Righteousness and Profitableness: The Moral Choices of Contemporary Confucian Entrepreneurs

The present study takes Confucian entrepreneurs as an entry point to portray the dynamics and problems involved in the process of putting moral precepts into practice, a central issue in business ethics. Confucian entrepreneurs are defined as the owners of manufacturing or business firms who harbor the moral values of Confucianism. Other than a brief account of their historical background, 41 subjects from various parts of Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were selected for in-depth interviews. By studying the moral choices they made in the market, it was discovered that, contrary to the prevalent mode of inquiry in economics either to reduce all social phenomena to rational calculations or to consider moral actions in terms of utilitarian values, their economic action cannot be accounted for by the postulate of utility maximization, and that the efforts to do business according to their moral principles can be very costly. The study also attempts to document how these Confucian entrepreneurs reconciled the conflict between the moral values they cherished and the instrumental goals they pursued, and will seek to uncover how they responded when faced with this dilemma.     

The Dilemma of Growth: Understanding Venture Size Choices of Women Entrepreneurs

In recent years the number of women-owned firms with employees has expanded at three times the rate of all employer firms. Yet women remain underrepresented in their proportion of high-growth firms. A number of plausible explanations exist. To develop richer insights, a two-stage research project was undertaken. A mail survey was sent to a sample of female entrepreneurs to assess motives, obstacles, goals and aspirations, needs, and business identity. Based on the survey results, follow-up, in-depth interviews were conducted with entrepreneurs, selecting equally from modest-growth and high-growth ventures. In terms of quantitative findings, growth orientation was associated with whether a woman was "pushed" or "pulled" into entrepreneurship, was motivated by wealth or achievement factors, had a strong women's identity in the venture, had equity partners, and believed women faced unique selling obstacles. The qualitative research made clear that modest- and high-growth entrepreneurs differ in how they view themselves, their families, their ventures, and the larger environment. The results of both stages suggest that growth is a deliberate choice and that women have a clear sense of the costs and benefits of growth and make careful trade-off decisions.     

Hierarchical Motive Structures and Their Role in Moral Choices

Leader-managers face a myriad of competing values when they engage in ethical decision-making. Few studies help us understand why certain reasons for action are justified, taking precedence over others when people choose to respond to an ethical dilemma. To help address this matter we began with a qualitative approach to disclose leader-managers’ moral motives when they decide to address a work-related ethical dilemma. One hundred and nine military officers were asked to provide their reasons for taking action, justifications of their reasons, and to explain these justifications. We used network analysis techniques to identify a hierarchical motive structure. The motive structure is a cognitive map that identifies ethical motives and perceptions of how these ethical motives relate to each other. The motives identified represent classic conceptualizations of moral behavior; namely, virtue theories, consequentialism, and deontological theories, along with another category that expressed the emotional significance of the moral judgment, which we refer to as emotional empiricism.     

Entrepreneurs: The world needs you

The way we see the role of business is changing dramatically. What have we learned from the recent and ongoing crises? Where does one look for guidance on the “right thing to do” now? In a world where we live on one globe, it is time to shift our energy to real responsibility and sustainability. This requires a new paradigm. As Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” We are not separated from our environment, nature, and society; we are actually a part of it. Therefore, let us unleash entrepreneurship and the power of business in a way to serve us more holistically. This new type of thinking, this expanding consciousness, is giving birth to all the new concepts of social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, inclusive business, conscious capitalism, and sustainable development. On the global level, there are increasing numbers of business‐oriented initiatives aimed at steering the power of business toward the public good such as the UN Global Compact and the Business Call to Action. Where to look for inspiration at the individual level? Within yourself. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “You have to be the change you want to see in the world.” © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

儒家礼文化对彝族道德建设的启示

近些年来,在中国共产党的领导下,彝族社会在物质上都取得了巨大成就,但道德方面并未能与之相适应。人类道德的形成和发展有其规律性,是在对优良传统道德扬弃基础上的创新和发展,彝族社会亦不例外。彝族社会进行道德建设,既要对本民族传统道德进行扬弃,又要吸收外来优秀的道德思想,其中儒家礼文化就对此有着重要的启示意义。尽管儒家礼文化依然存在一些糟粕,譬如三年之丧等,但我们不能因此而抛弃传统。我们应当坚持马克思主义的观点,对儒家礼文化进行扬弃,让其有益成分对彝族社会道德建设提供有益镜鉴。     

The Nature of the Self,Self-regulation and Moral Action: Implications from the Confucian Relational Self and Buddhist Non-self

The concept of the self and its relation to moral action is complex and subject to varying interpretations, not only between different academic disciplines but also across time and space. This paper presents empirical evidence from a cross-cultural study on the Buddhist and Confucian notions of self in SMEs in Vietnam and Taiwan. The study employs Hwang’s Mandala Model of the Self, and its extension into Shiah’s non-self-model, to interpret how these two Eastern philosophical representations of the self, the Confucian relational self and Buddhist non-self, can lead to moral action. By demonstrating the strengths of the model, emphasizing how social and cultural influences constrain the individual self and promote the social person leading to moral action, the paper extends understanding of the self with empirical evidence of the mechanisms involved in organizational contexts.

     

Time Allocation and Performance: The Case of Chinese Entrepreneurs

This paper analyses the effect of time allocation on the financial performance of entrepreneurial firms. We apply the Lewbel estimator to a pooled data set of Chinese private manufacturing firms that are managed by their owners. Time is allocated between management, networking, and study activities. After accounting for endogeneity, we find an inverted U-shaped relationship between management hours and firm performance and between networking and firm performance. However, no relationship between time spent studying and firm performance is observed. We also find that the managing hours–performance relationship is particularly strong for companies managed by entrepreneurs who own more than 75% of share, for companies that are managed by owners with previous experience, for male entrepreneurs, and for smaller-sized firms.     

The White Stone: Six Choices

What sort of jobs? What sort of companies? What sort of capitalism? What sort of society? What sort of education? What sort of life? Starting with mundane statistics of GDP growth and job creation, this article moves on to explore the relationship between business and some of the major issues of human life. It is based on a speech to London Business School Alumni.     

Cautious International Entrepreneurs: The Case of the Mittelstand

This paper investigates the international entrepreneurial behaviour of Mittelstand firms (German small and medium sized enterprises). Analysis of a survey of the international marketing strategies of Mittelstand firms revealed three clusters of firms, two that had below and one above average international activities. None of the clusters displayed born global type of internationalisation processes. However, this does not mean that they adopt passive approaches to internationalisation. The results suggest that Mittelstand firms engage in entrepreneurial behaviour that is proactive and innovative but which is cautious, sequential, and risk adverse. The implications of this analysis for future research in the area of international entrepreneurship are considered.     

中国企业家的终极关怀:探索性分析与群体细分

企业家终极关怀是管理哲学命题,它促使企业家不断地追求"终极目标",从而达到全面自由发展的境界。通过对587位中国企业家调查问卷分析,中国企业家的终极关怀包含三个构成维度:利他贡献、成就超我;财富声望、彰显本我;竞争整合、挑战自我。根据企业家终极关怀因子的得分再进行聚类分析,企业家群体分为四类:竞争整合导向型、利他贡献导向型、财富声望导向型、终极关怀淡漠型。将这四类企业家群体与企业类型和企业家类型的变量进行广义对应分析,得到更为确切的企业家细分群体及类型特征:有信仰的企业家更注重利他贡献;国有企业的企业家更容易淡漠终极关怀;中等规模、处于成长期企业的企业家更注重财富声望;高学历企业家更注重竞争整合。     

The Motivation of Entrepreneurs: Are Employed Managers and Self-employed Owners Different?

Are managers entrepreneurs? What motivates them to run a firm? Are managers different from self-employed firm owners? In which points do they differ? And why is it that they are different? The following article examines these questions based on a survey of German engineering firms in which managers and self-employed owners answer why they are motivated to run a firm and what hinders their firms from growing more rapidly.     

The Entrepreneurship Industry: Influences of the Goods and Services Marketed to Entrepreneurs

This paper constitutes the first comprehensive attempt to define and assess entrepreneurship as an industry, and it is the only study to date to empirically evaluate the extent to which the entrepreneurship industry (EI) is associated with entrepreneurial actions and outcomes. EI is defined as the goods and services explicitly intended for opportunity discovery and development by current and prospective entrepreneurs, an industry with $13 billion in annual revenue. In order to assess EI's influence, we employ a matched set comparison of EI consumers and nonconsumers, which reveals that high levels of EI consumption are associated with an increase in entrepreneurial activity but a decrease in performance and survival prospects. The findings address material gaps in existing frameworks by adding EI to the entrepreneurial contexts that exert a potent influence on the identification, development, and exploitation of opportunities.     

试论企业经营者的激励与约束机制

对企业经营者的激励与约束作为一个问题的两个方面,二者相辅相成,缺一不可。没有激励的约  束,必是死水一潭,失去活力;而没有约束的激励就会造成资源浪费,导致“败德”和“机会主义”行  为发生,只有激励与约束机制之间实现整体协调,才能发挥整体功能,促使经营者不断提高企业效益,  实现企业目标。     

“Organizational Terrorism” and Moral Choices – Exercising Voice When the Leader is the Problem

We introduce the concept of “organizational terrorism” to describe dysfunctional leaders who are abusive and who treat organizational members with contempt and disregard. After identifying the moral duties of leaders in organizations, we explain how organization members respond to their dissatisfaction with organizations through Exit, Voice, Loyalty, or Neglect. We explain why exercising voice is the most effective moral choice in dealing with dysfunctional leaders.     

Reorienting the Business School Agenda: The Case for Relevance,Rigor, and Righteousness

This article contributes to the current debate regarding management education and research. It frames the current business school critique as a paradox regarding the arguments for ‘self-interest’ versus ‘altruism’ as human motives. Based on this, a typology of management with four representative types labeled: unguided, altruistic, egoistic, and righteous is developed. It is proposed that the path to the future of management education and research might be found by relegitimizing the ‘altruistic’ spirit of the classics of the great Axial Age (900-200 BCE) and marrying those ideas with the self-interest ideal of mainstream management theories based on economics. By advocating this, a business school agenda that is simultaneously rigorous, relevant, and righteous is promoted.     

创新型企业家综合评价指标体系研究

<正>企业家是企业创新的主体,但如同并非所有管理人员都是企业家一样并非所有企业家都是创新型企业家。目前建设创新型国家急需成千上万的创新型企业家。怎样的企业家才能算是创新型企业家?只有建立科学合理的创新型企业家综合评价指标体系,才有利于从真正意义上塑造创新型企业家。     

The Making of Entrepreneurs in Germany: Are Native Men and Immigrants Alike?

This paper uses a state of the art three-stage estimation technique to identify the determinants of the self-employed immigrant and native men in Germany. Their making is surprisingly alike. Employing data from the German Socioeconomic Panel 2000 (GSOEP) release we find that self-employment is not significantly affected by exposure to Germany or by human capital. But this choice has a very strong intergenerational link and it is also related to homeownership and financial worries. While individuals are strongly pulled into self-employment if it offers higher earnings, immigrants are additionally pushed into self-employment when they feel discriminated. Married immigrants are more likely to go into self-employment, but less likely when they have young children. Immigrants with foreign passports living in ethnic households are more likely self-employed than native Germans. The earnings of self-employed men increase with exposure to Germany, hours worked and occupational prestige; they decrease with high regional unemployment to vacancies ratios. Everything else equal, the earnings of self-employed Germans are not much different from the earnings of the self-employed immigrants, including those who have become German citizens. However, immigrants suffer a strong earnings penalty if they feel discriminated against while they receive a premium if they are German educated.     

创意与企业家精神:为什么企业家需要企业

创意是一种认知,它内隐于企业家头脑中。创意是一种愿景,是在政策、技术、行业和社会条件变化所产生的市场机会的基础上诞生的。企业家的创意也是认知模式的一种,企业家创意和企业之间具有内在的逻辑联系,企业家不是万能的,需要企业来实现其创意。     

The Location Choices of Multinational Firms: The Role of Internationalisation Experience and Group Affiliation

This paper investigates whether location choices of multinational firms depend on their past export, import or Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) experience on foreign markets or the experience of other affiliated firms. Regardless of locations' characteristics, we find that exporting in a given country, and to a smaller extent importing from it, significantly increases the probability of investing in that particular country the following year. This preliminary exporting phase appears more important for firsttime investors. Moreover, location choices not only depend on the investor's own international experience, but also on the international experience of other affiliated firms: firms tend to invest in countries where the group already exports or owns a local affiliate. These last findings suggest the existence of coordinated strategies and/or information sharing between affiliated firms.