Confucian Entrepreneurship: Towards a Genealogy of a Conceptual Tool

The concept of the ‘Confucian Entrepreneur’ is now used by many scholars to understand entrepreneurship in China and other East Asian countries. This paper traces the development of this concept from its roots in the writings of nineteenth-century Western authors to its use in modern management journals. We show that while this conceptual tool has been adapted over time, the claims associated with it have remained largely similar. Use of the term Confucian entrepreneur implies belief that Confucian ideas induce Chinese entrepreneurs to behave differently than their Western counterparts, a claim for which the empirical foundations are weak. We do not go so far as to say that those who research Chinese entrepreneurship should discard the concept of the Confucian entrepreneur simply because of its historical origins in colonialism. However, we do call on researchers to reflect on the historical origins of their conceptual tools. By historicising our theories of entrepreneurship, this paper should encourage greater scholarly reflexivity and thus the development of entrepreneurship and management theory with greater predictive power.     

“Marketing Managers” in the Context of Global Supply Chains: Functional Versus Multiple IQ Competencies

Managerial scholars have suggested that “g” score (i.e., intelligence) tests are not enough to assess and select the appropriate candidates for some jobs. Other dimensions can play just as important a role in employee performance. Thus, the purpose of this article is to expand our view in terms of criteria that may be used as it relates to global supply chain managers. We present a nine-base typology to assist researchers and managers in assessing the true dynamics of global supply chain manager intelligence. The typology of intelligence includes the dimensions of cognitive, social, political, emotional, structural, intuition, experiential, creative, and network. We build our model by using intelligence dimensions from management, industrial organizational psychology, marketing and organizational behavior, and perspectives that include relational contracting norms, relationship marketing, networking, and communications. We propose that global supply chain managers need all nine bases to perform well in the global business arena.     

Ecotourism impacts in the Nicoya Peninsula,Costa Rica

Ecotourism promotes responsible travel to natural areas, environmental conservation and the well‐being of local communities. Eco‐lodges are an important component of ecotourism ventures but an infrequently researched component of this field. Considering their influence on the natural environment (design and operation) and local communities (employment practices and purchases), the success of ecotourism depends, in part, on the performance of eco‐lodges. This project studies the effects of the Punta Islita (PI) eco‐lodge on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. An interdisciplinary nested‐scale analysis, combining guest and household interviews with multi‐temporal remote sensing analysis of forest cover change of the lodge and surrounding areas, is used to evaluate the environmental, economic and social impacts of ecotourism in the region. Our results show significant positive contributions of the PI eco‐lodge on forest cover, environmental conservation, and local economic incomes within the surrounding communities. For local livelihoods, the PI eco‐lodge was seen as having positive social, cultural and economic impacts for nearly all societal variables for both employees and their neighbours. The PI eco‐lodge was also perceived as reducing alcoholism, drug addiction and prostitution, where conventional tourism on the Peninsula was shown to increase these ‘societal ills’. Land value and product pricing were the few variables believed to have increased as a result of tourism on the Peninsula. For conservation, the PI eco‐lodge property had the highest rates of reforestation within the Nicoya Peninsula and remains the scale most reforested in both forest cover change and total forest cover. In fact, at the landscape scale, we find that the Pacific coast of the Nicoya, where the bulk of ecotourism occurs, has undergone reforestation, whereas forest interiors have been deforested. Historically, reforestation occurred as cattle ranching credit programs were halted by the government and households in the area left to find better job opportunities. The PI eco‐lodge, as a source of good employment, resulted in worker migration back to the surrounding area, resulting, in some cases, in increased deforestation. Overall, we feel that the PI eco‐lodge serves as an example of successful ecotourism. However, increasing development in the region, in particular by standard hotel operations and large condo developments, seeks to capitalise on the region's natural beauty and may reverse land cover trends if they are not accompanied by adequate forest conservation strategies and stresses the importance of monitoring and assessing the impacts of accommodations tied to nature‐based tourism operations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: The Failure of the Self-Regulatory Model of Corporate Governance in the Global Business Environment

The American regulatory model of corporate governance rests on the theory of self-regulation as␣the most effective and efficient means to achieve corporate self-restraint in the marketplace. However, that model fails to achieve regular compliance with baseline ethical and legal behaviors as evidenced by a century of repeated corporate debacles, the most recent being Enron, WorldCom, and Refco. Seemingly impervious to its domestic failure, Congress imprinted the same self-regulation paradigm on legislation restraining global business behavior, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This anti-bribery initiative prohibits unethical and illegal payments made to foreign public officials in an effort to eradicate bribery as a rational-choice global market entry strategy. However, this paper illustrates, using newly complied statistics from 1977 to 2008, that the FCPA has not had a dramatic impact on U.S. global corporate behavior despite its recent high profile coverage and the tough regulatory rhetoric about corporate compliance. The paper also extends the prior Cragg and Woof FCPA efficiency study and provides current empirical evidence to resolve several unanswered questions raised by that earlier study.     

The mediating role of leader–member exchange: a study of job satisfaction and turnover intentions in temporary work

This paper focuses on turnover intentions in temporary work. Specifically, we analyse whether job satisfaction and leader–member exchange (LMX) play the same role as antecedents of turnover intentions for both temporary and permanent employees. Results from a total‐effects moderation model based on a survey of 593 individuals placed by a temporary work agency suggest that temporary work lessens the impact that high job satisfaction has in terms of reducing turnover intentions. Furthermore, while for permanent employees, high‐quality LMX relationships play a central role in the link between job satisfaction and turnover intentions; for temporary employees, job satisfaction is less important in the formation of high‐quality LMX relationships. Therefore, we contribute to knowledge on turnover intentions in temporary work by showing that within this context, turnover intentions cannot be directly remedied by high job satisfaction and that temporary work inhibits LMX's reinforcing role in the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions.     

An empirical investigation of technology acceptance in a field sales force setting

Gaining technology acceptance by salespeople is critical in modern organizations. Sales technology is an integral tool for enhancing customer-related information management and knowledge development. Knowledgeable salespeople are able to use the information and knowledge to practice adaptive selling, improve performance, and enhance their firm's competitive advantage in the marketplace. This study proposes and tests a model linking technology acceptance to adaptive selling and job performance of field salespeople. The results provide evidence that behavioral intentions to use technology positively affect salesperson performance through enhanced propensity to practice adaptive selling. Implications of the study for managers and researchers are discussed.     

Lodging as a migrant economic strategy in urban Zimbabwe

The 1990s were a decade of rapid urbanisation and growth of squatter settlements in African cities. Given the severe shortage of affordable housing options, a large proportion of urban dwellers choose lodging as the only economically viable, legal shelter option. Lodging is thus an essential element of the economic survival strategy of the urban poor. Based on a longitudinal study of lodgers in a medium-sized Zimbabwean city during the mid-1990s, this article explores the economic characteristics and strategies of lodging households during a time of rapid urban growth and worsening economic conditions. The article outlines the way these changes affect lodging household composition, shelter features, economic coping mechanisms and overall vulnerability. It concludes with a brief examination of the present urban situation in Zimbabwe.