An exploratory examination of the extent to which rural institutions promote entrepreneurial skills among their students

School of Managemen

Social responsibility in the UK top 100 companies

School of Managemen

Use of focus groups in business ethics research: potential, problems and paths to progress

Focus groups are a well established qualitative research method in the social sciences that would seem to offer scope for a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in the field of business ethics. This paper explores their potential contribution, reviews their contribution to date and makes some recommendations regarding their future use. We find that, while the use of focus groups is not extensive, they have been utilised in a non-negligible number of studies. Focus groups are usually used a supplementary method, often as part of the development of a research instrument. Whether used on their own or in conjunction with other methods, we find that in the majority of cases there is insufficient information for a reader to judge that the method has been carried out well and hence that the ‘findings’ may be trusted. Nor is it easy for future researchers to learn about the practical application of the method in business ethics contexts. We therefore recommend improved reporting in future published studies. Based on an analysis of a sub-sample of papers that provided a reasonable level of methodological detail, we provide further insights into, and recommendations for, the use of focus groups in business ethics research

WFDC1 expression identifies memory CD4 T- lymphocytes rendered vulnerable to cell-cell HIV-1 transfer by promoting intercellular adhesive junctions

Background: Elucidating mechanisms that promote HIV-1 transfer between CD4(+) T-lymphocytes and their subsequent loss is of importance to HIV-1 pathogenesis. We recently reported that whey acidic protein, ps20, promotes cell-free HIV-1 spread through ICAM-1 modulation. Since ICAM-1 is pivotal in cell conjugation and intercellular HIV-1 transfer, this study examines ps20 effects on HIV-1 spread between T lymphocytes. Results: We demonstrate intrinsic ps20 variability in primary CD4(+) T-lymphocyte clonal populations and a significant positive correlation between endogenous ps20 levels and virus transfer involving fusion resulting in a spreading infection that could be reversed by the addition of reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Blocking anti-ps20 antibody or siRNA mediated ps20 knockdown, significantly reduced virus transfer. Conversely, virus transfer was promoted by ectopic ps20 expression or by exogenous addition of recombinant ps20. A higher frequency of virological synapse formation was evident in cocultures of HIV-1 infected donor T-cells with ps20(high) v ps20(low/intermediate) targets. Blocking ps20 inhibited T-lymphocyte conjugate formation and ICAM-1 expression, and was as potent as ICAM-1 in inhibiting HIV-1 transfer. Conclusions: Therefore ps20 is a novel marker of CD4(+) T-cells rendered vulnerable to HIV-1 infection by regulating the fundamental biologic process of intercellular conjugate formation and consequently of potential importance in HIV-1 pathogenesis

The social relevance of postgraduate management education: a case study of India

The study reported here, consists of three main parts. The first deals with the issue of the importance on management education in a poor country, some of the reported effects and therefore the question of relevance is raised. Proponents of the free market system argue that the only role of a manager is to make a profit for the business. However, in a country like India where the majority of the population is outside the mainstream of modern industrial life, there are arguments that freedom to make a profit should be accompanied by social responsibility because this form of behaviour helps to link modern industry with the wider social goals of a country. The second part of the study considers how to define and measure the social effects of publicly funded education. The outcome is the use of personal construct theory and repertory grid technique, borrowed from clinical psychology. which help to examine the social responsibility of Indian managers. The theory states that man makes choices and decisions based on the way he construes the world around him and the way he anticipates future events. The implication is that managers who construe social responsibility in terms of socio economic development are likely to make decisions which are more beneficial to society than those who have a narrower view of socially responsible behaviour. The third part of the study reports on the findings of the study, which has used five separate instruments with 53 Indian managers who have been trained at one of the three established Indian Institutes of Management. These Institutes (IIMs) train around 500 graduate managers each year and one of their objectives, is to "inculcate" social values in the graduates so that their future decisions as managers will be made in this context and be relevant to India's needs. The graduates are from among India's social elite and the way they construe social responsibility has been compared to a matched group of managers who have not been through the IIMs. Data has been collected, to classify the managers, on the social origins, their place of work and career orientations. The way they construe corporate and managerial social responsibility was elicited through the use of repertory grid technique, in order to examine the question of social responsibility in as many different ways as possible. Interestingly the results indicate insignificant differences between the two groups. These are interesting results as they highlight the possibility that the IIMs have not managed to instill socially responsible constructs which are any different from other Indian managers. Although this study is a snap-shot view of Indian managers, it does point to an area of research which the IIMs might take up, for example the objective of instilling social responsibility might not be achievable given all the other aims of the Institutions, or, if they feel that being of social consequence is important they might review their entry requirements, operational focus and so on. The main contribution of the results, to this issue, is a new approach to evaluating management education, helping to break from the conventional social cost benefit methods. This study has two further contributions of particular interest. First, it has examined social responsibility in a novel way and provided an empirically based definition. Secondly, the method used for this research has extended the application of personal construct theory to new areas of study, particularly by embodying repertory grid technique. There is little literature in construct theory which is of relevance to management education and this study has helped to close this gap

Transforming a Highly Tactile Entrepreneurship Course “ Ideas to Innovation ” to an Entirely Online Delivery Model : Lessons for Theory and Practice

Recent changes in education due to COVID-19 required a shift from classroom to online delivery. This chapter illustrates how a highly complex training program, Ideas to Innovation (i2i), responded to this challenge. i2i is based on experiential learning including a variety of activities carried out both in large and small groups with the intention to raise delegates’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy. In this case study, we illustrate the process by which the program was delivered online for the first time since its existence and how the online delivery of an entrepreneurial program contributed to participants raised level of entrepreneurial intent. We took a qualitative approach by conducting structured (written) and semi-structured interviews with participants. We triangulated the data with insights and reflections of the facilitators engaged in the online delivery. The findings indicate that even when i2i is delivered online, it raised participants’ level of entrepreneurial intent. We also found that digital interaction and collaboration among participants and facilitators on various platforms promoted the development of an entrepreneurial mindset. By highlighting this change in delivery and design, we contribute to the ongoing debat

Immunoprecipitation of spliceosomal RNAs by antisera to galectin-1 and galectin-3

We have shown that galectin-1 and galectin-3 are functionally redundant splicing factors. Now we provide evidence that both galectins are directly associated with spliceosomes by analyzing RNAs and proteins of complexes immunoprecipitated by galectin-specific antisera. Both galectin antisera co-precipitated splicing substrate, splicing intermediates and products in active spliceosomes. Protein factors co-precipitated by the galectin antisera included the Sm core polypeptides of snRNPs, hnRNP C1/C2 and Slu7. Early spliceosomal complexes were also immunoprecipitated by these antisera. When splicing reactions were sequentially immunoprecipitated with galectin antisera, we found that galectin-1 containing spliceosomes did not contain galectin-3 and vice versa, providing an explanation for the functional redundancy of nuclear galectins in splicing. The association of galectins with spliceosomes was (i) not due to a direct interaction of galectins with the splicing substrate and (ii) easily disrupted by ionic conditions that had only a minimal effect on snRNP association. Finally, addition of excess amino terminal domain of galectin-3 inhibited incorporation of galectin-1 into splicing complexes, explaining the dominant-negative effect of the amino domain on splicing activity. We conclude that galectins are directly associated with splicing complexes throughout the splicing pathway in a mutually exclusive manner and they bind a common splicing partner through weak protein–protein interactions

Transforming a highly tactile entrepreneurship course “ideas to innovation” to an entirely online delivery model: lessons for theory and practice

Recent changes in education due to COVID-19 required a shift from classroom to online delivery. This chapter illustrates how a highly complex training program, Ideas to Innovation (i2i), responded to this challenge. i2i is based on experiential learning including a variety of activities carried out both in large and small groups with the intention to raise delegates’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy. In this case study, we illustrate the process by which the program was delivered online for the first time since its existence and how the online delivery of an entrepreneurial program contributed to participants raised level of entrepreneurial intent. We took a qualitative approach by conducting structured (written) and semi-structured interviews with participants. We triangulated the data with insights and reflections of the facilitators engaged in the online delivery. The findings indicate that even when i2i is delivered online, it raised participants’ level of entrepreneurial intent. We also found that digital interaction and collaboration among participants and facilitators on various platforms promoted the development of an entrepreneurial mindset. By highlighting this change in delivery and design, we contribute to the ongoing debate of digitally supported education for entrepreneurship and provide insights to redesign entrepreneurial training programs