MBA Students (mba + student)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The multiple pathways of high performing groups: the interaction of social networks and group processes

JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2006
Priti Pradhan Shah
This study examines how both strong and weak relationship groups (groups with numerous, intense internal friendship ties and few, less intense internal friendship ties respectively) achieve high performance when utilizing strategies that capitalize on the strengths and minimizing the weaknesses associated with their internal social structure. We examine the interactions of groups' internal friendship networks with their external network structures (external ties) and internal intragroup conflict (constructive controversy). The results of a study using survey, archival and interview data on 35 groups of MBA students indicated that internal friendship networks interacted with constructive controversy and external networks to determine when groups would achieve superior performance. High performing strong relationship groups engaged in greater constructive controversy than low performing strong relationship groups, while constructive controversy appeared to have minimal effect on the performance of weak relationship groups. High performing weak relationship groups had fewer external bridging ties to other groups when compared to low performing weak relationship groups, while external bridging ties appeared to have minimal effect on the performance of strong relationship groups. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Lying in negotiations: how individual and situational factors influence the use of neutralization strategies

JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 6 2005
Karl Aquino
Lying in negotiations can cause negative emotions, so participants may use neutralization strategies to reduce these feelings. We conducted a 2 (ethical versus non-ethical climate),×,2 (low versus high negative consequences) experiment to examine how individual and situational factors affect the use of three such strategies: minimizing the lie, denigration of the target, and denial. Lying, psychological distress, and self-perceived moral attributes were measured as non-manipulated independent variables. One hundred and ninety-two MBA students participated in a business negotiation in which they were provided with incentives to lie. As predicted, higher distress was associated with greater denial of lies. In addition, climate and consequences interacted to affect minimization and liars engaged in less minimization than did participants who merely concealed information. Climate and moral attributes interacted to affect denigration. We believe these findings support further study of neutralization strategies in the workplace. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Design conditions for learning in community service contexts

JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2001
Caroline A. Bartel
In this study, we investigated team-based community service projects as action learning initiatives designed to facilitate two learning outcomes: community learning (knowledge of social, cultural, or economic issues) and personal learning (self-awareness of managerial attitudes and abilities). We developed hypotheses to predict critical input conditions for action learning that promote community and personal learning. We tested these hypotheses with data collected from 381 MBA students and their team leaders who participated in a variety of community service projects. Results demonstrated that design conditions (task characteristics, social interactions, and affective responses) influenced community and personal learning differently. We supplemented survey results with interview and observational data from a subset of participants and conclude with a discussion of the theoretical implications for action learning and practical recommendations for designing community service programs. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Negotiating for Money: Adding a Dose of Reality to Classroom Negotiations

NEGOTIATION JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007
Roger J. Volkema
Negotiation and conflict management courses have become increasingly common in business schools around the world. Frequently, these courses employ role plays and simulations to encourage students to try new strategies, tactics, techniques, and behaviors. While these simulations generally are designed to elicit realistic negotiation dynamics, they often lack the full emotional tension inherent in actual negotiations. One possible reason for this reduced tension is that no tangible resources, such as money, are at stake. This article describes an experiment in which MBA students paid a player's fee at the beginning of a negotiation course, and in which each negotiation exercise had an actual dollar value at risk. The article reports some results from this experiment and offers suggestions for instructors who might seek to add a player's fee to their own courses. In general, most students found the experience valuable, as it provided performance benchmarks while focusing their attention more sharply on risks and returns. [source]


ROLE CONFLICT AND FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS: THE EFFECTS ON APPLICANT ATTRACTION

PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2002
BARBARA L. RAU
This paper challenges a popular assumption that organizations with flexible work arrangements are more attractive to job seekers than those with a standard work arrangement. Drawing on boundary theory, we suggest that the attractiveness of these arrangements depends in part on job seekers' interrole conflict. Subjects were 142 MBA students at a midsized midwestern university. Those with high role conflict were more attracted to an organization when flextime was offered than when it was not. Those with low role conflict, however, were just slightly less attracted to an organization when flextime was offered. Conversely, subjects with low role conflict were more attracted to an organization when telecommuting was offered than when it was not; subjects with high role conflict were indifferent. These results suggest that organizations should understand the needs of their targeted applicant pool and carefully consider recruitment implications of work arrangements when analyzing costs associated with these policies. [source]


Making the Business School More ,Critical': Reflexive Critique Based on Phronesis as a Foundation for Impact

BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 2010
Elena P. Antonacopoulou
This paper explores how the business school can become more critical by advancing the notion of reflexive critique. Drawing on diverse literatures propounding a critical perspective, this paper integrates the various interpretations of ,what it is to be critical' and proposes phronesis as a foundation for responding to and extending the relevance and rigour debate by articulating what it means for business schools to have a critical impact on management practice. A phronetic analysis of management education provides an innovative lens for understanding the power of critique in engaging academics and business practitioners in the co-creation of knowledge. This is illustrated by distilling the main insights from the experience of introducing an innovative course entitled ,Critical Thinking' offered to MBA students over a five-year period. The paper discusses the importance of critique in the business curriculum and explains the rationale for introducing the course and its objectives, as well as the learning and teaching techniques employed. The analysis considers how reflexive critique can be a platform for integrating a critical analysis of management informed by management research and academic thinking in relation to business practitioners' practical experiences of managing. The paper concludes with a review of the main lessons learned and the implications for future initiatives intended to foster engagement of theory and practice and the collaboration of academics and business practitioners. [source]