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The Fox School MBA program embraces the tradition begun by Temple founder and entrepreneur Russell Conwell, who famously spoke of uncovering the “diamonds in our own backyard.” Conwell envisioned a university that provides a gateway to opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds. Fox builds on this mission by engaging our community and providing quality, student-centered business education addressing the driving forces in our economy. Our MBA program has succeeded in integrating a classic business education with a program of rigorous research, experiential learning, and active community engagement to address the greater societal significance of sustainability, globalization, ethics, entrepreneurship and innovation.
At Fox, we value excellence and creativity in knowledge generation and in the traditional sense of creativity in research, in our teaching, in ways we interact with our stakeholders, in problem solving, and in program development. We value innovation in creative problem solving and finding new and effective ways of teaching, research and school management. Our core value of ethics is woven into the fabric of the curriculum and a strong culture of ethical practice permeates the organization. Tied to ethical behavior is a call for the respect for others; whether it is a respect of people of diverse backgrounds or a respect for diverse perspectives. As an urban business school, we value community engagement and pride ourselves to be a natural connector as we build reciprocal partnerships with the community we serve, including members of our community, business, government, and non-profit organizations.
The challenges presented by the issues related to sustainability are undoubtedly the single most important issue facing businesses today. As such, the Fox School of Business embraces the imperative to prepare our students to succeed in an environment where sustainability issues are incorporated into the business education. Equally important, we believe our role at the university is to foster innovative research and the creative learning opportunities that that will keep us on the forefront in anticipating the future challenges that face business and society.
We recognize that topics related to sustainability will dominate business practice in the forthcoming decade. Fox MBA faculty, through a project with the United Nations, has delineated comprehensive business taxonomy to better understand sustainability and its relevance to business and business education. Accordingly, we define sustainability in three broad terms: 1) a focus on the environment and the environmental outcomes resulting from business practice; 2) incorporating a social element which considers the broad set of stakeholders to business decision making, including shareholders, customers, individuals along the supply chain, and the community affected by a business; and 3) attention to issues of governance, the behavior of the business decision makers, and the oversight, disclosure and the overall standard of ethical conduct that permeates a firm.
Indeed, we subscribe to our founder’s sentiment that “We must know what the world needs first, and then invest ourselves to supply that need and success is almost certain.” Increasingly, our graduates are expected to provide hiring firms with leading-edge knowledge of sustainability and ethical leadership. As such, the principles of sustainability are introduced to our students beginning with our month-long orientation. During orientation, our students are introduced to a career development series which has a powerful component related to “green” companies and leading edge social and environmental practices. Our program has a rich collection of courses addressing the topic of sustainability and we add value by exposing our students to extra-curricular programming that supports the school’s values and initiatives toward sustainable business. Service learning is fundamental to our program and our students have multiple opportunities to participate and learn while engaging with our community. Among the many activities and experiences, Fox hosts the annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference, the biannual sustainable business “fireside” chats, business leader speaker series and the many NetImpact student-led outreach programs.
Sustainability is integrated into our renowned and award winning experiential learning program required of all MBA students, the Enterprise Management Consulting (EMC) Practice. In this culminating and rich experience, students gain a deeper understanding of sustainability working on real world projects where the key business deliverable is a positive sustainability outcome in a "real world" setting. Students have had the opportunity to work with a wide range of clients coming from both industry and the not-for-profit sector.
Finally, our MBA program strives to build critical thinking skills that promote sustainability-based values which create links to business practice and behavior. We promote a culture that embraces change; and, we expose students to a different way of thinking about the bottom line; extending beyond simple financial profitability to revenue generated by “doing good” for people, planet and prosperity. We are multidisciplinary, collaborative, experiential, nimble, and diverse. What’s more? We are also a business school.
Temple University Office of Sustainability provides a central location to promote a green campus culture; foster practical, useful, and forward-looking change; and promote environmental literacy across the University. The office supports our President’s decision to sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). To support Temple University’s commitment to sustainable best practice the Fox School continuously explores the multiple perspectives of sustainable practice in our facility management and overall operating practices of the school.
To remain true to the Fox mission of transforming lives through education and preparing our students to acquire the important skills they will need in today’s marketplace, we have incorporated activities outside of the classroom to further sustainable practices on campus. Our initiatives include:
3. The Fox School offers many opportunities for community engagement including:
4. Fox students are engaged in service learning opportunities including:
Effective leadership and governance via communication competence (via consciousness, credibility, and continuous improvement). Ethics is infused throughout.discussions about how companies communicate during crises and during student presentations about corporate communication crises.
This course introduces you to the energy industries, energy markets, and public-policy issues surrounding energy. Fossil fuels made the industrial revolution possible. Now nations have to address the issues related to fossil fuel use, including depletion, environmental burdens, and economic wellbeing. The shifts that will take place over the next few decades will create many new business opportunities and lead to declines in many existing businesses. We look at the energy industries from the perspective of appropriate government policies and personal and business decisions.
Energy industries have elaborate supply chains that are structured around the physical characteristics of the energy source, including geology, chemistry, and the relative economics of different energy sources. The markets surrounding the energy sources have been through major changes. We look at how the markets have evolved to adapt to the physical features of the business, the role of risk management and finance and the long history of geopolitical issues.
Approximately 50% of EMC projects are social ventures – including sustainability projects for companies big and small, clean tech start-ups, earned income streams for nonprofits, etc. EMC class content is 1/3 analytic tools (how-to), 1/3 human element of consulting (how-to on the interpersonal side) and 1/3 strategy concepts (formation and implementation). Throughout, we weave in content and discussion about ethics, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, etc. See attached syllabus.
Social enterprise class will explore management models and skills that attempt to blend economic and social priorities – that address and try to balance the triple bottom lines of profit, people and place. More broadly, this class examines the ways in which entrepreneurship is embedded in – and affects – larger social, cultural, and economic relationships
To create an awareness of the importance of developing a personal ethical framework related to business decision making. To further the process of developing this framework by providing fundamental conceptual tools useful for ethical analysis. To increase your awareness of the mutual ethical responsibilities existing between the contemporary business organization and its internal and external stakeholders.
One of 14 sessions deals specifically and explicitly with the social costs of bankruptcy as well as ethical/moral responsibilities to various stakeholders (in addition to just stockholders), plus peripheral discussion in several cases on social and ethical issues.
high performance organizations strategically align HR practices with organizational-level strategy and, to a great extent, this alignment depends on the degree to which firms proactively adjust the organization to environmental change. As such, in this course we analyze an array of interesting and important HR topics concerning the cotemporary management challenges associated with the ever increasing pace of change. In building on a theme of external environmental change and its impact on building the high performance organization, we devote attention to the following distinct subjects: (1) the regulatory environment/public policy as it relates to employee rights in the workplace; (2) globalization and its impact on managing people in the global business context; (3) the role of leadership and HR systems in managing change; (4) the role of unions and the practice of union-management relations; (5) strategic use of HR outsourcing; and (6) emerging trends in managing people (e.g. the virtual workplace, the aging workforce, public policy change regarding health care benefits, etc.).
The convergence of globalization, changing demographics, and urbanization. Choices about where and how we work, live, travel, communicate, and maintain health. Labs brings together interdisciplinary experts to develop, deploy, and test - in actual living environments - new technologies and strategies for design that respond to this changing world. Deals with open source and open innovation governance.
The book The Leadership Challenge is the foundation for the course and it is a practical book grounded in theory with the primary focus on leadership and ethics, but examples in the book do have social and environmental implications. Class discussions include all three areas and the group project has the three areas included as well. There is an individual leadership paper and many of the students choose to write about topics with one or more of these topics. Given the nature of the course these three topics are integrated by the nature of the foundational content of the course which is shared organizational values as often these topics are high on the value list of students.
Risk Management requires the firm to identify opportunities for gain and exposures to unexpected loss. The firm must then assess the potential consequences, and plan to finance the consequences of the adverse event if it happens. This course is designed to introduce the risk management process in the context of general corporate management. Each step in the process will be reviewed in detail, including setting the risk management context, identification of risk, measurement and analysis of potential impact, and appropriate treatment techniques. Risk financing options will be discussed in the context of global insurance and alternative capital markets. While the risk management process encompasses all types of risks, we will focus our identification discussion on the class of risks known as pure risk events; those that pose the threat of a loss if they happen, but no possibility of a gain.
Ethical issues, the environment, governance with regard to managing alternative risk vehicles such as captive insurance companies, and some health care discussion are integral to course.
Conference exploring environmentally responsible, economically sustainable, and humanly satisfying urban design. Speakers and panelists represent the non-profit sector, academic institutions and innovative private enterprise.
Szaky, the 27-year-old author of Revolution in a Bottle and a self-described eco-capitalist, leads one of the world’s fastest growing eco-friendly manufacturers. TerraCycle works with schools, organizations and major companies, including Kraft, Nabisco and others, to collect post-consumer packaging. TerraCycle, based in Trenton, N.J., then “upcycles” the collected waste into affordable, eco-friendly products that are sold in outlets such as Walmart, Target and Home Depot. Some 50,000 organizations have collected more than 1 billion pre- and post-consumer wrappers, according to the company, leading to the creation of nearly 200 products from waste.
Annual, City Year Greater Philadelphia, the Fox School of Business and Fox Net Impact partnered to host a Corporate Social Responsibility Speaker Series. This event provides the orientation for new full time and international MBA students. Following the discussion, students participated in a community service project in a local Philadelphia neighborhood with City Year Greater Philadelphia.
Annual series of special events featuring keynote speakers, guest lecturers, case competitions, a movie night and the fifth annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference focusing on environmental outcomes of business practice; the social concerns of businesses; and the governance, oversight and disclosure of ethical business conduct, among many other topics. The week of activities promotes sustainability in our instruction, research and outreach. The goal is to show students different perspectives of sustainability: the environment, eco-capitalism, trends in the corporate sector, nonprofit sector and trends in education.
March 2009 | April 2010 | April 2011
Conference focused on the “Impact of Design on Sustainable Business” and sought to explore how creative design and innovative new business ideas can work hand-in-hand to shape an eco-friendly future. Keynotes included Scott Hamlin of Looptworks and David Oakey of Interface. Followed by a panel discussion on sustainable processes and products. Addressing issues related to process -- Christophe Quenee of Grosfillex North America, Munish Suri of National Plastics and Tim McDonald of Blox and Onion Flats. Related to product development, speakers -- Rita Lacey of Close the Loop, Gabrielle Rossi of Dirty Girl Brigade and Linda Lee Mellish of Re-Store.
The Be Your Own Boss Bowl is a business plan competition focusing on social innovation ventures (for and not-for profit) in which students, alumni, faculty and staff from all 17 schools and colleges within Temple, as well as Temple organizations (library, tech transfer, etc. ) compete for prizes. The objective of the competition is to encourage the launch and sustainability of new small businesses and scalable entrepreneurial ventures by the Temple community. Along the journey, participants will learn about all aspects of entrepreneurship, make new networking connections and learn how to write highly strategic, comprehensive business plans.
The fourth in the series on Annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference exploring food access in urban communities. The Keynote presentation by Dr. Dickson Despommier, Professor at Columbia University described the urban farming model- The Vertical Farm Project. Followed by four panels addressing Food Systems ("Insiders' Views on how Local Food is Transforming Supply Chains"); Food Education ("What Program Activities are Happening in Philly to Achieve Great Food & Nutrition?"); Food Entrepreneurship ("What are the New Opportunities for Food Businesses?"); and Food Access ("How to get Great Food into Low Socioeconomic Urban Areas?")
How can we use increasingly pervasive digital technology to re-imagine the future of the city? Using digital technologies to inspire, mobilize, and create social, economic, cultural, political, and intellectual connections to solve the complex challenges that cities face today. The initiative explores how we can build a sustainable open platform that encourages and supports a vibrant ecosystem of neighbors, entrepreneurs and communities?
Modern American cities that were built on physical infrastructure almost a century ago now face historic challenges of embracing digital infrastructure to re-invent the meaning of “urban life”. The city of Philadelphia represents post-industrial American cities facing this challenge. The Nutter Administration is particularly interested in how the City can work together with local institutions like Temple University to instigate sustainable economic and community development to transform neighborhoods.
The design challenge is to leverage Temple’s campuses and other existing technology assets along North Broad Street and the surrounding area to prototype a digital ecosystem. We envision North Broadband as a vibrant, generative, and entrepreneurial ecosystem where citizens, business and government can develop new products and services to meet various needs in our city by inspiring and mobilizing our collective efforts through the use of digital technology. The design should be environmentally responsible, economically sustainable, and humanly satisfying.
Symposium for businesses, organizations, institutions of higher learning, students, and government agencies focusing on green, clean, and renewable energy technology.
Temple University’s Fox Net Impact, Institute for Social Innovation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute present the 6th Annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference: From Idea to Impact. As in previous year, this event will bring together Philadelphia social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, students and business professionals. Conference addresses fundraising best practice for social enterprise and measuring the impacts of social innovation.
The theme of the Third Annual Fox MBASA Conference is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This entirely student run conference will explore the rapidly growing popularity of CSR, how it can impact employee productivity, company image and how corporations can quantify the return on their CSR activities moving forward. These subtopics will be addressed via three panels: Finance, Marketing and HR, with each panel providing a unique perspective on CSR.
Each semester, Fox Net Impact and the Institute for Social Innovation are pleased to host an exciting night dedicated to Fostering Social Innovation for Philadelphia-area social entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and professionals.
Student sponsored lecture that features faculty speakers addressing a variety of sustainability topics. Dr. Lynne Andersson was a panelist and SRB and College Council promoted the event.
Each semester, the Fireside Chats provide an intimate forum for students and faculty to engage with highly successful social entrepreneurs.
Speakers:
Jane Golden, Executive Director and Founder of the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
Nancy Kolb, (former) Executive Director, Please Touch Museum
Jeffrey and Linda Gloss, Founders of Carelift International, Currently, Fox Social Entrepreneurs in Residence
11th annual Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference at Temple University, presented on Tuesday, Oct. 26, by Temple’s League for Entrepreneurial Women, the Office of the Provost and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI) at the Fox School of Business. A focus on combining women’s entrepreneurship with social entrepreneurship to help students understand that profit is especially powerful when it can be used to drive positive change,
The forum includes a panel discussion focused on the nuts and bolts of a competitive social innovation venture, including structuring and funding. Featured panelists include Mary Connell, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey; Linda Gloss, co-founder and president of Carelift, a business that re-distributes used medical equipment to third-world countries; Jane Golden, executive director of the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program; and Christine Rouse, founder and executive director of Acting Without Boundaries, which offers theater programs for children, teens and young adults with disabilities.
cD+i conducts interdisciplinary teaching and research that integrate design, technology and management. In particular, the Center focuses on the application of design and digital technology to seek new innovations that are economically sustainable, environmentally responsible and humanly satisfying for urban transformation. cD+i focuses on urban innovation as it recognizes that modern American cities that were built on physical infrastructure almost a century ago now face historic challenges of embracing digital infrastructure to re-invent the meaning of “urban life”. cD+i has sponsored student projects where MBA students collaborated with architecture and design students to build prototypes of new urban products and business ecosystems that can serve as a platform for urban innovations. The center is also conducting a bold, multi-disciplinary, transformative and action-oriented research program that is aimed at transforming cities by mobilizing distributed intellectual, financial, technological and social resources by designing and building urban innovation platforms.
The Fox School and its partner affiliate School of Tourism and Hospitality Management has created a network of faculty and staff who are interested in sustainable business development and who bring those interests to the classroom.
The members of the Sustainability Network provide thought leadership to Fox and STHM by: defining our broad concept of sustainability; identifying ways we can more effectively integrate sustainable practice into the management of our school; creating the message and brand we wish to promote; working on strategies to integrate sustainability across the business curriculum; and encouraging collaborative partnerships for research and curricula development.
This dynamic network grew from a grass root initiative led by only a handful of faculty. Today, the network continues to grow with more than 45 members actively engaged in scholarship, teaching and providing enriched student experiences related to our sustainability themes.
The Institute for Social Innovation is designed to inspire and empower the next generation of change-makers to solve the world’s most pressing social problems. Working across Temple’s 17 colleges, the Institute carries out research, influences the creatio
The goal of Fox Students for Responsible Business is to improve the world by growing and strengthening a network of leaders who use the power of business to make a positive net social, environmental, and economic impact. Fox SRB is open to all students interested in using business skills for social good. www.srbonline.org
Students for Responsible Business gave its first loan to Kiva.org in October of 2008. Since then, SRB has promoted microfinance to students as one of the most effective ways of international economic development. SRBs first loan was made to a young lady named Unanani Abdallah in Tanzania who sought the loan to start a Beauty Salon.
The organization’s Green Foods Initiative (GFI) strives is to improve the dining options available to members of the Philadelphia and Temple University communities. Through the Green Foods Initiative SRB looks to strengthen the infrastructures of local food vendors by instructing them on sustainable food marketing techniques and by introducing them to local food manufacturers who will provides them with organic and freshly grown food products.
SRBs marketing team actively promotes various events, products and services that give both responsible businesses and organizations exposure to Temple community as well as great real world professional experience to members.
This study examines companies’ costs to comply with SOX 404 and identifies factors that are associated with these costs. SOX 404 costs can be classified into three categories: internal labor costs, external consulting and technology expenses, and auditor attestation charges. While prior research has examined audit fees associated with SOX 404, we examine both total costs and auditor attestation costs associated with SOX 404. Based on a sample of companies that voluntarily disclosed SOX 404 cost information during the period from January 2003 to September 2005, we find that the mean (median) total compliance costs for Section 404 is $2.2 ($1.2) million. Regression analyses indicate that the total compliance costs are positively associated with firm size, the presence of material internal control weaknesses, the cost of setting up new computer systems and establishing formal internal control policies, the involvement of large auditors, the appointment of new CEOs, and are negatively associated with firms in regulated industries and firms that raised new financing. Firm size and the incidence of material weaknesses are also the drivers of SOX 404 audit costs, one component of total SOX 404 costs.
Recent debates on audit committee financial expertise have focused on ‘‘accounting’’ and ‘‘nonaccounting’’ financial experts. A significant proportion of firms do not appoint accounting financial experts (i.e., persons with specialized accounting/ auditing experience) to their audit committees. We examine the determinants of firms’ choice of the ‘‘audit committee financial experts’’ for a sample of Fortune 1000 firms. We test the relation between the demand for accounting financial experts (AFEs), potential litigation risk, and corporate governance. We find that firms with higher litigation risk are more likely to have AFEs on their audit committee. However, the association between litigation risk and the likelihood of appointing accounting financial experts occurs for firms with relatively strong governance but not for those with weak governance. Thus, our findings indicate that (1) companies with demand for accounting financial experts—measured by potential litigation risk—seem to be able to secure
accounting financial experts, but (2) such benefits only accrue in the presence of otherwise strong corporate governance.
This study, by performing a path regression analysis, examines a mediating effect of customer satisfaction between corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and firm value for US hotels and restaurants. Further, the study differentiates positive and negative CSR activities in the analysis. Findings suggest that the customer satisfaction does not play a role of a mediator between the two factors for both hotels and restaurants.
Materialism is a defining aspect of many societal cultures. Unfortunately, a large body of research has documented a negative relationship between materialism and indicators of non-work personal well-being. This study extends the materialism research into the organizational domain, investigating whether materialistic values are related to work-related indicators of personal well-being. Our field study results indicate that materialistic values are negatively associated with a range of indicators of work-related personal well-being, including intrinsic and extrinsic reward satisfaction, job satisfaction, and career satisfaction. Further analyses suggest that the relationship between materialism and work-related personal well-being is driven by the happiness and centrality dimensions of materialism, and not by the success dimension. Implications for future research and practice are presented.
In this paper we describe three distinct but interrelated processes — spillover and catch up, brokering and bottom up — that link globalization to entrepreneurship in emerging economies. We then outline an ambitious research agenda concerning entrepreneurship in the emerging economy context. Is most of such entrepreneurship Kirznerian or Schumpeterian? How do brokering processes work in this context? What informal and formal institutions will emerge to govern entrepreneurship? Does entrepreneurship at the base of the pyramid represent just another MNE-inspired spillover, or will the severe constraints lead to truly revolutionary innovations in business models, governance arrangements and social relations? Most fundamentally, will the entrepreneurial processes in emerging economies conform to or transform the organization of entrepreneurship as we know it?
In spite of growing concern for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in various industries including the hospitality industry, the relationship between CSR activities and financial performance is a rarely examined subject in the hospitality context. Especially, research measuring the separate impacts of positive and negative CSR activities on companies’ financial performances remains as yet unconsidered. This study, thus, examines different impacts of positive and negative CSR activities on financial performance of hotel, casino, restaurant and airline companies, theoretically based on positivity and negativity effects. Findings suggest mixed results across different sectors and will contribute to companies’ appropriate strategic decision making for CSR activities by providing more precise information regarding the impacts of each directional CSR activity on financial performance.
This article examines the activities of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the direct sales industry through an ethnographic case study of micro-entrepreneurship in the Brazilian Amazon. In large emerging economies, intra-country heterogeneity poses challenges for MNCs. Because national trends often obscure regional variations, the case study highlights the realities of the rural Amazon, and the specific challenges and potential for MNCs. Findings from the case study support three propositions. The development of direct sales networks in remote areas facilitates: (1) additional entrepreneurship, and encourages a progression from necessity to opportunity entrepreneurship; (2) social change in gender norms, including higher level of female empowerment and decision-making within families and communities; and (3) a reconciliation of local and global values on beauty and fashion for customers, leading to stronger brand relationships. By leveraging micro-entrepreneurship, MNCs can compete with local firms, even in rural areas lacking basic infrastructure, to the benefit of communities and individuals.
The author describes his experience in policy analysis and forecasting related to energy markets, working in or for the US government. The paper explores how the experience in the energy industry transfers to topics that transcend to relevant community development.
We offer an inductive meta-analysis of the social entrepreneurship literature. Methodologically, we illustrate the usefulness of network and semantic network analysis in identifying and interpreting the concepts that provide coherence to a largely conceptual and analytic scholarly literature, or indeed any set of texts. The result of this rigorous approach is an orderly mapping of a conceptual framework for understanding social entrepreneurship, including unifying themes, areas of contention and promising avenues for future research.
The Securities and Exchange Commission introduced accelerated filing requirements for corporate 10-K and 10-Q filings in 2003. The major accounting firms and some companies expressed concerns about the acceleration, arguing that other changes in financial reporting and disclosure requirements, corporate governance, and auditing standards would make it difficult to meet the shorter deadlines while maintaining good quality reporting. Using longitudinal samples of companies for the period 2001–2006, we examine two lags in the corporate reporting process: the audit report lag the number of days between the fiscal year-end and the audit report date , and the earnings announcement lag the number of days between the fiscal year-end and the earnings announcement date . Our results indicate that both lags increased significantly in the two-year period 2001–2002 prior to the introduction of the accelerated filing requirements and in the period 2003–2006 when the new filing requirements were in effect. Furthermore, when we examine the sample of companies for which both the audit lag and earnings nnouncement lags are available, we find that the likelihood that companies announced earnings prior to the audit report date increased considerably over the period 2001–2006, but particularly during 2004–2006 when Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 SOX was in effect. Thus it appears that an unintended consequence of recent policy changes is that companies are less likely to wait for completion of their audits to announce earnings. We also examine the quality of reporting measured by absolute discretionary accruals and quality of accruals for the sample period. We find that long audit report lags or 10-K filings lags were not associated with lower quality of earnings or accruals except for a mild effect in 2004 , providing no support for the concern that companies that have to rush to meet the deadlines may suffer a loss of reporting quality. However, when we examine potential reporting quality effects of early earnings announcements,we find some mild evidence that for those companies that made earnings announcements several days in advance of completion of their audits, the quality of earnings/accruals was lower in some years during the period 2003–2006.
In discussing the $1 trillion bailout of the U.S. Financial Institutions, virtually every Member of Congress and almost every government official—including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Obama—has blamed the crisis on the “greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street”. Almost all of the financial executives involved in the crisis, from CEOs to middle managers, are products of our business schools. Additionally, there is a high correlation between the recent unethical behavior of a number of multinational corporations and the number of MBA holders in their top ranks. As a consequence, many critics are convinced that there is something wrong with our business schools. This paper presents the causes and consequences of what ails business school students and graduates today: the toxic teaching of bad management theories. These theories—grounded in the assumptions of economics—include determinism and materialism, the cult of profit maximization and a pessimistic view of human nature as totally self-interested. By teaching these theories, business schools are inculcating values of materialism and greed that create a life-long pursuit of money and status. This makes it all too easy for business managers to choose expediency and short-term profits over ethical behavior. Further, these materialistic values create higher levels of depression, anxiety and psychological disorders as well as make our students less cooperative and more anti-social as individuals long after they leave academia.
This article investigates how Indian pharmaceutical firms, facing discontinuous institutional changes in their domestic environment due to economic liberalization and intellectual property reforms, have undertaken organizational transformation. Internationalization of resources and product markets constitutes an important component of organizational transformation for local firms in emerging economies. Using longitudinal data on 206 Indian pharmaceutical firms from 1995--2004, we find that firms' access to international technological and financial resources enables product market internationalization. Furthermore, we theorize and find support for our predictions that the association between international resources and markets is conditioned by time and business group affiliation, and product market internationalization affects financial performance. Several implications thus emerge for theory and practice associated with the sources of competitiveness in emerging economy firms and their transformation into globally competitive multinational firms.
Previous research on unethical business behavior usually has focused on its impact from a financial or philosophical perspective. While such foci are important to our understanding of unethical behavior, we argue that another set of outcomes linked to individual well-being are critical as well. Using data from psychological, criminological, and epidemiological sources, we propose a model of unethical behavior and well-being. This model postulates that decrements in well-being result from stress or trauma stemming from being victimized by, engaging in, or witnessing unethical behavior, or even from being associated with individuals involved in such behavior.
Can valuing money and material possessions lead to conflict between work and family? In this paper, we build on Carlson and Kacmar's call for more research on personal values in the context of the work-family interface. In a field study, we examined the relationship between materialism and two components of work-family conflict: work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). Results supported our main hypotheses that materialism is associated with both forms of work-family conflict. Further, work overload mediated the relationship between materialism and WIF, while FIW moderated the association between materialism and work overload, thus supporting a model of mediated moderation. By linking materialism to work-family conflict, this study adds to the growing evidence of the deleterious effects of holding materialistic values.
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