Defining and Achieving Student Success at Non-Elite Schools

Ensuring student success has become an increasingly loud conversation for business schools. Unfortunately, most of the solutions offered within the literature tend to be proffered by those at elite institutions, and their advice unconsciously reflects that worldview. However, the vast majority of us do not work at elite institutions, even those residing in the, by definition, limited and prestigious universe of Assocation to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB)-accredited schools. Subsequently, the elites’ problems do not match our non-elite realities and, even worse, often push our issues into the background. This article seeks to explore three student success concerns that are more relevant, yet typically undiscussed, to those of us at non-elite AACSB-accredited institutions. These are the ways we collect and use data, an overemphasis on process without a firm outcomes perspective, and the increased emphasis on efficiency-based measures of performance. By identifying and exploring these themes, this article seeks to help reframe and broaden the conversation to include non-elite institutional issues about how best to ensure student success

An Exploration Of Students? Perceptions Of Strategic Management Model Usefulness

This exploratory study proposes and tests a model depicting individual undergraduate student characteristics and their association with perceived strategic management model (SMM) usefulness. The constructs explored are: student’s decision style; experience; major; affectivity; willingness to try new models; and the perceived ease of use of the SMM. Findings based on structural equation modeling and partial least squares regression indicate that positive affect, perceived ease of use, and willingness to try new models/theories explain a significant amount of variance in the students’ perceived usefulness of the SMM. The study then discusses potential applications of its findings to individual classrooms, management practice, and business education as a whole. Finally, it provides suggestions for future research

Secondhand Goods, Firsthand Knowledge: An Organizational Structure Exercise At The Local Flea Market

We developed a unique and enjoyable field trip exercise to challenge students to identify various organizational structures and their properties and dimensions present in the local flea market. Drawing on students’ review of common organizational structures, i.e., simple, functional, multi-divisional, and network, this exercise requires that individuals or small groups of students visit a local flea market to observe and analyze the numerous organizational structures apparent. Students then use a given report format to identify: the properties of organizations; distinct organizational structures on varying levels of analysis (the market as a whole, areas of specialization, and vendors); and the dimensions seen in organizations (specialization, span of control, formalization, and centralization). In-class discussion of the topic, using discussion questions provided, further clarifies the concepts that students viewed in practice at the flea market

Understanding The Use Of Feature Films To Maximize Student Learning

Feature films, old and new, have been used for many years to teach management education in general and leadership skills in particular. Films are often able to affect not only our emotional responses and perceptions of events, but they can also have an impact on our personal lives over long periods of time. Although anecdotal evidence (primarily based upon Social Learning Theory) has generally supported the use of feature films to teach management education, the paper draws upon theoretical advances in universalistic self-theory as part of cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST) as an epistemological basis for why and under what specific conditions management educators should use feature films to maximize student learning. From this reasoning, the paper proposes that management educators apply contextual self-theory as a pedagogical guide for the actual selection of films for classroom use. In addition, the paper highlights the importance of how the management educator needs to look at other factors, such as the age and cultural background of students, as important considerations for the selection and use of feature films in the classroom

Organic Carbon Burial following the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) in the central - western Tethys

We present trace metal geochemistry and stable isotope records for the middle Eocene Alano di Piave section, NE Italy, deposited during magnetochron C18n in the marginal Tethys Ocean. We identify a $\sim$ 500 kyr long carbon isotope perturbation event we infer to be the middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) confirming the northern hemisphere expression and global occurrence of MECO. Interpreted peak climatic conditions are followed by the rapid deposition of two organic rich intervals ($\le$3\% TOC) and contemporaneous positive $\delta^{13}$C excursions. These two intervals are associated with increases in the concentration of sulphur and redox-sensitive trace metals, and low concentrations of Mn, as well as coupled with the occurrence of pyrite. Together these changes imply low, possibly dysoxic, bottom water O$_{2}$ conditions promoting increased organic carbon burial. We hypothesize that this rapid burial of organic carbon lowered global {\it p}CO$_{2}$ following the peak warming and returned the climate system to the general Eocene cooling trend

Mode and tempo of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum in an expanded section from the Venetian pre-Alps.

The central part of the Piave River valley in the Venetian pre-Alps of NE Italy exposes an expanded and continuous marine sediment succession that encompasses the Paleocene series and the Paleocene to Eocene transition. The Paleocene through lowermost Eocenemsuccession is >100 m thick and was depositednat middle to lower bathyal depths in a hemipelagic, near-continental setting in the central western Tethys. In the Forada section, the Paleocene succession of limestone-marl couplets is sharply interrupted by an ~3.30- m-thick unit of clays and marls (clay marl unit). The very base of this unit represents the biostratigraphic Paleocene-Eocene boundary, and the entire unit coincides with the main carbon isotope excursion of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum event. Concentrations of hematite and biogenic carbonate, δ13C measurements, and abundance of radiolarians, all oscillate in a cyclical fashion and are interpreted to represent precession cycles. The main excursion interval spans fi ve complete cycles, that is, 105 ± 10 k.y. The overlying carbon isotope recovery interval, which is composed of six distinct limestone-marl couplets, is interpreted to represent six precessional cycles with a duration of 126 ± 12 k.y. The entire carbon isotope excursion interval in Forada has a total duration of ~231 ± 22 k.y., which is 5%–10% longer than previous estimates derived from open ocean sites (210–220 k.y.). Geochemical proxies for redox conditions indicate oxygenated conditions before, during, and after the carbon isotope excursion event. The Forada section exhibits a nonstepped sharp decrease in δ13C (−2.35‰) at the base of the clay marl unit. The hemipelagic, near-continental depositional setting of Forada and the sharply elevated sedimentation rates throughout the clay marl unit argue for continuous rather than interrupted deposition and show that the initial nonstepped carbon isotope shift was not caused by a hiatus. A single sample at the base of the unit lacks biogenic carbonate. Preservation of carbonate thereafter improves progressively up-section in the clay marl unit, which is consistent with a prodigiously abrupt and rapid acidifi cation of the oceans followed by a slower, successive deepening of the carbonate compensation depth. Increased sedimentation rates through the clay marl unit (approximately the main interval of the carbon isotope excursion) are consistent with an intensifi ed hydrological cycle driven by supergreenhouse conditions and enhanced weathering and transport of terrigenous material to this near-continental, hemipelagic environment in the central western Tethys. The sharp transition in lithology from the clay marl unit to the overlying limestonemarl couplets in the recovery interval and the coincident shift toward heavier δ13C values suggest that the silicate pump and continental weathering, the cause of the enhanced terrigenous fl ux to Forada, stopped abruptly. This implies that the source of the light CO2 ceased to be added to the ocean-atmosphere system at the top of the clay marl unit

Adaptive routing and Dynamic Frequency Scaling for NoC power-performance optimizations

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Correlates and reference limits of plasma gamma-glutamyltransferase fractions from the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: We assessed GGT fractions correlates and their reference values in the Offspring Cohort of the Framingham Heart Study. Methods: Correlates of GGT fractions were assessed by multivariable regression analysis in 3203 individuals [47% men, mean age (SD): 59 (10) years]. GGT fractions reference values were established by empirical quantile analysis in a reference group of 432 healthy subjects [45% men, 57 (10) years]. Results: Fractional GGT levels were higher in men than in women (Pb0.0001). In both sexes, fractions were associated with: triglycerides were associated with b-GGT, alcohol consumption with m-, s- and f-GGT. C-reactive protein with m- and s-GGT, while plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 with b- and f-GGT. Body mass index, blood pressure, glucose and triglycerides correlated with b- and f-GGT. In comparison with the reference group [b-GGT/s-GGT median (Q1–Q3): 0.51 (0.35–0.79)U/L], subjects affected by cardiovascular disease or diabetes showed no change of b/s ratio [0.52 (0.34–0.79)U/L, 0.57 (0.40–0.83)U/L, respectively]. The b/s ratio was higher in presence of metabolic syndrome [0.61 (0.42–0.87)U/L, Pb0.0001], while lower in heavy alcohol consumers [0.41 (0.28–0.64)U/L, Pb0.0001]. Conclusions: Metabolic and cardiovascular risk markers are important correlates of GGT fractions, in particular of b-GGT

Gut Microbiome of an 11th Century A.D. Pre-Columbian Andean Mummy

The process of natural mummification is a rare and unique process from which little is known about the resulting microbial community structure. In the present study, we characterized the microbiome of paleofeces, and ascending, transverse and descending colon of an 11th century A.D. pre-Columbian Andean mummy by 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and metagenomics. Firmicutes were the most abundant bacterial group, with Clostridium spp. comprising up to 96.2% of the mummified gut, while Turicibacter spp. represented 89.2% of the bacteria identified in the paleofeces. Microbiome profile of the paleofeces was unique when compared to previously characterized coprolites that did not undergo natural mummification. We identified DNA sequences homologous to Clostridium botulinum, Trypanosoma cruzi and human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Unexpectedly, putative antibiotic-resistance genes including beta-lactamases, penicillin-binding proteins, resistance to fosfomycin, chloramphenicol, aminoglycosides, macrolides, sulfa, quinolones, tetracycline and vancomycin, and multi-drug transporters, were also identified. The presence of putative antibiotic-resistance genes suggests that resistance may not necessarily be associated with a selective pressure of antibiotics or contact with European cultures. Identification of pathogens and antibiotic-resistance genes in ancient human specimens will aid in the understanding of the evolution of pathogens as a way to treat and prevent diseases caused by bacteria, microbial eukaryotes and viruses

Discerning citation patterns in dominant BME literature streams: lessons for BME scholars

Purpose: This paper aims to compare the nature of three different business and management education (BME) research streams (online/blended learning, entrepreneurship education and experiential learning), along with their citation sources to draw insights on their support and legitimacy bases, with lessons on improving such support and legitimacy for the streams and the wider BME research field. Design/methodology/approach: The authors analyze the nature of three BME research streams and their citation sources through tests of differences across streams. Findings: The three streams differ in research foci and approaches such as the use of managerial samples in experiential learning, quantitative studies in online/blended education and literature reviews in entrepreneurship education. They also differ in sources of legitimacy recognition and avenues for mobilization of support. The underlying literature development pattern of the experiential learning stream indicates a need for BME scholars to identify and build on each other’s work. Research limitations/implications: Identification of different research bases and key supporting literature in the different streams shows important core articles that are useful to build research in each stream. Practical implications: Readers will understand the different research bases supporting the three research streams, along with their targeted audience and practice implications. Social implications: The discovery of different support bases for the three different streams helps identify the network of authors and relationships that have been built in each stream. Originality/value: According to the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to uncover differences in nature and citation sources of the three continuously growing BME research streams with recommendations on ways to improve the support of the three streams