Global software piracy: Trends and strategic considerations

The design, manufacture, distribution, and sale of software constitutes a rapidly growing and remarkably lucrative global industry. Leaders of most software companies understand that intellectual property rights (IPR) typically are vital to competitive advantage and company success. Theft of intellectual property (IP) in the form of software piracy is brazen, extremely costly, lowers incentives to innovate, and threatens the very existence of some companies. IP theft, therefore, is a daunting challenge for managers of software firms. In this article, we make several contributions that should prove helpful to software designers, managers, responsible users, and broad stakeholders of software innovation and use—that is, almost all of us. In doing so, we provide an overview of international legal, ethical, economic, and systemic considerations, and we share an analysis of the drivers of consumer software piracy. We then discuss strategic considerations and introduce a decision-making typology, which may help legitimate companies to devise strategies and tactics to manage their software IP in the face of widespread piracy.     

People-Oriented Marketing Managers in Service Organizations

Abstract

This paper explores the role of people-oriented marketing managers in service organizations. In particular, the interaction variables between organizational behavior of managers and organizational design issues are analyzed. Variables addressed include the following: centralization, decentralization, bureaucracy, matrix management, open environment, individuality, people as resource, unification of people, handling people problems, democratic methods, development of people, and importance of people.     

试论建筑工程技术管理

技术管理在建筑工程管理中对于杜绝各类安全事故、降低生产成本、提高企业效益以及搞好工程质量等等都起着至关重要的作用.建筑工程项目从广施工、设计、规划、立项一直到竣工验收,这是一个完整的过程,这一过程中环环相扣,任何一个环节如果出现问题都很有可能影响到整个建筑工程的质量和施工的进度.本文中,笔者就对建筑工程施工技术管理进行简要的分析.     

Factors determining the use of nutrition labels: The case of Malaysia

The rising prevalence of diet-related illnesses, the most visible of health problems, in both developed and developing countries has become a serious public health concern. Nutrition labeling plays an important role in promoting healthy diet and, thus, in improving population health. The objective of the present study is to investigate how socioeconomic factors—age, income, gender, education, marital status, house locality and employment status—affect the use of nutrition labels among Malaysian adults. The Third National Health and Morbidity Survey of Malaysia, which consisted of 34,539 respondents, is used for analysis. A logit model is developed to examine the probability of using nutrition labels. Evidence from the present study shows that age, income, gender, education, and marital status are significantly associated with the use of nutrition labels. In particular, age reduces the likelihood of using nutrition labels, while high income earners, females, the well-educated, and married individuals are more likely to use nutrition labels. The findings of the present study suggest that differentiated targeted efforts should be used on the various population groups identified when implementing programs and activities promoting the use of nutrition labels.     

Scalable sociality and “How the world changed social media”: conversation with Daniel Miller

Daniel Miller is Professor of Material Culture at University College London. His prolific work in consumption studies, material culture studies and, more recently, digital anthropology has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of consumption, markets and culture. Miller is currently in the midst of a five-year European Research Council grant titled, Social Network Sites and Social Science, which funds the Global Social Media Impact Study. Developing concepts such as scalable sociality and understandings of “Why We Post,” anthropologists in nine locations around the world have conducted ethnographies, each of 15 months, focusing on everyday social media use in relation to issues of migration, family, politics, education, and commerce, as well as, on the ways in which genres of content flow through different platforms. The project's output includes 11 scholarly books, the launch of the Why We Post website, and an online university course, all of which are open access and have creative commons license. Miller is a Fellow of the British Academy and has won the Royal Anthropological Institute's Rivers Memorial Prize, given in past years to such luminaries as Bronislaw Malinowski, E. E. Evans-Pritchard, and Mary Douglas. This interview took place in London, 19 October 2015.     

无人机SAR/MTI侦察技术中若干问题的探讨

尽管从去年第４季度起，美国经济的增长速度开始明显减缓，似乎又进入了一个新的调整周期，但是各种迹象表明，美国“新经济”业已呈现出的深刻的演变趋势，不仅没有任何减弱，而且将在新世纪前期继续引领甚至主导世界经济。     

#selfie: digital self-portraits as commodity form and consumption practice

Although selfies may appear to be the latest fad, their popularity has had a transformational influence on contemporary culture. Selfies invoke important issues in communication, photography, psychology, self-expression, and digital media studies – as they bring up a host of concerns about identity, privacy, security, and surveillance. This article provides an interdisciplinary overview of the selfie as both an object and a practice, and offers theoretical reflections on how the selfie can be seen as an important commodity form and consumer behaviour. The selfie is connected to concepts of authenticity, consumption, and self-expression, as well as practices of art history, media forms, and self-portraiture. Strategic use of the selfie reveals shifts in the traditional functions of the advertising photograph, from sources of information, persuasion, and representation to emblems of social currency. We position the selfie not as a postmodern anomaly but as a type of image with a history.     

Debunking the myth of general consumer rejection of green genetic engineering: Empirical evidence from Germany

The emergence of a more sustainable economy in Europe was accompanied by a range of bio‐based products and technologies. As a prominent example, green genetic engineering opens up multiple options to increase agricultural production, but its public acceptance seems to vary by application area. Risk perception explains consumer acceptance of green genetic engineering, which is a necessary precondition for wider technology adoption. This study investigates risk perceptions for four major sources of risk: health related, environmental, socioeconomic and ethical. Data were collected in a laboratory experiment in Germany, with a total of 439 participants. A between‐subject design was employed. The four experimental treatment groups comprised two policy scenarios, namely one only permitting research and development and the other allowing full commercialization of genetically modified products, and two product end‐uses, bioenergy and food. The study shows significant end‐use differences in both the type of policy scenario and the risk dimension in question. In particular, health risks were generally perceived to be lower for bioenergy than food whenever full commercialization was pursued. Furthermore, full commercialization of genetically modified food prompted higher concerns about personal health, whereas use of crops for bioenergy production was broadly related to higher levels of socioeconomic risk. Finally, although the majority of consumers identified health risks as being most relevant, the consequences for the environment evoked the greatest degree of risk perception. In general, our findings lend support for the notion that the policy regime is the most important determinant for risk perception, followed by the type of risk dimension and level of trust in industry.     

Individual Differences Among Service Employees

SUMMARY

To do an excellent job of managing external relationships, service firms must be prepared to do an excellent job of managing internal relationships. This effort begins with recruiting, selecting, and retaining employees who are likely to serve customers well. While service firms strive to match the knowledge, ability, and skills of potential employees to the requirements of the job, most do not have the time or the resources to implement elaborate recruitment and selection systems. This is especially true among services where relatively high turnover levels mandate that recruitment and selection processes be fast and inexpensive. To meet this challenge, managers often focus on a set of easily identifiable individual characteristics, such as experience, job tenure, age, or education that can be assessed during the time of an interview or scan of a job application. This study examines the effect of these characteristics on the attitudes and responses of service employees that are critical for the effective delivery of quality service (job satisfaction, self-efficacy, role stress, organizational commitment). The results indicate that satisfied and committed service employees tend to be older, better educated, and possess a great deal of service experience. These employees also appear to be better able to handle the stress associated with service positions. These characteristics are atypical of the service industry, where employees tend to be younger, possess relatively little experience in any one industry, and are less educated. Implications for managing the recruitment, selection, and retention of service employees are offered, as are directions for future research.     

利益相关者管理理论研究的主导逻辑与议题框架：基于Web of Science核心数据库的研究

企业竞争优势越来越依赖其所处的利益相关者之间的资源、权利及其关系,但现有的利益相关者管理理论研究视角各异,缺乏系统梳理。以文本分析方法为基础,基于Web of Science核心数据库的文献,系统论述了利益相关者研究的知识演进研究逻辑和主要议题框架。研究发现：从管理学视角看,利益相关者管理理论研究主要遵循“个体关系网络”的逻辑演进,并以相应的知识图谱聚类展开。利用重点文献对利益相关者研究的知识演进分析,进一步发现利益相关者管理理论的议题框架可分为利益相关者管理理论研究重要性、研究逻辑与主题、研究方法与机理研究;根据主体属性及个体、关系到网络的研究逻辑,需要分别从主体、关系和网络三个方面解决好利益相关者主体的个体属性、关系与网络的整体属性的割裂状态。     

论我国当前食品安全问题

当前，导致我国食品安全产生问题的原因，主要包括监管疏漏，食品安全法律体系不健全，食品质量标准存在缺陷，企业诚信缺失，食品流通环节薄弱，媒体误导等。政府相关部门应与时俱进，充分认识新时期做好食品安全工作的重要性；加大宣传力度，提高全民食品安全意识；建立和完善统一协调、权责明晰的食品安全监管体系；建立较为完善的食品安全应急处理体系；逐步完善我国食品安全法律体系；加快食品安全卫生标准制订、修订步伐；提高企业诚信经营的理念：加强新闻自律．正确发挥媒体的舆论监督作用。     

保险公司财务管理存在的问题及其应对途径探析

保险公司的内部管理是由承保管理、核保管理、理赔管理、财务管理、人事管理、行政管理、分保管理等各专业管理共同组成的.其中,以资金运动管理为核心的财务管理具有很强的综合管理性质,是公司内部管理的中心环节.本文就保险公司财务管理存在的问题进行了分析,同时提出了相关对策,以提高保险公司整体财务管理水平.     

Are We Sending Mixed Messages? How Philosophical Naturalism Erodes Ethical Instruction

To develop critical thinking skills, higher order ethical reasoning, a better grasp of the implications of ethical decisions, and a basis for ethical knowledge, it is necessary to explore the philosophical premises foundational to one’s ethical persuasion. No philosophical premises are more important than those pertaining to the nature of human personhood and business’ responsibility to respect the inherent value of human beings. Philosophical naturalism assigns the essence of human personhood strictly to causal interactions of physical matter. Substance dualism, on the other hand, posits both a physical aspect and an immaterial substance to personhood, interacting within the totality of each being. This paper argues for the logical superiority of substance dualism in achieving the overriding objective of discerning ethical knowledge. Substance dualism offers a better explanation – and one that more closely follows the way most people commonly experience themselves and others–than naturalism for free agency and accountability, meaningful moral standards, confidence in knowing what ethical decisions to make, and the moral drive residing in conscience. Marjorie J. Cooper (aka Caballero), Ph. D. is a Professor of Marketing in the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Texas. She received her B.A. from Wheaton College in 1970, her M.B.A. from Oklahoma City University in 1977, and her Ph. D. in Business Administration from Texas A&M University in 1981. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Research, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Professional Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Business Horizons, Journal of Promotion Management, Journal of Small Business Management, Human Systems Management, and elsewhere.     

射频识别技术及其在交通领域的应用

自1998年实行积极财政政策以来,国债发行规模日趋庞大。由此提高国债偿债能力,防范和化解由于偿债能力下降而引起的财政内生风险便成为当务之急。本文通过一套较为完整的统计指标体系,根据历年的统计数据分析当前的国债危机以及财政内生风险,从而提出控制和防范风险的对策,为今后积极财政政策的实施扫清路障。     

Vinyl record: a cultural icon

In this paper, we use the case of the vinyl record to show that iconic objects become meaningful via a dual process. First, they offer immersive engagements which structure user interpretations through various material experiences of handling, use, and extension. Second, they always work via entanglements with related material ecologies such as turntables, speakers, mixers, and rituals of object care. Additionally, these engagements are complimented by a mediation process which emplaces the vinyl historically, culturally, spatially, and also politically, especially in the context of digitalization. This relational process means that both the material affordances and entanglements of vinyl allow us to feel, handle, experience, project, and share its iconicity. The materially mediated meanings of vinyl enabled it to retain currency in independent and collector’s markets and thus resist the planned obsolescence and eventually attain the status of celebrity commodity with totemic power in music communities. This performative aspect of vinyl markets also means that consumers read closely the signals and symbols regarding vinyl’s status, as its various user groups and champions try to interpret its future, protect, or challenge its current position. Vinyl’s future, and the larger expansion of pressing plants and innovative turntable production around it, largely depend on processes of cultural and status mobility. In the current phase of market expansion, vinyl’s status might be challenged by its own success. Neither a fashion cycle phenomenon, nor simple market conditions explain vinyl’s longevity. Rather, cultural contextualization of vinyl as thing and commodity is crucial for avoiding symbolic pollution and retaining sacred aura.     

Challenge and Opportunity Go Hand in Hand——What Global Economic Agitation Brings to the China's Economy?

Domino effects of the global finance agitation As the origin of the subprime crisis,US financial institutions lost USS45 billion last year,accounted for over half of the total US,EU & Japan loss.Since January 15th,Chtigroup released its financial statement of the 4th quarter,showing a net deficit of USS9.83 billion,which marked the hisoric high of its quarterly deficit.     

The Influence of Nationality and Gender on Ethical Sensitivity: An Application of the Issue-Contingent Model

When a member of an organization has to make a decision or act in a way that may benefit some stakeholders at the expense of others, ethical dilemmas may arise. This paper examines ethical sensitivity regarding the duties to clients and owners (principals), employees (agents), and responsibilities to society (third parties). Within this framework, ethical perceptions of male and female managers are compared between the U.S. and Turkey – two countries that differ on power distance as well as the individualism/collectivism dimensions. Our results show that ethical sensitivity varies depending upon whether the interests of principals, agents, or third parties are affected by a given ethical dilemma. We also find that, contingent upon the principal-agent–society relationships, the nationality and gender of the decision-maker influences ethical sensitivity. Can Simga-Mugan is a Professor of Accountancy at Department of Business Administration of Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. She received her Ph.D. in accountancy from University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. Her current research interests are ethics, international financial reporting issues, manipulation in the stock market and effect of news on the stock market. Bonita A. Daly, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Accounting in the School of Business, University of Southern Maine in Portland, Maine. She teaches auditing and financial accounting to both undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Daly also teaches business ethics in continuing education programs for practicing accountants. Her research on the accounting profession has appeared in Critical Prespectives on Accounting, Accounting, Organizations, and Society, and the St. Johns Law Review, among others. Dilek Onkal is a Professor of Decision Sciences and is currently the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at Bilkent University, Turkey. She received a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences from the University of Minnesota, and is doing research on ethics judgements, risk perception, risk communication, and judgmental forecasting. Lerzan Kavut is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Business Administration of Istanbul University. She has received her B.A. and Ph.D. from Istanbul University. Her current research interest is in the area of behavioral auditing.     

中国银行业信息化问题探讨

中国金融业和银行业的发展举世瞩目。中国银行业的信息化之路走过了20年,实现了信息大集中、运营集约化、管理现代化和服务电子化。随着全球经济一体化、金融一体化的深入推进,中国的商业银行必须从银行信息化走向信息化银行,即在银行信息化的基础上真正实现融汇、贯通,促使银行业经营管理产生根本变化。具体说来,就是要集中、整合、共享、挖掘。一要转变为规模化、标准化的作业模式,实现业务集中处理,最终达到经营管理的全面集中和集约,使银行在业务量快速增长、业务复杂性大幅提高的情况下,依然保证业务运营的高质量、高效率,有效降低生产运营成本,控制经营风险;二要按照统一的信息技术架构将银行内部各管理系统全部整合到一个系统管理平台,实现各系统互联互通;三要突破信息传导和查控的限制,提高可用性和易用性;四要对银行或者企业非常需要的管理信息、客户信息、产品信息等进行收集、储存和处理,进行挖掘和归纳性梳理,充分利用有价值的信息,帮助管理者判断市场,发现价格,评估风险,配置资源,提供决策支持。中国银行业应在全球银行业剧变之时,为银行信息化建设走出一条新路。     

Provenance as a filtering and framing device in the qualification of wine

This research examines how provenance – where a product was produced, by whom, how and when – features in the work of cultural intermediaries in the Australian premium wine market, at two different stages in the career of a wine. First, evaluations of provenance attributes (in terms of sincerity, tradition and transparency) serve as filters through which wine promoters identify market-worthy wines; second, those attributes are strategically deployed to frame the wine as a worthy choice for consumers (focusing on the use of the winemaker as a framing device). The article offers a distinctive account of the qualification of wine, and makes the case for a cultural economic conceptualization of provenance as a negotiated, accomplished quality. In foregrounding wine promoters’ emotional attachments to provenance attributes of wines they choose to promote, the research highlights the affective dimensions of markets, which are made, in part, through the consuming passions of cultural intermediaries.     

拓展茶叶相关产业提升普洱茶竞争力

近年来,普洱茶的保健功能逐渐被科学证实,市场不断升温。但作为普洱茶原产地的思茅市,其普洱茶产业竞争力严重不足。本文从茶叶相关产业联系出发,以波特竞争优势理论和规模经济范围经济理论为依据,提出沿着两条线索,即横向的左右互动和纵向的由上至下,拓展普洱茶相关产业发展,确定了优先发展生态茶园、茶叶机械制造业、深加工、包装流通、普洱茶文化产业和普洱茶旅游产业等六大产业重点,以此来提升普洱茶产业的竞争力。