True Colors: The Response of Business Schools to Declining Enrollments

During the last several decades, business schools have increasingly portrayed themselves as the advocates and teachers of business ethics. In this context, educators have examined, criticized, and written about the questionable actions of many organizations. Business schools are, however, currently facing their own unprecedented crisis in the form of dramatically declining enrollments. This paper examines the morality of the various possible response strategies and argues that how business schools respond to this crisis will serve as a clear indication of their own organizational ethics and values.     

The Greening of Business Schools

"New modes of thinking" are necessary to meet a new set of complex environmental challenges-greenery, globalization, diversity, complexity and acceleration of technological change of the 1990s. The green challenge to business schools is to articulate, develop, and deliver environmental education for managers as an effective tool for a sustainable world economy and society. Every business student must have at least broad understanding of the social, political, ethical, technological, economic, and ecological context of global business. The challenge of educating business leaders for a global future requires a new portfolio of capabilities, commitments. and visions on the part of business school faculty, the multinational corporations, and other stakeholders in management education. Business schools around the world have an obligation to present the ecological challenge as clearly to students as to faculty members. The more environmentally conscious business student community of the 1990s probably will demand to have structured learning opportunities about environmental issues and their impact on business management- with a superordinate goal of improving environmental sensitivity and environmental performance of individuals and their institutions.     

Research Expectations at Business Schools: Responding to Changing Business Education Pressures

This exploratory study examined the importance of various types of research for promotion and tenure decisions given the need of business schools to respond to internal and external pressures for change, such as globalisation and managerial relevance. U.S. business schools were classified as AACSB- and non-AACSB-accredited and as high-teaching-emphasis and low-teaching-emphasis schools. Respondents included management and marketing faculty and business deans. Contrary to expectations, few significant differences were found between the two classifications of business schools. While schools differed regarding the importance of theory-based and empirical research, no significant differences were found in terms of the importance of internationally oriented and managerially relevant research for promotion and tenure decisions. Significant differences, however, were found between deans and faculty responses, with deans being more responsive than management and marketing faculty to these pressures. Also, perceptions regarding monetary and non-monetary support varied significantly for all classifications.     

The Response of Small Business Owners to Changes in Monetary Policy

The small business sector of the economy accounts for half of private gross domestic product and well over half of private sector employment. Little is known about how these firms and the banks that serve them are affected by changes in monetary policy. Using data from the monthly surveys of the members of the National Federation of Independent Business, the impact of unexpected (between meeting) Federal Reserve announcements on owner expectations and hiring and spending plans are examined. Using interviews filled out during the month, “before” and “after” groups are analyzed to assess the impact of Federal Reserve announcements on firm behavior. Narrowing the analysis period to just days before and after Federal Reserve announcements permits the assessment of owner responses uncontaminated by other events. Changes in owner expectations and spending and hiring plans are shown to be translated into subsequent changes in actual spending and hiring that are often the opposite of what is suggested by conventional economic theory. Firms that do not use debt respond in the same way as those regularly active in credit markets. The results provide additional insight and richness to our understanding of the transmission channels through which monetary policy impacts the real economy.     

Business Sponsorship in British Schools

Is it ethical for a school to accept sponsorship from business, and if so under what conditions? Indeed, given the poor provision of many UK local schools for their pupils is it ethical to refuse business sponsorship? Where does responsibility lie? “To attract and persuade is not an appropriate behaviour in dealing with inexperienced parties.” The author completed her MBA at London Business School in July 1997 and is currently setting up a new family business, The Organic Food Company Ltd.     

The Domains of Undergraduate International Business and International Management Courses in Accredited Schools of Business

ABSTRACT

This study compared undergraduate international business and international management course syllabi from 190 management departments at accredited U.S. business schools. Comparisons revealed considerable overlap in topic areas in the two courses. The findings indicate the need for greater domain clarity and differentiation in objectives, topic areas covered, and textbooks used. Domain clarification could lead to more truthful representation of the two courses, better training and disciplinary grounding of course instructors, more appropriate hosting of the courses in business school departments, and enhanced skill-sets among students in these courses. Finally, clear domain definitions are necessary for reliability and validity in international business research.     

The Globalization of Business Schools: Curriculum and Pedagogical Issues

In this article we explore the connection between learning goals, cognitive skill development, and pedagogical strategies. We identify cognitive skills that are important to students of international business, and link them to the pedagogical strategies that support them. The characteristics that impact the effectiveness of international business pedagogy are described. Finally, three university programs are used to illustrate the connection between explicit learning goals, pedagogy, and cognitive skill development.     

The teaching of ethics in Canadian Schools of Management and Administrative Studies

Business ethics has been described as a prime academic growth industry. This paper reports the findings of a survey aimed at establishing the status of ethics in the curricula of Canadian Schools of Management and Administrative Studies. It was found that twenty-three of the forty-two responding schools offer courses in business ethics and that they offer a total of twenty-five ethics courses, twenty of which are offered as electives. Forty-two percent of the schools not offering a course in business ethics plan to offer such a course by 1989. This means that by 1989 seventy-four percent of the responding schools should have a business ethics component in their curricula.Jang B. Singh, B. A. (Toronto), M. A. (St. Thomas), M. A. (Toronto), M.B. A. (Windsor), Ph.D. (Toronto), is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Windsor. His research focus is on ethical issues involved in the management process. He also maintains a keen interest in issues related to business in the Third World.     

The Development of Undergraduate International Business Practicums in Small Business Schools: An Experiential Learning Framework

The value of the inclusion of experiential learning opportunities in international business education has been well established in the literature. We set out to examine industry-identified skills and experiences that could lead to enhanced employability and early career performance. Through our extensive review of theory, empirical work, leading programs, practicum channels, and our own qualitative study, we proposed frameworks to help guide small business schools best structure their undergraduate international business experiential learning offerings. Specifically, we suggest the establishment of tracks or concentrations with supplemental skill focus, emphasis on foreign language proficiency, and requiring at least two international internship or service learning practicums, preferably abroad, that include mini-consulting projects, presentations, and deliverables.