Thomas Clark

Using Web-Enhanced Instruction in an Interpersonal Skills Course

Although the importance of incorporating interpersonal skills courses into the management curriculum has been well documented, the use of electronic learning resources in behavioral science courses is in its infancy. This article describes the introduction of and student response toWeb-enhanced instruction in an Interpersonal Skills course required of Xavier UniversityMBA students. It provides a guide to specific Web self-assessment instruments, suggests assignments that integrate online tools with other course pedagogies, includes examples of Web-driven in-class interactive activities and out-of-class reflective activities, presents a model of key implementation and pedagogical factors, and discusses implications to consider in using online assessments.

Sharing the Importance of Attentive Listening Skills

This article describes a first-day, in-class exercise that has worked to elevate student awareness of the importance of attentive listening to achieving interpersonal success. Small groups of students answer one of six questions about the impact of the listeners behavior on speakers, and class discussion revolves around their answers. Students learn how important it is to consciously manage listening behavior. This exercise is also an outstanding springboard for introducing topics the professor will discuss later in the semester, including supporting, coaching, disciplining, interviewing, and team building.

Teaching Students to Enhance the Ecology of Small Group Meetings

Students need to understand how the interplay of ideas, personalities, and environment-the ecology-of a meeting contributes to productivity and satis faction in group process. Only when the ecology is right can the meeting work. To address that ecology explicitly, instructors should help students assess their prior experience in small groups. In a classroom exercise, student teams answer one of a set of questions about meetings: 1. How participants know when a meeting is productive (or not); 2. How they know when warm hospi tality has been extended (or not); 3. What happens before, during, and after meetings that generates broad enthusiasm—or produces apathy. A class period spent on such discussion helps convince students of the need to proactively apply effective meeting management principles in their own workplace. Key words: Group process, meetings, participation, hospitality, enthusiasm

Student Online Self-Assessment: Structuring Individual-Level Learning in a New Venture Creation Course

The use of self-assessment instruments to determine students’entrepreneurial characteristics represents a well-accepted practice in entrepreneurship courses, and many professors are only now beginning to embrace Web-based instruments. We describe how we use a comprehensive array of online self-assessments in an undergraduate New Venture Creation course required of Xavier University entrepreneurship majors. We illustrate how we designed in-class and out-of-class assignments around these self-assessments using Bandura’s social learning theory. Our approach can be adapted to other types of management courses by modifying the set of self-assessments and the design of assignments to the particular course objectives.

Getting Up to Speed on the Information Highway: Integrating Web-based Resources into Business Communication Pedagogy.

Building on student and faculty enthusiasm for Web resources, we addressed four significant questions as we revised a business communications class to incorporate the Internet: • What Web resources should we include? • How do we make sure we select high quality sites and assessment tools? • How do we effectively integrate Web tools with existing pedagogies? • Will students find Web assignments valuable, easy to access, and useful for course assignments? We integrated Web resources with other course pedagogies in the undergraduate business communications class and identified Websites relevant for teaching employment communication, including e-mail etiquette, online resumes, and elec tronic job searches. Student evaluations of our Web-enhanced course indicate that most found the Web-based assessments and tools accessible and valuable in fur thering their self-understanding and in leading them to explore other sites not required for class. We developed guidelines for using the new technology to support teaching and learning strategies.

The Impact of Profitability, Certainty, and Degree of Fine on the Persuasiveness of Environmental Assessment Reports

Many companies have followed the suggestion of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct voluntary self-audits of their environmental practices. When company environmental assessment auditors present the results of these compliance audits to management, their proposals for environmental remediation compete with many legitimate alternative proposals for limited company resources. The research reported on here evaluated the impact of three factors on the persuasiveness of environmental remediation memos. Specifically, the present investigation hypothesized that meeting profitability goals, the relative certainty of the costs of solving the environmental violation, and higher fines if the violation is discovered by government regulators would add to the persuasiveness of an environmental memo. Lack of meeting profitability goals, significant uncertainty about the costs of solving the environmental violation, and lower fines would reduce an environmental remediation proposals persuasiveness. Data analysis confirmed the hypotheses.

Lessons from South Park: A Comic Corrective to Environmental Puritanism

This paper explores how South Parks scriptwriters, consistent with Burkes comic corrective, employ populist storylines to satirize radical environmentalists and their opponents. It analyzes three South Park episodes, examining its use of adult cartoon media from two related and optimistic perspectives: Burkes comic frame, to show how South Park acts as a comic corrective to the sometimes boorish behavior of environmental ideologues and Kazins analysis of populism, to show how South Parks message structure resonates strongly among its key demographics. Given South Parks longevity and popularity, this paper helps us understand how negative stereotypes of environmental advocacy can be constructed in ways that may inhibit popular support for sustainability initiatives, while serving as a reminder that if environmental advocacy is to be broadly persuasive, its message, tone, and delivery must reflect widely shared American values. In this sense, this exploration can serve as a tool for encouraging productive dialog between populists and those who advocate rational care for the Earth.

The Business Profession: A Mandatory, Noncredit, Cocurricular Career Preparation Program for Undergraduate Business Majors.

Designed to guide those who want to replicate a similar program at their institutions, this article examines Xavier University’s experience with The Business Profession, a required, noncredit series of career-related events that business majors take over a 4-year period. This program was developed in response to research indicating that early career decision making and excellent career communication skills lead to better student employment choices. The Business Profession differs from traditional university career education programs in several ways. It is (a) developmental: It offers learner-centered programming over a 4-year period covering topics that match students’ growing career maturity; (b) cocurricular: It is offered as a cocurricular supplement to the academic business program; (c) mandatory: Business majors are required to complete this program as a graduation prerequisite; and (d) faculty directed: A tenured business communication faculty serves as director. Evaluations indicate students find the program valuable in helping them create a career plan that relates academic learning to real-world needs.

A comparative examination of career and start-up expectations in South Korea, Ukraine, and the United States

Relatively few comparative studies have examined how perceptions across cultures might converge or diverge regarding careers in general and new venture careers in particular. Our research addresses this gap by providing a comparative study of career perceptions among undergraduate business students in three countries with different levels of experience with capitalism: Ukraine, South Korea, and the United States. Results suggest both surprising differences and interesting similarities between undergraduate students in the three countries with regard to how they perceive characteristics associated with entrepreneurial careers. Findings are discussed in the context of distinct differences and commonalities across cultures and implications for future research provided.

Encouraging Critical Thinking in Business Memos.

Fill in the Columns . In the middle column, list each finding you intend to report followed by the evidence and, when appropriate, the rationale that supports it. . In the first column, write down one or more company objectives that your findings address. . In the third column, record the action steps required for the company to move from where your findings indicate it is now to where your stated objective indicates it should be in the future.