Students’ perceptions of multicultural group work in international engineering classroom

The rapid internationalization of engineering leads universities to change their education in ways that meet diverse students’ learning needs. The ambition behind the internationalization policy at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is that the multicultural experiences will improve the quality of educational experiences for all students. In a small-scale interview study, we explored how domestic and international students perceived the challenges and gains in their multicultural student group work experiences in master programs at TU/e. In addition, the factors that influence multicultural group work were explored based on students’ experiences. Key challenges that were identified are different communication styles and language issues, whereas key gains are mainly related to complementary knowledge and skills for domestic and international group members. In the group process, factors in which they were similar were found, for example both domestic and international students preferred to work with someone they already know. Difference in students’ perceptions of group work behaviors, such as division of task and disagreement solution were found between domestic and international interviewees. The factor of culture seems to play a role in interpreting the above differences. Based on the results, we concluded that the vision of an international classroom has not yet been achieved. The results suggest that inclusion at the university still needs to be taken a step further, and this paper provides a basis for discussion on how to move the vision forward.</p

Does nationality composition affect student groups' collaboration and performance?:A cross-case analysis

A Dutch STEM university is aiming to create an inclusive international classroom where diversity is appreciated as an indispensable element of the quality of learning. One aspect of the international classroom is to enable students to acquire international collaboration skills through working in mixed nationality student groups. In a previous interview study, we found that group composition of nationalities has consequences for collaboration, in which having just one ‘token’ international member group seems particularly ineffective. This paper presents a follow-up observation study that compares collaboration and performance in threecompositions of mixed-nationality student groups. We analyzed online meeting recordings, evaluation questionnaires, and self-reflection reports. In the cross-case analysis, we focused on: 1) members’ participation in the meetings (frequency of utterances), 2) disagreement episodes (triggers and solutions), and 3) group performance (teachers’ grading and students’ perceived performance). The results suggest that in the group with one international member, group meeting conversations were skewed towards the domestic Dutch students. This group encountered more process-related disagreements, competitive disagreementsolutions, experienced a low level of trust, more emotional discomfort (such as pressure), and experienced less satisfaction. By comparison, in the other two groups where nationality was more equally distributed, members evenly contributed to meetings. These groups were observed to have more task-related disagreements, more information elaboration and agreement solutions, and higher levels of trust, satisfaction, and group belongingness. This observation study contributes to awareness of student diversity effects that allow teachers to take the next step towards facilitating mixed-nationality student groups in the international classroom

Supplier sustainability: A comprehensive review and future research directions

Sustainability is not a one-player task. Organizations have started to realize that their supply chains have a significant social and environmental impact, usually greater than their own operations, and managing sustainability at suppliers is crucial for supply chain-wide sustainability. Supplier sustainability management (SSM) research is fast evolving across multiple disciplines but lacks an interdisciplinary review to guage the progress made, and to decide the path forward. Heightened global focus on sustainability compels us to explore research avenues in SSM for meaningful progress. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of SSM research including the most recent work. We propose the Motivation-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Govern (MMAIG) framework for supplier sustainability, identify the limitations of current SSM research in enabling this framework, and propose future research directions. Our key observations are that (a) current SSM research is heavily focused on measuring and monitoring supplier sustainability, and (b) supplier sustainability improvement/development research is limited and the majority of it is about sustainable supplier selection. The future research directions that we propose are centered around (a) optimizing the investments towards supplier sustainability through collaboration, proposing mechanisms that consider risks, liabilities, and gains of all parties, and (b) considering behavioral aspects to overcome SSM implementation issues. Organizations can achieve efficient improvement in supplier sustainability by using a collaborative approach that is data-driven and trust-based. We discuss several mechanisms within our MMAIG framework that can help organizations in their collaborative approach

Employers have a Duty of Beneficence to Design for Meaningful Work:A General Argument and Logistics Warehouses as a Case Study

Artificial intelligence-driven technology increasingly shapes work practices and, accordingly, employees’ opportunities for meaningful work (MW). In our paper, we identify five dimensions of MW: pursuing a purpose, social relationships, exercising skills and self-development, autonomy, self-esteem and recognition. Because MW is an important good, lacking opportunities for MW is a serious disadvantage. Therefore, we need to know to what extent employers have a duty to provide this good to their employees. We hold that employers have a duty of beneficence to design for opportunities for MW when implementing AI-technology in the workplace. We argue that this duty of beneficence is supported by the three major ethical theories, namely, Kantian ethics, consequentialism, and virtue ethics. We defend this duty against two objections, including the view that it is incompatible with the shareholder theory of the firm. We then employ the five dimensions of MW as our analytical lens to investigate how AI-based technological innovation in logistic warehouses has an impact, both positively and negatively, on MW, and illustrate that design for MW is feasible. We further support this practical feasibility with the help of insights from organizational psychology. We end by discussing how AI-based technology has an impact both on meaningful work (often seen as an aspirational goal) and decent work (generally seen as a matter of justice). Accordingly, ethical reflection on meaningful and decent work should become more integrated to do justice to how AI-technology inevitably shapes both simultaneously.</p

Mimicry and just world beliefs: Mimicking makes men view the world as more personally just

People's just world beliefs are related to how they feel and behave towards others: the stronger people hold beliefs that the world treats them fairly, the more they feel and act pro-socially towards others. It is conceivable, therefore, that pro-social feelings and behaviours towards others can strengthen people's personal belief in a just world, especially when people expect these positive feelings to be returned. Because mimicry enhances pro-social feelings towards others, we argue that mimicry may strengthen peoples’ personal just world beliefs via positive feelings for the mimicked person and the expectation that these positive feelings are returned. Moreover, we expect these effects to be more pronounced for men because men have stronger reciprocity beliefs than women. The results of three studies supported this line of reasoning, showing that mimicry made men believe more strongly that the world is personally just to them. Further support for our line of reasoning was obtained by positive feelings for the (non)mimicked person (Study 2) and reciprocity beliefs (Study 3) mediating the effects. Taken together, the findings suggest that mimicry makes men view the world as more just

High-Stakes Conflicts and the Link between Theory and Practice:Celebrating the Work of Ellen Giebels

In this tribute to the 2012 recipient of the IACM's Jeffrey Rubin's Theory‐to‐Practice Award, we celebrate the work of Ellen Giebels. We highlight her groundbreaking research on influence tactics in crisis negotiations and other high‐stakes conflict situations, showing how her focus on theoretical foundations and careful design has delivered contributions of practical relevance. We then hear from two early career researchers who share how Ellen's research and mentorship fostered their own desire to deliver impactful research. We conclude by inviting Ellen to reflect on future research questions and to underscore her vision on the use of technology in conflict and negotiations research