Business schools: ethics, assurance of learning, and the future

This paper reviews the teaching of business ethics at 70 of the top ranked business schools in the United States and internationally as determined by Business Week magazine. Interviews were conducted with deans, associate and assistant deans, directors and faculty with a survey instrument focusing upon ethics in the curriculum, modifications to the ethics curriculum, and assessment of learning

An assurance of learning success model: toward closing the feedback loop

This paper provides a systemic approach to building and sustaining a solid assurance of learning program using the framework of Kotter’s (1995) Strategic Model for Transforming Organizations. A comprehensive model for launching and sustaining a systemic approach to program review that ‘‘closes the loop’’ is shared step by step. Particular attention is paid to the organizational behaviors and processes that accompany each step, and to sharing important lessons that were learned. A review of the assessment literature in higher education and recent Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) contributions to this body of knowledge identifies a critical gap regarding models that ‘‘close the loop’’ and make a compelling case for the Simmons College model

Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Reporting From a Management Control System Perspective

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a response to stakeholder concerns and signals organisational legitimacy. We propose CSR reporting from a comprehensive and integrated management control system perspective. Reporting parameters start with stated people, planet, and profit goals supported by objectives achieved through legal, ethical/moral, economic, and giving practices. Objectives are measured, assessed, and reported through key performance indicators. These objectives are quantified, sufficiently specific, have a timeline, and identify targeted stakeholder group(s). CSR strategy and its reporting are consistent with organisational mission, values, and strategy. CSR, like most business processes, is a dynamic process occurring over time and adjusting to circumstances sometimes involving trade-offs. CSR reporting ideally reflects this process through providing context and visual depictions of goals, practices, and performance evaluation that demonstrate not only a single period in time, but also trends that may present a more complete picture of an organisation’s CSR performance. CSR reporting parameters are proposed

People of the British Isles: preliminary analysis of genotypes and surnames in a UK control population

There is a great deal of interest in fine scale population structure in the UK, both as a signature of historical immigration events and because of the effect population structure may have on disease association studies. Although population structure appears to have a minor impact on the current generation of genome-wide association studies, it is likely to play a significant part in the next generation of studies designed to search for rare variants. A powerful way of detecting such structure is to control and document carefully the provenance of the samples involved. Here we describe the collection of a cohort of rural UK samples (The People of the British Isles), aimed at providing a well-characterised UK control population that can be used as a resource by the research community as well as providing fine scale genetic information on the British population. So far, some 4,000 samples have been collected, the majority of which fit the criteria of coming from a rural area and having all four grandparents from approximately the same area. Analysis of the first 3,865 samples that have been geocoded indicates that 75% have a mean distance between grandparental places of birth of 37.3km, and that about 70% of grandparental places of birth can be classed as rural. Preliminary genotyping of 1,057 samples demonstrates the value of these samples for investigating fine scale population structure within the UK, and shows how this can be enhanced by the use of surnames

End of life care: The experiences of advance care planning amongst family caregivers of people with advanced dementia - A qualitative study

Background: End of life decisions for people with advanced dementia are reported as often being difficult for families as they attempt to make appropriate and justified decisions. Aim: To explore the experiences of advance care planning amongst family caregivers of people with advanced dementia. Design: Qualitative research including a series of single cases (close family relatives). Methods: A purposive sample of 12 family caregivers within a specialist dementia unit was interviewed about their experiences of advance care planning between August 2009 and February 2010. Results/Findings: Family caregivers need encouragement to ask the right questions during advance care planning to discuss the appropriateness of nursing and medical interventions at the end of life. Conclusions: Advance care planning can be facilitated with the family caregiver in the context of everyday practice within the nursing home environment for older people with dementia

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of milk oral immunotherapy for cow's milk allergy

Background Orally administered, food-specific immunotherapy appears effective in desensitizing and potentially permanently tolerizing allergic individuals. Objective We sought to determine whether milk oral immunotherapy (OIT) is safe and efficacious in desensitizing children with cow's milk allergy. Methods Twenty children were randomized to milk or placebo OIT (2:1 ratio). Dosing included 3 phases: the build-up day (initial dose, 0.4 mg of milk protein; final dose, 50 mg), daily doses with 8 weekly in-office dose increases to a maximum of 500 mg, and continued daily maintenance doses for 3 to 4 months. Double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges; end-point titration skin prick tests; and milk protein serologic studies were performed before and after OIT. Results Nineteen patients, 6 to 17 years of age, completed treatment: 12 in the active group and 7 in the placebo group. One dropped out because of persistent eczema during dose escalation. Baseline median milk IgE levels in the active (n = 13) versus placebo (n = 7) groups were 34.8 kUa/L (range, 4.86–314 kUa/L) versus 14.6 kUa/L (range, 0.93–133.4 kUa/L). The median milk threshold dose in both groups was 40 mg at the baseline challenge. After OIT, the median cumulative dose inducing a reaction in the active treatment group was 5140 mg (range 2540-8140 mg), whereas all patients in the placebo group reacted at 40 mg (P = .0003). Among 2437 active OIT doses versus 1193 placebo doses, there were 1107 (45.4%) versus 134 (11.2%) total reactions, with local symptoms being most common. Milk-specific IgE levels did not change significantly in either group. Milk IgG levels increased significantly in the active treatment group, with a predominant milk IgG4 level increase. Conclusions Milk OIT appears to be efficacious in the treatment of cow's milk allergy. The side-effect profile appears acceptable but requires further study

Smoking, Variation In N-acetyltransferase 1 (nat1) And 2 (nat2), And Risk Of Non-hodgkin Lymphoma: A Pooled Analysis Within The Interlymph Consortium

Studies of smoking and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) have yielded inconsistent results, possibly due to subtype heterogeneity and/or genetic variation impacting the metabolism of tobacco-derived carcinogens, including substrates of the N-acetyltransferase enzymes NAT1 and NAT2. We conducted a pooled analysis of 5,026 NHL cases and 4,630 controls from seven case-control studies in the international lymphoma epidemiology consortium to examine associations between smoking, variation in the N-acetyltransferase genes NAT1 and NAT2, and risk of NHL subtypes. Smoking data were harmonized across studies, and genetic variants in NAT1 and NAT2 were used to infer acetylation phenotype of the NAT1 and NAT2 enzymes, respectively. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs) for risk of NHL and subtypes were calculated using joint fixed effects unconditional logistic regression models. Current smoking was associated with a significant 30 % increased risk of follicular lymphoma (n = 1,176) but not NHL overall or other NHL subtypes. The association was similar among NAT2 slow (OR 1.36; 95 % CI 1.07-1.75) and intermediate/rapid (OR 1.27; 95 % CI 0.95-1.69) acetylators (p (interaction) = 0.82) and also did not differ by NAT1*10 allelotype. Neither NAT2 phenotype nor NAT1*10 allelotype was associated with risk of NHL overall or NHL subtypes. The current findings provide further evidence for a modest association between current smoking and follicular lymphoma risk and suggest that this association may not be influenced by variation in the N-acetyltransferase enzymes

Duodenal Adenomas and Cancer in MUTYH-associated Polyposis: An International Cohort Study

Although duodenal adenomas and cancer appear to occur significantly less frequently in autosomal recessive MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP) than in autosomal dominant familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP),1 current guidelines recommend similar endoscopic surveillance for both disorders.2-4 This involves gastro-duodenoscopy starting at 25 to 35 years of age and repeated at intervals determined by Spigelman staging based on the number, size, histological type and degree of dysplasia of adenomas, and by ampullary staging. Case reports of duodenal cancers in MAP suggest that they may develop in the absence of advanced Spigelman stage benign disease and even without coexisting adenomas.1 Recent molecular analyses suggest thatMAPduodenal adenomashave a higher mutational burden than FAP adenomas and are more likely to harbor oncogenic drivermutations, such as those in KRAS.5 These apparent differences in the biology and natural history of duodenal polyposis in FAP and MAP challenge the assumption that the same surveillance should be applied in both conditions