Ethics Training and Businesspersons’ Perceptions of Organizational Ethics

Ethics training is commonly cited as a primary method for increasing employees ethical decision making and conduct. However, little is known about how the presence of ethics training can enhance other components of an organization's ethical environment such as employees perception of company ethical values. Using a national sample of 313 business professionals employed in the United States, the relationship between ethics training and perceived organizational ethics was explored. The results of the analysis provide significant statistical support for the notion that businesspersons employed in organizations that have formalized ethics training programs have more positive perceptions of their companies ethical context than do individuals employed in organizations that do not. The analysis also indicated that job satisfaction was related to employees attitudes about their ethical context. The managerial implications of the results are outlined, along with the limitations of the study and recommendations for future research.     

对完善我国商业秘密法律保护的构想

目前,我国商业秘密法律保护的地位不够明确,保护商业秘密的法律规定过于分散,操作性不强;在调整范围上,相关法律、法规存在着一定的局限性。完善我国商业秘密的法律保护,应借鉴国外在民法典中、在侵权行为法中、在反不正当竞争法中的商业秘密保护以及商业秘密的专门立法方面的立法例,制订专门商业秘密保护法;进一步加强我国工商行政管理机关对商业秘密的保护;加大我国法院和仲裁机构对商业秘密侵权的救济。企业必须树立和加强商业秘密这种无形财产权的权利意识,健全商业秘密保护机制,明确保密内容,确立完善的防范措施。     

So,you want to be a business professor?

Career transitions within the same industry are challenging enough, but transitions across sectors are even more difficult. Underlying cultural and operational differences between industry and academia present significant hidden obstacles for practitioners seeking to become teachers in higher education. To help expose these challenges, I recount—in this Executive Digest—my personal experiences leaving the consulting profession for a role as a faculty member at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. I offer comparisons between the two career models, illustrate specific examples of misaligned expectations, and conclude with practical suggestions to ease the transition and set forth a solid foundation for longevity in academia for non-researchers.     

Types of mindfulness in an age of digital distraction

In an age of digital distractions, mindfulness has become a billion-dollar industry that extends well beyond training to include products, services, and experiences. Attitudes on mindfulness vary from the cautious to the starry-eyed. However, one thing is certain: mindfulness is here and it is here to stay, as the conditions that gave rise to its popularity are only likely to intensify. Thus, it is incumbent upon managers to understand the phenomenon of mindfulness and this presents difficulties. The marketplace meaning of mindfulness has become so diffuse as to be almost meaningless, while the mainstream psychological definition is at best partial and at worst potentially myopic. In this installation of Marketing & Technology, we first explore the conditions that gave rise to the surge in interest in mindfulness. Second, by drawing on original source materials, we guide managers and marketing executives through the dimensions/types of mindfulness and integrate the various perspectives into two models. We conclude with an exploration of the opportunities and challenges that mindfulness poses to managers and marketing.     

Separating fads from facts: Lessons from The Good, The Fad, And The Ugly

Management fads present executives with an interesting paradox. With the benefit of hindsight, many fads appear silly. Yet, it seems that as each management fad falls out of favor, a new fad emerges and gains legions of devoted followers. Our short graphic novel, The Good, The Fad, And The Ugly, illustrates the difficulty of separating fads from facts. Although fads are remembered with scorn, they generally contain an important element of truth about organizations. One implication is that executives need to recognize and leverage the merit offered by a fad without viewing the fad as the solution to all organizational challenges. We apply this notion to the graphic novel format, and argue that graphic novels should be viewed as one tool among many for effectively communicating with today's employees.     

Revamping MBA programs for global competitiveness

World-wide, the MBA has become one of the most popular academic qualifications. In recent years, doubts have been raised regarding worth of the MBA degree, at least in its present form. This article examines the broad trends shaping business education and recommends how MBA curricula might be redesigned to make students globally aware, and be effective in the midst of global competition. Our focus here is on meeting future essential business needs that today's schools fail to sufficiently address. Although MBA education is at a crossroads, change will not be easy, as MBA education represents a sizeable global ‘industry.’ We conclude by listing issues which may be examined to make the change feasible.     

A school is “a building that has four walls…with tomorrow inside”: Toward the reinvention of the business school

Business schools, defined as educational institutions that specialize in teaching courses and programs related to business and/or management, are facing major challenges. These challenges stem from a number of major shifts in the business education landscape, including the rising importance of rankings and accreditations, the increased weight placed on ethical decision making, the ongoing debate on rigor vs. relevance in research, the digital revolution, and the significant decrease in public funding. In fact, they are so fundamental that the coming decade is likely to represent a new era in the history of business education, the fourth since the concept of the business school was created in 1819 with the establishment of ESCP Europe. The purpose of this article is to outline these main changes (TASK: T—from tower to Twittersphere, A—from auditorium to anti-café, S—from stakeholder to shareholder, K—from knowledge to know-how) and to discuss how they impact the different AS-SE-TS of a business school (alumni & students, staff & equipment, teachers & scholars). The article ends with a proposed classification of schools along four corners (culture, compass, capital, and content) and a discussion of which types of schools are best suited to adapt to these changes.     

Part II: Titles and Abstracts

ABSTRACT

The commentary discusses the analysis of the content of business marketing textbooks by Backhaus, Mell and Sabel and in particular the dichotomy managerial used to classify the approaches adopted. It is argued that such a dichotomy tends to veil different and changing assumptions regarding the task of marketing management in business markets, and the claim is made that the interplay between the different approaches is beneficial for the development of the body of knowledge of the discipline of business marketing.     

Getting what we wish for: The realities of business education for a global economy

Business schools around the world have embraced globalization and, as a result, attempted to attract international students to their programs. Teaching diverse student groups has many advantages, but is not without its challenges, including cultural differences in educational expectations and student self-efficacy. The goal of this article is to suggest that we can create plans and activities capable of helping Asian students adapt more quickly to the expectations of Western education. We herein describe Rotterdam Business School's experiences in working with a diverse—mainly Asian—population of students, focusing on strategies that may assist them in adapting to the expectations of the global business school classroom.     

Why CIBERs matter to the competitiveness of U.S. businesses in the 21 century

Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBERs)—located at 33 institutions of higher education across the U.S. and administered by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act—serve as regional and national resource centers for the business community, and as conduits for major initiatives to support and strengthen the international components of curricula in K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. This article argues that CIBERs are well-positioned to not only address current needs, but also drive innovative thinking and leading-edge activities toward longer-term challenges. Herein, exemplary activities from CIBERs serve as examples to support this claim, and Indiana University's CIBER strategic trajectory for the 2010-2014 grant cycle is explored within the context of the current global situation.     

Commentary on “Business-to-Business Marketing Textbooks: A Comparative Review”

ABSTRACT

The proposal by Backhaus, Muehlfeld, and Okoye (2002) to design a business marketing text around a framework of customer-relationship types is provocative and spawns a useful debate on the issue of what should actually be taught in the business marketing course, particularly at the undergraduate level. We believe that the approach may increase the attention given to relationship marketing but do so by sacrificing coverage of core content that students and informed business marketing managers need to know. In the end, we opt for a more comprehensive approach in exploring strategy making for the business market while they chart a narrower and more specialized path.     

A cluster analysis of highly productive business and management education scholars

The authors examined the publications and impact of highly productive business and management education (BME) scholars across the business disciplines of accounting, economics, finance, information systems, management, marketing, and operations management. Results from a hierarchical cluster analysis revealed five clusters of scholars: leading BME Scholars, leading discipline-focused BME scholars, high-profile BME scholars, focused BME scholars, and recognized BME scholars. The article includes a discussion of findings and their implications for BME scholarship, future BME scholars, and business schools.     

Performance Related Nonresponse Bias in Surveys of Dyadic Channel Relationships

In dyadic channel relations research, the combined effects of lack of anonymity, question sensitivity, sponsor ambiguity, and the stakes that are involved in channel relationships may inhibit lower-performing channel members from responding to surveys. Using a sample of 100 manufacturers' representatives from four industrial firms, a difference was found in territorial market shares between respondents and nonrespondents to the initial mailing of a questionnaire concerning channel member relationships. However, respondents in later waves of mailings were found to be no different in market shares than the remaining nonrespondents. These results suggest the use of multiple waves of mailings to minimize the potential of a performance related nonresponse bias.     

人力资本投资中对职业教育培训的投资分析

职业教育培训投资是人力资本投资中很重要的一项投资。本文从人力资本投资的分析入手 ,分析了其中的职业教育培训投资的必要性和重要性以及应该采取的措施。