Catherine C. Giapponi

Strategy revitalization in academe: a balanced scorecard approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a unique version of the balanced scorecard developed and applied by the faculty of a university division.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a case study approach and uses the experiences of the faculty of a business school to describe the process and benefits of developing a custom balanced scorecard.Findings – The unique version of the scorecard revitalized the faculty and resulted in a process model of organizational change based on the balanced scorecard that can be used in many academic divisions.Practical implications – This unique version of the scorecard helped to establish a program of continuous improvement and facilitated the formulation of strategic initiatives. The documentation provided in the scorecard supports requests for increased budgets and grant applications.Originality/value – University and faculty administrators can use the model developed in this paper as a basis of a change program that can help design improvement program...

Digital Technology and Student Cognitive Development The Neuroscience of the University Classroom

Digital technology has proven a beguiling, some even venture addictive, presence in the lives of our 21st century (millennial) students. And while screen technology may offer select cognitive benefits, there is mounting evidence in the cognitive neuroscience literature that digital technology is restructuring the way our students read and think, and not necessarily for the better. Rather, emerging research regarding intensive use of digital devices suggests something more closely resembling a Faustian quandary: Certain cognitive skills are gained while other “deep thinking” capabilities atrophy as a result of alterations in the neural circuitry of millennial brains. This has potentially profound implications for management teaching and practice. In response, some advocate that we “meet students where we find them.” We too acknowledge the need to address student needs, but with the proviso that the academy’s trademark commitment to penetrating, analytical thinking not be compromised given the unprecedented array of existential challenges awaiting this generation of students. These and rising faculty suspicions of a new “digital divide” cropping up in the management classroom represents a timely opportunity for management educators to reflect not only on how today’s students read and learn, but equally, on what and how we teach.

Cultural Identity and Ethical Decision Making: An Experiential Exercise

This experiential exercise enables students to explore an ethical decision and the relationship between cultural identity (as operationalized by Hofstede) and ethical decision making. The exercise involves a short case that can also be used as a role-play. Complete instructions for running and debriefing the exercise as either a case or a role-play and all materials are included.

Leader/Teacher Credibility and Bias in the Classroom and Workplace

Teachers are the leaders of their multiple, semester-length, organizational microcosms, and just as leader credibility is paramount for practitioner leaders, so too do teachers prove their “cred” in every class. What should teachers know from management research about how students confer credibility on their teachers? On what can these classroom leaders focus to discretely demonstrate that they are credible? Leader credibility also develops trust among the followers, which can be undermined by intended or unintended gender bias. Issues of awareness by teachers and justice at the classroom/worksite must converge to develop optimal leader behaviors and learning. Toward these goals, the Teaching & Learning section offers two articles with both classroomand workplaceoriented behaviors and applications. The first article, “Enhancing Teacher Credibility: What We Can Learn From the Justice and Leadership Literature,” by Barbara A. Ritter, Patricia R. Hedberg, and Kim Gower, proposes applying actionable management research to the classroom to help students become better managers while also improving classroom teaching practices and outcomes. Citing literature, the authors present the roles of Implicit Leadership Theory (ILT) and elements of procedural and distributive justice that can influence students’ perceptions of their teacher’s classroom and professional credibility. For example, students use ILT to mentally compare, consciously or unconsciously, the teacher with the student’s perceived leader prototype. Similarly, students employ elements of justice in perceiving teacher fairness, consistency, lack of bias, accuracy, and adherence to ethical standards. Positive student perceptions of leader/teacher justice will enhance students’ perceptions of the leader/teacher character and credibility. Our second article focuses specifically on gender bias. In their article “Revealing Gender Bias: An Experiential Exercise,” Linda M. Dunn-Jensen, Scott Jensen, Mikelle A. Calhoun, and Katherine C. Ryan provide our readers with a classroom exercise designed to uncover unconscious gender bias. Using a case based on an adaptation of an episode from the British game show “Golden Balls,” the authors provide an opportunity for students to experience how gender bias might affect their own attitudes and behavior. Stereotyping and bias can influence workplace behavior as well as management decision making. Exercises such as the one developed by the authors enable experiential learning and self-reflection that expose unconscious bias and foster personal awareness that can influence future conduct, actions, and decisions. As we seek to educate the whole person and contribute to the development of future business leaders, this classroom exercise affords management educators an opportunity to deepen student understanding of stereotyping and bias through active learning and reflection. Finally, the co-editors thank the dozen reviewers from the Management Education and Development track for the 2016 Eastern Academy of Management conference who so graciously agreed to also become reviewers for the Teaching & Learning section of Organization Management Journal. As important as quality reviewers are to the professional success of our journal, strong reviewers are never more needed than when one of our own co-editors submits a manuscript for consideration. We value our double-blind review process and strive for the same objective impartiality for all submissions. Thank you so much to those who recently stepped forward to contribute to this role and to assure all authors of the equitable treatment they can expect. For any others who are interested in becoming a reviewer for Teaching & Learning, please contact either co-editor listed at the start of this introduction.

Workplace Challenges: Managing Project Teams and Flexible Work Programs

Today’s workplace presents a variety of challenges for managers and employees. In this issue of the Organization Management Journal, the Teaching & Learning section offers two articles that address important dimensions of the work environment. Through an experiential exercise, the first article explores the challenges involved in managing and working in project teams. The authors of the second article focus on issues related to work–life balance and flexible work programs through a case-study approach to student learning. Project teams consisting of members from multiple functional areas and geographic locations are pervasive in organizations. The effective management of such teams is critical but can be difficult. Linda S. Henderson and Keith O. Hunter, authors of “The Communication Conundrum Exercise: Pedagogy for Project-Based Learning,” note the challenges in hybrid project team structures in which there is both structural flexibility and hierarchical control. The authors propose an experiential classroom approach that uses the Communication Conundrum Exercise to enable students to work through the constraints associated with hierarchical control of project scope, schedule, and resources. It specifically addresses the overemphasis of taskwork communication at the expense of teamwork communication in hybrid project team structures. Designed to enhance students’ ability to communicate effectively in project team environments, the exercise also offers insight into the successful management of those teams. Achieving work–life balance can prove challenging for all of us. It also poses challenges to business organizations and managers who attempt to create career opportunities for valu-

Leaps in Learning: Reflective Questioning and the Mastery of Threshold Concepts

Business students are exposed to vast amounts of information. Although such exposure affords opportunities for learning, it does not necessarily promote depth of thought and understanding. The challenge for educators is to move students beyond surface learning to deeper levels of understanding that will prepare them for the complex, fast-paced, and rapidly changing business environment. In the summer issue of the Organization Management Journal, the Teaching & Learning section offers two articles that focus on enriching the classroom learning experience by promoting deep thinking and transformational learning. In the first article, A. Georges L. Romme and Inge C. M. van Seggelen-Damen explore reflective questioning as a way to improve the teaching and learning process in “Taking Nothing for Granted in Management Education: A Systemic Perspective on the Role of Reflective Questioning.” The authors explore reflective questioning as an act of sense-making that can be deliberately encouraged by classroom instructors to deepen the classroom experience. A number of propositions are presented, resulting in a causal loop diagram detailing variables related to and encouraging (discouraging) the emergence of reflective questioning. Thomas P. Bradley, Gerald F. Burch, and Jana J. Burch consider student mastery of threshold concepts in the second

Experiential Exercises for Courses From Introduction to Business Through Business Strategy

Whether we are teaching an introductory business course, a cross-cultural management course, or a senior capstone course, many of us continually look for new experiential learning approaches that actively engage students in the learning process. In this issue of OMJ, the Teaching & Learning section offers three articles that will be of interest to faculty members who seek to renew or reframe their courses using innovative experiential exercises or experiential based projects. The first article focuses on national cultural differences that can impact the success of global expansion strategies. “Windows on the World: An Experiential Exercise” is designed to increase student awareness of cultural differences and the influence of culture on management practice. Through consultant–client role-plays, students develop suggestions for the cultural modification of home-country managerial practices in Brazil or China. In the exercise, the consultant teams develop recommendations for culturally appropriate management practices related to leadership, organizational structure, decision making, communication, motivation, dispute resolution, and ethics. Authors Mary Garlington Trefry and Valerie Labun Christian highlight the importance of cultural due diligence in the success of cross-border business expansion. In addition to the challenges posed by the globalization of business, rapidly changing technology has influenced not only the conduct of business but student learning. “Digital natives” entering our classrooms are adept at navigating digital and mobile devices. Although they appear to be masters of online search, how discerning are these students in assessing the integrity and nuances of digital content? In researching and analyzing business problems, how familiar are they with relevant and appropriate online resources? Anne Walsh and Susan C. Borkowski, authors of “Linking Teams With Technology: Integrating Databases in Experiential Exercises in

Context and Content: Four Ways to Learn about Management Education

Over 20 years ago, Barbara Rogoff (1990) wrote that individual thinking processes relate to the cultural context and social interactions that provide guidance, support, direction, challenge, and impetus for development. Her book examined how children’s thinking is stretched by the immediate social contexts of problem solving and collaboration with others but it can certainly be argued that our ongoing learning occurs in the same way. The ability to see social context as part of the learning process is a key part of understanding continuing developments in management education. With this in mind, the Teaching & Learning Section is pleased to present four strong manuscripts on a variety of topics. The first three articles are experiential exercises with the capacity to make significant impact in our classroom work. The fourth draws on concepts from the sociology of the professions, including jurisdiction, professional identity, and characteristics of professional work to offer a framework for refocusing graduate business education. A fuller description of the articles follows. “Cultural Identity and Ethical Decision Making: An Experiential Exercise” by Cheryl Tromley, Cathy Giapponi, and Roselie McDevitt uses national culture as an organizing theme to understand ethical decision-making. The article offers a case study and role-playing exercise that encourages learners to absorb the norms of two fictional cultures in order to understand the business decisions of a furniture manufacturer trying to maintain its supply chain in a sustainable manner. The case has interesting context of interpersonal and cultural dynamics and allows participants to see the role national culture plays in ethical reasoning and the resolution of ethical conflicts. This is a powerful message as we see the ways corporate social responsibility plays out in a global economy.

Four Articles to Stimulate Renewal in Management Education

In this issue we are publishing an interesting mix of articles that explore different facets of teaching and learning. Through these four articles, we explore issues related to what we teach, how we teach it, and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of our teaching. In the first article, Robert L. Laud and Matthew S. Johnson examine what we teach in traditional MBA (master of business administration) programs. As the authors note, a debate over the relevancy of the traditional MBA curriculum has persisted for decades. For their article “Progress and Regress in the MBA Curriculum: The Career and Practice Skills Gap,” the authors examined MBA curricula and identified deficiencies based on interviews with business executives. The study found that executives valued soft skills as necessary for executive advancement. Yet these skills have had insufficient emphasis in MBA curricula. The authors contend that MBA curricula reform that provides greater emphasis on behavioral skill education is necessary to meet the needs of students, rising executives, and the business community. Why has this reform not occurred? While the authors identify and assess the structural and institutional resistance to change, they offer thought-provoking recommendations. The second article, “A Manager’s Actions? An Exercise for Exploring Sexual Harassment,” written by David E. Desplaces and John R. Ogilvie, moves us away from broad curricular issues and brings us inside the classroom. Through an exercise based on a case scenario in a retail setting, the authors provide an opportunity to engage students in an exploration of sexual harassment from multiple perspectives, with particular emphasis on behavioral and legal dimensions. The exercise also provides an opportunity for student self-reflection as they identify and confront their own assumptions and perceptions related to the issue of sexual harassment. The third article, written by Kathleen J. Barnes and George E. Smith, is also

Building Negotiation and Leadership Skills in Management Students

As most faculty begin the academic year, the search for innovative experiential exercises and unique approaches to enhancing the student classroom experience takes on new energy. In this issue of OMJ, the Teaching & Learning section offers two interesting approaches to classroom learning. One of the articles is an experiential exercise designed to build principled negotiation skills, while the second article examines the experiences of student teaching assistants (TAs) in supporting student leadership development. In the first article, “Riverton Press: An Exercise in Principled Negotiation,” written by Joe Seltzer, students are provided an opportunity to build their negotiations skills through a twoperson role-play that uses a principled negotiation approach. As an alternative to standard position-based negotiations that focus on self, the principled negotiation process seeks mutual gains that meet the needs and interests of both sides while maintaining positive relationships (Fisher, Ury, & Patton, 2011). In this exercise, students take on the roles of two business partners who are in the process of dividing the assets of their jointly owned printing and publishing business. The negotiation plans developed by small groups of students for use in the role-play adopt principled negotiation techniques. Negotiation skills are an important management competency, and the exercise enables the development of these skills through experiential learning. Principled negotiations can be used to solve complex problems and effectively position managers and their companies for the future through the development of positive personal and professional relationships. The second article, “Middle Managers of the Leadership Classroom: Realizing the Developmental Capacity of Teaching Assistants,” written by Lisa Rosh and Timothy J. Tobin, examines the roles and experiences of TAs in supporting student