Revisiting Doing Business in the Middle East

This case engages students on a number of issues common to doing business in other countries, specifically in the Middle East. It is intended to be a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of the situation. The case seeks to integrate issues of international management and cross-cultural conflict and negotiation. Students are challenged to diagnose a cross-culturally sensitive situation and develop solutions in a team environment under limiting time restraints. This case is also designed to help students understand the cultural aspects of a situation and how different solutions could have major consequences on the bottom line of a company

A Manager’s Actions? An Exercise for Exploring Sexual Harassment

This exercise is designed to enhance students’ understanding of sexual harassment issues in the workplace, as well as to extend these issues to customer interactions in retail settings. Through research and class discussion, participants explore their perceptions and assumptions about a manager’s potentially harassing behaviors. Furthermore, discussions of the manager’s actions provide additional opportunities to explore issues dealing with legal foundations of sexual harassment as well as gender differences in response to harassment. Multiple variations are presented making this scenario/exercise suitable to various courses and all types of participants in order to facilitate a healthy discussion about the issues associated with sexual harassment

The Group Creativity Exercise Getting MBAs to Work and Think Effectively in Groups

This experiential exercise is designed to engage participants in a process of group creativity that helps students lead or be a part of a creative team. The challenging and tangible nature of building a room­height tower provides a heightened experience that elicits many issues and strong emotions. The exercise provides a robust platform from which the instructor can choose which of many group creativity subtopics to emphasize. In addition to exercise instructions, guidance is given on how learning goals related to creativity techniques, group development, interpersonal dynamics, and leadership—can be addressed in a debriefing discussion. Both “pre­taught” and “retrospective” teaching approaches are discussed, although a retrospective approach in which the instructor makes connections with theory during debriefing discussions is recommended. The experience of learning by doing should yield more realistic and memorable understanding of group creativity than could be accomplished with readings and/or lecture alone

The Group Creativity Exercise Getting MBAs to Work and Think Effectively in Groups

This experiential exercise is designed to engage participants in a process of group creativity that helps students lead or be a part of a creative team. The challenging and tangible nature of building a room­height tower provides a heightened experience that elicits many issues and strong emotions. The exercise provides a robust platform from which the instructor can choose which of many group creativity subtopics to emphasize. In addition to exercise instructions, guidance is given on how learning goals related to creativity techniques, group development, interpersonal dynamics, and leadership—can be addressed in a debriefing discussion. Both “pre­taught” and “retrospective” teaching approaches are discussed, although a retrospective approach in which the instructor makes connections with theory during debriefing discussions is recommended. The experience of learning by doing should yield more realistic and memorable understanding of group creativity than could be accomplished with readings and/or lecture alone

What Information Technology Asks of Business Higher Education Institutions: The Case of Rhode Island

Using data from Rhode Island, this research examines the relationships among certifications, skills, educational levels and the level of compensation across the IT field and attempts to discriminate between ten major job functions. It assesses the significance of skills and certifications to specific IT worker categories. The level of education was found to predict success. Certification and skills vary across job functions, and did not necessarily differentiate across IT job functions. Suggestions on the development of curricula are proposed

Cross-cultural Communication and Multicultural Team Performance: A German and American Comparison

This study builds on work by Matveev & Nelson (2004) which investigated the relationship between cross-cultural communication competence and multicultural team performance using American and Russian managers. This study examines the impact of national culture on German and American subjects. While a relationship between cross-cultural communication competence and multicultural team performance was found, it did not differ by overall national culture. Of the four dimensions of cross-cultural communication competence, only Cultural Empathy was found to be significantly different between Germans and Americans. No differences were found for the dimensions of Interpersonal Skills, Team Effectiveness, and Cultural Uncertainty

A Resource-Based View of Three Forms of Business in the Startup Phase: Implications for Franchising

The decision to buy a franchise, start a new independent business, or buy an existing business is a critical decision faced by entrepreneurs. This study uses the Resource-Based View (RBV) of organizations to compare franchisees in the startup phase to both entrepreneurs who start new independent businesses and entrepreneurs who purchase established businesses. Our analysis of U.S. data from the Kauffman Firm Survey found similarities among those starting franchises and purchasing existing independent businesses. Implications for future research and practice are discussed

Herbal product use by persons enrolled in the hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment Against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) Trial

Herbal products, used for centuries in Far Eastern countries, are gaining popularity in western countries. Surveys indicate that persons with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) often use herbals, especially silymarin (milk thistle extract), hoping to improve the modest response to antiviral therapy and reduce side effects. The Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment Against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) Trial, involving persons with advanced CHC, nonresponders to prior antiviral therapy but still willing to participate in long-term pegylated interferon treatment, offered the opportunity to examine the use and potential effects of silymarin. Among 1145 study participants, 56% had never taken herbals, 21% admitted past use, and 23% were using them at enrollment. Silymarin constituted 72% of 60 herbals used at enrollment. Among all participants, 67% had never used silymarin, 16% used it in the past, and 17% used it at baseline. Silymarin use varied widely among the 10 participating study centers; men were more frequent users than women, as were non-Hispanic whites than African Americans and Hispanics. Silymarin use correlated strongly with higher education. No beneficial effect of silymarin was found on serum alanine aminotransferase or hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels. Univariate analysis showed significantly fewer liver-related symptoms and better quality-of-life parameters in users than nonusers, but after reanalysis adjusted for covariates of age, race, education, alcohol consumption, exercise, body mass index, and smoking, only fatigue, nausea, liver pain, anorexia, muscle and joint pain, and general health remained significantly better in silymarin users. In conclusion, silymarin users had similar alanine aminotransferase and HCV levels to those of nonusers but fewer symptoms and somewhat better quality-of-life indices. Because its use among these HALT-C participants was self-motivated and uncontrolled, however, only a well-designed prospective study can determine whether silymarin provides benefit to persons with chronic hepatitis C. (H EPATOLOGY 2008.)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58026/1/22044_ftp.pd