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Management faculty members have had a longstanding interest in the design of the Introduction to Management Course as it presents an opportune point to provide students with the foundational skills for success in their Management Studies. Since many Management majors take these courses during their freshman year in the university, the courses are, intentionally or not, also settings for helping students transition to the university both academically and socially. This paper reports on a study of the 4-year outcomes associated with this potential of Introduction to Management courses to help with students' transition into university-level studies. Specifically, it contrasts 4-year graduation outcomes among three different Introduction to Management courses taken by a freshman business student cohort of a large, public, university. The study results show a course that focused on life skill building was associated with better 4-year graduation outcomes than theory-driven and business overview classes. Contrary to expectations, the study indicated that there were no significant differences among students enrolled in the classes in terms of other important student characteristics known to impact graduation rates, including underrepresented minority (URM) and first-generation status, SAT or ACT scores, self-reported GPA, and exposure to university-level URM student success and achievement programs.

Women-owned businesses are not only among the fastest-growing entrepreneurial ventures in the world but also have a significant impact on other women businesses and the economies at large. This paper uses an in-depth multiple-case study design to study twenty-two Women Entrepreneurs (WE) from diverse geographical, social, economic, and industrial sectors in two of the world's fastest-growing emerging markets, India and the Philippines. The main message of our study is that in emerging markets, WEs ability to (simultaneously) sell products or offer solutions to niche segments and their capabilities to optimize resources by being innovative in identifying sources of funding, despite the institutional voids in emerging markets, enhances the competitive advantage of their businesses. To this extent, we introduce 'A Framework to Explain the Paths of Building Women-Owned Businesses ' Competitive Advantage ' and identify some 'propositions ' as anchors for further theory building. Finally, the findings of this study provide guidelines for entrepreneurs, educators, and policymakers that boosting women 's entrepreneurship and economic empowerment requires systemic solutions at scale. Key Words: Women Entrepreneurs, Emerging Markets, Case-Study Research Method, India, Philippines, Opportunity Recognition, Competitive Advantage, Social Networks, 1. Introduction The international business community realizes that 'the emerging world, long a source of cheap labor, now rivals rich countries for business innovation and that these innovations are changing [...]

High-impact practices (HIPs) have been shown to be effective in helping first-year students successfully transition into college. However, since most of the research on HIPs has been done in small liberal arts settings, little is known about the efficacy and implementation practices of HIPs in large, public, primarily nonresidential institutions, or business schools within these institutions. This article seeks to address this need. Our study suggests that a comparison among students involved in HIPs versus those who forgo the experiences shows significant differences in impact, particularly on degree completion. However, further analysis shows that the gains were primarily achieved among students who were not members of underrepresented minority (URM) groups. As institutions face pressure from key constituents to improve graduation rates while reducing achievement gaps, it is becoming increasingly important for administrators and faculty to assess which approaches are most likely to achieve both these aims, particularly as scaling HIPs to larger settings is expensive and fraught with difficulties. This study reports on the effectiveness of HIPs for supporting the success of both URM and non-URM students and makes recommendations for building student success programs that ensure the success of all students, especially in large, diverse higher education institutions.

The capstone strategy course is used in many management education programs to provide practical business relevance as a means for students to transition to the business world. We conducted an empirical study to determine to what extent capstone strategy courses are teaching the following four skills that prepare students to meet business job demands: theoretical, practical, applied, and reflective. We found that professors teach applied skills the most, whereas they teach reflective skills the least. However, there was considerable variation in professors' assessments of the extent to which each skill is taught in their capstone strategy classes. This finding suggests that there is a wide variety of course configurations taught across business schools. We also found that students were learning these skills differentially based on whether they had a business undergraduate background and business work experience. However, all students were learning reflective skills the least. We conclude that providing students with the four skills will go a long way toward ensuring that future managerial decisions are grounded on thoughtful iterative analyses that take into account ambiguities, multiple perspectives, and long-term, systemic implications.

Information overload and rapid technology changes are among the most significant challenges to all professions, particularly information technology workers and librarians. Little is known about the effectiveness of partnerships among librarians and faculty members that result in context-based library instruction. In this study, the authors evaluated one particular partnership focused on improving the information competence of management information systems undergraduates. A comparison of pre- and post library-instruction surveys showed that students developed greater confidence with course activities and higher standards in research. (Contains 3 tables.)

Rapidly accelerating advances in information and communication technologies have profound social, economic, and geo-political impacts worldwide. This study, which is part of an ongoing global collaboration, examines the state of information technology (IT) education and employment in Pakistan. Analysis of the data collected through a survey of IT graduates in Pakistan and other sources indicate possible gender and geographic imbalances in the supply and demand for IT skills in the country. An information technology education maturity model is used to objectively assess the adequacy of computing education in the country with a view to prepare graduates for jobs within the country and worldwide. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations of this study would be of use in other developing countries, especially those that are at similar stages of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]