Using intuitive awakening for business students to enhance strategic thinking skills

Intuition is essential to marketing scholarship and practice. Furthermore, under certain business conditions, it becomes invaluable as a primary mode of decision making. Reflecting this perspective, conceptual research on the topic is abundant. Empirical studies in business school settings that address marketing intuitive decision making are scarce. Without application of intuitive thinking at the marketing education class level, diffusion of this important skill in the educational sphere will not take place. In this research, while building on Andrew Cox’s (2001) conceptualization a power matrix framework between buyers and suppliers as a case theme, we test role-playing and experiential knowledge effects on graduate business students’ assessments of marketing communications, relationships, satisfaction and influence strategy dimensions involving intuitive decision making

Influence of Molecular Dipole Orientations on Long-Range Exponential Interaction Forces at Hydrophobic Contacts in Aqueous Solutions

Strong and particularly long ranged (>100 nm) interaction forces between apposing hydrophobic lipid monolayers are now well understood in terms of a partial turnover of mobile lipid patches, giving rise to a correlated long-range electrostatic attraction. Here we describe similarly strong long-ranged attractive forces between self-assembled monolayers of carboranethiols, with dipole moments aligned either parallel or perpendicular to the surface, and hydrophobic lipid monolayers deposited on mica. We compare the interaction forces measured at very different length scales using atomic force microscope and surface forces apparatus measurements. Both systems gave a long-ranged exponential attraction with a decay length of 2.0 +/- 0.2 nm for dipole alignments perpendicular to the surface. The effect of dipole alignment parallel to the surface is larger than for perpendicular dipoles, likely due to greater lateral correlation of in-plane surface dipoles. The magnitudes and range of the measured interaction forces also depend on the surface area of the probe used: At extended surfaces, dipole alignment parallel to the surface leads to a stronger attraction due to electrostatic correlations of freely rotating surface dipoles and charge patches on the apposing surfaces. In contrast, perpendicular dipoles at extended surfaces, where molecular rotation cannot lead to large dipole correlations, do not depend on the scale of the probe used. Our results may be important to a range of scale-dependent interaction phenomena related to solvent/water structuring on dipolar and hydrophobic surfaces at interfaces

Applying holistic principles in management development

Purpose - In preparing managers for the uncertainty, threats and opportunities posed by the challenge of frequent and unexpected changes in organizations and markets, an alternative to a traditional Western viewpoint is a holistic approach that embodies balance and harmony, sees more subtle relationships and avoids the tensions of opposites. The purpose of this paper is to report the derivation and application of six holistic principles for management development (quieting the mind, harmony and balance, relinquishing the desire to control, transcending the ego, centeredness, and the power of softness) derived from a non-Western philosophy. Design/methodology/approach - The six principles were implemented in a management development program in a small high-tech company. The reported effects upon the managers' role perceptions and behaviors were captured in immediate and delayed evaluations by means of face-to-face interviews. Findings - The analysis of the interview data identified four underlying values that managers reported emerging from their involvement in the program: emotional awareness, shared perspectives, interpersonal sensitivity and benevolence and fulfilment. Research limitations/implications - The research is an action-based single case study which was evaluated longitudinally using participants' perceptions. Further work is now required to apply these principles more widely and assess them using pre- and post-test measures of attitudes and behaviors and upward/360 degree assessments. Practical implications - The broader impact of a holistic approach for management development in terms of personal and spiritual fulfilment as well as its significance of corporate issues is discussed. Originality/value - The paper presents a challenging and innovative approach to developing managers holistically and provides a counterbalance to the predominant approach of much management education and development. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Applying holistic principles in management development

Purpose - In preparing managers for the uncertainty, threats and opportunities posed by the challenge of frequent and unexpected changes in organizations and markets, an alternative to a traditional Western viewpoint is a holistic approach that embodies balance and harmony, sees more subtle relationships and avoids the tensions of opposites. The purpose of this paper is to report the derivation and application of six holistic principles for management development (quieting the mind, harmony and balance, relinquishing the desire to control, transcending the ego, centeredness, and the power of softness) derived from a non-Western philosophy. Design/methodology/approach - The six principles were implemented in a management development program in a small high-tech company. The reported effects upon the managers' role perceptions and behaviors were captured in immediate and delayed evaluations by means of face-to-face interviews. Findings - The analysis of the interview data identified four underlying values that managers reported emerging from their involvement in the program: emotional awareness, shared perspectives, interpersonal sensitivity and benevolence and fulfilment. Research limitations/implications - The research is an action-based single case study which was evaluated longitudinally using participants' perceptions. Further work is now required to apply these principles more widely and assess them using pre- and post-test measures of attitudes and behaviors and upward/360 degree assessments. Practical implications - The broader impact of a holistic approach for management development in terms of personal and spiritual fulfilment as well as its significance of corporate issues is discussed. Originality/value - The paper presents a challenging and innovative approach to developing managers holistically and provides a counterbalance to the predominant approach of much management education and development. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited