Sean Valentine and Roland E. Kidwell
This study aims to gauge business school student perceptions of the academic conduct of college professors, to determine students' ethical evaluations of certain potential faculty…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to gauge business school student perceptions of the academic conduct of college professors, to determine students' ethical evaluations of certain potential faculty behaviors. The relationships between perceived faculty misconduct and several student demographic characteristics including sex and academic classification were also investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
A large sample of undergraduate students attending one of two diverse universities responded to an anonymous survey. Responses were analyzed using univariate and multivariate statistical methods.
Findings
Behaviors such as giving lower grades because of opposing opinions in the classroom and sharing an undergraduate student's private information with colleagues were rated the most harshly by student respondents. The 55 items that we used to measure professors' academic misconduct distilled into two basic dimensions: “inappropriate sexual situations” involving students and coworkers and “inappropriate familiarity with students.” Student sex and academic classification were related to one or both of these dimensions.
Research limitations/implications
The study did not address whether faculty misconduct might be seen as incompetent by the students rather than unethical. The survey also did not ascertain if or how often the student respondents had observed the behaviors that they judged as unethical or ethical.
Practical implications
Faculty who wish to be more effective teachers and role models should realize their behaviors are being scrutinized and evaluated by students who make ethical judgments about teacher conduct.
Originality/value
The study makes an important contribution by distilling 55 established items on ethical behaviors into two durable ethics scales regarding faculty‐student relationships: “inappropriate sexual situations” and “inappropriate familiarity with students.” These scales can be applied in future research.
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Gina Vega and Roland E. Kidwell
This article advances a conceptual typology delineating the differences and similarities between business- and social-sector new venture creators. Our classification scheme…
Abstract
This article advances a conceptual typology delineating the differences and similarities between business- and social-sector new venture creators. Our classification scheme differentiates business and social entrepreneurs, considering characteristics of social entrepreneurs in a larger entrepreneurial context.Within a conceptual 2x2 typology based on two dimensions: drive (passion vs. business) and desired return (financial ROI vs. social ROI), we identify and classify 80 examples of new venture creators into one of the quadrants of an enterprise model of entrepreneurs. Preliminary results reveal similarities between social and traditional entrepreneurs and differentiate social entrepreneurs in terms of traits, goals, tendencies, and motivational sources.
Roland E. Kidwell and Linda Achey Kidwell
The growth of information technology as a means of electronic surveillance has led to a great deal of research which managers need to evaluate and apply to the workplace. To aid…
Abstract
The growth of information technology as a means of electronic surveillance has led to a great deal of research which managers need to evaluate and apply to the workplace. To aid this process, managers should understand the perspectives that guide research agendas. The assumptions of the investigators influence what questions are asked about electronic surveillance, how inquiry is conducted, and how results are interpreted. Summarizes research that employs different organizational perspectives in studying electronic surveillance, and attempts to aid managers in applying this research on the job.
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Gary M. Fleischman, Roland E. Kidwell and Linda Achey Kidwell
The purpose of this paper is to trace the entrepreneurial opportunity identification process of William Oscar Carpenter (WOC), a nineteenth century farmer, who went to California…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to trace the entrepreneurial opportunity identification process of William Oscar Carpenter (WOC), a nineteenth century farmer, who went to California in 1850 to make his fortune in gold mining and ended up starting several new business ventures. The paper seeks to recount WOC's experiences and then apply them to similar issues faced by entrepreneurs in a modern‐day developing economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Using qualitative inquiry through archival research, the paper examines a compilation of WOC's letters to his future wife in New York. The letters provide a detailed account of the hardships and poor living conditions faced by gold seekers. The letters are examined and interpreted in the context of opportunity identification and the California Gold Rush, then applied to contemporary entrepreneurs.
Findings
WOC's letters elucidate the difficulties encountered making the trip from the East Coast to California, give later generations an historical viewpoint on a variety of social issues, and detail WOC's entrepreneurial activities in California. After a brief period as a successful miner, WOC's business career developed and branched out in different directions as he perceived entrepreneurial opportunities associated with the California Gold Rush. His story is an excellent example of opportunity recognition that has implications for current entrepreneurial activity.
Originality/value
WOC's awareness, anticipation, and timely action regarding business opportunity can be related, compared and contrasted with entrepreneurial activity today. The paper discusses these implications in light of opportunity recognition research and developing entrepreneurial economies.
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Linda Achey Kidwell and Roland E. Kidwell
This paper aims to examine the lives of early twentieth century opera star Louise Homer and her composer husband Sidney, and their attempts to manage two successful careers and a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the lives of early twentieth century opera star Louise Homer and her composer husband Sidney, and their attempts to manage two successful careers and a family of six children. Almost 100 years ago, the Homers – a rare example of a two‐career family – employed several adaptive strategies that academic researchers later suggested for twenty‐first century dual‐career couples.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering the work‐family literature, two modern models of managing and coping with the stresses of dual careers were examined and the Homer family were then considered to determine whether they employed similar strategies. Letters were used from the Homers and their children, other original documents and secondary research in investigating the couple's efforts to handle the challenges of dual‐careers when the concept of a woman pursuing a profession outside the home was a novelty.
Findings
Several adaptive strategies recently “discovered” to be used by upper‐income dual‐career couples with children seem just as applicable to 1911 when the Homers' fifth child was born. The findings underscore the idea that challenges perceived as unusual and unique to one generation have been dealt with successfully by past generations.
Originality/value
The paper provides an historical perspective on newly suggested strategies for dual‐career couples in the work‐family literature. Such strategies have been used for at least a century even though the dual‐career concept only became prominent in the last four decades. This paper is one of a few that examines dual‐career couples in an historical context, and indicates how the past can inform those who face contemporary workplace phenomena.
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When organizations implement continuous quality improvement (CQI) programs, managers and employees are faced with massive change, often requiring a renegotiation of the…
Abstract
When organizations implement continuous quality improvement (CQI) programs, managers and employees are faced with massive change, often requiring a renegotiation of the psychological contract between employer and employee. This paper discusses generational differences in reactions to major change initiatives as well as change management issues in public and nonprofit organizations. Its specific focus is an organizational unit in the nonprofit sector whose CQI program, which required more employee involvement, was met with varied reactions among older veterans of its small workforce. Observations of the unit and its employees are used to develop a typology of reactions to major change among long‐time, older workers. Strategies are provided to managers who must develop methods to deal with adverse reactions to major organizational changes such as CQI. The typology may be useful to management development specialists who are attempting to transform organizations with significant age diversity.
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This conceptual chapter introduces an interdisciplinary model of emotional ambivalence using an adapted framework based on the Affective Events Theory (AET). Given the…
Abstract
This conceptual chapter introduces an interdisciplinary model of emotional ambivalence using an adapted framework based on the Affective Events Theory (AET). Given the preoccupation in the current literature with studying affective disposition and discrete emotions, there is opportunity for researchers to explore the presence and influence of conflicting emotions. I use the organizational context of Personal Web Usage (PWU) monitoring to set the stage for a hypothetical discussion of the AET-based model of emotional ambivalence. The likelihood of conflict in the cultural norms and values associated with both monitoring activity and employee behavior presents an opportune setting to study emotional ambivalence. After an in-depth description of the model and its application to the PWU-based monitoring context, I conclude with a brief discussion of potential areas for future research.