<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The methods by which managers make decisions in the face of inaccurate data, changing environments and other pervasive uncertainties, have been studied by researchers and business practitioners for many decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Much attention is given to highly quantitative decision-theoretic techniques; such methods generally deal with these inherent impediments to rational decisions using mathematical concepts from the theories of probability, stochastic processes, estimation and optimization, fuzzy sets, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The very act of quantification itself has great implications for managers&rsquo; cognitive processes, the impact upon various groups within the organization, and the final outcomes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Indeed, use of formal methods and actual reliance on hard numbers improves decision quality and speed by providing efficient cognitive simplifications and convergent expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This paper synthesizes findings from several relevant streams of literature and proposes several simple propositions for further discussion and future research. It applies these ideas to two illustrative examples of major complex business decisions.</span></span></p>

Managers use a myriad of formal and informal assessment methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative, to make key business decisions when the available data comprise at best “weak signals” of an impending problem and/or opportunity. Accepted paradigms, fundamental theories, and their personal and group frames of reference inform their choice of methods and metrics. Quantification itself and formal methods facilitate the amplification of initial signals into stronger forms, allowing problem identification, and then reformulation, and the activities of the decision chain. This paper develops an evidence-guided model for problem identification and management decisions with focus on the overall stakeholders, rather than purely stockholder model for corporate governance.

Challenges to academic integrity in management education appear to be on the rise in U.S. institutions of higher education. In an effort to reduce cheating and plagiarism in business education, universities have turned to a variety of technological approaches. However, technology cannot be considered a panacea for ensuring academic integrity and is probably best viewed as a “stop gap” measure that can eventually be compromised. The authors begin this chapter by describing how declining ethics has been evidenced recently in business. Then, they present a review of the literature describing the extent and causes of academic dishonesty and discuss what some educational institutions are doing to address academic integrity, including calls for an increase in ethics education. Finally, they review technological approaches used by many colleges and universities to prevent cheating and plagiarism, examining the features, strengths, weaknesses, and current status of each technology.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Quantitative approaches have long dominated the management literature and influenced practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>But why??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The emphasis on quantification constitutes part of intended rationality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Yet it is not mathematical elegance or logical rigor that ultimately shapes the course of decision and final outcomes, but rather the experience of quantification and the use of the numbers. Building on classical sources from Aristotle to Herbert Simon, and Diesing&rsquo;s five rationality types, this essay positions quantification as one determinant of performance, within an overall model framework employing rationality as an intervening variable. </span></span></p>

Challenges to academic integrity in management education appear to be on the rise in U.S. institutions of higher education. In an effort to reduce cheating and plagiarism in business education, universities have turned to a variety of technological approaches. However, technology cannot be considered a panacea for ensuring academic integrity and is probably best viewed as a “stop gap” measure that can eventually be compromised. The authors begin this chapter by describing how declining ethics has been evidenced recently in business. Then, they present a review of the literature describing the extent and causes of academic dishonesty and discuss what some educational institutions are doing to address academic integrity, including calls for an increase in ethics education. Finally, they review technological approaches used by many colleges and universities to prevent cheating and plagiarism, examining the features, strengths, weaknesses, and current status of each technology.