Charles Thomas Tackney

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fi x it”: internationalisation and the erosion of the positive hidden curriculum in Danish higher education1

Denmark is among the world’s most competitive nations. It also has a strong tradition of citizenship-oriented higher education, promoted through the widespread Problem-Oriented Project Work (POPW) didactic approach. We argue that recent changes to this tradition have modifi ed the incentives embedded in the hidden curriculum, which made Danish higher education effective at producing graduates with analytical and personal abilities and dispositions, such as refl exivity, curiosity, collaboration and trust that are particularly suitable for today’s globalised, knowledge-based economies. We illustrate this by drawing on examples of changes to an education programme at a Danish business school.

Management, Spirituality, and Religion (MSR) ways and means: a paper to encourage quality research

Abstract Despite 15 years of functioning as an interest group, our domain of inquiry is relatively young and there are limited theoretical boundaries to support, shape, and assist our efforts. This metaphorical “blank canvas” is both empowering, in that so many inquiries are open for exploration, and yet also limiting. In this document we highlight three critical elements to emphasize their importance in MSR research: (a) delineating and operationalizing the key terms of religion, spirituality, and workplace spirituality; (b) acknowledging the work to date in the MSR corpus around definitions of these terms, and (c) being explicit about how ontological and epistemological assumptions inform our methods. The intention is to encourage growth in the quality and rigor of our individual and collective scholarship.

Ye shall know them by their fruits

Purpose – This paper aims to report the continental European jurisprudence origins and Roman Catholic social teaching parallels of post‐World War II Japanese industrial relations practices. It focuses on the modes of social relation in the Japanese legal employment ecology of the post‐World War II enterprise and is designed to aid understanding of Japanese management theory and practice. An additional purpose of the paper is to facilitate development of evaluative criteria for authentic adoption of Japanese management practices to other national settings.Design/methodology/approach – The approach used is an analysis of Japanese sources using industrial relations theory to explore the “working rules” governing post‐World War II Japanese employment relations. This method, grounded in a source‐comparative method, results in the derivation of comparative employment ecology models of the USA, German, and Japanese enterprise. Against this background, the potential evangelization of the American workplace is dis...

MSR Founders Narrative and Content Analysis of Scholarly Papers: 2000–2015

Abstract This is a founders’ narrative and research paper content analysis of the first 15 years of the Management Spirituality and Religion Interest Group (MSR) of the Academy of Management. Based on archival data and founder interviews, our inquiry recounts how the early collaborators established the Interest Group. The founders interviewed were identified through preliminary inquiry and from archival sources. As complement and extension, we concurrently conducted a content analysis of the 15 years of MSR Best Papers and Carolyn Dexter Award MSR nominated papers for Academy internationalization: a corpus epitomizing MSR research and practice. The combined study is a benchmark of founding and institutionalization for current and potential MSR members. By tracing the research trends MSR has taken in light of the founding aspirations, we illuminate the distinctive values, tensions, and meanings of spirituality in management practices that infuse MSR with its enduring organizational vitality.

Benchmarks in tacit knowledge skills instruction: the European Union-Research Oriented Participatory Education (EU-ROPE) model of Copenhagen Business School

This is an exploration into the hidden curriculum for citizenship and management skills found in an undergraduate programme of a Scandinavian business school. While the knowledge management literature addresses both explicit and tacit skills needed for successful performance in the modern enterprise, little attention has been paid to how these essential skills are initially acquired. Specification of tacit knowledge skills benchmarks in the research-oriented participatory education of Copenhagen Business School opens the way to assessing such skills acquisition in tertiary education. The integrated, interdisciplinary educational experience may be appropriate where group-based work and tacit knowledge skills acquisition are valued undergraduate goals.

Authenticity/ الصحة as a criterion variable for Islam and Roman Catholic theology of the workplace analysis

Purpose Authenticity/ الصحة (as-sehah) serves as a criterion or predictor variable for the purpose of a comparative theological investigation of employment relations parameters in light of social teachings from Sunni Islam and Roman Catholicism. Authenticity finds initial, shared significance in both religious traditions because of its critically important role in judgments concerning the legitimacy of source documents. It also stands in both traditions as an inspirational goal for human life. Design/methodology/approach Particular issues of theological method for cross-cultural analysis are addressed by the use of insight-based critical realism as a transcultural foundation. Workplace parameters, the minimal enabling conditions for the possibility of authentic employment relations, are then identified and compared. The authors explore shared expectations for authenticity enabling conditions in terms of the direct and indirect employer: those national laws, systems and traditions that condition the functional range of authenticity that can be actualized within national or other work settings as experienced in the direct employment contract. Findings The study found remarkable consistency in the minimal conditions identified by Roman Catholic and Sunni Islam social teachings for the prospects of authenticity in employment relations. These conditions addressed seven parameters: work and the concept of labor; private property; the nature of the employment contract; unions and collective bargaining; the treatment of wages; the relationship between managerial prerogative and employee participation; and the crucial role of the state as indirect employer. Practical implications Specific minimal or threshold conditions of employment are described to ensure the prospect for authenticity in modern employment relations according to religious traditions. These include just cause employment conditions, unions and collective bargaining support, some form of management consultation/Shura, a living wage and a consultative exercise of managerial prerogative. Social implications The study offers prescriptive and analytical aid to ensure assessment of circumstances fostering authenticity in employment relations. Originality/value The method and findings are a first effort to clarify thought and aid mutual understanding for inter-faith employment circumstances based on Roman Catholic and Sunni Islam social teachings through a transcultural foundation in cognitional operations. The criterion variable specification of authenticity conditions offers a fully developed basis to support further empirical research in management spirituality, corporate social responsibility and enterprise sustainability.

Teaching statistics to doctoral students with Lonergan’s insight-based critical realism

The authors report on the development, implementation, and evaluation of a doctoral level intensive quantitative methods course featuring an integrated orientation to, and practicum in, statistics competence for qualitative researchers. A feature of this integrated approach is the inclusive point of course departure: the general empirical method offered by the insight-based critical realism of Bernard J.F. Lonergan. This epistemology grounds curriculum design, wherein key statistical concepts are presented in the very first session and reinforced throughout the intensive. The practicum component offers guided study in the statistical use of SPSS using a common EU data set. Course evaluations indicate students who had previously felt disinterested or unaware of the significance and role of quantitative studies emerged from the three day intensive with a better understanding and sense of empowerment in both the basic use of statistics as well as the complementary nature of quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Assessing knowledge in dialogue: undergraduate synopsis-based oral examinations at a Scandinavian business school

The Synopsis-Based Oral Examination (S-BOE) is described as deployed in international management education programs in a Danish business school. It assesses students in light of specified learning objectives through time-constrained presentation and dialogue. The format is premised on prior submission of a synopsis, although the synopsis has no bearing on grade assessment. Practitioner experience and student feedback suggest that students experience this type of examination as an important learning experience, in itself, in addition to testing course-related knowledge. We reviewed the current epistemological basis for grading, providing a critical realism corrective to enhance assessment and appropriation of this exam format.