Organisations are faced with the reality of having to compete on the global market. It has therefore become critical now more than ever, for managers of these organisations to adopt strategies that will ensure competitive advantage and sustainability into the future. Knowledge has been identified as a strategic asset that can be leveraged to gain this competitive advantage. Unfortunately, the nature of organisations prevents them from having the ability to hire new individuals each time a knowledge gap is identified. Strategic alliances have identified as platforms where knowledge possessed by an alliance partner can be accessed by the other party through the process of knowledge transfer. In order for this process to be effective, both the teaching and the learning partner have to have certain organisational values that promote the transfer of knowledge. This study investigated the organisational values that promoted knowledge transfer in strategic alliances within the context of the construction industry. An additional dimension of knowledge context, i.e. whether knowledge is technical or non-technical, was also investigated to assess if it had a bearing on the organisational values required for knowledge transfer. The study also sought to establish how tensions caused by conflicting values were managed in the context of strategic alliances. The research took the form of an exploratory qualitative study where twelve managers of EPCM/construction companies were interviewed. The insights drawn from the respondents then formed the basis of the research findings. The research identified willingness to learn, willingness to teach, relationship, trust and quality focus as the top five most cited organisational values that are perceived to promote knowledge transfer in strategic alliances. The conflicting organisational values of adaptability and predictability were found to promote technical and non-technical contexts, respectively, and a model was developed on how to effectively manage tensions between alliance partners. Recommendations were then made to managers and academics. / Dissertation (MBA) --University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Despite numerous successes and appreciable advantages of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, the reputation of the MBA has deteriorated in the eyes of businesses, as its relevance has been questioned and businesses often fail to see students applying acquired skills practically back at work.While previous research has focussed on the experience and opinions of MBA students themselves, this research sought insights of businesses and business schools, specifically considering the value of collaborative relationships for strengthening the MBA’s impact.This research aimed to understand how collaboration can improve the impact of the MBA, first by affirming the successes of the MBA, confirming its importance to business and then exploring current challenges. Previous initiatives have been unsuccessful in reviving the MBA’s ailing reputation, as they were isolated initiatives, lacking the support and involvement of other MBA stakeholders.<p/>This research, therefore, investigated the requirements for a collaborative relationship to be willingly entered into and sustained, looking particularly at in-house programmes which were successful in encouraging collaboration and involvement of stakeholders.From the research findings, the Collaborative Impact Model was designed to set out how a collaborative relationship can be established and maintained, optimising the impact of the MBA while also minimising its many challenges. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

No

No / Efforts to promote corporate social and environmental accountability (SEA) should be informed by an understanding of stakeholders' attitudes toward enhanced accountability standards. However, little is known about current attitudes on this subject, or the determinants of these attitudes. To address this issue, this study examines the relationship between personal values and support for social and environmental accountability for a sample of experienced MBA students. Exploratory factor analysis of the items comprising our measure of support for SEA revealed two distinct factors: (1) endorsement of the general proposition that corporations and executives should be held accountable for the social and environmental impacts of their actions; and (2) agreement that the government should adopt and enforce formal SEA standards. Our findings indicate that the universalism value type is positively associated with general support for SEA, but not with support for government enforcement of accountability standards. In addition, we found that gender has a significant impact on support for government enforcement of SEA standards.

No / The chapter interrogates the teaching and application of management consultancy as part of an MBA and examines its relevance in management education. Mature and experienced students, many with impressive CVs recording multiple career successes, demand that the core experience of their MBA programmes provide opportunities apply theoretical knowledge in real-life situations. The further opportunity to work with blue-chip clients on projects of strategic importance to the client offers further opportunities to test management thinking and consultancy practise in a robust and challenging manner. Students often have experience of working with consultants previously, but most have little experience of managing and delivering projects for clients within a consultancy framework. The pedagogical challenge is to teach students the true value proposition in consultancy beyond the transactional relationship inherent in answering a question set by the client. The basic process approach moves students from considering consultancy as a phenomenon that ‘happens’ to a client with a solution magically appearing upon project conclusion, to a position where students recognise consultants as a true ‘change agent’, unfreezing clients from previous positions and realising new capabilities (Lewin, 1951). There is an examination of ensuring the relevance of the management consultancy approach to students as part of their MBA journey as well as relevance to the client companies in engaging with the University. There is discussion on how teaching the right approach to management consultancy project management and research-orientated methodology retains the focus on the performance of the client organisation (Applebaum and Steed, 2005). There is consideration of how true impact on client companies is achieved by ensuring legacy forms part of expectation management (Kirk, 2000) with client companies keen to reengage with future MBA student teams. The chapter concludes with a reflection on future development of consultancy within management education, including syllabus co-design with consultancy clients.

N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) was studied because of its effectiveness in inducing heritable translocations in germ cells of male mice. The health impact of translocations was studied through anatomical analysis of the progeny of semisterile translocation carriers. As expected, the semisterility of translocation carriers resulted primarily from embryonic death during periimplantation stages due to unbalanced chromosome sperm segregants. Among conceptuses that survived to mid- and late-gestation stages, there was an increased incidence of developmental anomalies including fetal death and phenotypic defects. These abnormalities are associated with unbalanced chromosome complements that allow survival to the later stages of development.

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Submitted by DARLINY OLIVEIRA (darliny.amorim@gmail.com) on 2015-01-30T20:25:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Darliny_versão digital.pdf: 520900 bytes, checksum: ee7ec40c6d8503b4e0905140440bd282 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2015-02-04T19:16:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Darliny_versão digital.pdf: 520900 bytes, checksum: ee7ec40c6d8503b4e0905140440bd282 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-02-11T11:49:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Darliny_versão digital.pdf: 520900 bytes, checksum: ee7ec40c6d8503b4e0905140440bd282 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-02-11T11:49:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Darliny_versão digital.pdf: 520900 bytes, checksum: ee7ec40c6d8503b4e0905140440bd282 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12 / The 90's were a period of transformation, especially in the discussion on careers, as well as the expansion of Executive MBAs in Brazil. Career studies have undergone a profound transformation over the past decades and the responsibility for career management that, initially, was the company assumed new contours through to the professional, now called 'protean' for its ability to adapt to changes and environment, the rudder of his career. This change has given him (or her) more freedom to set his/her course and personal priorities, but to hold it more uncertainties and responsibilities providing it with the need to maintain employability. At the management level, professionals seeking executive education courses, as the Master in Business Administration (MBA), as a tool for career management, enabling it to stay employable or to make career moves. However, criticism of the actual contribution of these courses for the career of its graduates raise the need to assess what the real contribution of an MBA for career, from the perspective of those who made such a course and observed the reflections that the title generated in their careers. Therefore, a quantitative survey was conducted with a sample of 2,027 graduates, over the past 10 years, MBA courses at FGV. The results showed that the sample respondents professionals report having experienced positive results in career and who have been successful, moreover, have Proteins features and demonstrate needs to manage and develop your career. / A década de 90 foi um período de transformações, especialmente, no desenrolar de dois temas: a discussão sobre carreiras e a expansão dos MBAs no Brasil. Os estudos de carreira passaram por uma profunda transformação ao longo das últimas décadas e a responsabilidade pela gestão de carreira que, inicialmente, era da empresa, assumiu novos contornos passando para o profissional, agora denominado 'proteano', por sua capacidade de se adaptar às mudanças e aos ambientes, o leme de sua carreira. Esta mudança lhe conferiu mais liberdade na definição de seus rumos e de suas prioridades pessoais, mas lhe imputou mais incertezas e responsabilidades dotando-o da necessidade de manter sua empregabilidade. No nível gerencial profissionais buscam cursos de educação executiva, como o Master in Business Administration (MBA), como instrumento para a gestão de carreira, se capacitando para se manter empregável ou para fazer movimentos de carreira. No entanto, as críticas sobre a contribuição real destes cursos para a carreira de seus egressos levantam a necessidade de se avaliar qual a real contribuição de cursar um MBA para a carreira, sob a ótica daqueles que fizeram tal curso e observaram os reflexos que o título gerou em suas carreiras. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa quantitativa com uma amostra de 2.027 egressos, dos últimos 10 anos, de cursos de MBA da FGV. Os resultados revelam que os profissionais respondentes da amostra relatam ter observado resultados positivos na carreira e que foram bem sucedidos, além disto, apresentam características proteanas e demonstram necessidades de gerenciar e desenvolver sua carreira.

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This study explores MBA students’ experiences of academic writing, and endeavours to determine the difficulties experienced by MBA students during the writing of their dissertations especially in terms of academic literacy. Case study research design and mixed methods were used to generate both quantitative and qualitative data in this qualitative study. A constant comparative method of analysis was used to identify categories and themes within the data. The results of this research showed that the majority of MBA students, while at Business School X, viewed their identities primarily as business professionals as opposed to students of business in an academic setting. Findings of the study showed that MBA students’ identities as readers and writers are strongly framed by the business genres they encounter in their professional capacities. The study also revealed that MBA students writing their dissertations desire to produce a professionally relevant research document as much as one that meets the requirements of academic rigour. It is within this arena of academic research writing that a dilemma exists for MBA students with reference to the purpose, format and value of the dissertation as a vehicle for reporting research findings. Recommendations are that academic literacies and genre pedagogy are mainstreamed into the course design of the MBA programme at Business School X and that the repurposing of the dissertation as a genre be evaluated in terms of business relevance.