Building Resilience in MBA Students: Bouncing Back and Forward through Challenges

The raison d\u27être for MBA programs is to prepare students to lead and manage effectively in the real world. An overview of the unique challenges awaiting MBAs, however, reveals a blind spot in business education: It doesn’t necessarily prepare MBA students to operate effectively in the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world of today. This paper suggests that resilience training can help fill the void by enhancing the capacity of MBAs to bounce back and forward through and despite adversity. The objective of the paper is to propose a conceptual design of an evidence-based, relevant, and applicable Resilience Training Program for MBA students, building on research and practice in positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship. The proposed program seeks to enhance MBAs’ individual resilience from a 3-dimensional perspective of protecting, promoting, and sustaining mental health and well-being. Topics covered in the program include emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility, optimism, hope, positive emotions, character strengths, positive relationships, meaning-making, high-quality connections, and job crafting. Each of these topics is examined through a review of relevant research, practical implications, and specific interventions for building and strengthening related skills. This paper will hopefully serve MBA students and their business schools in shaping resilient leaders of the future

A Look at Women and Abortion in the United States

The issue of abortion is defined by ethical questions and, often, controversial views. This paper argues the importance of a coherent and enhanced effort to study the quantitative relationship between women’s characteristics and the average number of abortions in the United States. It specifically looks at the average number of previous abortions and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, as this relationship has not been explored before in the existing literature. We expect to establish a correlation between the average number of previous abortions and characteristics such as age, marital status, income and highest degree of education completed. An empirical model is developed, and then studied using regression analysis. Even though this study has limitations stemming from the nature of the data and the methodology employed, it illustrates that variables such as age, marital status, religion and education, employment status, income, and metropolitan status do influence the number of previous abortions a woman has had. The broader implications of this study suggest that the issue of abortion should be addressed with a clear focus on the most interested party, namely, women

Merger control - a comparison between the substantive tests, procedures and institutions in the EU and the US

Der Wettbewerb zwischen den Unternehmen trägt zum stabilen Wachstum und Fort-schritt der Wirtschaft bei. Deswegen sind heute weltweit mehr als 130 Wettbewerbsre-gime in Kraft, und mindestens 110 dieser Gesetze beinhalten die Fusionskontrolle, die eine effektive Steuerung des multinationalen Marktes gewährleistet. Der Wettbewerb regt die Marktteilnehmer zu Effizienzsteigerung an, indem die Herstellungskosten senken und gleichzeitig die Qualität der Produkte erhöht wird. Dies kommt letztlich den Verbrau-chern zugute, indem ihnen Zugang zu hochwertigen, innovativen Produkten zu einem reduzierten Preis ermöglicht wird. Viele Regierungen erkennen, dass Wettbewerbsregeln ein wichtiges Element sind und eine Schlüsselrolle innerhalb der Gesellschaft spielen. Daher ist die Aufrechterhaltung des Wettbewerbs von entscheidender Bedeutung für ein gesundes Geschäftsklima, das ausländische Investitionen anzieht und die Wirtschaft vo-rantreibt.Undoubtably, assured competition between firms contributes for the stable growth and progress of the economy. Thus, today more than 130 competition regimes are in force worldwide, and at least 110 of these laws include merger control, ensuring effective go-vernance of the multinational marketplace. Competition stimulates market participants to pursue efficiency, by reducing manufacturing prices, but at the same time increasing the quality of their products. This ultimately benefits the consumers by allowing them access to high quality, innovative products at a reduced price. Many governments realize that competition rules are an important element and play a key role within the society. Thus maintaining competition is vital for a healthy business climate, which in turn attracts fo-reign investments and propels the economy forward

Comparative analysis of the Bulgarian and Norwegian health care systems

BACKGROUND: Bulgaria and Norway are situated in the two different corners of Europe. They are two countries with different economical and historical developments, health care system models and distinct ways of organizing and financing the health sector. Along with the many differences, similarities between their health systems also occur. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: My main research question is “How are the health care systems of these two countries similar and dissimilar?” I will try to answer it through answering three more special questions. First, “How do these systems perform with regard to health (life expectancy), access to health care, quality of the care provided and cost-efficiency (or resource use) and what are the main challenges facing the two countries? Second, “How do the health care systems, defined by how they are organized and financed, vary?” Last but not least, “What are the politically feasible health care system strategies these countries should pursue in the coming years to increase their performance in the area of health?” METHODS: This cross-national comparative research is based on selected documents about the health care systems of Bulgaria and Norway. These are on one hand documents giving factual, to large extent quantitative, information about the two health (care) systems. To interpret my findings I have used several, more qualitative reports and research studies, including research about state- and nation-building by Stein Rokkan. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: There are of course both similarities and differences in the way the Bulgarian and Norwegian’ health care systems were and are organized, financed and developed. I have used different performance indicators, such as health, access to care, quality of services and efficiency (resources spent on health) to show how well the systems are functioning and have generally found that Norway perform better than Bulgaria. To characterize the systems as such I have used the term “business model”, and have, after Clayton Christensen, defined that as consisting of a combination of, value propositions, resource composition,, processes and financing mechanisms. I have used both Rokkan’s historical theory and Christensen’s applied business model theory to explain my findings. I have also used Christensen’s theory as a basis for recommending in which direction reforms in the two countries ought to go. My main recommendation is that the two countries, step by step, move toward a situation where the business models are well maligned with the nature of the various types of medical practice -, intuitive, empirical and precision-based practice

Incorporation of Resveratrol in Polymeric Nanogel for Improvement of Its Protective Effects on Cellular and Microsomal Oxidative Stress Models

Nanogels are attractive drug delivery systems that provide high loading capacity for drug molecules, improve their stability, and increase cellular uptake. Natural antioxidants, especially polyphenols such as resveratrol, are distinguished by low aqueous solubility, which hinders therapeutic activity. Thus, in the present study, resveratrol was incorporated into nanogel particles, aiming to improve its protective effects in vitro. The nanogel was prepared from natural substances via esterification of citric acid and pentane-1,2,5-triol. High encapsulation efficiency (94.5%) was achieved by applying the solvent evaporation method. Dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the resveratrol-loaded nanogel particles were spherical in shape with nanoscopic dimensions (220 nm). In vitro release tests showed that a complete release of resveratrol was achieved for 24 h, whereas at the same time the non-encapsulated drug was poorly dissolved. The protective effect of the encapsulated resveratrol against oxidative stress in fibroblast and neuroblastoma cells was significantly stronger compared to the non-encapsulated drug. Similarly, the protection in a model of iron/ascorbic acid-induced lipid peroxidation on rat liver and brain microsomes was higher with the encapsulated resveratrol. In conclusion, embedding resveratrol in this newly developed nanogel improved its biopharmaceutical properties and protective effects in oxidative stress models