Business Commons^™

Elevate Organizational Survival: Introducing An Adaptability Assessment/Test In Organizational Premortem Strategies Toward Developing Performance-Based Navigation, John Pourdehnad, Phd, Larry Starr, Phd, Vincent Barabba, Lld

School of Business Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Addressing The Lack Of Digital Literacy Learning At A Kuwaiti Higher Education Institution, Mariam Sarhan Alshammari

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan is an effort to address the lack of digital literacy learning at a Kuwaiti higher education institution. Digital literacy, and by extension, digital citizenship are critical skills to have in today’s world. Global College of Kuwait (GCK, anonymized) is a relatively new college in the region that is struggling to retain students, particularly after COVID highlighted the college’s lack of experience/preparedness with digital literacy. To tackle the problem, a reform committee was formed and tasked with finding a feasible solution to improve digital literacy learning in the college’s Foundation Program. A Foundation Program is a preparatory …

Development Of Critical Thinking Skills In Collegiate Aviation Programs, Irene Miller, Tom Long

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Critical thinking requires an individual to gather and interpret data, develop conclusions based upon relevant findings, and implement the best solution. The dynamic aviation industry requires these skills of its pilots, maintainers, and managers for companies to remain successful. Collegiate aviation programs need to teach critical thinking and cognitive skills to allow students entering the workforce to become these successful aviation managers, maintainers, and pilots. Since August 2021, Southern Illinois University has been conducting a study to inform the development of these techniques for promoting critical thinking skills in the classroom and determine their efficacy. SIU will provide the preliminary …

The Impact Of Live Cases On Student Skill Development In Marketing Courses, Shannon Cummins, Jeff S. Johnson

Marketing & Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications

Live cases, where students work directly with an outside organization to solve real-world problems, can be an immersive learning experience for marketing students. Current scholarship on live case usage in marketing is limited to small samples from a handful of live case devotees. This article draws from a large, international sample of 169 marketing educators to investigate the perceived educational impacts of live cases on student skill development. Specifically, the paper explores student teamwork, conflict handling, time management, presentation, communication, and critical thinking skills. Additionally, the article explores how student skill development is affected by the amount of course time …

Future Proof And Real-World Ready: The Role Of Live Project-Based Learning In Students’ Skill Development, Andrew J. Rohm, Matthew Stefl, Noriko Ward

Marketing & Business Law Faculty Works

The rapid pace of technological change taking place today makes it even more important for marketing educators to incorporate relevant technical and higher level meta-skills in their digital marketing courses. We review the pedagogical literature on skill development and project-based learning and detail two live course projects designed to help students develop technical skills related to digital marketing in addition to important meta-skills involving creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. We evaluate the impact of the projects through a direct and indirect assessment process. Findings suggest that live project–based learning can support the development of the technical and meta-skills necessary …

Building Relationships And Resolving Conflicts: Infusing Critical Thinking Into Workplace Practices, Joseph P. Hester

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

As we are now living in a world characterized as a “new normal,” nothing is more important than leaders who are adept at critical thinking enabling them to enhance their businesses by making judicious decisions while remaining sensitive to the needs of their employees. When talking about critical thinking, often neglected is the descriptor “critical.” Among other things, “critical” means significant, vital, essential, and analytical, and involving skillful judgment as to truth and merit. From the point of view of commonsense, “critical” may also imply an effort to see a problem or situation clearly and truthfully in order to make …

Critical Thinking In A College Of Business Administration, Phyllis R. Anderson, Joanne R. Reid

Southern Business Review

Phyllis R. Anderson, MetE, MBA, PhD, is a senior university lecturer in the College of Business and Public Administration at Governors State University, One University Parkway, University Park, IL 60484.

Joanne R. Reid, BA, MSED, EdD, is the vice president of Corporate Development Associates, Inc., Lombard, IL 60148.

Don't Google It! Appeal To Students' Passions To Inspire Information Literacy, Ellen B. Derwin Ph.D.

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Who doesn’t love Google? Yet in courses all across disciplines at colleges and universities, faculty struggle with assigning work that requires research. Why? Students immediately Google (or use another search engine) to seek information and often ignore requirements to seek information that is relevant, credible, accurate and evidence-based. Despite partnering with librarians, grading with information literacy as a high priority, and guiding students to seek appropriate sources, googling without critical thinking happens on a regular basis. At Brandman University, this frustration for faculty occurs throughout the curriculum, even in courses such as Critical Thinking, Student Success, and Information Literacy, which …

Asynchronous Discussion Forum Design To Support Cognition: Effects Of Rubrics And Instructor Prompts On Learner’S Critical Thinking, Achievement, And Satisfaction, Lisa A. Giacumo, Wilhelmina Savenye

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of two metacognitive scaffolds on learners’ cognition by evaluating student critical thinking skills performance in an asynchronous discussion board and achievement in a blended learning module. The two scaffolds included a systematic protocol for individualized facilitation prompts and an analytic rubric with three criteria (critical thinking, participation frequency, and writing quality) along with four levels of achievement for each criterion. This research study employed a quasi-experimental, two-by-two factorial design. The study participants (N = 257) were assigned to one of four different conditions. Those provided with the rubric scaffold …

To Close The Skills Gap, Technology And Higher-Order Thinking Skills Must Go Hand In Hand, Manying Qiu, Yaquan Xu, Emmanuel O. Omojokun

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Technology is rapidly changing the business landscape. Workforce skills gap is widening in the digital business environment. Universities and employers call for developing students’ higher-order thinking skills along with integrating technology into academic curricula. We conducted a survey to assess learning outcomes from two groups of undergraduate students: business majors and information technology (IT) majors. SAP ERP hands-on case studies were used for this comparative experiment. The student survey results showed that the students of both majors believed that learning SAP software can lead to more rewarding jobs and they felt confident about their competitiveness in the job market. Although …

A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Evidence-Based Practice In A Knowledge Organization, Josh Villanueva

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Evidence-based practice offers a key strategy for closing the gap between research and practice in organizational and management studies. This approach calls for practitioners to apply key critical thinking competencies to gather and use the best available evidence to inform decision making and action (Rousseau, 2006). As a result, efforts to try and develop the evidence-based practice capabilities of practitioners abound, mainly in the form of workshops and university courses offered by leading proponents in the field. Yet, we know little about the impact of these training approaches and whether they transfer to actual differences in practitioners’ behaviors on the …

Critical Analytic Thinking Skills: Do They Predict Job-Related Task Performance Above And Beyond General Intelligence?, Sara Beth Elson, Robert Hartman, Adam Beatty, Matthew Trippe, Kerry Buckley, John Bornmann, Elaine Bochniewicz, Mark Lehner, Liliya Korenovska, Jessica Lee, Les Servi, Alison Dingwall, Paul E. Lehner, Maurita Soltis, Mark Brown, Brandon Beltz, Amber Sprenger

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

Employers and government leaders have called attention to the need for critical thinking skills in the workforce, while business trends toward evidence-based decision making also highlight the increasing importance of the critical thinking skill set. Although studies have examined the relationship of critical thinking to behaviors or job performance, many have missed a key component: incremental predictive validity of critical thinking beyond cognitive ability. The current study defines critical thinking, presents results from a test development effort in which the conceptual definition was operationalized as a measure of critical analytical thinking skills for government analysts, and presents results of a …

4e’S Socratic Model: A Grounded Theory For Managing Team Creativity In An Organisational Context, Philip Dennett

Theses

There has been considerable research on identifying the antecedents of creativity and the determinants of organisational creativity, but researchers are yet to develop an effective model for managing creativity within a traditional hierarchical management structure. It has been suggested that using the Socratic Method to create a learning environment within an organisation is a way to foster creativity in an uncertain environment. In this context the Socratic Method is defined as a directed questioning technique to encourage critical thinking. This thesis proposes that taking a Socratic approach to champion creativity enables management to increase creativity in their teams. It also …

The Cpa Exam Is Changing: Are The Professors Ready?, Michelle S. Freeman

ETSU Faculty Works

Accounting professors will now be accountable for teaching their students to think critically, analyze, and evaluate information. The pressure to change accounting higher education cannot be ignored with the new version of the CPA exam, released in April 2017, which now tests analysis and evaluation skills. Have the professors made the changes in their classrooms that will help their students to be successful with this format of questioning? This research seeks to find whether professors have indeed embraced pedagogy that will enhance students’ ability to develop higher order thinking skills. The study begins by explaining changes to the CPA exam. …

Lighting The Flame Of Entrepreneurship Among Agribusiness Students, Christiane Schroeter, Lindsey Higgins, Carlyn Wright

Christiane Schroeter

Give Me A Formula Not The Concept! Student Preference To Mathematical Problem Solving, Manveer Mann, Mary C. Enderson

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Purpose of Study: The purpose of this study was to assess student preference for procedural (formula-driven) versus conceptual (concept-driven) approaches to solve mathematical problems. Additionally, we evaluated differences in preferences among students who performed above average and those who performed at or below average on simple arithmetic problems.

Methods/Design and Sample: We used a single-factor (Instructional Approach: conceptual vs. procedural) between-subjects experiment. Instructional approach was manipulated using short embedded instructional videos. Students evaluated each approach on a five-point scale.

Results: We found that students (above-average and average/below-average) preferred the procedural approach to the conceptual approach. Interestingly, however, although students preferred …

Optimizing Workforce Performance: Perceived Differences Of Army Officer Critical Thinking Talent Across Level Of Education, Richard B. Ayers

Dissertations

The U.S. Army’s operating environment continues to become increasingly complex and unpredictable, where U.S. technological advantage continues to erode. The complexities stem from the Army’s doctrinal assumption that the future operating environment is unknown and constantly changing (Department of the Army [DA], 2014a). Diminishing technological advantage results in more reliance on soldiers’ cognitive capability, and less on high technology weapons systems (McMaster, 2015).

A review of military literature shows extensive research on the importance of Army leaders to be talented critical thinkers (Fischer, Spiker, & Riedel, 2008, 2009; Gerras, 2008; Thomas & Gentzler, 2013). Human capital literature reveals many college …

Spend Now Or Spend Later: The Role Of A Business Education And Critical Thinking Skills In Increasing Retirement Plan Saving Rates For New, Young Enrollees, Priscilla Arling, Jill Kirby, Kegan Saajasto

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

For college graduates entering the workforce, contributing to an employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan can be an important way of saving for the future. However, contribution rates for young people in these plans are far below recommended percentages, leading to concerns about future financial stability for these individuals. Prior work has shown that a college student’s major and academic coursework affect their general financial knowledge. However, little is known about what content within a course of study correlates with specific financial decisions. The decision of how much to save in a 401(k) plan is complex and requires thinking beyond a present-day …

Service Learning Across Disciplines And Countries, M. Meral Anitsal, Ismet Anitsal, Bonita Barger, Ismail Fidan

Atlantic Marketing Journal

No abstract provided.

Experiential Learning In Second Life: A Simulation In Retail Management, Christy Ashley, Sharon Kibbe, Susan Thornton

Atlantic Marketing Journal

No abstract provided.

Critical And Creative Thinking And Structured Analytic Methodologies: From “Think Flow” To “Work Flow”, James L. Harper

James L Harper

Training prepares for the “known.” Education prepares us for the “unknown.” That unknown should spark greater analytic dialogue within the intelligence enterprise regarding what our analyst training and education baseline should encompass as well as address the training strategies necessary to drive the Army intelligence community to a more refined analytic point. Before delving into what those analytic swing mechanics consist of, let us first review the premium placed on our analysis today and the operational and intelligence processes in order to better understand how and when our analytics come into play.

Entr/Mgnt 421: Initiating And Managing Entrepreneurial Growth—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Varkey K. Titus Jr.

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

My primary goal for this portfolio is to codify the processes and goals of this course in a manner that can be transferred to other instructors. Students consistently comment on how much they enjoy the participatory and interactive nature of the course; I would like to formally document methods to create an interactive classroom that aligns with the expectations we have of senior-level entrepreneurship students regarding critical thinking and communication skills.

A Hybrid Course Designed To Increase Managerial Export Motivation And Export Engagement, John Andy Wood, Cyril Logar, William Riley

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The paper reviews and explains a new course format at West Virginia University. The content of this course focuses on initiating exporting by companies located in the home state of the university. The attendees include university students and representatives of companies that are interested in starting to export. The content of the course and the participation by company representatives created the need for an atypical delivery of Friday evenings and all day Saturday meeting at two to four week intervals between class sessions. Practical exporting experience is shared by experts from the Department of Commerce, the Export Council, and representative …

Editorial: "You Talkin' To Me?", Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Advancing knowledge through robust research is an honourable aim- being scientific, finding the right methodology, executing project phases meticulously, and reporting on the outcomes as objectively and accurately as possible. But may I begin my inaugural editorial by saying that an even higher ideal to advancing knowledge is critiquing it as it happens. Reflective practice is not just something to be done by academics in their teaching- reflective practice is what we should all be doing as we go about undertaking our various day-to-day work tasks. For the engineer engaged in research and development, whether in industry or government, reflective …

Can The Use Of Clickers Or Continous Assessment Motivate Critical Thinking?: A Case Study Based On Corporate Finance Students, Lucia Morales

Articles

This study explores the use of clickers as a tool to support, encourage and motivate critical thinking in higher education students. A case study was carried out with a cohort of undergraduate students undertaking the BSc. in Accounting and Finance during the academic year 2009/10, were corporate finance was a major component. Since the students in this sample had previously demonstrated passivity during their corporate finance classes, it was proposed that clickers would help motivate them to participate during face to face sessions. Previous research on the use of clickers shows evidence that this tool has a positive effect on …

Toward A Computer-Scored Assessment Of Marketing Expertise, Donald R. Bacon, Tia M. Quinlan-Wilder

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

In this paper, case-based measures of marketing expertise, a construct perhaps similar to critical thinking, are developed. The measures only achieved modest reliability. In a pre-post design, there was some evidence that students improved in marketing expertise during the quarter, but the effect is probably small, indicated that repeated training would likely be necessary to achieve more substantial learning gains.

Improving Intelligence In A Counterinsurgency Or Counterterrorism Environment Through The Application Of A Critical Thinking-Based Framework, James Henry Hess

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The intelligence community is responsible for providing competent analysis and assessments pertaining to the many significant geo-political situations that may potentially or do effect the nation’s interests. The intelligence community has always experienced challenges living up to that charge, and while it may merely be a case of the nature of the profession, there are always lessons that can be learned and processes that may improve the analytical processes. Critical thinking is a cognitive process that may be able to provide that improvement to the analytical processes, and when an analytical framework is built by applying these cognitive skills, the …

A Viable Entry Level Into Practice: Factors Determining Diploma Nursing Program Success, Linda M. Markey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Entry level into the practice of registered nursing has been a controversial topic in the profession of nursing since the American Nurses Association (ANA) Position Statement in 1965, which stated that entry level into practice should be at the baccalaureate degree level. The oldest and most traditional type of nursing program is the diploma nursing program. Diploma nursing programs have proven to score at or above the national mean on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) required by all nursing graduates to pass to obtain licensure for the practice of nursing, regardless of educational preparation. The purpose …

Deconstruction Of Leadership Assumptions- A Personal Perspective, Grace S. Thomson

Dr. Grace S. Thomson

No abstract provided.

Developing Critical Thinking Skills In The Intermediate Accounting Class: Using Simulations With Rubrics, Karen Cascini, Anne Rich

WCBT Faculty Publications

A challenge of paramount importance facing college professors today is the development of students’ capacity for critical thinking skills. While this has long been an area of focused activity for educators, since the early 1980s in particular, it has become clear that critical thinking skills are essential to the ability of our students to compete globally. As teachers and professors at all levels have begun to focus greater attention on ways to develop critical thinking skills, we see the same trend reflected within the accounting profession. Research by Kealy (2005), Bonk (1998), Wolcott (1997), Kimmel (1995), and Doney (1993) demonstrates …