Are Men Always Picked Over Women? The Effects of Employment Equity Directives on Selection Decisions

This study replicates and extends previous work by Oppenheimer and Wiesner [1990, Sex discrimination: Who is hired and do employment equity statements make a difference? Proceedings of the 11th Annual Conference of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, Personnel and Human Resources Division], and examined the effects of minority qualifications on hiring decisions, the effects of employment equity directives when minority candidates are less qualified and the effects of different types and strengths of employment equity directives on hiring decisions. The results indicate that when employment equity is in place, people are increasingly more likely to hire underrepresented group members, to the extent that they are more qualified. Men appear to be treated in a positively biased manner, and are more likely to be hired when they are less qualified. Women are less likely to be hired when they are under-qualified, and in the absence of employment equity directives or when there is a suggestion that women are underrepresented. Moreover, when␣employment equity directives are strengthened, there appears to be a subtle backlash for women but not for men. Eddy S. Ng is an assistant professor at Trent University. He was on faculty at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 2006–2007. Willi H. Wiesner is an associate professor at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University.     

Measuring internationalisation in the mobile telecommunications industry

The telecommunications industry is often described as being a global industry. However, the fact that it exists throughout the globe does not necessarily imply that its constituent companies are individually global in their operations. So far, little interest has been expressed in determining whether they are or are not in practice, but to do so requires that one first determine how this is to be measured. This article focuses on the measurement of internationalisation within the mobile telecommunications industry where the phenomenon can be most clearly identified. Drawing on the literature, four dimensions of internationalisation are initially identified and a database is constructed for the year ending 31 December 2005 that provides hard evidence in relation to these dimensions.Analysis of the results reveals that just a handful of the companies in the sample can be considered to be meaningfully international when all four criteria are taken into account, and that Vodafone among them is best placed to describe itself as a global mobile operator although there are too many reservations for the term global to be seen as an appropriate label. The results highlight the complexity of internationalisation, with operators tending to do well on some of the criteria but not on others, and the paper illustrates how data availability influences the choice of criteria. Data availability also necessitates a trade-off between sample comprehensiveness and detail.     

Marketing Relationship Management: Antecedents to Survival and Dissolution

ABSTRACT

Though investing in relationships in order to continue them seems intuitive, is every relationship worth further investment? For those partnerships in unstable conditions, it is important to know which ones are headed for dissolution and which ones have the potential to survive.

In addition to assessing the economic value of continuing a partnership, this paper argues that the behavioral quality of a relationship should also be considered if relationship management is to be successful. A Partnership Survival Framework (PSF) is offered, wherein conflict response behaviors are shown to be predictive of not only survival but also the quality of a relationship. Here, the PSF is proposed and tested. Support is found for the framework and theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

About the authors

The European Commission's proposed consultative document on ‘Commercial Communication within the Internal Market’ should focus on policy objectives. It is only when there is clarity as to the purposes of control that sensible decisions can be made as to the respective roles, across the European Community, of regulation and self-regulation. In the UK, the EC Misleading Advertising Directive has been implemented with the Office of Fair Trading providing a safety net beneath both legal instruments and self-regulatory mechanisms. If self-regulatory mechanisms are to be considered at the EC level, there must be awareness of the strengths and weaknesses. A number of features are identified for self-regulation to be successful. A balance must also be drawn between activity at the EC level and activity at member state level. Standards and enforcement practice should be as consistent as possible, but there is also a need to respect legitimate national, regional and local diversity. The main options are reviewed. There may be a case for a variant of the home authority principle, which has been developed to co-ordinate the domestic ‘cross-border’ work of UK trading standards authorities, to be developed at EC level. The recently formed International Marketing Supervision Network may be a step in that direction.

The forthcoming consultative document will be a vehicle for taking these issues forward. The broad objective should be to secure maximum freedom, transparency and confidence in the market. Effective arrangements, in which both businesses and the public have confidence, are essential for the development of the internal market.     

Rethinking the Role of Value Communication in Business Corporations from a Sociological Perspective – Why Organisations Need Value-Based Semantics to Cope with Societal and Organisational Fuzziness

Why is it so plausible that business organisations in contemporary society use values in their communication? In order to answer this question, a sociological, system theoretical approach is applied which approaches values not pre-empirically as invisible drivers for action but as observable semantics that form organisational behaviour. In terms of empirical material, it will be shown that business organisations resort to a communication of values whenever uncertainty or complexity is very high. Inevitably, value semantics are applied in organisations first when the speakers are uncertain about which stakeholders to whom they have to address (uncertainty) or when different stakeholder groups have to be addressed simultaneously (complexity); second, when the identity of the organisation has to be described; and third, when future strategic options that cannot be expressed by quantitative terms have to be communicated. Values accordingly play a role in organisational practice when certain aspects are indeterminate. Therefore, they are a means for organisations to communicate under fuzzy circumstances. On the basis of these findings, new approaches to value management can now be formulated.     

International Organisations: The Challenge of Aligning Mission,Means and Legitimacy

To be effective an international organisation must (a) be given an appropriate mission; (b) be given the means to accomplish its mission; and (c) be viewed as legitimate when carrying out the mission. This paper explores the problems in achieving these prerequisites for success first in a general discussion and then in an application to the WTO. Ensuring these conditions are met is not easy because there is an inherent tendency for many international institutions to experience ‘mission creep’, particularly when accountability for burden sharing is weak. This leads to the central dilemma facing many international organisations. If missions are expanded, and organisations given insufficient means, they are likely to fail (or fall short of optimal behaviour) and be criticised for ineffectiveness. However, the more extensive the means they are given, the more likely that their legitimacy will be questioned. The paper argues that the best way for the WTO to deal with these tensions would be to adopt an approach built on a more variable geometry in which countries would not all be required to participate in a single undertaking.     

Co-Creating Value in a Retail Market Setting

It is usually assumed that the co-creation of value requires a close relationship between producers and customers. Typically, this is easier in a business-to-business context, where the numbers of customers and suppliers are relatively low and the capabilities and needs of each partner can readily be assessed. On the other hand, it could be assumed that the co-creation of value in a business-to-consumer context is likely to be more difficult, given the larger numbers of customers and more frequent, short-term, discrete transactions. This article investigates whether it is possible to co-create valuable consumer experiences in a mass market setting by examining the customer relationship strategies of eight Norwegian seafood retailers. The results show that considerable effort from both retailers and consumers are devoted to co-create valuable consumer experiences. We also reveal a repertoire of strategies to engage customers in the co-creation process. Findings are discussed and implications highlighted.     

Half a century of mass tourism: evolution and expectations

This paper presents a retrospective analysis of the service sector focusing on the hotel industry with reference to how internationalisation and globalisation are having a major effect on demand, and as a result how changes must be made to what is offered. The so-called mass tourism must evolve; we are about to enter the second decade of the twenty-first century and mass tourism needs to be transformed. A large number of issues need to be borne in mind, such as the influence technological progress is having on the ways of travelling and booking and on sustainable, environmental tourism. Also to be taken into account is the competitiveness of the so-called emerging nations, for which a mature country like ours can provide new tourist packages.     

宪政维度下诽谤罪之检视

作为对言论自由限制的诽谤罪,存在着滥诉的状况。要解决这一问题,就必须在宪政维度下对其进行考察。首先可以肯定诽谤罪并不违宪。但在立法、司法之时必须考量言论自由的重大价值。若有确实的依据,即使是不真实的言论也应该予以保护。就公民因涉嫌诽谤而被捕或被判刑的案件来讲,只有在诽谤导致官员有承担法律责任之虞的情况下,官员的名誉权始受保护。＂严重危害社会秩序和国家利益＂并非诽谤罪所保护的法益,其规定有悖罪刑法定原则。＂严重危害社会秩序＂应限定为＂引起了被害人自杀身亡或者精神失常等后果,被害人丧失自诉能力＂;＂严重危害国家利益＂应限定为＂党和国家领导人因为被诽谤而出现严重病情或死亡,以致无法履行职能,并因此致使国家利益受损＂。     

我国商法设立营业转让规则的必要

当前商事活动中已经出现了越来越多的营业转让实务样态,国外已有很多营业转让的立法例,而我国目前关于营业转让的规定比较零散、杂乱、不成体系。营业转让所转让的是营业整体,而不着眼于具体的营业财产。由于营业转让的特殊性,民法不能解决营业转让中的全部问题。因此,应在商法上设立营业转让规则,在我国当前讨论制定的《商法通则》中规定营业转让是比较好的方案。     

Musings on the Macroeconomic Effects of Oil Price Increases

In considering the macroeconomic effects of oil price increases, it is important to be mindful of whether changes come from the supply or demand side and whether they are accompanied by impacts on financial markets. Also, it is important to know whether a change is likely to be temporary or permanent and whether it can be offset by policy responses. Finally, the short-run effects of oil price changes are likely to be different from the long-run effects. This paper explores these questions and their ramifications for macroeconomic growth.     

Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence

It is often claimed that small and young firms account for a disproportionately large share of net employment growth. We conduct a meta-analysis of the empirical evidence regarding whether net employment growth rather is generated by a few rapidly growing firms—so-called Gazelles—that are not necessarily small and young. Gazelles are found to be outstanding job creators. They create all or a large share of new net jobs. On average, Gazelles are younger and smaller than other firms, but it is young age more than small size that is associated with rapid growth. Gazelles exist in all industries. They seem not to be overrepresented in high-technology industries, but there is some evidence that they are overrepresented in services.     

商品房销售明码标价问题的思考

在商品房销售中推行明码标价,常常遭遇"上有政策、下有对策",个别商品房没有明码标价、部分商品房标价内容不全、有些商品房明码标价不实,并存在商品房标价外搭车收费和标价中的欺诈行为。为此,必须完善商品房明码标价制度、构建商品房价格公开平台、对商品房进行科学核价、加大违法行为的惩戒力度、提高明码标价政策执行力,让商品房销售明码标价政策惠及广大购房者。     

Quality Measurement in Professional Services Firms

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the association between service quality as perceived by consumers and its determinants. In particular, the SERVQUAL instrument is discussed and then it is demonstrated how it can be adapted 1.0 fit the needs of small professional services firms using a CPA firm as an example. The entire analysis can be performed with a spreadsheet package and the results are easy to interpret. The results are presented and the managerial implications are discussed.     

The Evolution and Structure of Industrial Clusters in Japan

This paper focuses on two aspects of the evolution and structure of clusters in Japan, namely, what gives rise to clusters and what benefits are acquired by small firms from participating in clusters. The determinants of clustering are discussed by way of a review of the history of 14 industrial clusters which cover a wide range of industries and locations in Japan. It is noted that different factors dominate in different cases. Among the more important ones are the existence of leading large firms, the availability of a pooled labor market, and the presence of public research and testing facilities. The four most important benefits from clusters reported by small firms are : (i) specialization; (ii) ease of procurement; (iii) diffusion of technology, and (iv) public policy support. Access to skilled workers is not reported to be a significant benefit. This may be explained by the fact that the dominant source of skills acquisition among Japanese workers is on-the-job training and such skills may be too firm-specific to be useful to others, even within a geographically concentrated cluster.     

Binary funding impacts in derivative valuation

We discuss the binary nature of funding impact in derivative valuation. Under some conditions, funding is either a cost or a benefit, that is, one of the lending/borrowing rates does not play a role in pricing derivatives. When derivatives are priced, considering different lending/borrowing rates leads to semilinear backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) and partial differential equation (PDEs), and thus it is necessary to solve the equations numerically. However, once it can be guaranteed that only one of the rates affects pricing, linear equations can be recovered, and analytical formulae can be derived. Moreover, as a by‐product, our results explain how debt value adjustment (DVA) and funding benefits are dissimilar. It is often believed that considering both DVA and funding benefits results in a double‐counting issue but it will be shown that the two components are affected by different mathematical structures of derivative transactions. We find that funding benefit is related to the decreasing property of the payoff function, but this relationship decreases as the funding choices of underlying assets are transferred to repo markets.     

Can conscious consumption be learned? The role of Hungarian consumer protection education in becoming conscious consumers

The purpose of this research is to examine how consumer consciousness can be defined, along what dimensions it might be measured and, according to these dimensions, how conscious Hungarian university students are. In addition, it is also discussed how their consumer protection education might contribute to their consumer consciousness. Two hypotheses have been proposed concerning factors potentially affecting conscious consumer behaviour (gender; participation in consumer protection education). To test these hypotheses, a questionnaire survey has been conducted with a total of 280 respondents, whom are undergraduate students of a Hungarian university. It is found that different aspects of consciousness dominate the consumer decisions of females and males. Female respondents appear to be characterized more by hedonistic consumption but they are more price sensitive than males. Veblen effect is stronger for males, and they have greater trust in well‐known brands. Although the survey revealed that both research variables might affect consumer behaviour (not only gender but the participation in consumer protection education as well), the role of education cannot be unambiguously identified in the process of establishing consumer consciousness. On the one hand, the results show that the behaviour of ‘trained’ consumers is mainly characterized by price sensitiveness, while the other (‘non‐educated’) group is more reliant on marketing and brands. However, on the other hand, it might also be concluded that young adults participating in the survey already have their own consumer habits and preferences; therefore, their consumer behaviour is more difficult to be formed by means of education during their university years. These findings are nevertheless limited to Hungarian university students and cannot be generalized to the entire society or other countries.