Role-Playing a Public Relations Crisis

Abstract

Crisis management affects all institutions. Organizations now operate in a media-saturated world where individuals can disseminate information instantaneously across the globe via the internet. As a result, ensuring future business leaders have an understanding of how crises develop and what alternatives exist is a valuable educational outcome. Through a role-playing exercise, students undertake crisis management for a fictitious organization. The exercise, according to participants, provides a realistic environment where higher level learning (as compared w th merely listening to lectures) resulted. Role-playing also improved student awareness of the components of good crisis management and prepared them to handle a crisis.     

Effective Teaching of Ethics in International Business

A unique pedagogical tool using vignettes from international settings in a game format is presented to effectively teach business ethics. Using role playing, participants evaluate ethical dilemmas from the perspective of a business corporation, an employee of the organization, and as a member of the larger community. By having to recognize and adopt positions on a large variety of ethical situations, participants learn the particular, and sometimes unexpected aspects of social responsibility in international business.     

Designing Effective International Business Programmes for Senior Export Executives

In nearly all developing countries, the need to upgrade the marketing management skills of business executives in international trade is increasing rapidly. The capacity of existing training institutions, however, needs to be strengthened in order to meet the future requirements of the business community. To date, most training is provided by business schools, institutes of foreign trade, or other similar training institutes which have limited experience in executive development, particularly in international business. Organizing training for business executives differs greatly from that for business students. Training institutions and trainers involved in providing programmes to experienced target groups must introduce new approaches, methods, tools and structures when organizing such training. Programmes need to be practical and relevant to participants. Trainers of export business executives should regard themselves as training managers accountable for the delivery of effective training programmes enabling participants to apply immediately their newly acquired skills and now-how in their respective organizations.     

The Effects of Euphemism Usage in Business Contexts

Transparency is important in today’s business environment. The use of euphemisms decreases transparency yet is increasing in business and business education. This study examines the effects of euphemism on people’s attitudes toward actions and their intentions to perform those actions. It also measures the effect of oversight on attitudes and behavioral intentions. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, we measured participants’ attitudes by employing a semantic differential scale and behavioral intentions by using a simple yes/no question regarding the action described. A questionnaire with 20 brief scenarios provided the euphemistic (transparent) versus non-euphemistic (less-transparent) condition. Oversight versus non-oversight conditions were manipulated through instructions to participants. Hypotheses regarding the effects of euphemism were supported; participants were both more likely to rate an action as appropriate and to indicate they would take that action when stated euphemistically. Oversight did not have a significant effect on attitude toward the action, but did significantly affect participants’ intentions to take that action. Findings suggest both managerial and ethical implications for businesses. Greater transparency includes more straight talk and less euphemism and is recommended to ensure employees’ understanding and implementation of ethical business actions.     

Enriching Student Experiences: Multi-disciplinary Exercises in Service-learning

This paper offers two unique service-learning approaches to developself-efficacy toward service and motivation for civic participation incollege business students. The exercises utilize methodologies providinghands-on experiences for students to meet social needs. They alsoprovide real-world settings for students to develop skills and personalgrowth relevant to their business careers. One exercise was used in anorganizational behavior course and the other in a legal environment ofbusiness course. Instructors may easily adapt either methodology toother business courses.     

The Honorable Merchant in International Marketing: An Ancient Concept Newly Needed

In the spring of 2014, the American Marketing Association's Special Interest Group hosted a conference in Cancun, Mexico, on “The Honorable Merchant in International Marketing.” Conference participants from around the globe discussed in detail what it means to be honorable and how behavior affects business and academia today. A three‐round Delphi study was conducted throughout the conference, providing the participants’ perspectives on the topic of honorable practices in academia and business and its relation to international marketing. Inferences are drawn about the usefulness of honorable behavior in developing trust relations and conducting international business relations more easily. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Using Computer-Based Simulation Exercises to Teach Business Ethics

This paper discusses how to introduce ethical dilemmas into computer-based business simulation exercise to teach business ethics. Simulations have an inherent advantage over other pedagogies for teaching ethics because simulations provide students with both an intellectual and a behavioral exposure to the topic. Issues addressed include considerations before writing ethical dilemmas, the writing of ethical dilemmas, and process issues for introducing ethical dilemmas. An example is developed and discussed. Through the process described, instructors can better prepare students for a lifetime of tough business decisions.     

For-Profit Business as Civic Virtue

According to the commonsense view of civic virtue, the places to exercise civic virtue are largely restricted to politics. In this article, I argue for a more expansive view of civic virtue, and argue that one can exercise civic virtue equally well through working for or running a for-profit business. I argue that this conclusion follows from four relatively uncontroversial premises: (1) the consensus definition of “civic virtue”, (2) the standard, most popular theory of virtuous activity, (3) a conception of the common good widely shared by liberal political philosophers, and (4) the mainstream economic theory of for-profit business.     

Transatlantic business ethics

The Business Ethics Center of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences organized a Transatlantic Business Ethics Summit on September 15–17, 2000 in Budapest, Hungary. The Summit was sponsored by the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS) and Procter & Gamble.
The main function of the Summit was to provide a forum for leading American and European scholars to explore the background theories and value bases of business ethics from the perspective of the 21st century. The participants reflected on the state of the art of business ethics as it has been practised in the USA and Europe; however, the future of business ethics as a discipline was the main focus of the Summit. Since business ethics is closely related to business and capitalism, some considerations of the 21st century economic, political, and social reality were presented too. The paper is based on and composed from the abstracts provided by the participants of the Transatlantic Business Ethics Summit. The abstract booklet can be obtained from Laszlo Zsolnai, the Convenor of the Summit.     

Master's Level Education in Business Marketing: Quo Vadis?

ABSTRACT

Given the paucity of knowledge on the state of business marketing education at the master's level, we conducted an exploratory survey of instructors at selected universities in North America and Europe. We supplemented results from this survey with discussions with our colleagues who teach business marketing at the master's level, and a review of articles on master's level programs.

Through our investigations, we discovered that there is a shortage of management cases that address contemporary issues in business marketing. We learned that nearly half of survey participants do not use a textbook and that the remaining participants use a wide variety of textbooks. We observed that many instructors still teach business marketing courses from a traditional functional perspective. Instead, we believe that business marketing courses must address a host of emerging issues such as value and its assessment, business process reengineering, global marketing, working relationships and business networks, and cross-functional coordination issues, among other things.

We believe that scholars can rejuvenate the discipline by tailoring business marketing courses to the new generation of accelerated master's programs, by creating a network for sharing information on new cases and teaching materials, and by writing more relevant and timely business marketing cases. Finally, we believe that the time is right for a faculty consortium on teaching business marketing.     

影响电子商务市场参与方收益的因素分析

借助于Internet这种交易平台的电子商务市场,与面对面交易的传统市场相比动态多变,交易方所受限制较少,可不受时间、地点、规模的限制,甚至可以与交易方不见面。这些特点使得电子商务市场与传统市场间有基于成本的明显差别,电子市场不仅影响了行业结构而且影响了相关组织的收益源。     

Entrepreneurship and Fitness: An Examination of Rigorous Exercise and Goal Attainment among Small Business Owners*

In today's society, the benefits of exercise and fitness are given much publicity. However, the relationship between exercise and the attainment of personal and professional goals for entrepreneurs has not been examined. Our study addresses the issue by examining the exercise regimens of 366 small business owners and the relationship of exercise frequency with the company's sales and the entre‐ preneur's personal goals. Specifically, this study examines the relationship that two types of exercise—running and weightlifting—have with sales volume, extrinsic rewards, and intrinsic rewards. Results indicate that running is related positively to all three outcome variables while weightlifting is related positively to extrinsic and intrinsic rewards but not to sales. Suggestions then are provided for future research.     

Milking the Organization? The Effect of Breastfeeding Accommodation on Perceived Fairness and Organizational Attractiveness

The paper presents the results of two vignette studies that examine how company breastfeeding accommodation influences ratings of organizational attractiveness and work-related intentions. North American business students and employees engaged in long-term employment found organizations that accommodate breastfeeding to be more fair, attractive, and were more likely to apply to them, and accept jobs from them, than organizations that did not accommodate. Effects were stronger for female participants than for male participants. Female participants without children indicated lower support for breastfeeding accommodation than female participants with children and male participants.     

The Impact of Personal Gains on Cognitive Dissonance for Business Ethics Judgments

When managers make business ethics judgments, the decisioninevitably has impact on them. Sometimes managers reluctantly putorganizational profit as their first priority and make decisions against personal values. Howmanagers are affected by their business ethics judgments has rarely been examined. The purposeof this paper is to explore such an issue.Cognitive dissonance experienced by managers after makingbusiness ethics judgments is studied in this paper. It is hypothesized that thedegree of cognitive dissonance experienced by managers after making business ethicsjudgment is contingent upon (1) the nature of the judgment (ethical or unethical); (2)the magnitude of personal gains involved in the situation; and (3) managers' moraldevelopment.Two hundred and thirty-eight managers who attendednon-degree graduate management classes offered by a university participated in thisstudy. A business ethics situation of unfair competition with different amount of personalgains was used in this study. First, participants were asked to make a business ethicsjudgment about one of the situations. After making the judgment, cognitive dissonance andmoral development were measured for the participants. The analysis revealed thatan interaction effect was found for the three hypothesized independent variables. Generally speaking, however, the degree of cognitive dissonance experienced by managers wassignificantly affected mainly by their moral development.     

Does Hindsight Bias Change Perceptions of Business Ethics?

Ethical decision theory may not be sufficiently well developed to furnish reliable guidelines to people involved in complex decision making that involves conflict between ethical considerations and business imperatives such as making a profit. In conditions of ethical uncertainty hindsight bias may occur, and this study reports on an exploration of hindsight bias effects among participants in continuing education in business programmes. Perceptions of business ethics were found to differ among groups within the sample depending on what they thought had been the outcome of the ethical decision concerned.     

The Impact of Community Service Learning Upon the Worldviews of Business Majors Versus Non-Business Majors at an American University

The SERVE Program at Ignatius University seeks to foster the ethical development of its participants by combining academic study of philosophy and theology with a year-long community service project. This study considered the impact of the SERVE Program upon Ignatius University students majoring in business in comparison to students pursuing majors in the liberal arts, education, and nursing. Findings from this study offer insight into the response of business students to ethical content in comparison to students pursuing degrees in other disciplines. Such findings hold significant implications for business school faculty and administrators committed to the civic and ethical development of individuals pursuing careers in business and private industry.     

美国“小企业投资公司计划”运作机制研究

小企业投资公司(SBIC)是私人拥有和操作的对美国小企业进行长期投资的公司,在美国中小企业的发展历程中起到了重要的推动作用。回顾其发展历程、组织形式、参与主体、资金来源及流向、投资对象界定以及法律的相关规定,试图对今天我国制定本国中小企业扶持政策提供一些思路。     

E-Based Solutions to Support Intercultural Business Ethics Instruction: An Exploratory Approach in Course Design and Delivery

This paper reports on the experiences of international MBA students following a hybrid design for a business ethics course, which combined class-based lectures with "out-of-class" discussion supported by asynchronous communication tools. The e-learning component of the course was intended to generate discussion on the ethical assumptions of course participants, with each individual required to post a mini case study reflecting an ethical dilemma which s/he had faced at work. Using questionnaire and interview data, we report on the learning experiences of participants following this experimental course. The results reveal a high level of intercultural dialogue between participants, with adopters showing greater awareness of their individual cultural biases in their case writing, a direct consequence of the on-line feedback and case discussion. These findings indicate that asynchronous tools have much to offer business ethics students, supporting ideas sharing and the exchange of cultural perspectives outside the physical boundaries of the classroom.     

Strategy analysis in the health service

The operation of provider units, both NHS Trusts and Directly Managed Units, as competitive organizations in the market place, is as yet rudimentary. Although some have achieved notoriety through radical “business” behaviour, there is little evidence that they have adopted scientific business practices in order to strengthen or re‐orientate their position in the market place. Neither is there as yet any hard evidence that such behaviour would be beneficial in the long term.

This paper describes an exercise of strategic market analysis used as a device to lead and inform the business planning process for an NHS Trust. The primary objective of the analysis is to identify hitherto unrecognized strategies which would enhance the position of the organization in the market place and also to identify areas where business development is possible and desirable.