Helping Business Schools Engage with Real Problems: The Contribution of Critical Realism and Systems Thinking

The world faces major problems, not least climate change and the financial crisis, and business schools have been criticised for their failure to help address these issues and, in the case of the financial meltdown, for being causally implicated in it. In this paper we begin by describing the extent of what has been called the rigour/relevance debate. We then diagnose the nature of the problem in terms of historical, structural and contextual mechanisms that initiated and now sustain an inability of business schools to engage with real-world issues. We then propose a combination of measures, which mutually reinforce each other, that are necessary to break into this vicious circle – critical realism as an underpinning philosophy that supports and embodies the next points; holism and transdisciplinarity; multimethodology (mixed-methods research); and a critical and ethical-committed stance. OR and management science have much to contribute in terms of both powerful analytical methods and problem structuring methods

Leadership development for managers in turbulent times

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in Journal of Management Development. To access the final edited and published work see http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/jmd.Purpose In a turbulent economic climate, characterised by pressures to improve productivity and reduce costs, leadership and performance management have a more central role in helping to ensure competitive advantage. This paper explores current demands on leaders; and endeavours to explore linkages between management education and agile leadership Design/methodology/approach Taking a grounded theory approach, this paper uses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) to investigate the impact on desired attributes of leaders and the extent to which this is underpinned by current management education programmes. It draws on the VUCA model of agile management to examine current practices and experiences and considers future trends. Empirical research includes case studies and analysis of management syllabuses. Findings Syllabuses do not reflect the attributes that organizations expect leaders to possess and are content driven rather than process focussed. VUCA is not yet mainstream in academic thinking. Practical implications There is a disparity between the output of Business Schools and the expectations of organizations. This may affect productivity. It is suggested that the use of live consultancies may provide a more beneficial management development experience. Originality/value This research opens an international debate that seeks to assess the relevance of current management education to the needs of organizations for agile, high performing leader

Why Him Not ME? Inclusive/Exclusive Talent Identification in Academic Public Context

AbstractWe investigated the relevance of introducing talent identification/classifications among Egyptian public business schools, as perceived by academics, and the expected outcomes of such proposed classification system. We employed thematic analysis of data collected from interviews with 49 academics from three large business schools. Our findings revealed the following themes: no clear systems for talent management; being talent means going the extra mile in research; talent identification/classification system is irrelevant due to: academic corruption; age and religious discrimination; the unique nature of higher education work; and the fears of enforcing clashes, inequality and exclusion. We confirmed that any attempt to constitute talent classifications in the Egyptian higher education does not appear to be a prioritized need for the sector. Nevertheless, we did assert the need to manage motivational, structural, consequential and social responsibility boundaries before the need for constituting any system for talent identification and classifications.Abstract We investigated the relevance of introducing talent identification/classifications among Egyptian public business schools, as perceived by academics, and the expected outcomes of such proposed classification system. We employed thematic analysis of data collected from interviews with 49 academics from three large business schools. Our findings revealed the following themes: no clear systems for talent management; being talent means going the extra mile in research; talent identification/classification system is irrelevant due to: academic corruption; age and religious discrimination; the unique nature of higher education work; and the fears of enforcing clashes, inequality and exclusion. We confirmed that any attempt to constitute talent classifications in the Egyptian higher education does not appear to be a prioritized need for the sector. Nevertheless, we did assert the need to manage motivational, structural, consequential and social responsibility boundaries before the need for constituting any system for talent identification and classifications

Publication Records of Faculty Promoted to Professor: Evidence from the UK Accounting and Finance Academic Community

This study investigates the publication profiles of 140 accounting and finance faculty promoted to the senior rank of professor at UK and Irish universities during the period 1992 to 2007. On average, approximately 9 papers in Association of Business Schools (ABS) (2008)-listed journals, with 5 at the highest 3*/4* quality levels in a portfolio of 20 outputs are required for promotion to professor. Multivariate analysis provides evidence that publication requirements in terms of ABS ranked journal papers have increased over time, an effect attributed to the government research assessment exercise. There is no evidence that requirements differ for: internal versus external promotion, male versus female candidates; accounting versus finance professors, research intensity of institution peer group; or government research ranking of unit. There is also no evidence of a substitution effect in relation to increased recent publication history, quantity of non-ABS outputs or sole-authorship, all of which show a significant complementary effect. It is noted that there is very limited overlap in the UK and US publication journal sets, suggesting underlying geographically-based paradigm differences. The benchmarks provided in this study are informative in a range of decision settings: recruitment; those considering making an application for promotion to a chair and those involved in promotion panels; cross-disciplinary comparisons; and resource allocation. The evidence presented also contributes to the emerging policy debates concerning the aging demographic profile of accounting faculty, the management of academic labour and the Research Excellence Framework

Can Future Managers and Business Executives be Influenced to Behave more Ethically in the Workplace? The Impact of Approaches to Learning on Business Students’ Cheating Behavior

This study considers the potential for influencing business students to become ethical managers by directing their undergraduate learning environment. In particular, the relationship between business students’ academic cheating, as a predictor of workplace ethical behavior, and their approaches to learning is explored. The three approaches to learning identified from the students’ approaches to learning literature are deep approach, represented by an intrinsic interest in and a desire to understand the subject, surface approach, characterized by rote learning and memorization without understanding, and strategic approach, associated with competitive students whose motivation is the achievement of good grades by adopting either a surface or deep approach. Consistent with the hypothesized theoretical model, structural equation modeling revealed that the surface approach is associated with higher levels of cheating, while the deep approach is related to lower levels. The strategic approach was also associated with less cheating and had a statistically stronger influence than the deep approach. Further, a significantly positive relationship reported between deep and strategic approaches suggests that cheating is reduced when deep and strategic approaches are paired. These findings suggest that future managers and business executives can be influenced to behave more ethically in the workplace by directing their learning approaches. It is hoped that the evidence presented may encourage those involved in the design of business programs to implement educational strategies which optimize students’ approaches to learning towards deep and strategic characteristics, thereby equipping tomorrow’s managers and business executives with skills to recognize and respond appropriately to workplace ethical dilemmas.</p

From the Guest Editors: the legitimacy and impact of business schools—key issues and a research agenda

It is an appropriate moment to review research into the legitimacy and impact of business schools. It is more than a decade now since Pfeffer and Fong's (2002) provocative paper challenging the perceived orthodoxy of business school success in the very first edition of the Academy of Management Learning & Education