Geraldine Rosa Henderson, Tracy Rank-Christman, Tiffany Barnett White, Kimberly Dillon Grantham, Amy L. Ostrom and John G. Lynch
Intercultural competence has been found to be increasingly important. The purpose of this paper is to understand how intercultural competence impacts service providers’ ability to…
Abstract
Purpose
Intercultural competence has been found to be increasingly important. The purpose of this paper is to understand how intercultural competence impacts service providers’ ability to recognition faces of both black and white consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
Two experiments were administered to understand how intercultural competence impacts recognition of black and white consumer faces.
Findings
The authors find that the more intercultural competence that respondents report with blacks, the better they are at distinguishing between black regular customers and black new shoppers in an experiment. The authors find no impact of intercultural competence on the ability of respondents to differentiate between white consumers. These findings hold for respondents in the USA and South Africa.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation of this research is that the studies were conducted in a controlled lab setting. Thus, one could imagine additional noise from a true consumer setting might increase the effects of these results. Another limitation is the focus on only black and white consumer faces. In this paper, the authors focused on these two races, specifically to keep the factorial design as simplified as possible.
Originality/value
The implications of this research are important given that the ability of employees’ recognizing customer faces can affect customers’ day-to-day interactions in the marketplace.
Details
Keywords
Mathew Joseph, George W. Stone, Kimberly Grantham, Nukhet Harmancioglu and Essam Ibrahim
This exploratory study attempts to capture some of the principal benefits/factors attributable to service learning/community service projects, from a student perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This exploratory study attempts to capture some of the principal benefits/factors attributable to service learning/community service projects, from a student perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 67 males and 83 females (16 graduate, 71 seniors, and 63 juniors) participated in the study.
Findings
Students believe that their college experience is preparing them for the job market, that critical thinking has been enhanced, and that their college academic experience has emphasized community service upon graduation.
Practical implications
The results increase one's knowledge of the benefits of service learning since so much emphasis is currently being placed on improving the critical thinking and problem‐solving ability of undergraduate business students.
Originality/value
Practitioners would be interested in understanding the impact that service learning can have on the problem‐solving ability of potential employees. If additional research could advance the proposition that students with service learning experience are generally superior in terms of their problem‐solving skills to students with no similar experience, then evidence of a service learning component on a student résumé suddenly adds value to the employer.
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Kimberly A. Griffin, Candace Miller and Josipa Roksa
The purpose of this study is to examine how student agency influences career decision-making for doctoral students in biological sciences. The authors address the following…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how student agency influences career decision-making for doctoral students in biological sciences. The authors address the following questions: How do biological science graduate students navigate career indecision? And how does agency relate to their experiences with career indecision?
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed interview data collected from 84 PhD biology graduate students. Researchers used a grounded theory approach. After open codes were developed and data were coded, code reports were generated, which were used to determine themes.
Findings
More than half of the sample had not committed to a career path, and undecided students were bifurcated into two categories: Uncommitted and Uncertain. Uncommitted graduate students demonstrated agency in their approach and were focused on exploration and development. Uncertain students demonstrated less agency, were more fearful and perceived less control and clarity about their options and strategies to pursue career goals.
Practical implications
Findings suggest some forms of indecision can be productive and offer institutional leaders guidance for increasing the efficacy of career development and exploration programming.
Originality/value
Research on doctoral student career decision-making is often quantitative and rarely explores the role of agency. This qualitative study focuses on the relationship between student agency and career indecision, which is an understudied aspect of career development.