Net foreign assets of Dutch commercial banks: A comment

Conclusion The article provides a contribution to the discussion on the net foreign assets of the commerical banks, by drawing renewed attention to the possible passivity of the banking sector, which has gained topicality with the striking developments of 1989. Indeed, the banking sector may be considerably more reactive in regards to net foreign assets formation than has been assumed by various authors and in macroeconometric models on the basis of portfolio optimizing behaviour. However, due to the above-mentioned methodological and empirical shortcomings, Bakkers's study certainly does not provide the final answer to this question.     

Social Scientific Explanations?

Generally valid scientific explanations of observable social phenomena are still hardly available. By applying philosophical insights generated by Quine and derived from semiotics to social research methodology three kinds of context dependencies accompanying theory formation within social science are identified. The third context dependency is mostly not attended in theory formation about social phenomena thereby producing a ``connotation fallacy', which leaves almost all social theories undetermined and fallible. These context dependencies should be taken into account in the research design and be tested for using statistical criteria comprising a new methodology presented in this article.     

A theory of global strategic alliances: The case of the global auto industry

The theory articulated in this paper suggests that the desire to reduce demand and competitive uncertainty are two separate, important motives for alliance formation. Taking this as a starting point, we predict the configuration of horizontal alliances that we might expect to observe within an industry when firms experience these uncertainties to different degrees. An empirical test of this theory using data from the global auto industry yields results consistent with the view (1) that alliances are a device for reducing both the uncertainties that arise from unpredictable demand conditions and those that arise from competitive interdependence, and (2) that variation of demand uncertainty and competitive uncertainty across firms explains differentials in both the intensity and structure of their horizontal alliance activity.     

Exploring the contextual and individual factors on ethical decision making of salespeople

This paper studies how salespeople make ethical decisions. For this purpose a structural model has been developed which configures how the organization's environment, the organizations's climate, and personality traits affect ethical decision making. Internal communication and the choice of a control system especially affect ethical decision making. Internal communication also affects the attraction of salespeople with unethical personality traits (Machiavellism), while the control system affects the ethical climate. Ethical climate and salespeople's personality traits also affect the ethical decision making. In fact the study shows that ethical decision making can be influenced by management.Willem Verbeke is assistant professor in marketing, School of Economics, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. His research concentration is sales management.Cok Ouwerkerk is founder and director of the CSA, a consulting firm for statistical applications, in Mijnheerenland, The Netherlands. He has been involved in many research projects at different Dutch universities and firms.Ed Peelen is associate professor at the School of Economics, The University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research concentration is marketing management and logistics.     

Professionals and social responsibility: Some patterns

Modern professionals are engaged in making things better, but the specific advances on the micro-level are increasingly undercut by problems on the macro-level. The content of this better is typically guided by values such as efficiency, productivity or cost-effectiveness, which are essentially output over input ratios unable to account for how a specific improvement will fit into the broader human, social and ecological contexts. Hence, micro-level advances lead to fragmentation and a loss of harmony, compatibility and conviviality. The situation is further complicated by the fact that, culturally speaking, science and technology have become good in themselves, making reasonable discourse difficult. This paper concludes with an analogy from an earlier epoch suggesting how the situation may be resolved. After completing a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, Willem Vanderburg continued his studies of technology via the social sciences and humanities. He is currently the Director of the Centre for Technology and Social Development in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto. His publications include Technique and Culture, Vol. I, The Growth of Minds and Cultures (1985) and Perspectives on our Age (1981).     

是否应当欺骗--关于合作的经验或教训

本文通过欺骗与合作的成本比较探讨如何与合作伙伴建立一种双赢的合作关系.我们的结论是,合作比欺骗能给双方带来更大的利益.     

The adaptive consequences of pride in personal selling

This study examines the adaptive consequences of pride in personal selling and its self-regulation with colleagues and customers. Study 1 investigates the effects of experiencing pride, where two benefits were found. First, pride increases salespersons’ performance-related motivations. Specifically, it promotes the use of adaptive selling strategies, greater effort, and self-efficacy. Second, pride positively affects organizational citizenship behaviors. Study 2 takes an emotion-process point of view and compares excessive pride (hubris) with positive pride. The results show that salespeople are capable of self-regulating the expression of these emotions differently toward colleagues and customers via anticipated feelings of fear, shame, and regret. Salespeople, in other words, are affected by their emotions, but they also are capable of controlling them to their advantage. Willem Verbeke (verbeke@few.eur.nl) is a chaired professor of sales and account management at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His research has appeared in a number of academic journals, including theJournal of Marketing, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Management, theJournal of Organizational Behavior, and theJournal of Applied Psychology. His area of research interests includes personal selling, sales management, emotions and emotion regulation, social capital, and knowledge management. Frank Belschak (belschak@few.eur.nl) is an assistant professor of marketing and organizational behavior at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University of Cologne in Germany. His current research interests include emotions and emotion regulation in organizations and across cultures, as well as social capital and networks. Richard P. Bagozzi (bagozzi@rice.edu) is the J. Hugh Liedtke Professor of Management in the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and a professor of psychology at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He conducts research on human emotions, the theory of action, goal setting and goal striving, and structural equation methods.     

Common factors can always be found but can they also be rejected?

Factor models are often used to reduce the complexity of data. It is simple to find common factors and to interpret them. However, it is doubtful whether factor models are always appropriate. Especially when the common factor is considered to be an attitude, it must be stable through time and explain a considerable part of the variances. A procedure is suggested to test the usefulness of a common factor. In an experimental pilot study in which an attitude towards immigrant workers was investigated, the instability and superfluousness of a common factor is shown. An alternative model is presented which suggests that changing opinions can be explained by specific variables. Finally it is shown that a more stable common factor is found if a so-called MIMIC-design is used.