Resolving Cross-cultural Ethical Conflict: An Empirical Test of a Decision Tree Model in an Educational Setting

The authors have previously developed and described a decision tree model for addressing cross-cultural ethical conflicts. The model is intended to provide an ethically sound yet pragmatic tool for decision makers facing such situations. This paper presents the results of an empirical test of the model in an educational setting with a sample of business students. Students trained to use the model demonstrated significantly more flexibility and appropriateness in their decisions on case scenarios than those who were not trained. The implications for use of the model in educational settings and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

ANALYSIS OF GROWTH OF AGRICULTURAL FIRMS

Economic growth of farm firms depends on the manager's ability to know profitable opportunities, the desire for economic growth, and the ability to acquire the needed resources. Knowing profitable opportunities is the ability to define problems and analyze data so that resources are used for maximum profit. Desire for economic growth is determined by the goals of the manager and his family and the consequences of decisions. Growth in firm size requires the acquisition of capital to purchase livestock, machinery, or land, or acquire land by renting. Three groups of Kansas farmers were studied to determine resource productivity and adjustments in their group. Great differences existed in both the marginal value product of resources and the adjustments made. The fastest growing group made large increases in enterprises that were very profitable, which suggests their ability and desire to grow. The slowest growing group made relatively small resource adjustments, although profitable adjustments were available to them as for younger farmers. The goal for economic growth is related to the manager's age and family needs. The fastest growing group studied was the youngest, whereas the slowest growing group was the oldest. The oldest group had the largest size farm in 1950 and thus the greatest potential for growth. Possibly these older farmers did not recognize their profit opportunities as well as younger farmers, or their desire for growth was less because they had already achieved their objectives, and need for family income had diminished because children were grown. Le développement économique ?entreprises agricoles dépend (1) de la capacité du gérant à reconnoitre les situations qui peuvent lui porter profit (2) de son désire de développer son entreprise el (3) de son habiletéà obtenir le capital nécessaire. Reconnoître les situations qui peuvent porter profit consiste en étant capable de définir les problèmes el ?analyser les fails pour pouvoir utiliser les resources disponibles de façon à realiser le profit maximum. Le desir de développer ?entreprise est déterminé par les buls du gérant el de sa famille et par les conséquences de décisions prises. ?extension de ?entreprise exige ?acquisition du capital pour acheter bétail, machines, terres oupour louerdu terrain. line étude faile sur trois groupes de fermiers au Kansas monlre ce qui détermine la productivityé et les ajustements dans chaque groupe. Dans ces groupes il y avait de grandes différences dans la valeur marginale produil des resources et dans les ajustements faites par chaque groupe. Le groupe dont le développement était le plus rapide avail fait des extensions importantes à leurs entreprises el avail réaliser de larges profits. Le groupe dont le développement était le moins rapide n'avait fail que de petits ajustements à leurs resources même que les occasions profitables leur étaient aussi disponibles qu'aux jeunes fermiers. Le but de développer son entreprise dépend de ?âge du gérant et des besoins de sa famille. Le groupe dont le développement était le plus rapide dans cette direction était le groupe le plus jeune et vice versa. Le groupe le plus vieux possedait les plus grandes fermes en 1950 done ce groupe avail le plus grand potentiel. Il se peut que ces fermiers n'ont pas reconnu les occasions profitables aussi bien que ?on fail les plus jeunes, ou encore se peut-il que leur désire ?agrandir leurs entreprises nétait pas aussi marqué parce qu'ils étaient déjà arriver à leurs buls et que les besoins de la famille avaient diminué avec la maturation des enfanls.     

Reviews

“THE POLL TAX” Flannery, Kate, 1987: More than Just a Poll Tax. Centre for Local Economic Strategies, £5.00. MacGregor, Susanne, 1988: The Poll Tax and the Enterprise Culture. Manchester: Centre for Local Economic Strategies, £3.95.

“ECONOMIC THEORY AND THE LOCAL ECONOMY” Smith, D., 1987: The Rise and Fall of Monetarism: The Theory and Politics of an Economic Experiment. Penguin, £3.95.

Holland, S., 1987: The Market Economy: From Micro to Mesoeconomics and The Global Economy: From Meso to Macroeconomics, Weidenfeld, £12.95 each.

Green, F. and Sutcliffe, B., 1987: The Profit System: The Economics of Capitalism. Penguin, £5.95.

“THE SERVICES REVOLUTION?” Rajan, A., 1987: Services: The Second Industrial Revolution? London: Butterworths, £27.50.

“ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY IN EUROPE” Joyce, F. E. and Schneider, G. (editors), 1988: Environment and Economic Development in the Regions of the European Community. Aldershot: Avebury/Gower, £18.50 hb.

“POLITICS OF PRIVATISATION” Ascher, K., 1987: The Politics of Privatisation: Contracting Out Public Services. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. £30.00 cloth, £8.95 paper.

“RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING POLICY” Davies, T. and Mason, C., 1986: Shutting out the Inner City Worker. University of Bristol, School for Advanced Urban Studies, £4.30.

Chapman, P. G. and Tooze, M. J., 1987: The Youth Training Scheme in the United Kingdom. Avebury: Gower Publishing Company, £22.50.

“JOB GENERATION RESEARCH” Storey, D. J. and Johnson, S., 1987: Job Generation and Labour Market Change. London: Macmillan.     

Progressive labour policy, ageing Marxism and unrepentant early capitalism in the Chinese industrial revolution

The institutional guarantees of modern labour law, that provide the keystone of progressive liberalism, are often only reactionary to the entrenched concepts of socialist law. Adoption of institutions of “workers rights”, and employment protection based upon contract, inevitably nullify the ideological promise of the inalienable “right to work”. China, among the last bastions of theoretical Marxist socialism, and among the first socialist countries ready to accept that it has been in desperate need of reforming uneconomical state enterprises, seems willing to sacrifice ideological purity for economic development. Yet, if economic turnaround requires enterprise rationalisation in a market economy, it is understandable that Chinese labour requires the same kinds of protection against unbridled capitalism as progressive labour movements elsewhere. Doubtless, for those who have enjoyed no such institutional guarantees in the past, official commitment to improvement of labour conditions is better than no acknowledgment of need for reform of social policy whatever. Yet, the real question for students of social change is “Are these legislated reforms effective policy guides for local administration and the courts?”“|Or are they merely regulations for licensing compliance – primarily for foreign invested enterprises?”. In brief, “... to what extent are the new ‘workers’ rights’ realistically attainable sources of judicial remedies for individual workers?”     

Research for Practice: The Management of Expatriates

The objective of this article is to identify expatriate management research questions of interest to international human resource (IHR) managers. We conducted an in‐depth literature review, interviewed a small sample of IHR managers, and reviewed commercially available large sample surveys of IHR managers. Results suggest that IHR managers are concerned about determinants of the decision to accept an offer of expatriation, why expatriates show so little interest in training, perceived equity in rewards, and other areas not well studied to date. The article discusses implications for academics wishing to make their research more relevant to IHR managers and global organizations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The challenge of global ethics

The authors argue that the time is ripe for national and corporate leaders to move consciously towards the development of global ethics. This papers presents a model of global ethics, a rationale for the development of global ethics, and the implications of the model for research and practice.Paul F. Buller is an Associate Professor of management in the School of Business Administration at Gonzaga University where he teaches courses in strategic management. Dr. Buller holds a PhD degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, and has published a number of articles appearing in academic and practitioner journals.John Kohls is an Associate Professor of Management at Gonzaga University. He teaches classes in Business Ethics, Business, Government and Society, and Organizational Behavior. He has written numerous articles in these areas and conducts Management Development workshops including Ethics, Organizational Culture, and Leadership.Kenneth S. Anderson is an Associate Professor of management at the School of Business Administration, Gonzaga University. His research interests include ethics, burnout, and linkages between strategy and human resource management.     

Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight

This paper builds on previous theory and research on strategy and human resource management to identify important linkages between the firm's strategy, its human resources, and performance outcomes. First, we review the relevant literature focusing in particular on the role of human resources in creating competitive advantage. We then present a multi-level model illustrating how human resource management practices can effectively align organizational, group and individual factors with the organization's strategy. We redefine line of sight as the alignment of organizational capabilities and culture, group competencies and norms, and individual KSAs, motivation and opportunity with one another and with the organization's strategy. Further, we propose that such alignment contributes to the creation of human capital and social capital, both of which are necessary to achieve and sustain superior performance. We conclude the paper with some implications for future research and practice.     

Towards sustainable water management: Catchment planning in France and Britain

Water management in European States is currently undergoing a series of major shifts linked to changing user and consumer demands, the increasing role of European Union legislation and, critically, the need to address sustainability in water uses. These shifts have a spatial expression. A comparative analysis of recent water management practice in two Member States of the EU, France and Britain (England and Wales), reveals both a new territorial focus in water management, as existing structures and institutions of water policy adapt to the changing environmental agenda, and the development of an integrated approach at the local level based upon river catchments.     

MEASURING THE EFFECT OF WEATHER ON CROP PRODUCTIO*

Farm income is greatly affected by the impact of weather on crop production. Relating crop production to weather requires an index that is relatively specific to a local area. A single index is preferable in economic analysis to avoid including many weather variables that may be highly intercorrelated and to preserve degrees of freedom for testing the models chosen. The unique feature of the reported index is the use of readily available data and the direct estimation of the effect of weather on yield per acre. The resulting weather index was found to be reasonably accurate, and thus suitable for use in studies concerned with such diverse topics as the benefits of environmental control and the stability of farm income.
WE ANALYSE DBS CONDITIONS CLIMATIQUES SUR LE RENDEMENT DES CULTURES. — Le revenu agricole est grandement affectée par les conditions climatiques sur le rendement des récoltes. Le rapport entre les deux demande un indice qui relate particulièrement à une région précise. Un seul indice est preferable dans l'analyse économique afin d'éviter d'y inclure trop de variables qui pourraient être et de préserver un dégré de liberté dans l'application des modèles choisis. L'unique caractéristique de cet indice est l'emploie des données disponibles et une évaluation juste des conditions climatiques sur le rendement à l'acre des cultures. Les résultats sur l'indice des conditions climatiques semblent être très efficace, ainsi convenable à l'usage des études concernant les avantages d'un contrôle de milieu et de la stabilité du revenue agricole.     

Resolving cross-cultural ethical conflict: Exploring alternative strategies

In this article, seven strategies for dealing with cross-cultural ethical conflict are described. Conflict situations are classified on the basis of centrality and consensus on the values involved, influence of the decision maker, and urgency. A contingency model suggests appropriate strategies for different situations. The model is applied to representative cases of cross-cultural ethical conflict.