Diversity Awareness And Management In Adult Education

Effective education to all students is a moral imperative in today’s diverse environment of adult learning. Educators are obligated to avoid all issues that present a conflict of interest in order to create a healthy learning environment for all students. This document provides a review of diversity related issues such as sexual harassment, self-fulfilling prophecy in relation to the diverse environment of education, diversity management concerns in learning, and adult teaching practices geared toward new adult educators of diverse student populations

Leadership Orientation of Afghan and Japanese Respondents: A Study of “Guzaara†or Getting Along in Asia

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the leadership tendencies of Afghan and Japaneserespondents by exploring their task and relationship orientations. While there are many published studies onthe Japanese work culture and leadership practices, research about Afghan working adults is limited. Usingthe Style Questionnaire, this research collected and compared the leadership orientations of 400 respondentsfrom each country based on national culture on the task and relationship-orientation continuums. To deepenthe understanding of Afghan leadership tendencies, we explore their culture of “guzaara†(getting along)practices. Similarly, we discuss the Japanese concept of “ba†(interactive knowledge creation) as one exampleof a best practice that can be benchmarked by others in society. Both Afghanistan and Japan are high-contextcultures; therefore, people are expected to be more relationship-oriented. While respondents from bothcountries do have a stronger focus on their relationships, data shows that Afghans have a significantly higherscore on both the task-orientation as well as relationship-orientation continuums, compared to their Japanesecounterparts. Implications, recommendations and limitations of the study are provided. The findings thatJapanese and Afghan employees are indeed focused on their relationships, and that they have a moderatelyhigh task orientation scores, are useful for managers and expatriates working in these two Asian countries

Leadership Tendencies of Pakistanis: Exploring Similarities and Differences based on Age and Gender

The management styles of people are influenced by their cultural contexts and urgency of completing tasks. For example, it is expected that people will get things done in a speedy manner when their jobs are on the line, but they will still try to minimize the negative impact to their relationships. To explore the leadership tendencies of working adults in the Pakistani workplace, this paper focused on comparing the leadership orientation of 232 respondents based on their age and gender. Pakistanis have a significantly higher score on task orientation. Their relationship orientation score is also on the moderately high range. The high score on both leadership dimensions reflects on their cultural orientation. Practical suggestions for expatriates and implications for future studies are presented

Situational Leadership And Diversity Management Coaching Skills

Leadership and diversity management have been part of the work life since the beginning of formal organizations and a critical element of globalization. The authors provide an overview of situational leadership and link it to diversity management so the focus can remain on productivity rather than personalities and biases which are part of each society and individual. Based on personal training experiences of the authors, this conceptual and practical paper provides a model to link situational leadership to diversity in the workplace through effective coaching skills. 

Wal-Mart In The Global Retail Market: Its Growth And Challenges

The Wal-Mart Corporation is one of those companies that have been impacted by change at all levels as they conduct business and expand their operations throughout the globe. Wal-Mart has also greatly benefited from deeply-held universal values, philosophies, and management practices which have made them successful in diverse countries. In a short span of about forty years, this company has become the envy of any and every major corporation in the world. This case presents how Wal-Mart has achieved this enormous success, its best practice in the global retail industry, international growth trends and challenges, and various lessons that have been learned from their expansion in foreign countries. The case focuses on customer value delivery related to low prices, use of technology, and an organizational culture passionate on continuous learning

Entrepreneurs Entering The Higher Education Market To Make A Difference: The Kenney College Of Entrepreneurship

Higher education today is becoming more complex than ever and entrepreneurs are capitalizing on this market by making it more competitive and, hopefully, better. The Kenney College of Entrepreneurship, as one example, leverages the strengths of the established online operating systems in higher education, while implementing innovative strategies that will enhance student-professor interaction and student learning in a cyber environment. The key to the Kenney College of Entrepreneurship’s strategy is appreciating the fact that entrepreneurs tend to learn differently than most other students and are interested in having some control in designing their learning outcomes. Therefore, this case discusses an innovative student-professor pedagogical model that is employed by the Kenney College of Entrepreneurship. The model strives to satisfy each student’s internal locus of control and the college’s desire to build a premium brand by emphasizing the humanistic, scholarly, and practical aspects of entrepreneurship. The case further discusses some of the challenges and opportunities facing educators and administrators

McDonalds Success Strategy And Global Expansion Through Customer And Brand Loyalty

The McDonalds Corporation is one of the most successful global restaurant chains around the world. They have used effective management and global expansion strategies to enter new markets and gain a share of the foreign fast food market. This case presents how McDonalds has achieved this enormous success, its best practices in the global food industry, international growth trends and challenges, and various lessons that have been learned from their expansion in foreign countries. Overall, the case provides a discussion of how McDonalds creates both customer and brand loyalty for their products and services. This case focuses on McDonalds international success, challenges and strategies

Inventor CEOs and Firm Innovation

Using a novel, manually-collected dataset, we find that firms whose chief executive officer (CEO) is an inventor experience significantly better innovation outcomes, as measured by patents and future citations. We obtain these results in models with firm fixed effects, in difference-in-difference analysis of transitioning CEOs that controls for the CEO fixed effects, and among firms with founder CEOs. Firms led by an inventor CEO also exhibit greater tolerance for failure as indicated by a greater number of both highly cited and uncited patents, and engage more in explorative search strategies that exploit new technological trajectories. Stock market, however, seems unable to fully capture the positive impact of inventor CEOs on future innovation: firms whose CEO transitions to be an inventor experience positive abnormal stock returns, especially during the early years following the transition

Essentials of Cyberspace Education for Online Students

In the twenty first century, the development and advancement of the Internet Technology has remarkably transformed and redefined various fabric of human life, from individual communication to the way in which businesses conduct themselves.  One of the more significant paradigm shifts has been in the field of education, particularly with the introduction and rapid growth of distance learning.  Online education has afforded students, especially working adults, an opportunity to become involved in the learning process, bridging the gap that once existed between the busy lifestyles of working professionals and their goals of obtaining a University degree.  Although there are many differences between the conventional modules of face-to-face and the online educational formats, both underscore the importance of learner participation and interaction that assist instructors in developing and initiating effective facilitation techniques to promote learning and retention among adult learners. This document outlines certain skills and nuances of online education and the essential skills that one requires for the successful completion of courses and programs.  One of the most important aspects of online learning is communication, wherein online correspondence in the form of emailing, chatting and online discussions are critical when communicating with instructors, colleagues and administrations.  Therefore, unlike other literature on cyberspace learning, this document provides a simple format on the essentials of online learning, chatting and emailing, without inserting too much academic literature, and acts as a manuscript for the “know-hows” of online education for prospective online students.   &nbsp

Do Insiders Trade on Innovation?

We find that pure insider share purchases—which we define as insider purchases over two successive years without any corresponding sales—are a strong predictor of a firm’s patent applications. The predictability increases with the quality of the patent: Applications for the highest-quality, breakthrough patents increase by 21% in the year following pure insider purchases in our sample. These purchases are associated with large abnormal stock returns of 1.1% per month (14% annualized) over the subsequent three-year period. We also document that stock price responds less to the subsequent announcement of the grant of patent if the application for the patent has been preceded by pure insider purchases, consistent with the idea that insider purchases reveal information about future firm innovation. Our evidence has implications for understanding insider trading within technology companies that have become a dominant feature of US stock markets in recent decades