Many companies have developed strategies that include investing heavily in information technology (IT) in order to enhance their performance. Yet, this investment pays off for some companies but not others. This study proposes that organization learning plays a significant role in determining the outcomes of IT. Drawing from resource theory and IT literature, the authors develop the concept of IT competency. Using structural equations modeling with data collected from managers in 271 manufacturing firms, they show that organizational learning plays a significant role in mediating the effects of IT competency on firm performance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The ability to acquire, share, and utilize knowledge has become a critical organizational capability as businesses attempt to cope with a rapidly changing environment. Colleges of business, the critical suppliers of future business managers, are not immune to such environmental changes. As such, many academics have come to realize that they must adopt cultures that embrace continuous learning so that college programs can be periodically updated to meet changing demands. Unfortunately, given the nature of academia, the implementation of many knowledge management (KM) processes is often difficult. To address such difficulties, this paper first identifies several barriers that inhibit KM within the college context and then presents a multi‐step framework that can be used to identify the boundaries of a college’s knowledge base so that it can be reconciled with the body of knowledge and skills currently needed in industry. The paper also offers some general concluding remarks as to the importance of KM and its role in helping colleges of business remain relevant in the educational supply chain.

This article discusses student management groups (SMGs) and explains how these groups help stimulate class interaction and enhance student motivation to learn. After reviewing the concepts of motivation and immediacy, the article discusses how SMGs reduce perceived student-professor distance and encourage students to become more intrinsically motivated by participating in class governance issues. Presented next are the results of three studies. The first study examines qualitative feedback gathered from students and evaluates several benefits and drawbacks associated with using SMGs. A second study uses an experimental design to test the effects of SMGs on anticipated motivation across different class types. Finally, the third study reports feedback from professors to gauge their reactions to the SMG process. Research implications and suggestions for implementing SMGs are also discussed.

The authors examine issues related to farm-to-table direct marketing. We consider motivations and drawbacks associated with participating in farm-to-table from both the consumer and farmer perspectives. While we find a significant amount of advocacy for the restoration of nostalgic methods of food distribution that remove all intermediaries from direct farmer-consumer interaction, we conclude that farm-to-table direct marketing plays, and is likely to continue to play, a very minor role in US food distribution.

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