Writing performance and moral reasoning in business education?

This study investigates the connection of moral reasoning to demographic and performance variables in business education, especially business and technical writing. The moral reasoning construct serves as the foundation for one's decision making when confronted with moral dilemmas. Significant relationships are reported between subjects' writing skill and their moral reasoning scores. This research serves as a foundation for questions about writers' moral reasoning and the ethical decisions each writer makes in written communication. In addition, this study supports further research into the connection between moral reasoning and written communication, given the significant relationships reported and the noticeable shortage of related, data-based research.J. Lynn Johnson is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. He is coauthor ofManagement: Theory and Practice, is an active consultant in the SouthWest, and has published over 20 other journal articles and training manuals. He has also been active in designing the curriculum for undergraduate and masters programs in personnel and industrial relations, hotel and restaurant management, and small business administration.Robert Insley is an Assistant Professor of Management and coordinator of the business communication program at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. He has presented numerous papers at national and international business communication and international business conferences, conducts interviewing skills workshops, has published several journal articles, and is presently in the process of co-authoringBusiness Communication Today and Tomorrow.Jaideep Motwani is an Assistant Professor of Management at Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has presented numerous papers and chaired sessions at regional, national, and international meetings of the Decision Sciences, Society for Advancement of Management, ASQC, and other professional societies. He has published several journal articles.Imad Zbib is an Assistant Professor of Management at Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, Missouri. His teaching and research interests range from production planning and control and manufacturing strategy to international management and business communication. He has presented papers at several regional, national, and international conferences and has published several journal articles.     

Absolute and relative resources as determinants of international acquisitions

Although it is established that firms sometimes expand abroad to augment their capabilities, previous studies have generally focused on technological determinants of foreign expansion. We analyze capability‐seeking aspects of foreign direct investment by examining the relationship between upstream (technological) and downstream (marketing) capabilities and the choice between acquisition and greenfield modes of international entry. In analyzing 2175 entries by British, German, and Japanese investors into the United States, we find that for downstream capabilities, which tend not to be geographically fungible, the absolute level of capabilities in the entered industry explains the mode choice. However, for upstream capabilities, which tend to be geographically fungible, the acquisition motive stems from a relative capability differential between host and home country firms. These results have implications for the concept of fungibility in the resource‐based view of the firm as well as for the literature on sourcing of resident assets by foreign firms, which has thus far ignored issues of entry mode and downstream assets. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Women and empowerment through the ‘economy of affection’ in KwaZulu‐Natal: Its significance for sustainable development

This article is an attempt to demonstrate how, in the absence of infrastructural requirements for development in the rural areas, the interpersonal relationships of women articulated through their households, kinship networks and community structures serve as indispensable mechanisms for their survival. These mechanisms are seen as part of an indigenous socio‐economic framework that is referred to here as the ‘economy of affection’. This framework is presented, through ethnographic data, as a means of facilitating moral, social and economic support among the indigent rural people in KwaZulu‐Natal. Taking cognisance of local organisational forms and resources is the best possible way to reconstruct South Africa's vast hinterland against the background of a history of development patterns, where rhetoric has played a more important role than actual substantive contributions to development of the rural poor, and where capital investments, technology and expertise of a post‐industrial nature are unlikely to spread.     

EXTREMIST PLATFORMS: POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF PROFIT-SEEKING MEDIA

We analyze how information about candidate quality affects the choice of electoral platforms made by an office-motivated political challenger. The incumbent is of known quality and located at the ideal policy of the voter. The voter cares for both policy and the candidates' quality and can learn about the challenger's quality by buying information. A high-quality challenger then has an incentive to signal her quality by choosing a policy that induces the voter to buy information. We first study the benchmark case in which the information is supplied exogenously, and its quality is independent of the challenger's platform; this yields multiple equilibria and indeterminacy of equilibrium platforms. By contrast, when the information is supplied by a profit-maximizing media outlet, its quality depends on the challenger's platform and we obtain a unique equilibrium platform. In particular, when the incumbent's quality is relatively low, the media coverage rises and the challenger's platform diverges further from the voter's ideal policy as the voter's preference for quality increases.     

Building local legitimacy into corporate social responsibility: Gold mining firms in developing nations

A transnational model of global strategy suggests that multi-national enterprises generally rely on proven global capabilities to adapt existing business models. Alternatively, this paper argues that the transnational model needs to be amended to allow for a hybrid approach that balances local and global strategies for multi-national gold (MNGs) firms working in developing nations. This is illustrated by Newmont Mining's efforts to develop local legitimacy through contributions to community development around its gold mining operations in Peru. We then compare the Newmont case with corporate social responsibility (CSR) at other MNGs. We have found that there appears to be an industry-wide institutional environment developing which includes local CSR projects in an attempt to balance the effects of capitalism between global markets and developing nations.     

Relational configurations with information intermediaries: The effect of firm‐investment bank ties on expected acquisition performance

Recognizing information‐related problems in acquisition transactions, we study how the characteristics of acquiring firms' relationships with information brokers or intermediaries like investment banks affect firms' access to acquisition‐related information, thus influencing expected acquisition performance. We propose that relational configurations that enhance the intermediaries' ability and willingness provide the most beneficial and appropriate information to acquiring firms. We find that acquirers' expected acquisition performance increases with the number of prior transactions with investment banks but decreases when relationships with banks become exclusive. Further, the positive effect of number of prior transactions becomes even stronger for less related acquisitions. Our study provides insights on the beneficial performance implications of competition in multiple but nonexclusive relationships with information intermediaries such as investment banks. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship between just-in-time manufacturing practices and performance: A meta-analytic investigation

Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing is among the most commonly researched topics in the area of operations management. This study examines the relationship between JIT manufacturing practices and performance outcomes by means of meta-analysis of correlations approach. Based on an in-depth analysis of literature spanning from 1992 to 2008, the results of this meta-analytic investigation support a positive relationship between JIT manufacturing practices and aggregate performance. However, the findings suggest that not all individual JIT practices are associated with all types of performance outcomes. This study highlights the JIT practices that have the greatest impact on individual performance outcomes and emphasizes the role of moderating factors in the relationship between JIT practices and performance. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed and directions for future theory building in JIT are presented.     

A relational perspective to knowledge creation: Role of servant leadership

Knowledge creation is a dynamic activity where new ideas and meanings are created through coaction and interactive relationships. However, due to overemphasis on competitive spirit and individualistic orientation, knowledge organizations ignore the significance of people and relationships. Extending a relational perspective, this article proposes a model of servant leadership for facilitating knowledge creation through sharing leadership responsibilities with followers resulting in mutual influence and direction, and inculcating caring relationships. It ensures greater exchange of ideas, experiences, and expertise between servant leaders and followers that result in the generation of new knowledge. By constructing this model we have explained various processes with several propositions showing relationships between servant leadership and shared leadership, shared leadership and knowledge creation, servant leadership and caring relationships, and caring relationships and knowledge creation.