywords: Strategy, disruption, Fintech, Robo-Advisors, legacy banks, wealth management, asset management, money management, passive investment, personal financial management, D’Aveni
|