Gender Differences in Double Standards

The purpose of the present study is to investigate gender differences in the use of double standards in ethical judgements of questionable conduct instigated by business or consumers. We investigate if consumers are more critical towards unethical corporate versus consumer actions and if these double standards depend on the gender of the respondent. In the first study, we compared evaluations of four specific unethical actions [cfr. DePaulo, 1987, in: J. Saegert (ed.) Proceedings of the Division of Consumer Psychology (American Psychological Association, Washington DC)] instigated by either the consumer or the corporation. In a second study, we investigated the perception of some general consumer and corporate (un)ethical actions in addition to DePaulo’s unethical scenarios. Both researches show that females are less likely to use double standards when it comes to their own (un)ethical behaviour compared to corporate (un)ethical actions. Furthermore, gender differences in the use of double standards depend on the type of unethical behaviour. Limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Ethical Standards and Ideology Among Korean Public Relations Practitioners

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Korean public relations practitioners' perceptions toward ethical issues, individual practices, and ethical standards in the context of ethical ideology. The survey was conducted with the Korean public relations practitioners. A 2 (Relativism: High/Low) × 2 (Idealism: High/Low) factorial design was devised for the analysis.The MANOVA results showed that ethical ideology (idealism and relativism) had significant effects on ethical decision-making. Idealistic ideology had a main effect on ethical issues, individual practices, and ethical standards. However, relativistic ideology only affected the decision-making process related to ethical issues. No interaction effects were detected. This study indicated that the individual's ethical ideology could be an important variable in explaining the outcomes of the individual's ethical decision-making among Korean public relations practitioners.     

日本造船业：主攻标准推动转型升级

20世纪80年代以来．随着韩国和中国船舶工业的崛起以及日本本国资源的相对有限性．日本造船业在经历了上个世纪长达半个世纪的辉煌之后．逐渐失去霸主的地位。目前,日本造船业在世界份额中所占比重不断下降。为此．日本积极应对国际公约和规范．并把其作为“后危机”时代船舶产业跨越发展的重大机遇。依托技术优势主攻标准．通过主导船舶产业标准制定而获得竞争优势已成为日本造船业发展的重心所在。     

Peter von Staden. Business-Government Relations in Prewar Japan

Business–Government Relations in Prewar Japan by Petervon Staden deals with the Japanese iron and steel industry fromthe late 1910s through the early 1930s. The period was the turbulentyears for the industry, finally leading to the formation ofJapan Steel Corporation in 1934. Japan Steel Corporation wasa huge production firm, by Japanese standard, whose market sharewas over 90 percent in pig iron and over 50 percent in finishedsteel of the Japanese market, so that it became virtually amonopoly firm. How and why was such a semimonopoly iron     

Double Standards: The Role of Techniques of Neutralization

Despite the growing number of studies examining consumers?? perceptions of unethical corporate and consumer practices, research examining the apparent double standard existing between what consumers perceive as acceptable corporate behaviour and what they believe are acceptable consumer practices remains scarce. Contradictory, double standards are often quoted by other researchers as a major stream in ethical literature. The few studies dealing with this topic as well as this study indicate that people rate corporate unethical actions as less admissible compared to similar consumer misactions. However, little is known about the processes underlying these double standards. This research investigates whether the techniques of neutralization could provide a meaningful way of approaching this phenomenon. Findings indicate that the higher the extent to which people agree with arguments explaining away the misbehaviour instigated by consumers or business, the more they tolerate these questionable consumer and corporate practices. Furthermore and more importantly, these techniques give an answer on the question why people judge business (representatives) more harshly than consumers. More specifically, results show that the same respondents who justify questionable consumer actions to a certain degree, condone the same misbehaviours instigated by business (representatives) to a much lesser extent. In this way, the techniques of neutralization concern a process explaining the double standard phenomenon.     

中日经贸关系的战略思考

近两年,中日两国的经贸关系因历史和政治原因而受到了一定的影响,中国和日本都是东亚地区的重要国家,中日两国之间的经贸关系不仅影响着各自国家的经济发展,也影响着东亚地区的经济合作和整个亚洲未来的经济发展趋势。本文利用贸易依存度、投资依存度等指标分析了中日两国经贸关系的相互依存性,指出了中日经贸关系中存在的问题,并根据一个多世纪以来中日两国间的经贸政策,对发展中日经贸关系做了战略思考。我国在加强与日本经济合作的同时,需加快实施“自主创新的竞争战略”。     

中国电子商务物流发展现状与趋势

我国电子商务物流起步较晚,发展较快,不足之处明显。不足之处主要表现在电子商务物流企业规模依然较小,信息化水平较低,物流人才供给严重不足等方面。我国应加快电商物流信息化的进程:积极推动信息标准化建设、完善信息网络平台及相关的协同平台、加快云技术的应用等等。电子商务物流企业必须有全球化的战略思维和战略高度,在网点布局、服务设计等方面需要超前的目光,给予足够的发展空间;改变劳动密集型行业特点,大力推进自动化设备和自动化管理模式,增强服务能力,从而提升服务质量。     

Global Labor and Worksite Standards: A Strategic Ethical Analysis of Shareholder Employee Relations Resolutions

The purpose of this paper is to analyze from a strategic ethical perspective four selected shareholder resolutions reported by the Social Issues Service of the Investor Responsibility Research Center regarding international labor and workplace standards. Particular attention will be paid to specific employee relations issues at the operating and tactical level of individual multinational firms. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for proxy statements.     

我国消费信用现状及存在问题研究

近些年,随着我国各种消费信用业务的迅速发展,消费信用规模不断扩大,在消费者方面、商业银行和信用机构方面以及社会环境方面存在的发展障碍逐渐显露出来,而银行信贷管理中的制度缺陷、与消费贷款相关的法律不健全、市场操作的不安全性等问题亦进一步凸显。我国应加快构建并不断完善消费信用体系,努力提升公民的消费信用意识,强化法律与政府的作用,实施消费信用保证保险制度,以促使我国国民经济健康全面发展。     

Fiscal Realities for the State and Local Governments

The U.S. economic slump of 2008, as usual for all economic slumps, has taken a dramatic toll on state and local government revenues and budget surpluses. As predictable as this is when properly modeled, states in particular have been even less well prepared than normal. Therefore, it appears that government budget officers, policymakers and their economic advisors, and private-sector economists need help in understanding the external and internal drivers of budget outcomes. A primary goal of this study is to quantify the highly regular, cyclical revenue patterns that emerge when actual revenues are purified of legislated changes. This should assist policy formulation today—as states consider higher tax rates or borrowing—by promoting an understanding of what is temporary and what is permanent in the current revenue weakness. Moreover, if these lessons are learned, future revenue forecasting and budget planning at the state and local levels should be materially enhanced. A second goal is to examine the true sources of the exceptional expenditure growth that precluded the normal buildup of a solid surplus during the economic boom of 2003–2007. The principal culprit is shown to be state and local government pay inflation that has far exceeded private sector norms for the past three years rather than an exceptional medical care burden, as some might think.     

出口信用保险的发展及中国实际

出口信用保险对一国的国际贸易有积极的促进作用,如同一国国际贸易的安全网,为出口企业提供保障、规避风险。在各国对直接补贴出口的做法越来越加以限制的情况下,大力发展出口信用保险有不可或缺的现实意义。传统上,出口信用保险属于政策性保险性质,鉴于其对贸易的特殊作用,世界各国政府无不斥巨资发展出口信用保险。近年来,国际上出口信用保险有三大最新发展趋势:经营机构的私有化、政府角色的再定位以及出口信用保险服务的国际化。这种趋势对我国的出口信用保险是否有促进作用,是否值得我们采纳,值得思考与研究。     

Newsom,Doug and Alan Scott. This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1976

Abstract

The use of music and lyrics in commercials run in the United States is compared with their use in commercials run in the Dominican Republic (D.R.). The authors briefly review present theoretical perspectives on the role of music in advertising and address the need to conceptualize music as a culturally situated variable. They discuss the structure of Dominican TV media and examine the influence of U.S. media culture in the D.R., then develop a set of propositions about cross-cultural differences in the extensiveness of music and lyrics in commercials, the style of music used, and the product meanings conveyed in lyrics. The propositions are tested in a content analysis of commercials. The findings support the propositions and indicate a need for sociological and interpretive approaches to the study of the role of music in advertising.     

The Myths and Realities of Informal Financial Resources

Under the context of tightening macro-control polices,the financial problems of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) rise again.Many SMEs resorted to the informal financial resources,and some of the SMEs can't shoulder the huge financing pressure with the weakening economic activity and many bosses run out in Wenzhou etc.SMEs have the increasingly important role in ensuring the sustainable,healthy and stable development.In order to get closer views of financial problems of SMEs in Hainan,we made a survey of informal financial Resources.Here are some of the results of the survey.     

Responsible Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: Understanding the Realities and Complexities

Developing countries have recently experienced a burgeoning of small-scale individual entrepreneurs (SIEs) – who range from petty traders to personal service workers like small street vendors, barbers and owners of small shops – as a result of market-based reforms, rapid urbanisation, unemployment, landlessness and poverty. While SIEs form a major part of the informal workforce in developing countries and contribute significantly to economic growth, their potential is being undermined when they engage in irresponsible and deceptive business practices such as overpricing, sale of underweight or substandard products, or attempts to hoard goods, to name a few. Despite the growing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of small businesses in developing countries, the SIEs have received almost no attention. To address this void in the literature, we explore the reasons for the less than optimal level of social responsibility demonstrated by some SIEs in developing countries. We do so by drawing upon the existing literature to develop a comprehensive framework of social responsibility of SIEs highlighting their unique characteristics and the different contextual factors that they encounter in developing countries. Based on this framework, we then present a set of propositions specifying the influence of these contextual factors such as business environment, cultural traditions, socio-economic conditions, and both international and domestic pressures on the business practices of SIEs. The framework offers an explanation for the lack of responsible entrepreneurship of SIEs and has important implications for promoting sustainable business practices in developing countries where businesses are striving hard to survive and compete.     

Business Ethics East vs. West: Myths and Realities

The West has a stereotypical image of businesses, officials, and politicians, etc., in the East (Third World) countries being pervasively corrupt while it views itself as being almost completely uncorrupt. One closer look, however, realities turn out to be quite different. Business corruption is much more universal that Westerners are generally willing to accept. The major differences are that corruption in the East is practiced so blatantly that it makes major news. Western businesses, on the other hand, have, over time, developed sophisticated techniques whereby corruption becomes almost invisible. This paper discusses the myths and realities of Eastern versus Western corruption and discusses several means which have allowed Western companies to exploit others through subtle and, almost invisible means. The overall advantage, however, still goes to the West where petty corruption has been pretty much eliminated.     

Socially Constructed Realities and the Hidden Face of Market Segmentation

Market segmentation is a construct that has existed in the marketing literature for the past fifty years and perhaps longer in practice but without a label. During that time segmentation has received considerable interest from researchers in the marketing discipline and a number of different perspectives have contributed to its development as it is now understood. This paper identifies these differences of perspective. Nevertheless, from the earliest construction to its present position fundamentally little has changed and the concerns raised in its practical application remain. Furthermore, at a base level it can be argued market segmentation is commonly understood. However, under different conditions with different dimensions the challenge to segmentation lies, paradoxically, in a broadening of the heterogeneity that the approach was designed to handle. This conceptual paper adopts a social constructionist stance to examine this central tenet of marketing theory and practice. Thought trials are conducted through conjecture and compared to notions of self and group identities with the purpose of establishing a socially constructed understanding of segmentation. Implications for theory building research and marketing practice are drawn from the conclusions.