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Corporate goal structures and business students: A comparative study of values

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Abstract

Are the values of business students of today synchronized with the reality of the present business environment? Two hundred twenty-two business students rated the importance of twenty corporate goals. Moreover, the students rated the same goals as they perceived chief executive officers (CEOs) would have rated them. Significant differences were found between the two ratings, with students ranking social and employee-oriented goals as more important than they perceived CEOs would have.

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Joyce M. Beggs is an Assistant Professor of Management at West Virginia University. She is the co-author of “Mintzberg Revisited: A Study of Chief Executive Officers”, Leadership and Organizational Development Journal (1989) and several cases published in leading policy textbooks.

Micheal S. Lane is an Associate Professor of Management at West Virginia University. He is the co-author of “Pygmalion Effect: An Issue for Business Education and Ethics”, Journal of Business Ethics (1988).

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Beggs, J.M., Lane, M.S. Corporate goal structures and business students: A comparative study of values. J Bus Ethics 8, 471–478 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381813

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