Search results
1 – 10 of 105Abram L.J. Walton, Brian Glassman and Darrel L. Sandall
This paper aims to investigate the phenomenology behind how an idea stock market created employee engagement of 80 per cent+ within the largest telecom company in Portugal. More…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the phenomenology behind how an idea stock market created employee engagement of 80 per cent+ within the largest telecom company in Portugal. More importantly, this case study investigates the results created using this system, and whether the “investment/betting” process yielded successful and replicable results.
Design/methodology/approach
This critical review took the form of an exploratory-grounded theory study. Initial conversations led to creation of questionnaires regarding the internal workings of Sonaecom’s idea market, implementation methods, incentive structures, necessary cultural adjustments, system outcomes and topics related to idea screening, types of users, herd behavior, idea storage, diffusion, implementation and perceptions of the idea market and its success.
Findings
The idea market produced engagement outcomes nearly twice that of standard industry engagement methodologies and showed promise for increasing corporate innovation outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
This study was limited to a single idea market within one company. As such, the conclusions from the study are limited in their generalizability to other companies implementing idea markets.
Practical implications
Because the challenges faced by Sonaecom are the same challenges faced by any company implementing an idea market, the findings from the study have important practical implications for any organization implementing an idea market.
Social implications
There are behavioral, psychological and leadership implications for organizations implementing an idea market.
Originality/value
Based on a thorough literature review, no other study has been made of Sonaecom’s Idea Market system, nor has a study of this depth and breadth been completed with any idea market system. The findings of the study have broad implications for any organization seeking to implement an idea management system.
Details
Keywords
Joseph S. Nadan, Abram Walton, Behzad Tabaei, Charles Edward Bryant and Natalie Shah
This paper aims to propose an innovative method for deploying a personalized instructor-created software-aided assessment system, that will disrupt traditional learning…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose an innovative method for deploying a personalized instructor-created software-aided assessment system, that will disrupt traditional learning environments by allowing students to confidentially and with indirect supervision from the instructor, assess their knowledge and ability to achieve the course outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Through empirical evaluation in real-world educational settings, the authors examine the impact of augmenting human activity in the classroom with an innovative software platform to transform the learning process.
Findings
Findings indicate that this software-aided assessment system effectively augments human interactivity by providing timely instructor-designed feedback to increase knowledge retention and skillsets.
Practical implications
This study has shown that incorporating disruptive innovation through the use of software-aided assessment systems increases the effectiveness of the faculty in the classroom and enhances student learning and retention. Thus, a transformative software-aided assessment system design that incorporates artificial intelligence into the learning pathway should be pursued. These software-aided assessments are disruptive innovation as they are formative, frequent and require little direct involvement from the instructor.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to incorporate artificial intelligence into the assessment process by analyzing results of pilot programs at several universities. The results demonstrate how using software-aided transformative assessments in various courses have helped instructors assess students’ preparedness and track their learning progress. These software-aided systems are the first step in bringing disruptive innovation to the classroom as these software-aided assessment instruments rapidly assess learners’ knowledge and skills based on short, easily created, multiple-choice tests, with little direct engagement from the faculty.
Details
Keywords
DeLeys Brandman, Bob Carlson, Rameshwar Dubey, John Carlisle, Joseph Nabor, Praveen Gupta, Abram Walton, Brett Trusko, Jeremy Alexis and Jeffrey Phillips
Abram Walton, Scott Homan, Linda Naimi and Cynthia Tomovic
The purpose of this paper is to identify and measure the perceptions and attitudes of students regarding the classroom performance system (CPS).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and measure the perceptions and attitudes of students regarding the classroom performance system (CPS).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews a range of recently published (1993‐2006) works on pedagogy and educational technology. A survey methodology was utilized to measure students’ perceptions and attitudes across 16 variables.
Findings
The paper provides aggregate results on each of the 16 variables and statistically significant differences between sub‐categories.
Research limitations/implications
Research was limited to a major US university campus that services a large cross‐section of students. Demographic implications and trends are discussed.
Practical implications
This study focused on identifying and measuring the perceptions and attitudes of students regarding a radio frequency, wireless audience response system called: CPS. Sixteen research questions and variables were measured in this study regarding students’ perceptions and attitudes towards CPS, learning and student–instructor interactions. Overall, the study found that students perceive CPS as having a positive effect on their increase in pre‐class preparation and attendance, and on their increase of overall attention and participation during class. A slight majority of students enjoy using CPS and perceive CPS to have a moderately positive effect on their ability to learn and self diagnose how they are performing in class. The implications of this study and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Originality/value
This paper is valuable to instructors who wish to reemploy active learning or Socratic Method type activities in the large lecture format classes.
Details
Keywords
After a long hiatus, psychology and economics today are back in conversation with each other: active research programs in behavioral economics, neuro-economics, and the economics…
Abstract
After a long hiatus, psychology and economics today are back in conversation with each other: active research programs in behavioral economics, neuro-economics, and the economics of happiness bespeak a thriving cross-disciplinary discussion. Yet for most of the twentieth century, economists distanced themselves from psychology; when they spoke of science, they referred, in the first instance, to the physical sciences, then perhaps to the biological sciences. A hundred years ago, however, American intellectuals viewed psychology as a progressive science and economics as traditionalist – mired in the antiquated notions of laissez-faire and individualism. A social science that assumed individuals knew their preferences, directed their actions toward fulfilling them in a rational manner, and in the process engaged others in dispassionate exchange, was clearly not speaking to the issues of the modern world. The death of progressivism in the wake of WW I only reinforced the rise of psychology: good intentions weren’t enough, motives were suspect, rational individuals went mad in the midst of conflict and turmoil, complex emotions ruled. Careful psychological analysis could, however, enable society to gain some degree of control over the fundamental irrationality of human action.
The PMI Risk Framework (PRF) is introduced as a guide to classifying and identifying risks which can be the source of post-merger integration (PMI) failure — commonly referred to…
Abstract
The PMI Risk Framework (PRF) is introduced as a guide to classifying and identifying risks which can be the source of post-merger integration (PMI) failure — commonly referred to as “culture clash.” To provide managers with actionably insight, PRF dissects PMI risk into specific relationship-oriented phenomena, critical to outcomes and which should be addressed during PMI. This framework is a conceptual and theory-grounded integration of numerous perspectives, such as organizational psychology, group dynamics, social networks, transformational change, and nonlinear dynamics. These concepts are unified and can be acted upon by integration managers. Literary resources for further exploration into the underlying aspects of the framework are provided. The PRF places emphasis on critical facets of PMI, particularly those which are relational in nature, pose an exceptionally high degree of risk, and are recurrent sources of PMI failure. The chapter delves into relationship-oriented points of failure that managers face when overseeing PMI by introducing a relationship-based, PMI risk framework. Managers are often not fully cognizant of these risks, thus fail to manage them judiciously. These risks do not naturally abide by common scholarly classifications and cross disciplinary boundaries; they do not go unrecognized by scholars, but until the introduction of PRF the risks have not been assimilated into a unifying framework. This chapter presents a model of PMI risk by differentiating and specifying numerous types of underlying human-relationship-oriented risks, rather than considering PMI cultural conflict as a monolithic construct.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to elucidate and explain the origins and transformation of the study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) over its half‐century history.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elucidate and explain the origins and transformation of the study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) over its half‐century history.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a historical study in two parts. The first and larger part examines the CSR literature of the 1950s from both an intellectual and social perspective. It not only analyzes the content of these writings, but it also places them and their authors in a political and economic context. The second part explains why so many of the themes and approaches of this first generation have been abandoned by more recent CSR scholars by pointing to decisive changes in the American social and political environment.
Findings
Early CSR research was a product of the cataclysmic events that the scholars in this field experienced personally and professionally, most importantly the labor conflicts of the 1930s and the uneasy labor peace that subsequently followed. By contrast, the more modern approach that emphasizes the ethics of executive decision making became the dominant paradigm in the 1980s when institutional support for a macro perspective disappeared.
Practical implications
The first generation of scholars were concerned with issues of economic fairness and the independence of governments from interest group pressures. With these issues currently reasserting themselves on a global level, modern scholars could learn a great deal from studying the insights and practical experience of these neglected thinkers.
Originality/value
This is both the first in‐depth study of the content and origins of early CSR scholarship and an explanation of its limited influence.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications in business by merging previously unconnected lines of thought in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications in business by merging previously unconnected lines of thought in communications and law. Using Walmart as an example, the study shows that CSR communication can legitimize a corporation’s autonomous legal system of regulation and governance over its business practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative case study of all online corporate communications webpages from Walmart was examined. Discourse and qualitative analyses were used to show how language and online communications practices created actional legitimacy for Walmart’s CSR practices.
Findings
Using the UN’s Guiding Principles for Business as a framework for analysis, the study demonstrated how CSR communications helps Walmart to establish its own system of CSR norms, structures and remediation processes for its business outside of the state. These communications also sought to legitimize these actions among stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
This case study looks at one corporation (Walmart) to illustrate a new connection between CSR communication and legitimacy. Future research in communications can extend this line of inquiry by examining how communications can reinforce autonomous legal systems and public perceptions.
Originality/value
Backer’s (2007) autonomous legal system and the concept of actional legitimacy in communications have not yet been studied systematically. This case study demonstrates how CSR communications can legitimize a multinational corporation’s business practices, which, in turn, raises ethical considerations for the ways this communication serves the greater society.
Details