Business Commons^™

'To Change Is To Learn And To Learn Is To Change', Bob Porter

UCF Forum

“To change is to learn and to learn is to change.” That was often the advice given to me by my mentor in life, Lew Treen, a war veteran, semi-pro baseball player, high school principal and coach.

Zombie Board: Board Tenure And Firm Performance [Summary Of Paper], Sterling Huang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In my paper, Zombie Boards: Board Tenure and Firm Performance, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, I empirically investigate how board tenure is related to firm performance and corporate decisions, holding other firm, CEO, and board characteristics constant. I find that board tenure has an inverted U-shaped relation with firm value, and that this curvilinear relation is reflected in M&A performance, financial reporting quality, corporate strategies and innovation, executive compensation, and CEO replacement. The results indicate that, for firms with short-tenured boards, the marginal effect of board learning dominates entrenchment effects, whereas for firms that have long-tenured …

Applying The Multiple Cue Probability Learning, So Won Ahn, Ju Young Kim, Young Won Ha

Asia Marketing Journal

In the present study, we apply the multiple cue probability learning (MCPL) paradigm to examine consumer learning from feedback in repeated trials. This paradigm is useful in investigating consumer learning, especially learning the relationships between the overall quality and attributes. With this paradigm, we can analyze what people learn from repeated trials by using the lens model, i.e., whether it is knowledge or consistency. In addition to introducing this paradigm, we aim to demonstrate that knowledge people gain from repeated trials with feedback is robust enough to weaken one of the most often examined contextual effects, the asymmetric dominance effect. …

The Effects Of Computer Mediated Communication On Computer-Based Training, Mark A. Revels

Journal of Executive Education

Student performance using computer-based training (CBT) may be related to the degree of interaction that occurs between students and the instructor, or between students and each other. This is significant in that the individualized nature of CBT (and perhaps Web-based training) is contrary to the social interaction needs of students. Using relevant pedagogical and social communication theories as a basis, this study employed empirical research methods on undergraduate participants to achieve the following objectives: to explore the use of computer mediated communication (CMC) as a surrogate for face-to-face interaction with CBT students, and to provide research-based recommendations for human resource …

Virtual Teams And Blended Learning, Grace Mccarthy

Grace McCarthy

Research on how to develop effective virtual teams addresses many of the same issues as lecturers working with students in a blended or online environment. Virtual teams may meet occasionally face to face but mostly work in different physical locations. Similarly, blended learning students meet periodically for face to face classes but otherwise use technology to connect to the university and their fellow students, rather than sitting together in the same physical environment. It is useful therefore to consider what lessons can be learned from the literature on virtual teams which can be used with blended learning students. This paper …

Achieving Change In Students' Attitudes Toward Group Projects By Teaching Group Skills, Lawrence Hamer, Robert O'Keefe

Publications – Dreihaus College of Business

Despite the many positive benefits which can be derived from group assignments, faculty members frequently report that students generally dislike being assigned to a group project. This paper reports a quasi-experiment which presented students with information about the relevance and importance of group skills during the time in which they were working on an assigned group project, and then measured the students' attitudes toward group projects. The reported study demonstrates that instructors can alter students' perceptions of group work by incorporating instruction about group skills into group assignments.

Achieving Change In Students' Attitudes Toward Group Projects By Teaching Group Skills, Lawrence O. Hamer, Robert D. O'Keefe

Lawrence O. Hamer

Global Culture Concerns, Korcel M. Price

Korcel M Price

The following proposal seeks to change hiring, promoting, and firing practices among global and trans-national companies. The changes are intended to fortify the organization through better management, a better employee contract, and by moving closer to a learning organization.

At the heart of the proposal is the desire to move hiring, promoting, and firing practices to an external or internal third party, as means of creating a global culture that consistently applies the values of supra system’s organization.

Students' Preference For Teaching Strategies That Strengthen The Learning Of Economics In Middle Eastern Universities, Mokhtar M. Metwally, Nelson Perera

Nelson Perera

A survey, covering a random sample of 139 students, was conducted at the University of Wollongong in Dubai during the months of September-November 2004, to gather opinions of students about their attitudes towards strategies that promote the teaching and learning of economics The technique of factor analysis was used to model the preference of students for various strategies. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to find out whether there are any significant differences in the attitudes of students at different stages :"students learning introductory economic subjects", "students learning intermediate economic subjects" and "students learning advanced and applied economic subjects" Factor scores …

A Multifaceted Approach To Distributed Communities Of Learning And Practice, Helen Hasan, Kate Crawford

Helen Hasan

In the electronic age, locally-driven regeneration of the concept of community could be enabled by a flexible, multifaceted model where new information and communication technologies are the catalyst. However technology, no matter how advanced, is far from providing the complete answer and it is essential to take an integrated socio-technical approach to this issue. This paper reports on two cases that are part of ongoing research into distributed communities, framing them as phases of an activity system in expansive learning cycles in the context of a program of innoyatiye learning. This research d!monstrates that such communities are viable. with a …

Emerging Capability Or Continuous Challenge? Relocating Knowledge Work And Managing Process Interfaces, Stephan Manning, Thomas Hutzschenreuter, Alexander Strathmann

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

This study examines interface management as a dynamic organizational capability supporting an increasing global distribution of knowledge work, based on an in-depth case of an automotive supplier. We show how local responses to experiences of task and interface ambiguity following the relocation of R&D processes may lead to a shift of organizational attention from ex-ante process design to continuous process and interface management. Findings suggest that flexible interface manager positions and partnership structures across locations facilitate local experimentation with effective transfer and handling of ambiguous and partially tacit tasks. This enhances the firm’s capacity to distribute an increasing variety of …

A Practice-Based Approach To Student Reflection In The Workplace During A Work-Integrated Learning Placement, Christopher Sykes, Bonnie Amelia Dean

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

In the Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) curriculum, reflection on workplace activities is widely used to support student learning. Recent critiques have demonstrated the limitations of current approaches to support students' reflective learning of workplace practices. By employing a practice-based approach, we seek to refocus WIL reflection on workplace practices, emphasising the 'embedded (social), engaged (practice) and embodied (material) aspects' of students' reflective practices in the workplace. We argue that reflection-in-the-midst-of-action includes an often-overlooked phenomenological contribution that shifts attention from cognition to action. This study uses a case study of one typical WIL student to illustrate the importance of reflection-in-the-midst-of-action and the …

Authentic Assessment - Key To Learning, Grace Mccarthy

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

One of the distinctive characteristics of the millennial generation is the desire for continuous feedback on their performance (Meister & Willyerd, 2010). As Wilson and Gerber (2008) note, millennial students have grown up with video games from which they constantly receive feedback and rewards for achievement, and they continue to seek feedback both in their studies and in the workplace. However, Wilson and Gerber also note that many of these students are prone to overestimate their own performance. They need guidance to help them accurately self-assess. This chapter explores the issues of assessment and feedback and proposes approaches that can …

Whither 'Training And Development' In Vietnam?: Learning From United States And Japanese Mncs' Practice, Anne Cox, Malcolm Warner

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper focuses on training and development (T&D) policies and practices to explore how multinational companies (MNCs) localise their human resources within their subsidiaries in a developing country. It uses qualitative research methods to examine three US and three Japanese MNCs operating in the automotive and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry in Vietnam. The paper identifies both home- and host-country effects as significant factors in the transfer of MNCs' T&D policies and practices. Clear home-country effects are evident in rigorous attempts of both US and Japanese MNCs to transfer and implement formalised and centrally controlled training programs. Host-country effects manifest …

You Never Know What Question You Are Going To Answer: Creating Effective Tension For Effective Learning Using Business Case Studies, Palli Mulla K A Chandrakumara, Ananda Wickramasinghe

Sydney Business School - Papers

Case studies in business management have been used as an effective approach and tool for enhancing students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills by providing opportunities for student to apply appropriate theories, concepts and models for real world issues faced by organisations. Despite the popularity of the case study approach in business and management education, it is self evident that the effective use of case studies to achieve above mentioned benefits is challenging and problematic mainly because case studies are misused and abused in different ways, including just adopting a popular method, just asking students to read and answer the questions, …

Benchmarking Evaluation In Foundations: Do We Know What We Are Doing?, Julia Coffman, Tanya Beer, Patricia Patrizi, Elizabeth Heid Thompson

The Foundation Review

· Evaluation in philanthropy – with staff assigned to evaluation-related responsibilities – began in the 1970s and has evolved, along with philanthropy, in the four decades since. What has not changed, however, is a regular questioning of what foundations are doing on evaluation, especially since the world of philanthropy regularly shifts, and changes in evaluation resourcing and positioning tend to soon follow.

· This article presents new findings about what foundations are doing on evaluation and discusses their implications. It is based on 2012 research that benchmarks the positioning, resourcing, and function of evaluation in foundations, and follows up on …

Eyes Wide Open: Learning As Strategy Under Conditions Of Complexity And Uncertainty, Patricia Patrizi, Elizabeth Heid Thompson, Julia Coffman, Tanya Beer

The Foundation Review

· Foundation strategy is hampered by a failure to recognize and engage with the complexity and uncertainty surrounding foundation work. This article identifies three common “traps” that hinder foundation capacity to learn and adapt: 1) linearity and certainty bias; 2) the autopilot effect; and 3) indicator blindness.

· This article urges foundations to alter their mindset, questions, and processes to foster a more committed approach to strategy and adaptation. In essence, it argues for learning as strategy.

· This article draws on literature from systems theory, business strategy, and philanthropic practice as well as data from foundation benchmarking surveys.