Learning Opportunities and Learning Behaviours of Small Business Starters: Relations with Goal Achievement,Skill Development and Satisfaction

Learning is a vital issue for small business starters, contributing to short- and long-term business performance, as well as to personal development. This study investigates when and how small business starters learn. It specifies the situations that offer learning opportunities, as well as the learning behaviours that small business starters can employ in order to learn from these opportunities. In a cross-sectional, quantitative study of recently started small business founders, learning opportunities and learning behaviours are related to three outcome measures: a performance outcome (goal achievement), a personal growth outcome (skill development), and an affective evaluation outcome (satisfaction). The results show the importance of learning opportunities and learning behaviours in influencing these outcome variables, albeit not always in the directions we hypothesized.     

How to move away from the silos of business management education?

Business management education is criticized for being too theoretical and fractional. Despite the numerous efforts to build integrated and experiential business curricula, learning is still organized in disciplinary silos. The curriculum integration efforts are carried out in separate sections of the curriculum rather than the core. There are theoretical, holistic models, but a lack of concrete examples of holistic business curriculum implementations. The authors bring the separate sections together by developing a holistic core curriculum model with three perspectives: a structure to bring intellectual coherence, people organized in learning communities, and an enterprise resource planning–supported learning environment to bring the practical training ground. The authors present a concrete implementation in a case study with first-year undergraduate business students and present their lessons learned.     

Differences in business undergraduate perceptions by preferred classroom learning environment

Online education continues to grow at business schools. The authors compared undergraduate business student perceptions across three different classroom learning delivery environments: online, hybrid, and face to face. Based on the survey responses using two independent samples, the authors' analyses found that students who preferred online delivery perceived higher timely graduation and were more likely to recommend online or hybrid courses, whereas students' perceptions of persistence and institutional commitment were not related to classroom learning delivery preference.     

Transforming Educational and Business Practices in Belarus

Abstract

The Bryant College Collaborative Learning at a Distance (CLD) Program in Belarus was designed to promote collaboration across diverse cultural, political, and philosophical boundaries. CLD programs can assist the Newly Independent States (NIS) in meeting the political, social, and economic challenges associated with the transition from a centralized, administrative command economytoa more democratic and diversified society. Cost-effective, collaborative distance learning projects can help to address the problem of limited educational resources and prepare faculty, undergraduates, entrepreneurs, and NGO leaders for better understanding the role of civic responsibility as a foundation for western business practices.

The ongoing Internet-based, Bryant College CLD Program, including educational institutions, research facilities and business firms, focuses on a non-hierarchical model, emphasizing reciprocal, interactive learning and problem-solving. Components include Web-based courses, International Virtual Roundtable Discussions via E-mail, seminars on business skills and Web design, Internet protocol video conferencing between the U.S. and Belarus, a faculty exchange and training project, and a business internship program aimed at providing hands-on experience with business and NGO leaders in the U.S. This project demonstrates that Internet-based, collaborative learning can transcend cultural and language barriers and advance the development of a business environment supportive to the entrepreneurial spirit.     

Developing International Business Managers Through International Study Visits to China

Globalization is a key factor in the success of business organizations today, impacting many aspects of management performance. Understanding the global business environment has therefore become a key objective in the teaching of international business on Executive MBA programs. Drawing on the theory of experiential learning, this study examines the relationship between program structure and learning activities of an international study visit (ISV) to China and the learning experience for Executive MBA students. The findings indicate that learning experience may be most effective where the structure of an ISV incorporates certain activities that promote experiential and deep-level learning. Educational implications are discussed.     

An Assessment of Experiential Learning of Global Poverty Issues Through International Service Projects

Service learning has been used to supplement a standard business curriculum, but not typically in an international business context. We report the results of two short-term study abroad programs in which we incorporated service learning projects, one in Cambodia and the other in Vietnam. Our objective is to assess how we organized and delivered effective service learning projects in short-term study tours, and to assess students’ learning outcomes on global poverty issues in a business curriculum. We used both quantitative and qualitative assessment measures. The findings suggest that several types of learning outcomes did occur through the service learning projects, as the literature suggested. Seeing poverty firsthand and doing something about it through service learning may be a first experience for many students, but it seems to be a transformational one for many. We conclude that students may approach business and even political decisions with a greater understanding of their impact on poverty in the developing world.     

Closing the Learning Loop: A Review of Assignments in International Business Education

The continuing rapid globalization has significantly changed the nature of business and management, leading to increased pressure from a wide range of stakeholders to globalize business schools and to internationalize business curricula. This comes with a corresponding imperative to rigorously evaluate the impact of an international business education at institutional, program, and course levels. This study focuses on the types of assignments employed and approaches to assignment design in international business courses. A total of 92 studies in the scholarly literature on international business and international management are reviewed from 1970 to 2014. The study finds significant opportunities to expand and enrich research on assignment design, so as to better equip international business educators to validly and reliably measure learning outcomes.     

Using Cross-Cultural Dimensions Exercises to Improve and Measure Learning Outcomes in International Business Courses

This article proposes an approach for using cross-cultural dimensions exercises to improve and measure learning outcomes in international business courses. The following key issues are highlighted: (a) what are the targeted learning outcomes to be assessed, (b) how to measure the accomplishment of these learning outcomes, (c) the input measures needed to determine what the students had learned, and (d) the measurement process. Also, this article offers educators strategies for merging assurance of learning approaches into business courses that are integrative in nature, and an example on how to use cross-cultural dimensions exercises as a pedagogical tool for enhancing and measuring learning.     

Understanding how service learning pedagogy impacts student learning objectives

Service learning (SL) is gaining popularity in business schools as a way to supplement traditional pedagogies. Research indicates that SL improves particular learning outcomes, but little is known about how this happens. Using Kolb's theory of experiential learning, the authors develop and test a conceptual model that explains how SL activates the four cycles of experiential learning and affects the learning outcomes of academic knowledge, career development, personal growth, and civic responsibility.     

Course-Specific Motivated Learning and Outcomes: The Role of the Perceived Task Value of Course-Specific Assignments

Although the internationalization of curricula has increased steadily over the past 30 years, most universities and business schools have concentrated their efforts on program assessment activities, leaving course-level assessment as a gap in most international business assessment portfolios. To address the gap in aligning course-specific designs with course-specific learning outcomes, the current study focuses on a specific course domain. This study (1) assesses how students' subject-specific motivational beliefs and learning behavior affect their perceived learning outcomes, and (2) examines how students' perceptions of the task value of subject-specific assignments strengthen or weaken the effect of motivated learning on learning outcomes. The results highlight the critical roles of group-based term projects and individual-based IT tasks in strengthening the effect of self-efficacy and deep learning behavior on learning outcomes. International business educators are thus advised to manage students' perceived task value with regard to outcome and effort expectancy. Practicable recommendations are provided for building up students' expectations about desirable learning outcomes in relation to project-specific assignments, and fostering students' beliefs about return-on-efforts through project-specific assessment rubrics.     

Collaborative Learning Instrument in Teaching Entrepreneurship Issues

Abstract

Due to the shortcomings associated with the largely passive learning experience currently experienced by students at the University level in Central and Eastern Europe, active learning approaches have been promoted by educationalists as a more effective method for teaching business and entrepreneurship. This paper contributes to this literature by outlining a collaborative learning instrument involving active learning that can be used to teach entrepreneurship at university level in Central and Eastern Europe. This instrument illustrates the role of entrepreneurship and proprietorship in both a well-established market economy and in the post-communist economies of Central and Eastern Europe. Students outcomes should include the following: firstly, the recognition that the emerging small business sectors of the post-communist economies have much potential as a vehicle for economic growth and for developing capitalist forms of economic production; secondly, an understanding that entrepreneurial behavior is an essential element in the development of the small business sector; thirdly, an ability to identify traits common to successful entrepreneurs; and fourthly, they will develop and practice a variety of entrepreneurial skills themselves that may make them aware of their potential as entrepreneurs.     

The case of flow and learning revisited

Many business schools are criticized for being ineffective in helping students learn proper management skills and knowledge. Flow theory has been cited as being helpful in many learning environments in that flow experience can enhance student learning. The authors conducted a study of 315 students in an undergraduate operations management (OM) class to assess learning outcomes and flow experience. Results show that student learning performance and flow are related. Implications and suggestions for further research are provided.     

Machine learning for enterprises: Applications,algorithm selection,and challenges

Machine learning holds great promise for lowering product and service costs, speeding up business processes, and serving customers better. It is recognized as one of the most important application areas in this era of unprecedented technological development, and its adoption is gaining momentum across almost all industries. In view of this, we offer a brief discussion of categories of machine learning and then present three types of machine-learning usage at enterprises. We then discuss the trade-off between the accuracy and interpretability of machine-learning algorithms, a crucial consideration in selecting the right algorithm for the task at hand. We next outline three cases of machine-learning development in financial services. Finally, we discuss challenges all managers must confront in deploying machine-learning applications.     

Teaching the Concept of Risk: Blended Learning Using a Custom-Built Prediction Market

There has been much research into the role of technology in promoting student engagement and learning activity in third-level education. This article documents an innovative application of technology in a large, undergraduate business class in risk management. The students' learning outcomes are reinforced by activity in a custom-designed prediction market. The content of lectures are closely aligned to the student objectives within the prediction market, thus allowing the application of risk management practice while building knowledge through traditional delivery methods.     

Designing and Delivering Business Ethics Teaching and Learning

The recent corporate scandals in the United States have caused a renewed interest and focus on teaching business ethics. Business schools and their faculties are reexamining the teaching of business ethics and are reassessing their responsibilities to produce honest and truthful managers who live lives of integrity and ethical accountability. The authors recognize that no agreement exists among business schools and their faculties regarding what should be the content and pedagogy of a course in business ethics. However, the authors hold that regardless of one’s biases regarding the content and pedagogy, the effective teaching of business ethics requires that the instructor in designing and delivering a business ethics course needs to focus particular attention on four principal questions: (1) what are the objectives or targeted learning outcomes of the course? (2) what kind of learning environment should be created? (3) what learning processes need to be employed to achieve the goals? and (4) what are the roles of the participants in the learning experience? The answers to these questions provide the foundations for any business ethics course. The answers are major determinants of the impact of a business ethics course on the thinking of students and the views on the ethical and professional accountabilities and responsibilities of managers in the workplace.     

Utilizing mobile devices to enrich the learning style of students

As digital technologies evolve in education, business faculty have increased access to an extensive range of mobile devices and online applications to help them inspire students' passion for learning. Adopting new digital approaches to teaching can also enhance the learning style of students who are immersed in the use of digital devices. How can the use of these devices and associated applications (apps) help students broaden the opportunities for a more effective learning experience? In this exploratory article, the authors examine the impact of two mobile apps—Flipboard and Stitcher—on students' learning and engagement with class-assigned marketing materials. Students enjoyed Flipboard more than Stitcher in contributing to the requirements of class work.     

Preparing undergraduate students for the Major Field Test in Business

Many business programs address the learning of undergraduate students with an exit exam. A reference librarian and the business school faculty created an online test preparation study guide (or LibGuide) which included no-cost resources that were readily available yet academically authoritative to aid students in studying for the Educational Testing Service Major Field Test in Business at an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business–accredited college in northwest Georgia. The findings indicated that while some graduating business seniors did use the LibGuide materials, many were overwhelmed with the amount of material available and believed studying would not be beneficial to their performance on the exit exam. Discussion and areas for future research are presented.     

Internationalizing the Assessment Criteria to Build Cross-Cultural Competency

ABSTRACT

International business programs, universities with international students, and educators who seek to internationalize their teaching need to make informed decisions about teaching, testing, and assessment criteria. The infusion of American business curricula throughout the world as well as the need to train American business students for leadership roles in global contexts calls for teaching and assessment practices which explore a plurality of cognitive, affective and behavioral pedagogical strategies. This article considers traditional education and assessment in China in light of American educational practices currently used for assessment in business training. It explores how an understanding of modern Confucianist values can shape assessment choices in both American and overseas programs as an example of developing cross-cultural awareness. The authors call for an assessment process in business education which draws from a plurality of methods adapted to teaching, learning and testing for global awareness.     

Debriefing Experiential Learning Exercises in Ethics Education

The major conclusion of this paper is that to obtain optimum pay-off from using experiential learning exercises in teaching business ethics, faculty must pay close attention to debriefing. The paper presents an approach based on a conceptual model for systematic and analytical debriefing of experiential learning exercises in ethics education. The paper also suggests that faculty must provide structure and ambiguity so that students can personalize the learning – experiencing meaningfulness (i.e., usefulness) in its application – so that learning is r0elevant to the individual.