Scholars and practitioners complain that business school graduates are inadequately prepared to function effectively in workplace teams. This outcome is concerning; business school instructors routinely assign students to classroom teams, and the literature offers rich insights for guiding and instructing students to improve collaboration. Yet, telling students how to work with each other seems inadequate; key stakeholders including employers and instructors report dissatisfaction about demonstrated learning. The co-authors designed and implemented an Escape Room Exercise based on the tenets of Transformative Learning Theory. After engaging 83 student teams in the Escape Room Exercise and post-exercise debriefing sessions, students reported transformed perspectives into teamwork, and transformative learning about collaborating with others in their teams, forming a guiding team charter, leading their team, and initiating constructive conflict.

This paper describes an innovative two-step team building pedagogy applied in multiple management classes. We assessed whether such step-by-step engagement in two active and experiential learning exercises in consecutive class sessions can help students progress toward working competently in teams without instructor directives and advice. In the first step, we assigned students to classroom teams and engaged them in an escape room exercise (ERE) for 45 minutes. In the second step, we provided an agenda through which students worked collaboratively to form their Team Charter (TC) aimed at planning both process and project outcomes. At the end of each activity, students wrote individual reflection reports through which they expressed their learning about effective teamwork, need for change in behavior, and motivation to incorporate and further improve their teamwork competence. Qualitative analysis of students’ reports revealed that: (a) the ERE serves to produce cognitive and emotional learning which motivates students to act more competently in teams, and (b) the TC activity provides opportunities to act on their learning, practice new behaviors and incorporate new behavioral intents when working on their team project. This research answers the call for team building through active learning techniques which can be implemented by college professors seeking to help their students’ improve teamwork competence in a timely and time efficient manner.

The paper reports findings from a two-stage study of consumer–brand relationships conducted between April 2021 and June 2021, at a time the COVID-19 pandemic had forced consumers to live through social distancing mandates and school/office closures. Initial exploration via focus groups began in April 2021 for the purpose of generating grounded theory, hypotheses, and measurement scales relevant to their experiences of brand consumption during this period. The second study tested the grounded hypotheses based on a nationwide sample of consumers in June 2021. The study finds evidence of three distinct brand-related behaviors in response to the COVID-19-induced stresses; i.e., heightened intentionality about brand choices, heightened concern for brand sponsors’ ethical behaviors toward their employees, and engagement in brand evangelism behaviors.

This paper describes an innovative learning exercise used in three management classes and inspired by the popular group experience-based game of "escape rooms." Within one 75-minute period, the exercise engaged students and increased their awareness of and motivation for effective teamwork. Our qualitative analysis of the reflection reports students individually wrote immediately after the lesson, shows that the exercise was successful in increasing their knowledge of effective teamwork, creating the felt need for proactively planning their team process, creating the desire to develop more of their own teamwork skills, and arriving at the undeniable realization that working as a team is better than working individually on complex tasks. This exercise adds to the instructor interventions needed in college classes when professors assign term-long team projects with the goal of helping students develop their teamwork skills and be better prepared for the workplace.

This paper reports a three-stage study of user–brand interactions on YouTube. An initial exploration identified unique, previously unknown, constructs active in this context. Grounded hypotheses and scales were tested via two surveys separated by approximately 15 month; first survey taken pre-Covid was followed by a second survey in May 2021 (Covid-vaccine present environment). We report that YouTube usage is significantly shaped by feelings of social dread; users find comfort and fall into a YouTube rabbit hole, which leads them to a self-construal. Rooted in cognitive and emotional processes of self-construal, brands emerge as personal narratives. These narratives help users understand their history and personality; they provide a compelling basis for relating with others. The study produces new implications for future branding theories and practice reflective of the emerging reality of user–brand interactions on YouTube.

Popular press reports that some bloggers active on Instagram are attracting a large number of followers and strongly shaping their brand-related perceptions. Academic examination of the nature and extent of influence of Instagram bloggers (IBs) on consumers’ brand-related perceptions is yet to occur. In response, the article reports findings from three studies that examined the personal influence of IBs. The first study derived a grounded framework, hypotheses and measurement scales from focus group data. The second study used survey data to test the structural coherence of the grounded framework, and the reliability and validity of newly developed measurement scales, and produced a purified theoretical model. Finally, a third study surveyed Instagram users for the purpose of validating the purified theoretical model. Findings yield a new framework and scales for assessing IBs influence on brand-perceptions and consumer–brand relationships. The research finds that IBs are tribal leaders anointed by their followers on the medium; they curate brands for their followers’ consumption, and endow the status of tribal artifacts to brands.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report a three-study effort that aimed to explicate the brand entification construct, a post-anthropomorphic attribution that results from user-brand interaction on Twitter. Entified brands are not merely humanlike, they are viewed as human celebrities with an elevated social status.Design/methodology/approachA testable conceptual framework, hypotheses and measurement scales for explicating the brand entification construct are derived from focus groups. The framework is tested using two separate surveys; the first surveyed college going, Millennial users of Twitter, the second surveyed a nationwide sample of Twitter using Millennials.FindingsThe fear of being ignored (FOBI) emerges as the key antecedent of brand entification. Elevation in healthy narcissism emerges as its key consequence. Twitter users experiencing elevated narcissism are found to defend entified brands when they receive negative tweets from other users.Research limitations/implicationsAll constructs and measurement scales reported in the data are new, the evidence of linkages between the antecedents and consequences of brand entification are similarly unprecedented; both reflect the theoretical contributions of the study. Further testing of scales, and replication of results using multiple samples of Twitter users are essential before formalized theory and widely generalizable findings emerge.Practical implicationsShaping Twitter-users’ sense of healthy narcissism emerges as the key challenge for managers aiming to build brands via Twitter communication. Stimulating users’ FOBI emerges as a key entry-way in this process.Originality/valueThe paper reports the first empirical investigation of the brand entification construct in the context of Twitter-using Millennials.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically derive and test a framework of brand acquaintancing – a new emotional attribution resulting from user-brand interactions on Snapchat, a popular social medium with ephemeral properties.Design/methodology/approachFocus group data were used to derive a framework, hypotheses and measurement scales for explicating the brand acquaintancing construct. Structural coherence of the framework and reliability and validity of scales were tested using a survey sample of Snapchat using students. The purified theoretical model was tested using a nationwide sample of Snapchat users.FindingsThe studies find that Snapchat users are receptive to unknown and stranger brands. Users’ fear of self-disclosure triggers a search for acquaintances on the medium, i.e., acquaintances are sought over friends and intimates. Moreover, unknown and stranger brands encountered on the medium are acquaintance, i.e., awarded the status of an acquaintance.Research limitations/implicationsThe studies found Snapchat users receptive to unknown and stranger brands. Users’ fear of self-disclosure triggers a search for acquaintances on the medium, i.e., acquaintances are sought over friends and intimates. Moreover, unknown and stranger brands encountered on the medium are acquaintanced, i.e., they were awarded the status of an acquaintance.Originality/valueThe paper presents empirical evidence of brand acquaintancing on Snapchat, and contributes to a more nuanced understanding of social media platforms to aid scholars and practitioners.

This study presents preliminary results on the influence of executive capital on incremental and radical growth expectations using pilot data from forty-two working Chinese MBA students. Executive capital corresponds to individual traits that contribute to a manager’s ability to enable value creation. Regression analysis results suggest that the form of expected growth is dependent upon a manager’s social (bonding tie diversity), psychological (risk propensity), intellectual (productmarket familiarity), and economic (organizational slack) capital. Understanding the effects of executive capital on business growth expectations provides direction for managers particularly those in emerging economies. These initial results also offer possibilities for future research. INTRODUCTION AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT After nearly forty years of reform and opening-up policy, China is the world’s second largest economy. Through an exploitative strategy that leveraged technological knowledge and products from foreign partners, Chinese firms were able to exert a low cost advantage to produce competitive products and eventual international success (Yu et al. 2015). However, with China’s latecomer strategy, technology transfer continues to flow from west to east in support of productivity and mass production rather than technologies that support innovation and new products (Altenburg, et al. 2008; Guan et al. 2006; Hu and Mathews 2008; Kriz 2010; Xie and White 2006). China is now striving to change its image from “Made in China” to “Created in China”. In the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), innovation is defined as the primary driver of development and is positioned at the core of the national growth strategy with enterprises assigned leading roles as the source of innovation. However, with continual reliance on exploitation of existing alternatives hindering exploration strategies (Levinthal and March 1993; Piao and Zajac 2016), Chinese firms are in need of reverse momentum from incremental (take share from existing competitors) to radical (invest in new products for new markets) growth strategies. Considering these realities, adoption of corporate entrepreneurship (Ireland et al., 2009) is critical for Chinese enterprises. While research has long sought to understand the influence of managerial characteristics on business outcomes (Hambrick and Mason 1984), “the psychological and social processes by which executive profiles are converted into strategic choices still remain largely a mystery—the proverbial black box.” (Hambrick 2007, p. 337). Recent research has begun to reveal the human and social influences of Chinese top managers on innovation (Cao et al. 2015; Chen et al. 2015; Chung et al. 2015; Ding et al. 2015; Lau et al. 2008; Lin et al. 2011; Luo and Hassan 2009; Ma et al. 2009; Wang et al. 2015; Wei and Ling 2015). With managers regulating opportunities available to the firm (Penrose 1959) and serving as a microfoundation for strategic flexibility and business performance (Helfat and Peteraf 2015; Nadkarni and Herrmann 2010), this paper seeks to answer the following research question: How does executive capital (social, psychological, intellectual and economic) affect business growth strategy? In addressing this question, the paper tests hypotheses, using pilot data from working Chinese MBA students, to examine the relationship of executive capital (i.e., individual traits–either acquired or innate–that contribute to a manager’s ability to enable value creation) on the form of expected growth. Social capital describes the relational assets that can be used to mobilize resources (Adler and Kwon 2002; Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998). Bonding tie diversity, as an element of a manager’s social capital, measures the variety of a manager’s social ties with organizational members across departments upon which the manager interacts with for strategically valuable information and resources (Cao et al. 2015). Tapping into perspectives and resources throughout the firm increases executive awareness and provides a sense of how well decisions will be supported, as demanded by more radical forms of growth. H1A: The lower the bonding tie diversity, the greater the expected growth in market share. H1B: The greater the bonding tie diversity, the greater the expected growth in new business.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to extant conflict management theory by presenting evidence from a two-stage study of conflict initiated by pre-graduation Millennials in entry-level work environments. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents an inductively derived conceptual model, hypotheses and measurement scales grounded in Millennials’ voices. Then, based on survey data, the scales are tested for structural coherence, and hypotheses are validated using structural equation modeling methodology. Findings Most Millennials initiate conflict with older coworkers and supervisors in the workplace because of the hurt they feel over the unfairness they experience. While confronting their superiors, they take an aggressive stand (“you are wrong, you should change”) and learn that the organization is duplicitous and that they should initiate conflict with superiors in the future to protect against unfairness in a duplicitous organization. Research limitations/implications The findings and implications reflect the perspectives of Millennials who initiated conflict with superiors or more experienced coworkers in entry level workplaces. Reports of multiple perspectives and from other contexts are left to future research. Practical implications Millennials may well enter the workforce with attitudes and behaviors older coworkers and supervisors find aberrant. However, the interactions between Millennials, older generations and the socio-technical environment of entry-level workplaces lie at the root of the conflict Millennials initiate. Older generations may have implicitly produced – albeit to varying extents – opaque environments in which entry-level Millennials feel manipulated. Originality/value The study reports a relatively rare two-stage study that begins with exploration and discovery using qualitative data, and concludes with hypotheses tests based on survey data. A new context is explored; i.e. Millennials initiating conflict in vertical dyads. New concerns about the veracity of the entry-level work environment are raised.

The article presents findings from a two-stage study that examined student perceptions of peer evaluations (PEs) conducted in undergraduate business classroom teams. In stage 1, we used qualitative research to identify constructs focal in students' PE-related cognitive schemas and developed grounded measurement scales and hypotheses about their relationships. Then, we implemented PEs in 17 sections of undergraduate business courses taught over seven semesters. The PEs were highly consequential; i.e., they entirely determined the grade each student received on her/his team project. At the end of each semester, we surveyed student perceptions and behaviors using measurement scales we developed after stage 1 of the study. We find that the knowledge of impending PEs leads students to exercise a great deal of care in terms of what they say and do while working with others. The higher levels of care trigger both impression management behaviors and perceptions that others are contributing more. The perceptions that others are contributing more seem instrumental in shaping students' decision to contribute more themselves. Implications for instructors and future research are discussed.

College students are inseparable from their smartphones, and heavily engaged in Snapchat. This social media app allows low-consequence expression: messages disappear within 10 seconds to 24 hours of their receipt, depending on the content. Because college students seem strongly attracted to Snapchat, the implications for brand managers interested in reaching this target market deserve exploration. Four focus groups of self-described heavy users show that this media app allows college students to enter the virtual Snapchatverse and find a sweet spot of acquaintances. The sweet spot is associated with feelings of relatability, inclusion, and effortlessness and has the potential to produce empowering experiences. The verbal protocols of college students suggest that Snapchat is an ideal social media for developing acquaintance brands: brands that aim to make themselves part of an inclusive, feel-good experience or highly relatable acquaintances.

Facebook is used by over 1 billion highly heterogeneous users each month. However, there exists little guidance for marketers when it comes to actionable consumer engagement strategies for this social media platform. The purpose of this article is to profile key segments of Facebook users and build an implementable marketing strategy framework that can help marketers better target their Facebook consumers, and better craft their marketing mix and Facebook campaigns. Based on focus group interviews and a qualitative survey, four distinct types of Facebook users are identified and profiled: attention seekers, devotees, connection seekers and entertainment chasers. Correspondingly, a four-segment marketing strategy framework is proposed to guide content creation and engage consumers in thriving Facebook brand communities.

Members of the Millennial Generation (‘millennials’) are strongly attached to their smartphones and engrossed in social media. They frequently post pictures and tweet about the products they like and buy. Consequently, established consumer brands unable to master the use of Twitter and other social media are likely to lose their ability to communicate with this generation. This article reports findings from a study of millennials’ Twitter usage and presents the concept of brand entification as the next evolutionary stage of brand personality made possible by this social media. Brand entification refers to a distinct emotional and cognitive attachment between heavy-Twitter-using millennials and the brands they like, and to a unique set of attributions they make toward the brand. Herein, we explain the nature of brand entification, describe how it emerges, and distill some key lessons for brand managers interested in reaching Twitter-using millennials.

Forty managers involved in implementing marketing strategies shed light on the marketing planning-implementation interface. Findings highlight the need to revise current conceptions of the boundaries between the two functions, and for conceptualizing them as an inclusive gestalt. Implications of the findings are discussed, and propositions for future testing generated.

Marketers are rushing to establish a presence on social media based on the promise of reaching a growing segment of users, and with the intention of achieving brand and sales-related objectives. Our recent study of Pinterest usage among college students was designed to produce findings to aid such endeavors. While there is much in the practitioner press and the blogosphere to suggest that Pinterest is shaping the purchase behavior of users, there is no theory to explain why college students use this social media. This article reports findings from a multistage study of college students’ Pinterest usage. The purpose of the study was to stimulate new thinking and aid future theory development efforts. Findings suggest that Pinterest-using college students are psychologically healthy and grounded, and seek and find authentic experiences and enrichment on Pinterest. We draw implications for scholars interested in developing theories of social media usage, and for practitioners interested in harnessing the power of Pinterest.

The authors discuss the use of social media such as the microblogging web service Twitter by brands attempting to communicate with followers, arguing that many members of the millennial generation are forming new relationships with brands through their consumption experiences as of 2014. The coffee restaurant company Starbucks Corp. is mentioned.

A quasi-experimental research study was conducted based on a 2004 ABSEL workshop on team leader selection. The study found that there was no statistically significant difference in the three team-leader modes (rotating, emerging and designated) and team project performance. The study also found that while most students (80%) felt that all students should have an opportunity to lead a group, only half felt it was not the responsibility of the business school to train them as leaders. The study discusses the implications of the results, particularly for instructors who use the team format.

Apathy and social disconnectedness among undergraduate business students remain poorly understood and under-researched-despite evidence that they produce an adverse impact on learning-related outcomes. Qualitative research was initially conducted among a sample of undergraduate business students to identify the antecedents and learning-related consequences of apathy and social disconnectedness, develop grounded definitions, hypotheses, and scales. This was followed by a survey that aimed to test a conceptual model that emerged from qualitative data. The study finds evidence to suggest that high levels of anxiety among students antecedes social disconnectedness and powerlessness, which trigger apathy or the lack of caring about being a student or attending college. These psychosocial problems are severe enough, the study finds, to adversely impact the quality of students' learning experiences. Implications for new thinking and research are discussed, and implications for improving instruction are derived from the findings.

While Facebook usage has seen explosive growth, scant research has explored returns on advertising dollars marketers invest in this emerging medium. Our two-stage study of 18- to 25-year-old college students suggests that many of the advertising dollars consumer goods firms spend on Facebook are likely wasted. This study highlights that, in addition to staying in touch with friends and relatives, Facebook users are primarily motivated by three desires: (1) to voyeuristically peer into others’ lives, (2) to create a distinctive identity for themselves, and (3) to act on their inner narcissistic tendencies. These motivations also make them poor prospects for advertisers, as users seem disinterested in Facebook ads and disengaged from marketers’ attempts to build brands. Herein, we discuss challenges for marketers, as well as opportunities for building brands and driving sales via Facebook.