Are students barking up the wrong tree? A causal model of factors driving effective student–faculty interactions

Student–faculty interactions that promote learning are essential contributors to student retention, academic success and satisfaction. But the factors that causally initiate and frame these interactions are not well understood. Only if students evaluate these interactions as positive will they seek them. We conducted a survey experiment with students (n = 375) from a tuition-fee-free German business school, using conditional process analysis to assess which factors frame effective interactions. We focus on out-of-classroom standard and non-standard requests that students make to faculty, then investigate how faculty and student gender and students’ academic entitlement influence the interaction. Our study examines how students evaluate the interaction with faculty: when they seek interaction, their expectations of getting their requests approved, and their disappointment when their requests are declined. We find a significant influence of the request type along with moderating effects of faculty gender, student gender and student entitlement, particularly for non-standard work requests. We conclude with policy implications for university management: developing target-group-specific measures that facilitate the desired and positively evaluated student–faculty interactions might benefit all university stakeholders

Effektiver Altruismus

Bei altruistischem Handeln erscheint es ungewöhnlich, eine Kosten-Nutzen-Abwägung vorzunehmen. Sollte, wer Geld spendet, wirklich abwägen, wo seine Spende am meisten Nutzen stiftet? Vertreter des effektiven Altruismus (EA) finden solche Überlegungen nicht abwegig. Wenn jemand seine Ressourcen einsetzen möchte, um Gutes zu tun, ist eine rationale Abwägung, wie man damit am meisten Gutes tun kann (oder am wenigsten schaden kann), durchaus eine Überlegung wert

The effect of diversification on company value during a global health crisis: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose The authors study the valuation effect of corporate diversification in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 in Europe. Design/methodology/approach Applying a cross-sectional regression model to a sample of public companies headquartered in the European Union, the authors investigate the existence of and the change in a diversification discount between 2018 and 2020. By applying the Excess Q methodology, the authors make an industry adjustment of diversified companies to measure the value effect of corporate diversification. Findings The authors find an economically and statistically significant diversification discount that increases from an average Excess Q of −0.05 in 2019 to −0.10 in 2020. The diversified companies' inferior fundamental financial performance in 2020 accompanies the discount. The results deviate from those of previous research, which mostly show a decrease in the diversification discount in economic crises, and thereby, shed doubt on whether diversification provides insurance against pandemic-induced adverse value effects. Originality/valueThe study distinguishes the role of corporate diversification during recessionary periods by establishing that the valuation effect of diversification depends on the nature of the crisis. The analysis incorporates criticism of previous studies concerning a biased methodology and uniform data source by applying the Excess Q methodology and using FactSet industry segment data