Stopping the Exploitation of Workers: An Analysis of the Effective Application of Consumer or Socio-Political Pressure

Commodity chain analysis (Bair and Ramsay, 2003 Multinational Companies and Global Human Resource Strategies) is used to explore where economic pressure (from consumers) or socio-political pressure (from governments and NGOs) can be applied to reduce worker exploitation. Six paths are illustrated with examples of successful and unsuccessful application of pressure. Three conclusions are reached :Economic pressure on companies and brand owners is more likely to lead to improved workplace conditions than socio-political pressure; Brand owners are more likely to implement improved workplace conditions than retailers; and Retailers who are under extreme consumer price pressure will resist improving workplace conditions. Dr. Gina L.S. Pines received her Ph.D. in Business, Organization and Policy Studies from The City University of New York, Bernard Baruch College of Business. She has held faculty positions at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY), Rensselaer at Hartford, Fairfield University and Central Connecticut State University. Presently, she is a Visiting Associate Professor of Business Strategy and Policy at the University of Hartford. Prior to her university work, Dr. Pines developed public–private partnerships for The New York City Partnership (a Rockefeller foundation) and The New York City Public Schools. While at the New York City Partnership Dr. Pines developed, applied for and was granted by the New York State Senate, $1.4 million for start up programs and research in business–education partnerships for 10 consecutive years. Dr. Pines has delivered numerous white papers to the New York State Senate. She has presented at academic conferences, most recently in London on human rights violations and corporate social responsibility. Her research has examined CEO career paths and firm strategic choice, strategy formulation, implementation, and evaluation and the exploitation of women and children in lesser developed nations. Presently, she is developing a model specifying the linkages among “guilt triggers” corporate social responsibility and the exploitation of women and children in lesser developed nations. David Meyer is a Professor of Management and Organization at Central Connecticut State University and a Research Fellow at the Fraser Center, Wayne State University. His Ph.D. is in Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations from the University of Michigan. His research concerns workplace justice, implementing strategy, and problem solving in organizations. He has published in the British Journal of Industrial Relations, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Industrial Relations, and others.     

Shortcuts and Signals: An Analysis of the Micro-level Determinants of Aid Allocation, with Case Study Evidence from Brazil

Does the distribution of foreign development assistance depend on the organizational capacity of the recipient organization? I argue that employees at donor agencies seek signals of which recipients will implement aid most effectively, and use these signals to determine the destination of foreign aid on the micro level. Qualitative evidence gathered in the US and Brazil indicates the types of signals donors seek and recipients strive to transmit: signals of a recipient's professionalism, reputation, and sustainability. After developing a signaling game to derive the conditions under which these signals might be credible indicators of implementation effectiveness, I present quantitative evidence of aid recipient organizations in Brazil and score them on the three signals. Statistical tests confirm that organizations with higher levels of these signals are more likely to receive funding, suggesting that donors use these signals to determine the destination of development assistance.     

韩国：跨越时空的逍遥游

对大多数的中国人来说,对于韩国肯定是不陌生的。眼下,我们的这个近邻正以它丰富多彩的韩剧在中国独领风骚,以它各式各味的泡菜在世界大行其道,而引得大量游客为它蠢蠢欲动。然     

艺术以人的名义诞生——2006中意文化交流年北京站之天鹅湾文艺复兴藏品展

一切的世界图景都只是人自身所创造的,是人的艺术。当艺术以人的名义呈现,其深刻的内涵有着博大的解读意义,当我们以理性的认知去感受这份艺术的光泽,并运用在城市各机能的建设与生长的时候,万物的华彩才会绽放出光芒。     

德国：在激情与优雅中流连

德国是一个富有多彩魅力的国度。它拥有美丽的莱茵河、古旧的城堡、蓊郁的森林、悠闲的小镇、还有现代化的大都市,以及孕育出众多著名而伟大人物的故里。在德国,人们所看到的景色、人物,风情无不反映着一种特有的德国性格:严谨但又不失迷人的优雅,精确而又拥有热烈的激情。     

First among Equals: The Effect of Team Leader Characteristics on the Internal Dynamics of Cross‐Functional Product Development Teams*

Drawing on the path‐goal theory of leadership, the present study examines the effect of team leader characteristics on an array of conflict resolution behavior, collaboration, and communication patterns of cross‐functional new product development (NPD) teams. A hierarchical linear model analysis based on a survey of 246 members from 64 NPD teams suggests that participative management style and initiation of goal structure by the team leader exert the strongest influence on internal team dynamics. Both these leadership characteristics had a positive effect on functional conflict resolution, collaboration, and communication quality within the NPD team while discouraging dysfunctional conflict resolution and formal communications. Comparatively, team leader's consideration, initiation of process structure, and position had a surprisingly weak effect on internal team dynamics. Further, the findings underscore the differential effects on various dimensions of team dynamics, the importance of controlling for project and team characteristics, and the use of multilevel modeling for studying nested phenomena related to NPD teams. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Operationalizing Maslow: Religion and Flow as Business Partners

Maslow and Csikszentmihalyi interpret human experience through a broad application of stakeholder theory to provide an expanded framework for ethical business. The aggressive search for mutuality of interest can reconcile conflicting stakeholder needs. Maslow's religious peak experiences work in tandem with Csikszentmihalyi's psychological optimal experiences (flow) to support the proposition that transcendence is an achievable goal, both for individuals and for corporations.     

Listen to the voice of the customer—First steps towards stakeholder democracy

Recently, calls have grown louder for more stakeholder democracy that is, letting stakeholders participate in the process of organizing, decision‐making, and governance in corporations, especially in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Despite the relevance of the subject, the impact of customer involvement in CSR on their company‐related attitudes and behaviors still represents a major research void. The paper at hand develops a conceptual framework of consumer involvement in CSR based on the existing literature, theories of stakeholder democracy, and organizational boundaries as well as drawing from the qualitative focus group interviews (N = 24). The framework is tested on a large scale, two‐time point field‐experimental study (N = 3,397). More specifically, consumer reactions to three degrees of customer involvement (i.e., information, feedback, and dialogue) are tested in two different CSR domains (i.e., company‐internal business process vs. company‐external philanthropic CSR). Results indicate that the customer involvement in CSR has a more beneficial effect in terms of strengthening customer outcomes in CSR domains that directly affect external stakeholders of the company (i.e., philanthropic CSR) than in domains that mainly concern company‐internal stakeholders (i.e., business process CSR).     

Has Reality Television Come of Age as a Promotional Platform? Modeling the Endorsement Effectiveness of Celebreality and Reality Stars

Reality television programming (RTVP) was once simply an innovative entertainment phenomenon. But RTVP also has recently evolved into a mainstream promotional platform. Two new forms of celebrities arose during this progression: “reality” and “celebreality” stars. This study, which is grounded in connectedness theory, addresses an unresolved issue related to the use of celebrity endorsers, that is, how endorsers’ status as reality or celebreality stars influences viewers’ perceptions of, beliefs about, and purchase intentions toward products they endorse. These relationships were examined through SEM, as were the effects of viewers’ connectedness to RTVP stars and their perceptions regarding whether RTVPs are authentic. Four primary findings emerged. The observation that reality impacted viewer connectedness and that connectedness and authenticity impacted viewers’ purchase intentions (endorsement effectiveness) revealed various practical and theoretical contributions, as did the observation that endorsers’ celebreality or reality star status moderated each of these relationships.