Academic literature on the topic 'Business Administration, Marketing|Business Administration, Sports Management'

In 1987 the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) appointed a task force to develop undergraduate and graduate curricular guidelines for institutions preparing sport management professionals. The undergraduate guidelines address the three components of a sport management curriculum: (a) the foundational areas of study comprising full courses in business management, marketing, economics, accounting, finance, and computer science; (b) the application areas of study composed of sport foundations (e.g., sport sociology, sport psychology, sport history /philosophy, women in sport), sport law, sport economics, sport marketing/promotion, and sport administration; and (c) the field experiences including practical and internships. The graduate guidelines build upon the undergraduate preparation and include (a) two required courses in research methods and a project or thesis; (b) advanced application electives in sport law, sport economics, sport marketing/promotion, sport administration, facility design, and event management; and (c) the field experiences of practical and internships.

Subject area Marketing management, Sports marketing. Study level/applicability The case is targeted at students of postgraduate and undergraduate programmes in business administration, specialising in marketing management/sports marketing. Case overview The Hockey India League (HIL) failed to make its mark. After the grand success of the Indian Premier League in India, there were hopes afloat for the HIL to follow suit. However, while the Pro Kabaddi League and the Premier Badminton League received much appreciation from a devout audience, the HIL did not quite live up to its expectations. With its evident failure for two consecutive seasons, investor sentiments were at an all-time low and most stakeholders wanted to back out. The future of the HIL now hangs in the balance, with the uncertainty of whether it should be shut down or given one more chance. Expected learning outcomes The participants are required to understand the Indian sports environment and the factors that play a major role in making a sport not only popular but also lucrative from the point of view of the investors. They will be called upon to improvise on the existing format of a sport, making it more attractive to the audience. Through such an exercise, they will understand how strategic changes to basic game formats can impact its success or failure. The case will encourage participants to think about viable business models for the revival of different types of sport. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the market demand of sport lottery in China from the following perspectives: available types and varieties of sport lottery, number of retail outlets, public welfare funds, promotion costs, per capita income, and population. Design/methodology/approach As the earliest province of issuing the sales of sport lottery and having one of the largest sales volumes in China, Guangdong Province was chosen for conducting the current study. Data were obtained from 14 sport lottery administration and distribution centers and statistics bureaus of 14 corresponding municipal cities. Multiple regression analysis was used. Findings Multiple regression analyses revealed that number of retail outlets, promotion cost, per capita income, and public welfare funds were positively (p<0.05) predictive of sport lottery sales; however, available types and varieties of sport lottery were not found to be significantly (p>0.05) related to total sport lottery sales. The findings are discussed in the context of theories and practices in the marketing and administration of sport lottery sales in China. Research limitations/implications Similar studies are suggested to be conducted in provinces and regions beyond Guangdong Province. Originality/value This study combined socioeconomic characteristics of the population, lottery game characteristics and management factors for the first time.

Sport E-government platform is an important means to share sports information resource, to promote sport administration and sport management information, to strengthen sport events management and sport venue construction. For the status of software development in platform building process, this paper studies software framework. First, according to the standards and norms of the national E-government construction, combines with the experience of the sport E-government construction, researches software functional framework; Second, researches SSH-MVC technical framework for developers to accomplish specific business processes on top of the frame; Finally, researches three-level security framework consisted by client, Web server, enterprise-grade information system. The content of this study, improves the level of sport E-government, reduces the technical requirements of developers, changes the traditional software development model.

Now, the low carbon economy has been becoming a new economy hot issue in the world. Using the high carbon sports venues as the case, this paper defines the low carbon operation from the view of the business administration based on the operation management theory, and expresses the important meanings of the low carbon operation of the venues, meanwhile proposes the related countermeasures of low carbon operation of the high carbon sports venues depending on the value engineering theory, therefore explores the new thoughts to develop the low carbon economy in China.

PurposeSport teams not only compete with other teams for the ultimate prize but also for a share of customer mind space. For winning fan loyalty and resultant economic success, management of sport teams need to focus on team-branding, and thus, developing and measuring a team’s brand equity becomes essential, which is the core purpose of this paper. Design/methodology/approachCurrent work builds upon previous efforts to develop a reliable and, more importantly, a parsimonious sport team brand-equity (STBE) index, as opposed to the usual multi-dimensional reflective scales, too complicated and not of much use to practitioners. FindingsThe authors propose that the STBE index having eight indicators is enough to capture the full domain of the concept and provide a snapshot about the ability of a team’s administration to create strong emotional bonds with its fans. Research limitations/implicationsApart from demographics of the respondents, an important drawback is that the STBE index is from the perspective of television or online viewers and not those watching live in stadiums. This work contributes to extant sports brand equity literature by proposing a simpler scale made of casual variables, as opposed to reflective scales running into large number of similar items, a first of its kind in this domain. The authors also are able to forward the growing call for developing more of such scales through this effort. Practical implicationsNot only can the present scale be easily used by sport-marketers and researchers, it will be especially useful for marketing managers who want to associate their brands with sport teams, as it affects performance of their own brand. Originality/valueThe work represents a novel effort for developing a team-based brand equity and, to the authors’ knowledge, has not been attempted in this literature before.

Purpose For this study, the Jordan case provided the context for investigating Chinese trademark law with the purpose of answering how and why Jordan lost the legal rights to the Chinese version of his name in China. The results from that investigation were used to better explain the phenomena of transliteration and trademark squatting in relation to sport brands and athletes. The purpose of this paper is to formulate suggestions for protecting sport brands and athletes from trademark squatting in China. Design/methodology/approach The authors used traditional legal methodology to investigate the influence of transliteration on trademark squatting in China based on the real-life context provided by the facts in Jordan. First, all reported materials from Chinese courts on the Jordan case were collected and analyzed by the research team, which included an investigator who is fluent in Chinese. Second, the authors conducted a collection, review, and analysis of China’s trademark law, the international trademark law that controls court decisions in China, and the literature on trademark squatting in China. The results from the investigations were used to formulate a description of Jordan that details how the process of transliteration facilitates trademark squatting in China. Findings The findings revealed a loophole within the Chinese administration of trademark regulation through which trademark squatters use the process of transliteration to infringe on trademark rights belonging to senior, foreign brands. Furthermore, the findings lead us to suggest that sport brands are particularly vulnerable to this type of trademark squatting in China. In Jordan, Qiaodan Sports exploited the transliteration loophole to obtain trademark ownership of Qiaodan to the detriment of Brand Jordan and, to a lesser extent, Chinese consumers. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature by conceptualizing a “transliteration loophole” that facilitates trademark squatting in China. Further, this is the first study to focus on how the concepts of transliteration and trademark squatting influence celebrity athletes and sport brands. Practical implications For foreign celebrity athletes and sport brands, the case should alert them of their vulnerability to trademark squatting of transliterations assigned to them by sport broadcasters or sport consumers in China. For instructors of sport law and sport marketing courses, the Jordan case provides teachable lessons on the value of trademark, the process of trademark squatting, and the process of transliteration and its relation to trademark squatting in China. Social implications Socially, studies in trademark squatting and Chinese trademark law are needed as China continues to expand its intellectual property regulations. The People’s Republic of China started regulating trademarks in the 1980s and since then, there have been three major modifications. Still, controversies exist in terms of trademark squatting of foreign brands and research is needed to better understand why this happens, and how it can be avoided. Originality/value The focus on sport as well as the suggestions offered for sport brands and celebrity athletes makes this study the first of its kind within the literature on trademark squatting in China. The importance and impact of the Jordan case is one that attracts attention and should result in significant impact in the literature and practical impact for the field.

Since 1996 the volleyball sand sports have developed in Maluku province, and there has been vocation in PON as well as being one of the regular sport events of the province Maluku. But volleyball sand sport is known only to a view counties and cities in Maluku province. Such the cities of Southeast Maluku (Tual), the Regency of Tanimbar Island (Saumlaki), the Regency of Buru Island (Namlea), and Ambon City. But in Southwest Regency (Moa), the volleyball sand sports is now means to know until this day. Than Southwest Regency MOA has never include the sport branch in both the POPMAL administration and the state of the region. Event without it’s being recognized as a means of development for the regency of Southwest Maluku. Babar Islands is one of the sub district in Maluku Southwest, it is far from the capital of Southwest Regency (MOA) and Maluku Province. It is a analized factor in the development of the volleyball sand sport branch on Kalwedo Earth. Thus community service activities that embody the volleyball basic skills by college of the academy of arts and sciences, perform devotionals aimed at introducing a volleyball sand sport to the community and those responsible. The method uses for achieving goals in this community service is: 1) identification problem, 2) social approach, 3) planning, 4) administration management, 5) matrial preparation, 6) execution, 7) reporting. The results is: 1) participants of both the sons and doughters volleyball and the socialist-in volved volleyball. 2) participants understand the rules of volleyball sand game. 3) entry to the games own game. 4) the means and infrastructure of the game’s of the volleyball games. 5) the volleyball sand sport and infrastructure help during public service activities by lecture and collages of study programe physical education in Babar Islands

In 2013, Dan Edwards marks his 30th season in the NFL and his 20th year with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is responsible for overseeing the Jaguars’ communications division, which includes media relations, digital media, and broadcasting. Edwards was promoted to vice president in 2003, when the Jaguars’ community relations and Internet content departments were added to his responsibilities. He is one of eight current Jaguars staff members who have been with the franchise since its first year in 1994. Edwards received a scholarship from NFL Charities in 1984, the year he began his NFL career as a public relations intern in the NFL office in New York. He spent the 1984 football season working in publicity for the Miami Dolphins before joining the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1985. Edwards served as the Steelers’ public relations director from 1987 to 1993. Pittsburgh’s public relations staff received the 1991 Pete Rozelle Award from the Pro Football Writers of America. Edwards, who has worked with the NFL staff at 23 Super Bowls, has an undergraduate degree in business administration with a major in management from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in sports administration and facility management from Ohio University.

Learning outcomes To understand: – the demand and supply side challenges in launching a new product in sports. – Factors, which go into the making of a successful “new” sport. – The role of planning in sport management. Case overview/synopsis In July 2017, on the eve of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 5, kabaddi had emerged as one of India’s most important non-cricketing sport. PKL was India’s first men’s professional kabaddi league, introduced by Mashal Sports and Star India in 2014. Kabaddi was an indigenous sport, and India had an unbeaten international track record as world champions. Yet, the sport and its players had never received their due in India. In 2017, while kabaddi’s popularity had increased, leading to sponsorship opportunities, huge player bids, prize money and television viewership, all was not quite hunky-dory. A women’s kabaddi league introduced only the previous year had not been continued, despite an extended format in 2017. The audience profile also did not match that envisaged by Star. As a unique creator of sports content, Star was in an enviable position in India; and so was Kabaddi as a sport. How had Star created a new property around an indigenous sport with rural and rustic associations, transforming it into a snazzy, up-market sport within just three years, even while leagues involving other popular sports failed to create a mark? Could Star sustain this interest? How could kabaddi retain its “star” position within Star’s stable? Complexity academic level In an undergraduate or a postgraduate programme in business administration. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

As technology development has made the world better, the benefits of such development are also increasingly related to sports activities. Many sports devices have been combined with Information Technology (IT). One great example is an IT-combined sport device called "Activity Tracker." It is a device that is worn on the body and records a user's body status such as calories burned, steps walked, or heart rates. With people's increasing attention to their health, it is expected that the popularity of the devices will increase. To aid in the sales of activity trackers in a competitive market, the manufacturers should be familiar with the impact of product cues such as brand, price, and design on consumers' perceived quality, which will influence their willingness to buy.

The study was quantitative; paper and pencil questionnaires were utilized. The instruments were derived from three existing studies. The study participants were Florida State University undergraduate and graduate students; 200 questionnaires were distributed to students enrolled in Lifetime Activity Program (LAP) courses and/or visiting a recreation center on campus. The final sample size was 144 participants. The data was analyzed using several statistical methods with PASW Statistics 20.0. From the descriptive statistics, the frequency counts and/or mean scores were computed for profiling the participants. The Cronbach's alpha scores, and item-to-total correlations were utilized to assess the internal consistency of the factors measured with the questionnaires. The assumptions of multiple regression, including as normality, linearity, homoscedasticity, and multicollinearity were assessed. Multiple regressions were utilized to gauge the extent to which price, brand, and design influence perceived quality. As the final step, a simple regression was utilized to measure the relationship between perceived quality and willingness to buy.

Examination of this data revealed several significant results regarding the relationships between product cues, perceived quality, and willingness to buy. While brand (t=6.779; p<.05; beta=.522) and design (t=5.934; p<.05; beta=.450) had a positive impact on perceived quality, price (t=-1.681; p>.05; beta=-.139) had no significant impact on perceived quality. Perceived quality (t=6.060; p<.05; beta=.453) had a positive impact on willingness to buy; however, the variance (20%) accounted for in willingness to buy was low, meaning that there may be mediating variables between perceived quality and willingness to buy.

The current funding situation for community college athletics and future funding remains unclear (Byrd & Williams, 2007). The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of athletic directors to understand the financing issues with athletic programs. Sixteen athletic directors from the state of California were interviewed until the point of data saturation on the topic. Analysis of the interview responses revealed that managing the athletic programs, the budget, and Title IX are ways athletic directors can deal with the financial issues. The results of the current research study may provide current and future business leaders with information that will facilitate making decisions about financing community college athletic programs.

This purpose of this mixed model study was to ascertain the implicit leadership theory (ILT) content held by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I baseball teams. Data were collected during the 2012 baseball season from 34 Division I programs, and 1032 coaches and players participated in the research.

As an information-processing approach to understanding leadership, ILT is concerned with the knowledge structures persons maintain and utilize when identifying and interacting with leaders. Ample ILT research has examined such structures within the business context. This study, however, is believed to be the first in-depth exploration of ILT content within the sports domain.

Leadership categorization and connectionist architecture served as the theoretical bases for the study's four research questions, which addressed: the effect that the target cues leader and coach had on ILT (RQ1); the impact that team context (RQ2) and player tenure (RQ3) had on ILT; and whether a sports ILT existed—and if so, how it differed from a business ILT (RQ4). Research was conducted in four sequential steps using qualitative and quantitative methods. Importantly, no external or explicit measures were used to collect data, as such instruments can bias implicit perceptions. The primary tools for processing quantitative data were principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

A 21-item, 5-factor ILT model for NCAA Division I baseball was derived from factor analysis processes and generalized across two separate data sets. This model demonstrated the existence of a sports ILT, as it differed noticeably from models that explain ILT content within the business domain. Data also indicated that team context had some correlation with ILT differences, whereas player tenure did not. Furthermore, results showed that players do delineate between the targets leader and coach; that is, being perceived as a leader within Division I baseball may not correspond with holding an official organizational/team position.

This study's findings strengthen the idea that leadership is social-cognitive phenomenon that differs according to context. Implications for applying these findings within Division I baseball are discussed. Additionally, this research might be cause for revisiting some of the previous models of leadership within sports studies.

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to test the full-range leadership theory and measure the relationship, if any, between team captains’ leadership styles and team outcome (by winning percentage). Analyzing the relationship between team captains’ leadership styles and performance would add knowledge to the existing research on leadership development in the area of sport. A review of literature yielded few studies of athlete leadership and performance compared to coach leadership. Discovering potential relationships between athlete leadership and performance may challenge beliefs that coach leadership is more important than other types of informal leadership. The study involved the surveying of student-athletes, team captains, and coaches of collegiate athletic programs from a single Division III College located in the Midwest. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5x) was used to assess the four leadership constructs: transformational, transactional, passive-avoidant, and laissez-faire leadership of team captains. Results of the correlation indicated a significant relationship between transformational and transactional leadership mean scores and team performance via winning percentage. ANOVA regression results indicated that no significant differences existed between team captain’s mean scores that could be attributed to the survey participant’s role on their respective team. Recommendations for future research include replication with a larger sample, including more schools and various sports.

This study attempted to identify the issues confronting athletic directors at the NCAA Division I FBS membership institutions from the following athletic conferences: American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and Sun Belt Conference. These conferences are considered to be non-BCS automatic qualifying conferences. Since the literature showed a lack of research on most of the issues that impact the university athletic director, this research attempted to present an enhanced perspective of the issues that the athletic director must confront in his or her career and daily life. The researcher utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design to identify and explore the issues. Twenty-two of sixty-one athletic directors responded to a thirteen item electronic survey. Follow-up interviews were administered to six of the athletic directors who indicated a willingness to participate. Athletic directors identified fundraising, managing the budget and finance issues, and student-athlete welfare as the top three issues affecting his or her career. Athletic directors identified the following as those issues that consumed most of their time: fundraising, managing his or her department's budget, and staying current on NCAA regulations. Athletic directors identified the following as their most stressful issues: fundraising, budget, decision making, personnel, the pending autonomy of the high resource conferences, and general uncertainty. Warning signs identified by the athletic directors included: national lawsuits, declining attendance (both alumni/fans and students) at sporting events, and decreasing state support. In addition, individual athletic directors identified the following issues that may impact the future: negative impact on the United States Olympic movement due to significantly increased emphasis on football and men's basketball, impact of non-practioner perspective in governance of collegiate athletics, and possible significant change in the definition of amateurism.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of smart device's interactivity on customer value co-creation in the sports industry through bridging social capital and collective efficacy. A total of 262 students participated in the study, and a structural equation modeling (SEM) was carried out to measures the relationship between variables in the conceptual model. The results revealed that interactivity consisting of user control, responsiveness, and synchronicity had a significant impact on bridging social capital. In addition, both technological interactivity and bridging social capital were positively associated with collective efficacy. Lastly, collective efficacy had a positive influence on co-creation value, but bridging social capital did not appear to directly affect co-creation value. Based on these results, this study suggests the need to take advantage of new platforms that can build value co-creation with customers in the rapidly changing marketing environment.

Government funding shortages are changing the financial landscape of collegiate athletic programs. Athletic administrators struggling to discover alternative financial sources have frequently focused their efforts on increasing home game attendance, which leads to increased concession and licensing revenues. The problem is that schools sporting programs will continue to lose funds if schools do not attract and maintain a larger fan base at athletic events. The purpose of this multiple case study is to identify and explore the factors that motivate fans attendance at NCAA Division II football games using both a survey and interviews at four universities within the Great American Conference, the Lone Star Conference, and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The research study that is employed is based on multiple case study and triangulated data collected from a small sample group at four universities: Northeastern State, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Southwestern Oklahoma State, and West Texas A & M. Data collection methods included the administration of a Sport Fan Motivation Scale survey to fans at a home game for each university, individual interviews of the sample group athletic directors, and review of online sources. Key results of the study yielded significant insight into optimal methodologies athletic administrators can employ to increase program revenues by increasing home game attendance. The findings were evaluated based upon the data collected utilizing four research questions. Economic factors were most likely to affect motivation of fans to attend home football games. Game attractiveness factors have a positive effect on fans at home football games. Demographic factors affect the motivation of fans to attend home football games. Residual factors affect the motivation of fans to attend football games. Many commonalities were found in the collected data that helped to identify themes and connect this information to previous research described in the literature review. A review of economic, team oriented, demographic, and ancillary factors yielded results indicating that integration of promotional activities, ensuring ample parking space for non-tailgaters, and a feeling of commitment or identification with the team are means to increase attendance.

This study purposely examined the types of extrinsic rewards in male youth soccer programs and measures those that are most preferred by players to influence their participation motivation. It also checked if young soccer players skew towards programs that provide more reward opportunities. For this reason, 1000 teenage soccer players were randomized in an online survey administered by a community-based organization. 800 chose programs that provided extrinsic rewards and identified fame, trophies, travel, scholarship, exposure opportunities and money as the six main rewards that influenced their decision to join soccer programs.

A Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ) was then modified using the identified factors and issued to 400 participants between ages 14-18 years, randomly selected from 20 Las Vegas soccer clubs in another survey to rank extrinsic rewards according to importance. Data was collected and entered into the SPSS 17.0 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation. Cronbach alpha was applied to measure internal consistencies based on the demographics and attitudes towards participation motivation. One way ANOVA sought to determine the extent to which the identified extrinsic rewards affected participation motivation, and regression analysis examined the relationships across all factors.

Results from data analysis revealed that, exposure opportunities constituted the most important extrinsic reward that influenced young male soccer players' decision to join soccer programs. Scholarship, travel, fame, money and trophies followed suit. One-way ANOVA showed that race had a significant effect on scholarship, exposure opportunities, and fame. Multivariate regressions revealed that young players that are more motivated by scholarship, fame and travel tended to have higher ability levels. These effects were held even after adjusting for grade and age.

Results from the online survey also concluded that more young players tend to be attracted to soccer programs that provide extrinsic reward opportunities. Thus, extrinsic rewards should be considered and included in programs to enhance motivation.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between Facebook usage and self-efficacy in collegiate athletes. The data for this study was provided by St. Thomas University athletes in the United States. The variables used to represent Facebook usage, Facebook frequency of use, Facebook number of friends and Facebook frequency status updates were measured using Facebook Intensity Scale (Ellison et al., 2007). The dependent variable used in this study is self-efficacy which is measured using the General Self-efficacy (GSE) developed (Jerusalem & Schwarzer, 1979). Data analyses indicated a statistically significant relationship between Facebook number of friends and self-efficacy. The data also indicated significant inverse relationship between Facebook frequency status updates and self-efficacy. The results of the correlation analysis indicated inverse relationships between frequency status updates and frequency of use, and frequency status updates and Facebook number of friends. These findings suggest that once the coaches, administrators, and professors attend to the issue of Facebook usage for collegiate athletes, it may enhance self-efficacy and psychological benefits.

This chapter presents an innovative methodology used by me for teaching a class entitled “Process Management” at the Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University. The lecture provides students with insights into the BPM theory and use of a BPM-dedicated IT tool – ADONIS by BOC, a University of Vienna-based spin-off. On the basis of theoretical guidance, as well as desktop and field research (interviews, observations), students are requested to design their own virtual enterprise. Through individual ADONIS-supported project work, they come to understand better the processes management mechanisms, risk assessment and management, and goal attainment. By designing processes relevant for any startup, students learn a key managerial function – planning. By making them aware of the business-inherent risks coming into view in process outputs, it also allows them to prepare themselves for their own market debut.

This chapter is aimed at providing information and guidance that may help voluntary migrants and refugees construct a new life for themselves and for their families by starting a new business to support them financially in a new setting far from their original homeplace. Cultural, legal, and operational aspects as well as management issues are of the utmost importance for a fledgling entrepreneur. In fact, these are issues that are relevant anywhere in the world and should help guarantee the success of a new company. The steps an entrepreneur will have to follow to turn a dream of starting a business into reality are discussed here. Such steps go from the starting point of identifying a business opportunity in the new region and evaluating the skills and financial resources available to implement the idea up to planning, executing, and monitoring. Specific advice is provided regarding family businesses.

In recent years, most universities are facing with the problem of quality management in higher-education systems and institutions. The Countries that have signed the Bologna Declaration are enforced to implement an internal system for quality assurance. One of the key element of a quality management system is the process modelling with delineation of responsibility, authority, procedures and plans. This chapter describes the use of the Business Process Management to support the higher Education Management System at University of Basilicata. The case study developed concerns the following steps: visualizing, measuring, analysing by a simulation environment, and improving the management system. The original contribution of the research concerns the development of a simulation environment using BIZAGI modeller based on BPMN notation in order to analyse and improve the performance of the case study investigated. Moreover, the use of a software based on BPMN can improve quality (error rate reduction), efficiency (saving of time) and agility (implementation of processes of changes).

This research validates the University Learning Strategy Scale (EEA) used by Martins and Zerbini (2014), among Business and Management students of semi-presential courses. The sample had 350 observations obtained from students of a Higher Education Institution based in the State of São Paulo. Preliminary results showed that although the Learning Strategies Scale (LES) was developed and validated in a hybrid context application, in this research it was applied to the semi-present context and its results were satisfactory, presenting high internal consistency indices, with alphas of Cronbach's of (α = 0.94) for the general scale. Regarding the four dimensions, the result was also very close to the LES with 1) (α = 0.92) for the Cognitive Strategies construct, 2) (α = 0.77) for Emotion Control, 3) (α = 0.85) for Self-Regulatory Strategies and 4) (α = 0, 83) for Interpersonal Help. This scale shows evidence of instrument validity.

The existence of doctoral programs in business since the 1960s has advanced the knowledge of business both academically and practically that enabled a wide dissemination of research in management, finance, accounting, marketing, and leadership. However, pursuing a doctoral degree in business should support students pursuing a range of professional paths that includes positions in academia and outside of academia. That is, training in doctoral business training should encourage doctoral business students to develop new career paths that bridges business and the academy. Despite the selection of the traditional or the professional doctoral degree, the expectations of the graduates differ, and these expectations affect the administration of the doctoral program. The focus of this chapter is to examine the need for an evolution of doctoral education models in business administration to make the doctoral education more accessible while providing high quality teaching and research to business schools and making societal contributions.

The economy of the Baltic Sea Region is characterised by small and medium-sized enterprises. One of the main limitations to growth continues to be the lack of qualified personnel. Dual training as a form of work-based learning can promote the employability of young people in the long term and attract additional workforce. Based on a review of recent literature the status of VET and dual training in the selected countries of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia are described. Complementary the first results of a recent survey of companies, schools and administrations is presented, that confirms that in most BSR countries companies are not engaged in dual education. The evaluation of the literature clearly shows that a lot has been done to encourage work-based learning in the Baltic Sea Region, but the survey indicates, that the legal changes and possibilities have yet not fully arrived at the companies that could provide train-ing spots.

In an effort to provide knowledge and skills essential for successful careers, the College of Business Administration (CBA) designed and offered a course in Fall 2000 consisting of four classes (marketing, management, computer information systems, and business communication) taught together in a block by a faculty team. The overarching goal of this course format was to present business as an interdisciplinary process, to link concepts to practice. The course was named BizBlock. The BizBlock experiment for the 2000-2001 academic year showed that misinformation that leads to unfulfilled expectations results in general student dissatisfaction. The imbalance and lack of integration among the four disciplines contributed to high dissatisfaction based on unfulfilled student expectations. The results of student feedback regarding BizBlock indicate that when properly informed, people consider even an unsatisfactory experience acceptable if it is what was expected.

The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) has synthesized a profile to be acquired by all the students based on 13 generic skills. For its assessment, the UPV has also developed a rubric for every skill depending on the level of the course. In this research, we develop an educational innovation for validating the rubrics for 3 of the 13 generic skills specified by the UPV. The chosen skills are: “Ability to think practically and apply knowledge in practical situations”, “Innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship ability” and “Teamwork and leadership ability”. To do this, we develop the same methodology in two groups (Morning/English) of the same course (Marketing Research of the Degree of Business Administration and Management of the Faculty of Business Administration and Management at the UPV) with significantly different student profiles. The assessment results of the skills reveal that there are no significant differences between groups. In conclusion, we could say that the rubrics developed by the UPV are adequate to assess all types of students: Erasmus or non-erasmus, working or having worked in the last 2 years or without work experience, and regardless of their satisfaction with the course.

The purpose of the study is to examine the critical thinking and decision-making skills of graduating students taking up a Business Administration major in Management Accounting, Marketing and Finance as well as their language proficiency levels as a determinant of critical thinking and decision-making skills. A total of 176 respondents from the three different degree programs participated in the study. Results revealed a Beginning Thinker with an over all CT score of 25.92. While Decision Making skills fall under the “often” category. Language Proficiency appeared to be significant for CT but not overly significant. Whereas DM correlates highly with LP. Further, there is a need to develop a more comprehensive understanding and application of Critical thinking in the business programs. Future related research may be conducted by adding more variables not found in the study.

Computer simulations have implications across disciplines and with learners at all levels. By requiring learners to develop and apply knowledge and skills in interactive changing environments, they encourage deeper levels of learning. Additionally, simulations have been shown to be particularly effective at teaching complicated concepts that depend on the ability to understand interrelationships, strategize, make predictions, analyze and evaluate, and engage in multi-faceted decision making. In order to help students gain a deeper understanding of key business concepts, encourage critical thinking and decision making, foster collaboration and critical discourse, and encourage the application of concepts into real world business practices, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a minority serving institution, decided in 2004 to introduce a series of competitive web-based simulations at key junctures throughout the curriculum but focused primarily in the course Strategic Management. The simulation selected covers topics such as Strategy & Tactics, Policy, Production, Accounting, Marketing, Finance, Quality control, Human resources, Leadership, and Teamwork and involves students competing in teams against other teams. In order to assess the effectiveness of the simulation, a research protocol was introduced that included the administration of student surveys as well as the collection of performance data. The findings indicate that students overwhelmingly felt that the simulation helped them understand the application of key concepts and learn the decision making process that occurs in professional business practice. The examination of student performance data gathered in this study, with consideration given to the strong levels of student satisfaction, encouraged the authors to postulate based on the high success rates of this student population, which traditionally underperforms in more traditional mode of assessments, that simulations may serve as an equalizer that offers all students, from low to high achievers, an opportunity to succeed and that competitive web-based simulations enhance the overall educational and personal development experiences of minority students enrolled in higher education business programs.