Search

An intent of many business programs is to enhance the critical thinking capabilities of their students. Since AACSB accreditation requires evidence that business schools fulfill their goals, our students were required to take the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). As expected, the CCTST was significantly related to SAT performance and to Business Core GPA. Nonetheless, the especially strong relationships with components thought to emphasize critical thinking, such as performance in the business capstone course, were not observed. SAT scores alone predicted 56% of the variance in CCTST. None of our other predictors added significantly to this total.

Accrediting bodies, including Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-International (AACSB), require evidence that business schools fulfill their stated missions. This often involves using the Major Field Achievement Test in Business (MFAT-B). In this article, the authors studied MFAT-B performance for its relationship to grade point average (GPA) and to general intellect to determine if the correlations between the variables were significant, given that the test is intended to reflect business knowledge. As expected, business core GPA was a significant predictor of MFAT-B performance. However, contrary to expectations, other GPAs and intellectual aptitude predicted the test scores equally well. Most important, student motivation was also associated with MFAT-B performance, and it enhanced prediction even after the authors accounted for other indexes. (Contains 4 tables.)

Standardized questionnaires often have been used to elicit student opinions on issues regarding accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business--International (AACSB). These questionnaires require students to rate a wide range of items that may or may not be important to them. In this study, the authors supplemented these questionnaires by asking graduating business students to evaluate their university experiences by describing aspects that were especially successful and factors that needed improvement. This open-format, "critical incidents" approach to outcomes assessment readily generated recollections of incidents useful in guiding program change. The incidents provided additional perspective on data obtained from the College Student Experiences Questionnaire. (Contains 5 tables.)

Ratings from an operational assessment centre (AC) were examined as a function of the order that candidates participated in the assessments. Assessment scheduling had a significant multivariate effect on the preconsensus exercise-based ratings. The effect was small, however, accounting for at most 1% of the rating variance. Differences in exercise order were seen as being unlikely to result in serious unfairness to applicants, although programme designers should be sensitive to the possibility of early vs. late-day performance differences., The assessment centre (AC) method has been used for many years to help make a variety of employment decisions (Thornton, 1992). Use of the method typically requires that candidates participate [...]

It has been proposed that the break from work provided by an occasional absence may help employees cope with various types of stress and thereby lead to an improvement in their overall condition when they return. In this study, the mean levels of nurses' daily ratings of personal problems, tiredness, ill-health, sleep disruption, stress and job dissatisfaction were compared statistically across a period encompassing one shift of attendance, an absence, and another shift of attendance. As expected, significant decreases in most variables were observed between the day of the absence and the subsequent shift. However, improvements were seldom found between the shifts immediately preceding and subsequent to the absence. The findings were interpreted as suggesting that occasional absences may help maintain physical and psychological states at manageable levels even if they do not result in immediately noticeable improvements on the part of returning employee., Employee absenteeism has been estimated to cost the North American economy billions in lost productivity each year (Rhodes & Steers, 1990). Accordingly, successful attendance improvement programmes might be expected to [...]

B.M. Bass (1985) proposed that the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire consists of 5 factors: 2 facets of transactional leadership (Contingent Reward and Management-by-Exception) and 3 facets of transformational leadership (Charismatic Leadership, Individualized Consideration, and Intellectual Stimulation). A confirmatory factor analysis involving hospital nurses revealed some support for this 5-factor representation, but a 2-factor Active-Passive model was also tenable, because the transformational components and Contingent Reward were all highly correlated. Alternatively, differential relationships to a series of outcomes, including intent to leave and J.P. Meyer and N.J. Allen's (1991) facets of organizational commitment, were observed as a function of the leader behaviors involved. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

The construct validity of J.P. Meyer and N.J. Allen's (1991) 3-component model of organizational commitment was assessed. Despite the large error components associated with some of the items from Meyer and Allen's scales, the existence of 3 facets of commitment (affective, continuance, and normative) was generally supported by a confirmatory factor analysis of data from 2,301 nurses. Moreover, some of the expected differential relationships of these facets to antecedents and outcomes of commitment were observed in both the nurse sample and a sample comprising 80 bus operators. However, the facets generally did not relate strongly or differentially to a set of rating and nonrating measures of job performance. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

The link between absenteeism and individual employee performance is reviewed through a meta-analysis of data from 46 previously published articles. The meta-analysis indicates a significant correlation between frequent absences and poor job performance ratings. However, the variation in the different studies used in the meta-analysis could not be accounted for by statistical artifacts. Alternative theoretical explanations for the variation such as supervisor annoyance and stress reduction are provided.

Assessment center ratings of eight abilities from each of five situational exercises were examined for their cross-situational consistency and discriminant validity. A series of confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the ratings were largely (if not totally) situation specific, and that assessors failed to distinguish among the eight target abilities. These results combined with previous research suggest that the assessment center method measures mainly situation-specific performance, not cross-situational managerial abilities. We suggest that the intended constructs might be better measured if more ability-related behaviors were elicited within each exercise and if the cognitive demands placed on assessors were reduced. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

The anti-smoking campaign appears to influence attitudes toward smokers but previous research suggests the effect is restricted to nonsmokers. Psychological attractiveness findings predict that smokers would find other smokers attractive while nonsmokers would prefer nonsmokers. The present study tested smoker and nonsmoker attitudes toward smoking and nonsmoking targets. As predicted, smokers preferred smokers and nonsmokers preferred nonsmokers, although smokers in general were rated less attractive. Physical attractiveness ratings were not influenced by status. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]