GRADUATE EDUCATION IN QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN THE AACSB SCHOOLS

The status of Quantitative Methods in business education is perhaps less “standard” and less understood than any other field. This is probably even more true at the graduate than at the undergraduate level. Courses which are normally considered to be Quantitative Methods courses are often housed in a wide range of departments. Some courses which would normally be classified as Quantitative Methods courses are also housed in colleges other than Business Administration. In order to determine the current status of graduate quantitative methods curricula in schools of business, a survey was made of the member institutions of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. This paper presents the survey findings.     

Characteristics of master’s programs in agribusiness management

This study describes and compares agribusiness master’s programs in North America. These programs include the master of business administration (MBA) and master in (or “of”) agribusiness (MAB) degrees. Accredited MBA programs with an agribusiness emphasis are required to have a clear required core of courses in finance, management, marketing management, and human behavior. Additional required courses in policy, agricultural marketing, production or managerial economics, and quantitative methods are also frequently required. MAB programs have more diversity regarding the four core subjects with a greater percentage of the courses taught within departments of agricultural economics. Evaluation of agribusiness master’s programs in agricultural economics departments is difficult without any formal evaluation criteria.     

社交网络情境下基于同侪影响的产品线规划研究

依托社交网络优化产品线是实现“匹配消费者需求带动产品设计-制造-营销全流程协调发展”的重要途径,尽管已经引起实业界的重点关注,相应的学术研究却十分匮乏。鉴于此,本文基于同侪影响理论与前景理论,结合社交网络情境下消费者的产品需求、偏好及决策,构建涵盖产品线营销层面和设计层面的双层规划模型;然后结合智能手机产品线实例,运用嵌套灰狼算法对该双层规划模型进行求解验证。本研究旨在提出社交网络与产品线规划之间耦合作用的联合优化框架,为面向社交网络的产品线规划提供理论依据。     

Corporate social responsibility: a strategic and profitable response to entry?

This paper investigates whether an incumbent has an incentive to introduce corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities only as a response to entry by a competitor, i.e., the incumbent would eschew CSR if left uncontested. We assume that the entrant cannot provide CSR at least at the outset for two reasons: (1) it would not be credible due to its lack of recognition and (2) due to high fixed cost to pay e.g., for licensing. More precisely, this paper shows that monopolistic firms can have indeed the incentive to introduce CSR activities only as a response to entry. Therefore, increased competition can turn a firm “green”, providing a “win–win” for business as well as for the environment.     

Business Unusual: Corporate Responsibility in a 2.0 World*

The imperatives of a growing consensus on human‐induced causes of climate change, an increasing gap between rich and poor, and the misguided incentives in the economic, business, and financial models that dominated the last quarter of the twentieth century and first decade of the twenty‐first century along with the emergence of Web 2.0's transparency have highlighted the need for a new approach to capitalism. Looking around the world, we can witness the emergence of numerous new forms of enterprise that are part of a broader movement that we are calling change to a sustainable enterprise economy (SEE Change). This article details the broad outlines of the emerging shift, highlighting the new types of enterprise that constitute the SEE. First, we set the context in which business unusual is evolving, a context of “wicked problems”uncertainty, and sustainability problems. Then we provide an overview of new types of enterprises that are already emerging to cope with these changes, enterprises of the cloud (interlinked, web‐based enterprises that rely on the “cloud” of computers that store data such as social media, eBay, and Google). Next, we outline how such enterprises are permitting processes of dematerialization and “servicization” (the shift from product to services) to create new forms of enterprise that are less dependent on physical resources. From here, we explore what we term enterprise unusual, corporations that incorporate pro‐social goals into their very essence, for example, for‐benefit corporations, the B Corporation, and conscious capitalism companies, along with a few entities that are shaping their product development along the lines of biomimicry. All of this change, we argue, has created a blurring of sector boundaries evidenced in the rapid emergence of social enterprise, of which explore a variety of types, and what is being called the fourth sector, where business purpose and pro‐social activity are combined.     

An organizational approach for the study of the diffusion of process innovation strategies in internal auditing and control systems

Davenport (1993a) has pointed out that the diffusion of innovation approach as a behavioral process change has been limited to the study of how new information technology can be successfully adopted, rather than “how innovation can improve organizational performance.” This article extends Davenport's challenge to bridge this research gap by applying the diffusion of innovation approach to study accounting and control systems as an administrative process innovation approach to improve business performance. We chose to study internal auditing because it constitutes an important aspect of an administrative process innovation program that is critical for improving business performance programs.     

Paradoxiemanagement mit dem „Werte-und Entwicklungsquadrat“

Conflicts and crises in Family Businesses often arise through paradoxical demands, which result from the paradoxical organisation of the family business. This organisation refers to the coupling of the two social systems “family” and “business” which follow different (and in parts contradicting) guidelines and principles. Thus, the situation could arise that right behaviour in the company is wrong behaviour in the family (and vice versa). A special tool for counselling is the Value-and Development Square, which enables to capture the paradoxes and to reframe in a resource and development oriented way.     

The Social Responsibility of Managers: Reassessing and Integrating Diverse Perspectives

The social responsibility of business has been a prominent issue in the academic and practitioner literatures, as well as in the curricula of business schools, for many years. While Friedman's iconic defense of profit maximization as the responsibility of management has been widely and extensively assailed, emerging positions on the role of business in society offer little clear and practical guidance to current managers, as well as Masters of Business Administration students. I argue in this article that the focus of the debate should shift to considering how the rules of the game surrounding business' behavior should be formulated and what the role of socially responsible managers should be in helping to establish those rules. My contention is that the goal of society should be to strengthen the linkage between the achievement of social objectives and profit maximization by business through “bright line” regulations and laws. Socially responsible managers will participate in setting the rules of the game by advising policymakers on how specific regulations and laws can be structured so that they most effectively condition the linkage between social objectives and profit maximization. If there is a unique social responsibility of managers beyond profit maximization, it is to participate in the policymaking process “honestly,” that is, without attempting to game the system through guile and opportunism.     

Sustainability and Business in a Complex World

Sustainability is a topic of growing importance today in all aspects of organizational life. Businesses and managers are increasingly considering ways to incorporate a balance among economic, ecological, social, and cultural value creation into their business models. At the same time, the world is becoming exponentially more complex. Indeed, complexity theory and thinking are now apparent in academic and practice accounts of sustainability in business, as scholars and practitioners recognize the limitations of traditional reductionist approaches to systemic problems. To date, however, a more theoretical framing of sustainability lags behind accumulating practical evidence. The purpose of this article is to address this gap by developing a complexity‐based framework for understanding and managing sustainability in complex adaptive systems. We aim for simplicity, wholeness, and practicality in our approach, taking a qualitative rather than quantitative perspective on complex systems. Using several contemporary case examples, the article describes the important qualities of complex systems and develops them into a working framework that integrates principles and parameters of sustainability. In doing so, we create an approach to sustainability issues and dilemmas called “sustainability thinking.” The article concludes with more generalized sustainability action strategies for managers and recommendations for future researchers.     

The Global Food Industry and “Creative Capitalism”: The Partners in Food Solutions Sustainable Business Model

Rising global food prices have driven 44 million additional people into extreme poverty—and malnutrition—in developing countries since June 2010. Partners in Food Solutions (PFS), a nonprofit social enterprise affiliated with General Mills, is proposed as the conduit for food industry managers, engineers, and scientists to initially advise small‐ and medium‐sized African mills and food processors—and later other developing countries—on improving supply chain management by addressing manufacturing problems, developing products, improving packaging, extending product shelf, and finding new product markets. In this article, the “creative capitalism” model of sustainability and social and environmental responsibility is applied to the food manufacturing industry's efforts supporting PFS. Furthermore, the evolution of the sustainable business model developed by PFS is thoroughly described, explained, and analyzed as a generic model of social enterprise to be “scaled up” by the global food manufacturing industry. A summary of salient points conclude the article.     

PROPOSALS FOR A PROGRAM OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH INTO THE PROPERTIES OF TRIANGLES*

Physical geometry is viewed in this essay as the prototype of a successful generalizing empirical science. Suppose that physical geometry had been studied in ancient Egypt by empirical methods similar to those commonly used today by many researchers seeking general propositions useful in explaining, predicting, or controlling phenomena of interest to practicing managers. Would these methods have produced valid and useful geometric generalizations? This intriguing question is explored in Part I by means of a parable which suggests a negative answer to the question. The reasons for this negative conclusion are developed in Part II. In the successful generalizing sciences, general propositions (or theory) have not been the result of an a posteriori“induction” from observational data, but rather the result of an a priori“construction” of a framework for the coordination of measurement operations. Such a framework, whether explicitly articulated or not, is a necessary condition for the collection of coherent and reproducible observational data and, therefore, for explanation, prediction, and control of phenomena. Yet, despite its a priori character, an acceptable framework or theory must be “empirical” in Popper's sense of being subject to refutation by observation. If the framework is logically prior to data, however, what is its source? In the successful generalizing sciences, it is argued in Part III, theories have been generalized not from data but from the skills—the coordination of operations—of practitioners. This genesis “explains” the success of the sciences, because an effective skill includes within itself tests of its range of applicability and adapts itself to changing conditions. A discussion of the implications of this argument for making management “scientific” concludes the essay.     

Insights from a Management Prophet: Mary Parker Follett on Social Entrepreneurship

Current‐day management leaders such as Peter Drucker and Rosabeth Moss Kanter have cited Mary Parker Follett as guru and prophet given her foreknowledge of systems theory, action research and leadership. She viewed business as a social institution and work itself as a community service, concepts particularly relevant in the context of understanding social entrepreneurship. Referencing two of her works, “The Individual in Society” and “Business in Society”, this paper introduces Follett, defines social entrepreneurship and presents her ideas as timely insights on the meaning of work, ethics and the role of business in society.     

The principles of war applied to business

The search for excellence in business is not enough. First a company has to survive before it can become excellent. Competition in the marketplace is a form of warfare. Twenty centuries of military history have produced principles of warfare that business executives can adapt for use in today's competitive environment. The Chinese have a “Society for the Study of Ancient Management Thinking.” Japan's success after World War II, they explain “a little bitterly”, owes much to its study of ancient Chinese wisdom, particularly Sun Tzu'sThe Art of War, which the Japanese use as a treatise on market strategy. Businessmen must use all the tools available to them to survive and prosper.     

‘Präsenz- und Voice-Coaching für Frauen

One maxim of career is “the lower the pitch of voice the higher the income.” In this regard Voice-Coaching is of definite interest especially for women in business. This article focuses on small-group coaching, a holistic approach combining Voice and Psychology. The course includes abdominal breathing to improve both the sound of the voice and self-assurance in presentations; the use of the natural pitch of the voice; dynamics of voice; care of the voice for professional speakers and improvised speaking. In addition to the exercises, the participants are encouraged to reflect on their own experience of “social stage” in business, their social roles and opportunities to exert their influence and improve the image they portray.     

From primacy to purpose commitment: How emerging profit-with-purpose corporations open new corporate governance avenues

This paper aims at contributing to corporate governance theory by developing a model of governance that takes into account a recent legal innovation: the introduction of purpose-driven legal business forms in the corporate law of several countries. Current debates in such theory oppose models that grant “primacy” (i.e., ultimate control rights) to different constituencies. The resulting uncertainty proves problematic in the face of new, urgent social and environmental stakes that are difficult to represent in traditional governance bodies. Newly adopted profit-with-purpose corporate forms' introduction of a “purpose” in corporate contracts renews these debates. We show that through the “purpose commitment” model it enables, the distribution of control rights in the governance system is decoupled from the objectives assigned to the corporation. This new approach renews the formal role of management, and corporations’ accountability to society. We explore the theoretical, practical, and political consequences of this new model.     

TEACHING OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT FROM A SCIENCE OF MANUFACTURING

Recently, there has been much concern over the dumbing down of production and operations management (pom) courses in response to the repudiation of the theory-heavy operations research (or) approach that became dominant during the 1970s. However, although almost everyone agrees that a new POM framework is needed, there is as yet little agreement on what it should be like. As a result, there is currently a huge variance among POM courses at different universities, ranging all the way from traditional OR courses to almost purely anecdotal case-oriented courses. Although academics have struggled with the search for an appropriate level of methodological rigor in POM courses, our customers (i.e., students and the firms that hire them) have been inundated by a blizzard of management buzzwords. Although many of these undoubtedly contain kernels of truth, the very nature of the buzzword approach is such that it provides little balanced guidance as to what methods work well in a given situation. In recognition of these disparities, POM researchers have begun trying to systematically describe the underlying behavior of production systems. The goal is to provide a framework that will help organize educational approaches and business practices in a consistent fashion. In this paper, we describe our attempt at the needed “science of manufacturing,” which we call factory physics, and illustrate how it fits into a new paradigm of POM teaching.     

Rechnet sich Coaching im Mittelstand?

Central question of this article: Is there a measurable correlation between health-oriented management culture in SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and business success? Healthy management culture has a direct impact on the colleagues health and motivation, as well as on the healthy development and on the healthy results of business. On a practical example this connection between healthy colleagues, healthy business and healthy results becomes clear and quantitative demonstrable. The article is based on the research, “Basics for healthy management culture and business success” of Badura and Greiner (University of Bielefeld), on behalf of the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs NRW.     

Ausbildung von Schlüsselqualifikationen im Fachbereich Wirtschaft

An important goal of the Bologna Process is the improvement of employability. Universities are required to develop courses for the acquisition of key competences. The Department of Business and Management at Bochum University of Applied Sciences has developed an extensive training program for that offers an introduction to the methods “mentoring”, “coaching” and “group dynamics” to the participants. The acquired skills can be put into practise immediately by mentoring new students.