Mark Mallinger

Film as a Lens for Teaching Culture: Balancing Concepts, Ambiguity, and Paradox

Although teaching culture is intrinsically rewarding, issues associated with complexity and paradox can create a challenge for faculty. This article addresses the concerns of teaching management concepts through the use of film while identifying and acknowledging the ambiguity related to cross-cultural study. The authors present an integrated framework for measuring culture that is used to illustrate cultural dimensions and issues through film case analysis. The exercise enhances understanding of difference and helps students recognize the subtleties in dealing with complex cross-cultural issues.

Maintaining Control in the Classroom by Giving Up Control

Although collaborative learning models are used by numerous faculty members, many instructors are concerned that giving up control in the classroom means com-promising the educational experience. Empowering students, however, requires more of the instructor than just relinquishing the role of lecturer. This article offers a set of frameworks to help faculty create a semiautonomous classroom and, at the same time, protect against loss of quality control. Cross-cultural implications of collaborative learning are all addressed.

Ambush along the TQM Trail

In order to deal with increasingly dynamic environments, organizations are rethinking the structure of their management systems. The recent literature suggests that, to a greater extent than before, new paradigms of management are being considered as alternatives to traditional forms of organization. One such transformational entity is total quality management (TQM). Statistical process controls, customer satisfaction and a culture supportive of change represent the underlying framework of the TQM system. There are numerous reports of organizations which have successfully made the transition to first‐time quality. On the other hand, many organizations struggle with change. The author spent a nine‐month sabbatical as a change agent in an organization attempting to incorporate TQM. He describes his role in the change programme, discusses the history of the organization, provides a summary of the TQM intervention, and, based on his observations, offers a critical analysis of the reasons that hindered the organization’s ability to implement TQM. Finally, intervention strategies to consider when dealing with adversity are discussed.

Decisive Decision Making: An Exercise Using Ethical Frameworks

The article presents an exercise dealing with ethical behavior and demonstrates the application of five ethical frameworks. The exercise encourages students to become actively involved in their learning, asks them to share multiple perspectives in assessing ethical behavior, and allows them to recognize the value of using frameworks to assist in the decision process. Results from students who have completed the exercise, including results from cross-cultural groups, are discussed.

Improving the Quality of Working Life in the Classroom: QWL as Self-Managed Learning:

not only in increasing job satisfaction and motivation of employees, but also in raising organizations’ likelihood of attaining goals (Jenkins, 1981; Trist, 1981; Cummings and Malloy, 1977). The QWL concept has significant implications for higher education, which may be seen as an institution which socializes its members into a particular type of organizational paradigm. More than anything else the rapid increase in QWL and self-managing forms of organization in American enterprises indicates the emergence of a new, more viable organizational design. If this trend continues we can expect in the future that American business will increasingly require workers with the skills, attitudes, and psychological disposition necessary to work in autonomous groups and other more self-managing organizational forms. QWL means that the basic building block in organization design is the group rather than the individual. Multi-skilled developmentally-oriented groups will replace enlarged but largely dead-end individual jobs. This trend in the business world, and the new concepts of organizational design on which it is built, has important implications for education, especially higher education. Just as organizations have discovered the benefits of semi-autonomous work groups as a means of improving the quality of work life, it is likely that similar practices applied in the classroom can also improve the quality of educational life. It can be argued that the main thrust of QWL is to enhance the ability of human systems to learn from their own experience and to change their own organization on the basis of what they have learned (Williams, 1982). Many educators would agree, at least in theory, that this theme would also apply in higher education; in this case changing the organization refers to students having a say in the process of how they learn. However, most teaching is not designed around a QWL paradigm. Education has been viewed primarily as

Faculty to Administration and Back Again: I’m a Stranger Here Myself

The article describes my experience related to entering academic administration following more than 20 years as a full-time faculty member. The use of a daily journal was employed to capture the events, reactions, outcomes, both positive and negative, associated with 7 years in administration. I continued the journal process following my return to faculty and, therefore, was able to identify the transitions entering administration as well as coming back to full-time teaching. I discuss the learning that emerged, including the political challenges, student contributions, faculty resistance, strategies in resolving differences, and lessons in understanding the administrative role. In addition, I discuss the struggles I encountered when returning to the classroom—The shift in responsibility was abrupt and took, unexpectedly, time to adjust to the rigors of full-time teaching. I conclude by sharing with readers my reflections for those interested in pursuing an administrative role.

The Endowment Decision: An Exercise in Negotiation and Conflict Management

Organizations as learning institutions are dependent on the degree to which they are able to encourage collective thinking. Although collaboration, for the most part, is seen as the vehicle to accomplish this goal, roadblocks can hinder the process. This exercise places students in both competitive and collaborative situations, creates constraints to collective thinking, and asks them to develop negotiation and conflict handling strategies to overcome these hurdles.