MBA Studies in the Czech Republic

Abstract

A survey of MBA study programs in the Czech Republic is presented in this study. The authors share some of their first-hand experience gained during their own teaching in one of the MBA programs. The conclusion presented at the end of the study summarizes their views of developing trends in MBA programs in the Czech Republic. At present, MBA programs are offered by seven teaching institutions in the Czech Republic, three of which provide MBA studies of the American type, four of the European (British) type, and one of the distance-learning type.     

Revamping MBA programs for global competitiveness

World-wide, the MBA has become one of the most popular academic qualifications. In recent years, doubts have been raised regarding worth of the MBA degree, at least in its present form. This article examines the broad trends shaping business education and recommends how MBA curricula might be redesigned to make students globally aware, and be effective in the midst of global competition. Our focus here is on meeting future essential business needs that today's schools fail to sufficiently address. Although MBA education is at a crossroads, change will not be easy, as MBA education represents a sizeable global ‘industry.’ We conclude by listing issues which may be examined to make the change feasible.     

Ethical Behavior of Marketing Managers and MBA Students: A Comparative Study

The ethical tendencies of graduate business students from the United States were examined by analyzing their reactions to ethical dilemmas in a replicated study, which presented a set of ethical problem situations. These dilemmas dealt with coercion and control, conflict of interest, physical environment, paternalism and personal integrity. A comparison of these findings with the previous study of marketing managers indicates that the MBA students exhibited a greater degree of sensitivity to the ethical dimensions of business decision-making. Implications are drawn for business education and further research.     

协作知识建构理论在MBA《管理学》教学中的应用

《管理学》作为MBA专业硕士研究生开设的核心课程之一,在MBA的培养体系中具有重要作用。论文针对MBA的培养目标、培养方式、学生特点,运用群体动力学、协作学习和协作知识建构理论,构建MBA《管理学》教学模式,提出基于协作知识建构的《管理学》教学六步骤,旨在提高MBA教学质量和水平。     

A Global MBA for Tomorrow's Global Business Leaders

Abstract

Traditional IB programs have received mixed reviews from the corporate world. With this in mind, the Suffolk GMBA was benchmarked against the leading international business programs. The Suffolk GMBA was designed to be different and to ascertain the global environment in which business operates. A unique feature of the GMBA curriculum detailed in this article is the combination of Boston's international business locational advantage with functional integration of the many disciplines that make international business unique. Borrowing components from the fields of economics, government and politics, finance, marketing, ethics, and law, a curriculum matrix was developed identifying and sequencing the key topics to be taught. The authors also explain potential pitfalls and outline a model which can be successfully implemented in other graduate international business programs. This program is shaping the thoughts and actions of tomorrow's global business leaders through its integrative decision-making framework of global perspectives and competencies.     

Assessing ethics education needs in the MBA program

A methodology for assessing ethics educationneeds in a Masters of Business Administration(MBA) program is proposed and applied at oneinstitution by comparing the ethical judgmentof MBA and MPA (Masters of PublicAdministration) students over a variety ofbusiness scenarios. Implications are discussedfor ethics education and its assessment in thisand other MBA programs. MPAs were chosen asthe comparison group because their education,organizational knowledge, and work experienceare expected to promote reasonable judgments. They were also selected because future negativeconsequences are likely from an ethics gapbetween MBA and MPA graduates. MBAs were lesscritical in the current study, and were alsomore likely to report reliance on egoism, aprinciple strongly associated with greatertolerance of the practices described. Anadditional factor, however, appeared tocontribute to the MBAs' less critical judgment. Ethical decision-making models suggest thisfactor was ethical perception. Suggestions aremade for modifying ethical principles andperceptions where indicated. Decision makersare urged to assess ethics education needs intheir own MBA programs, particularly if theyhave not added significant ethical content totheir curricula.     

MBA会计学课程教学相关问题研究

高质量的会计学课程教学,对提升MBA教育的内在质量、提高MBA教育的社会声誉至关重要。本文对MBA会计学的课程设置、教学内容、教学方法以及教材与案例的选择等相关问题进行了研究,强调教师对MBA差异化教育规律、教学内容以及教学方法的不断探索与恰当运用是提升教学质量的关键所在。     

Educational Marketing in the Latin American Context: An Executive MBA Case

ABSTRACT

This paper provides Latin American Executive MBA students' approaches to studying, achieving profile, preferences and perceptions of instructional methods used in teaching marketing courses and educational marketing segments based on their preference ranking of instructional methods and approaches to studying. Results indicate that, in general, these students have a strong need for excellence, and for gaining status with experts. Their approach to studying is directed first at understanding what they learn, and then at doing well in their courses. Results also indicate that such students strongly prefer courses using participative instructional methods, such as case studies, to the instructor-dominated lecture method. Thus, there appears to be a gap between the types of instructional methods now being emphasized in MBA classrooms and the methods preferred by the students. These students can be placed into four distinct segments, namely Technology Sophisticated Learners, Academic Success Seekers, Degree Seekers and Instructor-Oriented Learners. Managerial implications from the results are drawn both for the administrators and for the faculty members teaching in an EMBA program.

RESUMEN. Este estudio ilustra el enfoque do los estudiantes latinoamericanos de MBA Ejecutivo sobre las materias de estudio, trazado de un perfil, preferencias y percepción de los métodos de enseñanza utilizados en los cursos de mercadeo y mereadeo educacional en base a sus preferencias, que se utilizaron para desarrollar un sistema de clasificación de los métodos y enfoques de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. De acuerdo a los resultados, los estudiantes sienten una gran necesidad de alcanzar la exceleneia, y de adquirir renombre junto a los expertos. Ellos encaran sus estudios eonsiderando prioritaria la función de comprender lo que aprenden, y tienen como meta secundaria el obtener buenos resultados en sus cursos. Además, los resultados también indican que estos esludiantes prefieren claramente usar métodos de enseñanza participativos–tales como los estudios de caso–al método disertivo dominado por el profesor. Consecuentemente, nos parece que existe una brecha entre los métodos de enseñanza que se están implementando en las salas de aulas de los cursos de los MBA, y los métodos preferidos por los alumnos. Estos estudiantes pueden dividirse perfectamente en cuatro segmentos, o sea, Estudiantes de Tecnologías Sofisticadas, Buscadores de éxito Académico, Buscadores de Diplomas y Estudiantes Orientados por el Instructor. En el estudio trazamos las implicancias administrativas inherentes a estos resultados, así como para los docentes que están enseñando el programa EMBA.

RESUMO. Este trabalho apresenta a visão de estudantes do MBA Executivo da América Latina, em relação ao estudo, à formação do seu perfil, às preferências e às percepções dos métodos didáticos utilizados nos cursos de marketing e nos segmentos educacionais dc marketing, baseados no ranking de suas preferências pelos métodos didáticos e pelas abordagens do estudo. Os resultados indicam que, em geral, estes estudantes buscam rigorosamente a excelência e a conquista de status através de especialistas. A sua abordagem do estudo está direcionada. primeiramente, ao conhecimento e, em segundo lugar, ao sucesso do seu desempenho. Os resultados também indicam que tais estudantcs preferem nitidamente os cursos que utilizam o método didático participativo, como o estudo de casos, ao método de ensino tradicional expositive Assim. parece haver uma lacuna entre os tipos de métodos didáticos atualmente sendo enfatizados nas aulas de MBA e entre os métodos preferidos pelos estudantes. Estes alunos podem ser classificados em quatro segmentos distintos: Aprendizes da Alta Tecnologia, Perseguidores do Sucesso Acadêmico, Perseguidores de Títulos e Aprendizes Orientados por Instrutor. As implicações gerenciais, a partir dos resultados, são delineadas tanto para os administradores quanto para os membros do corpo docente que ensinam no programa de MBA Executivo.     

You Reap What You Sow: How MBA Programs Undermine Ethics

This paper argues that the MBA, probably the most successful academic program of the last 50 years, negatively affects the theory and practice of management with regard to ethics through its pedagogy, structure, and its underlying epistemic assumptions. In particular I seek to demonstrate how the syllabus, the pedagogy and the epistemological assumptions of MBA programs together make managers/leaders unable and unwilling to deal with ethics. I also argue that while the what (content) and the how (pedagogy) play a very important role, it was only the emergence of a radical philosophical underpinning (the why) that has put management education on a negative trajectory. The paper thus examines MBA education from a meta-level perspective, connecting the pedagogical model with epistemological beliefs.     

Determinants of corporate hedging and derivatives: A revisit

Although the primary purpose of hedging is to reduce earnings volatility, corporate hedging may also increase firm value. Using publicly-available data, we found that hedging reduces the probability of financial distress, reduces the agency costs of debt, and reduces some agency costs of equity. However, we found no support for the hypothesis that hedging increases firm value by reducing expected tax liability. In addition, we suggest that corporate ownership structure may affect the desirability of hedging. We also found that large firms have a stronger tendency to hedge, firms with a larger percentage of value derived from growth opportunities are more likely to hedge, and convertible debt serves as a substitute for corporate hedging. With a dummy variable for multinational corporations as a proxy for operational hedging, we found that operational hedging and derivative hedging are complements rather than substitutes.     

弹性市场究竟能弹多高--闪亮滴眼露弹性需求下的营销破冰

热闹的长安大街上此时只能看到稀稀落落跑过的车，只有沿路亮起的路灯静默的高耸陪伴着寂寞的马路，此时仁和集团会议室中的灯依旧通亮，大家都在安静的等待着，终于一个浑厚稳重的声音打破沉寂，说：“就用周杰伦!”，仁和集团杨文龙董事长一锤定音，周杰伦出任闪亮代言人![第一段]     

A note on the teaching of ethics in the MBA macroeconomics course

While there is general agreement on the need to teach ethics in the MBA classroom, there are great difficulties in completely integrating such material within the confines of an actual MBA program. This paper attempts to address these difficulties by focusing on the teaching of such issues in one particular class — MBA macroeconomics.Ethical dilemmas often arise due to failures of the market place or due to inappropriate assumptions regarding the market model. Thus, specific suggestions are offered in regard to the integration of ethical issues into the traditional macroeconomic curriculum. Suggestions are even offered as how to scale back the basic macro material so that the additional material may be accommodated.In addition to fulfilling the mandate to develop a well educated citizenry with regard to issues of ethics and economics, the course may be structured so as to emphasize writing skills, speaking skills, and critical analytical thinking skills.John D. Abell is an assistant professor at the Department of Economics. His areas of research are: The economics of defense, international trade/finance monetary vs. fiscal policy, disaggregated employment effects of government policy.     

How early opposed to late internationalizers learn: Experience of others and paradigms of interpretation

Although learning plays a pivotal role in the internationalization context of the firm, studies elaborating aspects of learning of early internationalizers (as opposed to late internationalizers) are largely missing. We address this deficit by examining the process of learning in the entry phase of internationalization. Our empirical results show that learning from direct experience is negatively related to early internationalization, whereas learning from others and learning from paradigms of interpretation have a positive impact on early internationalization. Furthermore, our results suggest that early internationalizers compared to late internationalizers continue to prefer cooperative modes of market penetration and show higher entry-mode stability in the same country.     

Green is the New White: How Virtue Motivates Green Product Purchase

Journal of Business Ethics - The name of the second author was incorrect in the initial online publication. The original article has been corrected.     

Seeing the wood for the trees: How machine learning can help firms in identifying relevant electronic word-of-mouth in social media

The increasing volume of firm-related conversations on social media has made it considerably more difficult for marketers to track and analyse electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) about brands, products or services. Firms often use sentiment analysis to identify relevant eWOM that requires a response to consequently engage in webcare. In this paper, we show that sentiment analysis of any kind might not be ideal for this purpose, because it relies on the questionable assumption that only negative eWOM is response-worthy and it is not able to infer meaning from text. We propose and test an approach based on supervised machine learning that first decides whether eWOM is relevant for the brand to respond, and then—based on a categorization of seven different types of eWOM (e.g., question, complaint)—classifies three customer satisfaction dimensions. Using a dataset of approximately 60,000 Facebook comments and 11,000 tweets about 16 different brands in eight different industries, we test and compare the efficacy of various sentiment analysis, dictionary-based and machine learning techniques to detect relevant eWOM. In doing so, this study identifies response-worthy eWOM based on the content instead of its expressed sentiment. The results indicate that these machine learning techniques achieve considerably higher accuracy in detecting relevant eWOM on social media compared to any kind of sentiment analysis. Moreover, it is shown that industry-specific classifiers can further improve this process and that algorithms are applicable across different social networks.     

Big brands,big cities: How the population penalty affects common,identity relevant brands in densely populated areas

The population density of a geographical area has a well-known and strong positive effect on sales in the area. Yet, for some brands, there may be factors that affect the strength of this density-sales relationship. The present research shows that for product categories that consumers use to signal their identities (e.g., clothing, restaurants and cars), the strength of this relationship varies with brand commonness. Consumers residing in densely populated areas are motivated to express their distinctiveness by reducing their preference for identity relevant brands that are common, such as large chains and brands owned by many people. Thus, as identity-relevant brands become more common, they suffer from a “population penalty” – a weakening of the positive effect of population density on sales. We show this effect with three experiments and two empirical analyses of automobile and alcohol sales. Our findings extend literature on distinctiveness theory by demonstrating these effects at the community level and provide insights for marketers on accounting and adjusting for this effect.     

Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review

The study meta-analytically integrates results from three decades of human capital research in entrepreneurship. Based on 70 independent samples (N = 24,733), we found a significant but small relationship between human capital and success (r_c = .098). We examined theoretically derived moderators of this relationship referring to conceptualizations of human capital, to context, and to measurement of success. The relationship was higher for outcomes of human capital investments (knowledge/skills) than for human capital investments (education/experience), for human capital with high task-relatedness compared to low task-relatedness, for young businesses compared to old businesses, and for the dependent variable size compared to growth or profitability. Findings are relevant for practitioners (lenders, policy makers, educators) and for future research. Our findings show that future research should pursue moderator approaches to study the effects of human capital on success. Further, human capital is most important if it is task-related and if it consists of outcomes of human capital investments rather than human capital investments; this suggests that research should overcome a static view of human capital and should rather investigate the processes of learning, knowledge acquisition, and the transfer of knowledge to entrepreneurial tasks.