Ethical beliefs of MIS professionals: The frequency and opportunity for unethical behavior

The frequency and opportunity for unethical behavior by MIS professionals is examined empirically. In addition, the importance of top management's ethical stance, one's sense of social responsibility and the existence of codes of ethics in determining perceptions of the frequency and opportunity for unethical behavior are tested.Results indicate that MIS professionals are perceived as having the opportunity to engage in unethical practices, but that they seldom do so. Additionally, successful MIS professionals are perceived as ethical. Finally, while company codes of ethics were uncommon, top management was seen as supporting high ethical standards. Scott J. Vitell is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Macromarketing, the Journal of Business Ethics, Research in Marketing, various national and regional proceedings, and elsewhere. Donald L. Davis is Associate Professor and Director of Management Information Systems Programs in the School of Business at The University of Mississippi. He has published in OMEGA, Journal of Operations Management, Human Systems Management and other journals. His current research interests are in user-system interfaces in DSS, expert systems, and nueral nets.     

Organizational Adaptation and Perceived International Marketing Effectiveness

American business faces a future of world wide competition for markets. Effective global marketing has been associated with the adaptation of domestic marketing, product design, financial, and personnel practices in the professional marketing literature. Perceived effectiveness in international markets, is correlated with a corporate culture oriented to global markets in the opinion of a sample of American executives.     

Issues management and organizational accounts: An analysis of corporate responses to accusations of unethical business practices

When external groups accuse a business organization of unethical practices, managers of the accused organization usually offer a communicative response to attempt to protect their organization's public image. Even though many researchers readily concur that analysis of these communicative responses is important to our understanding of business and society conflict, few investigations have focused on developing a theoretical framework for analyzing these communicative strategies used by managers. In addition, research in this area has suffered from a lack of empirical investigation. In this paper we address both of these weaknesses in the existing literature. First, we explicate Impression Management Theory as an appropriate framework for studying organizational communicative responses, paying particular attention to the concept of accounts. Second, we critique previous investigations of organizational accounts and discuss the major contributions of our study. Third, we propose a coding system and content analyze the accounts offered by managers from 21 organizations that were recently the targets of consumer boycotts. Finally, we report the results of our empirical investigation and discuss ethical issues related to organizational accounts. Dennis E. Garrett (Assistant Professor, Division of Marketing, University of Oklahoma) is a co-author of Marketing Theory: Evolution and Evaluation (John Wiley and Sons, 1988). His articles have appeared in Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Strategies, Business and Society Review, Journal of Marketing Education, and Communication Monographs. In 1987, he was selected as the Outstanding Professor on Campus by the University of Oklahoma Student Association.Jeffrey L. Bradford (Graduate Student, Division of Marketing, University of Oklahoma) is completing his Ph.D. in Marketing in the College of Business Administration. Renee A. Meyers (Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Oklahoma) has published articles in Human Communication Research, Communication Yearbook, Communication Monographs, and Journal of Applied Communication. Her doctoral dissertation from the University of Illinois was selected as the 1987 Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation by the Speech Communication Association.Joy Becker (Graduate Student, Division of Marketing, University of Oklahoma) is completing her M.B.A. degree in the College of Business Administration.     

Perceived Greenwashing: The Effects of Green Marketing on Environmental and Product Perceptions

Many firms are striving to improve their environmental positions by presenting their environmental efforts to the public. To do so, they are applying green marketing strategies to help gain competitive advantage and appeal to ecologically conscious consumers. However, not all green marketing claims accurately reflect firms’ environmental conduct, and can be viewed as ‘greenwashing’. Greenwashing may not only affect a company’s profitability, but more importantly, result in ethical harm. Therefore, this research extends past greenwashing studies by examining additional influences on and outcomes of perceived greenwashing. To do so, we conducted two studies, an interview study with consumer product and consulting firms, as well as an experiment examining consumers interacting with a company website. For these studies, we used multiple methods, including interviews, questionnaires, and neurophysiological techniques. We found that perceived greenwashing relates not only to environmental and product perceptions, but also to consumers’ happiness while interacting with the website. We also found that website interactivity relates to perceived greenwashing, environmental and product perceptions, and to the amount of interaction with the website. We conclude by discussing managerial and ethical implications for research and practice.

     

Reexaminating Perceived Ethics Issues and Ethics Roles among Employment Managers

This paper reexamines the perceived ethical issues and roles of employment managers based on their responses to a recent "Ethical Issues in Human Resource Management Survey." This research addresses five major questions including: 1) Whether employment managers' perceptions of the factors influencing unethical behavior vary according to gender, job position, and company size, 2) What are the perceived frequency and seriousness of misconduct among HR functional areas, 3) Whether groups of employment managers (i.e., males and females) vary significantly in their perceptions of the seriousness of unethical events, 4) Whether gender and organizational level influence how often particular ethics roles are played, and 5) What particular roles are being played by employment managers as they respond to ethical dilemmas. The findings show that regardless of gender, position, or company size, employment managers' ethical behavior is influenced most by the behavior of senior managers and their immediate supervisors. In addition, the respondents believe that ethical misconduct occurs more often and is most serious in specialties such as employment, health, safety, and security, and compensation. Gender, industrial category, and company size have a significant impact on how serious unethical practices were perceived to be. Finally, seven of the eight ethics roles were matched with the ethical dilemmas submitted by the survey respondents.     

Foreign Direct Investment Motives and Marketing Strategies in Central and Eastern Europe

Summary

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows are of crucial importance for the process of reintegration of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the global marketplace. This paper explores the motives of foreign investors, host governments, and host companies in the FDI process taking place in CEE. The degree to which the motives of the three parties have been achieved is evaluated. The motives of foreign investors, host governments, and host companies are related to the strategic priorities of the FDI companies. The way in which these priorities have been realized is discussed. Recommendations for foreign investors' behavior in the CEE context are presented at the end of the article. The research data come from four countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia.     

Marketing and advertising practices of Turkish entrepreneurs in transition economies: Evidence from Georgia

As a transition economy, Georgia has an uncertain, complex, and immature business environment, typical of transition economies in the Eurasian region. In an effort to provide insights into marketing and advertising practices in the Eurasian transition economies, this study empirically examines the marketing and advertising practices in Georgia through two surveys conducted with Turkish entrepreneurs in Georgia and Georgian consumers. On the one hand, the findings of the survey of the Turkish entrepreneurs indicated that an overall adaptation strategy is needed in Georgia; in addition, foreign entrepreneurs willing to enter the Georgian market are advised to offer a variety of products by collaborating with local distributors and agents. Although Georgian consumers do not have high income, low-price strategy does not always work as consumers equate low price with inferior quality. Marketing of prestigious products are to be sold at higher prices and appropriate product positioning strategies must be developed for each target market segment. Merchandising strategies must be congruent with the target market served as well as retail stores/outlets utilized. On the other hand, the Georgian consumers demand better customer service and increased variety of products; advertising is welcomed to a certain extent as long as advertising provides useful product/brand and company information.     

Corruption,Foreign Direct Investment,and International Marketing in the Western Balkans

Corruption is one of the major issues the Western Balkans is facing, challenging both domestic and foreign companies in doing business. This article examines the role of corruption in hindering foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Western Balkans during the 1992–2012 time frame, using generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations applied to dynamic panel data. The empirical data point to the negative role of corruption for the attraction of FDI to the Western Balkans. This research also suggests that corruption is negatively related with the income level in the region, where countries suffering higher levels of corruption have lower incomes per capita. The other channels in which corruption hinders economic development in the Western Balkans include distorted composition of government expenditure, negative current account balances, tax evasion, lack of competitiveness, and low levels of economic innovation. This article suggests that engaging in international marketing is the best way for the Western Balkans to increase economic competitiveness, improve skills, advance levels of technology, and reduce levels of corruption. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Benefits and Effective Application of Audio in Direct Marketing on the Internet

ABSTRACT

This paper primarily discusses the benefits of using audio on the Internet. Based on qualitative interviews with Internet experts and reviews of extant literature on consumer behavior and marketing, it develops a set of recommendations for effective application of audio on the Internet. While these recommendations constitute a set of viable strategies for direct marketing, they also form a set of testable hypotheses for academic researchers. Marketers are now beginning to consider audio as a tool to add value to a Website and to promote brands. Essentially, they offer a basis for future academic experiments aimed at better understanding the impact of audio on the Internet.     

Antecedents and Consequences of Perceived Importance of Ethics in Marketing Situations: A Study of Thai Businesspeople

Building on an existing framework concerning ethical intention, this research explores how Thai business people perceive the importance of ethics in various scenarios. This study investigates the relative influences of personal characteristics and the organizational environment underlying the Thai business people’s ethical perception. Corporate ethical values and idealism are shown to positively influence a Thai manager’s perceptions about the importance of ethics. While their ability to perceive the existence of an ethical problem is negatively influenced by relativism, it is positively impacted by their existing perceptions about the importance of ethics. Results also suggest positive relationships between perceived importance of ethics and perceived ethical problems with ethical intention. These results extend research in understanding the relationship between the antecedents and consequences of perceived importance of ethics within an economically growing non-Western culture.     

The Effects of Channel Experiences and Direct Marketing on Customer Retention in Multichannel Settings

In customer relationship management (CRM), it is critical for managers to understand how and when customers terminate their relationships with the company in order to make more accurate predictions for CLV. However, in many non-contractual settings, customer churn is not easily observed, which presents difficulty for estimating customer retention. In this research, we present a framework for estimating multichannel customer relationship dynamics in a non-contractual setting that flexibly allows for relationship revival and investigates the effects of different channel experiences and marketing communication on retention and profitability. We use a multi-segment, multivariate hidden Markov modeling framework to model three managerially relevant customer behaviors: purchase amount, purchase incidence, and channel choice. Using data from a multichannel clothing retailer, we uncover two latent relationship states that customers migrate to and from — an active state and an inactive state characterized by different levels of purchase frequency, responsiveness to marketing, and profitability. We find that an offline (retail-store) channel can be used to migrate customers from an inactive state to an active state, effectively serving the purpose of “education” or “revival,” whereas an online channel is most effective in keeping the existing active customers active, thus serving the purpose of “retention”. Using counterfactual analysis, we highlight an opportunity for the multichannel firm to optimize marketing strategies to dynamically manage and increase the retention and hence also the value of its customer base.     

Unhealthy and unsafe practices associated with symptoms of depression among injured patients

This study describes a process to explore factors which contribute to child-drowning deaths and allows the development of appropriate strategies to prevent similar deaths in a selected site in the Northern Philippines. Data collection techniques used in obtaining baseline data include: review of drowning mortality records; key informant interviews; focus group discussions; and community walk-throughs. Risk factors identified which could or did contribute to drowning events were: proximity to bodies of water; inadequate child supervision; lack of information/awareness of prevention strategies; and lack of drowning prevention programme(s). Measures on how to prevent drowning deaths were explored and initial interventions were implemented through a committee convened by the community. These interventions include: community education sessions; capability building measures; redesigning of community wells; development of playpens; and use of barriers. Community engagement is a crucial element in the development and implementation of any health programme. This study demonstrates that by engaging and working with the community action occurs, however, there is a need to conduct further evaluation activities to determine if the actions by the community continued beyond the project and have resulted in a decrease in drowning. One of the strengths of the process described is that it is culturally appropriate and site-specific and allows the community to find the solutions itself. Exploration and delivery of further projects in larger areas is required to reduce drowning in the Philippines. An imperative is the evaluation which will provide valuable information on whether barriers are a sustainable and acceptable means of prevention to the community in the long term.     

Food consumption and political agency: on concerns and practices among Danish consumers

Increasingly ordinary individual consumers are expected to perform some kind of societal or political agency. In the debates about political consumption it is a recurrent topic to what degree consumption practices can be seen as political practices and how many consumers perform such practices. The aim of this article is to empirically qualify the demarcation of the political in individual consumer activities by integrating the concept of political agency in the definition of political consumption. On the basis of empirical results from a representative survey among food consumers in Denmark, the article suggests that by supplementing the criteria of consumers performing specific consumption activities with a criteria of consumers expressing political agency, a more precise empirical delimitation of political consumption can be achieved. Three groups of food consumers are identified: those who perform political consumption practices; those who perform politicized consumption practices; and those who vocalize the discourse of political consumerism.     

An Investigation of Entrepreneurial Orientation,Perceived Environmental Hostility,and Strategy Application among Chinese SMEs

Little is known about how Chinese small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) respond to their competitive environment. We predict that when industry competition is intense, entrepreneurial Chinese SMEs tend to perceive more environmental hostility than do their nonentrepreneurial peers. The perceived environmental hostility further drives these firms to choose marketing strategies but not cost control or innovation strategies. Data from 170 Chinese SMEs confirm our hypotheses, indicating that though some entrepreneurial orientation (EO) effects transcend different economy types, other EO effects differ significantly as the environment changes.     

Mediating Role of Company Information in the Relationships among Perceived Risks and Purchase Intentions in an Online Retailing Context

The exponential growth of the online retail sector has attracted the attention of researchers across the globe. Understanding the consumer decision-making process in an online retail context is of vital importance to all online retailers. The objective of this study was to examine the direct and indirect impacts of perceived risks on consumers’ purchase intentions in an online shopping context. This study applied structural equation modeling to test the study model with data from 234 samples. We found a significant negative full mediating impact of performance risk, financial risk, physical risk, and psychological risk on consumers’ purchase intentions. Moreover, we found a partial mediating impact of social risk on purchase intentions. However, we did not find a mediating impact of time risk on purchase intentions. These empirical results may help online retailers to better understand their consumers, their intentions to purchase, and their level of risk perceptions. Accordingly, online marketers can frame contemporary strategies to attract retail customers, leading to greater profitability of the organization.     

Differences in values,practices, and systems among Hungarian managers and Western expatriates: an organizing framework and typology

For managers of international alliances, the reconciliation of conflicting values, practices, and systems (VPSs) among partners is a critical challenge, which is magnified when partners originate from diverse institutional environments, such as transition and established market economies. Given the rapidly growing prevalence of international alliances in transition economies, differences in VPSs surface when managerial methods introduced by Western companies clash with institutionalized legacies of central planning. This paper examines this process in the context of international cooperative ventures (ICVs) between Hungarian and Western partners. Using data collected from 17 ICVs, and 44 local and expatriate managers during 1997–1999, I test a series of hypotheses and inductively develop a typology that identifies a number of important and often problematic partner differences in managerial VPSs. The study uses multiple theoretical lenses to show how VPSs are variously shaped by institutional, economic, and cultural factors, and provides useful insights into typical challenges faced by ICV managers. I conclude with a discussion of the typology’s generalizability to other transition and emerging economies, its implications for theory and practice, and propose future research directions.     

Electronic Marketing Communications: An Evolving Environment,but Similar Story Regarding the Perception of Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail and Postal Direct Mail

The internet is still a relatively new mass communication tool for advertisers and marketers. When weighing the potential benefits of electronic techniques against the financial investment, spam seems particularly attractive to marketers for either for-profit or non-profit objectives. Since it is unlikely that marketers will decrease their efforts related to spam and postal direct mail as a form of communicating to mass consumers, it is important to track consumer attitudes so that audiences are not subjected to the backlash predicted by psychological reactance. The results of this study found that spam is more irritating than postal direct mail at both T₁ (2004) and T₂ (2006), and participants in T₂ found both direct marketing communication methods more intrusive than those in T₁.     

The Impact of Environmental Uncertainty Perceptions,Decision-Maker Characteristics and Work Environment Characteristics on the Perceived Usefulness of Marketing Information Systems (MkIS): A Conceptual Framework

This paper discusses potential relationships between contextual factors and Marketing Information Systems (MkIS) design. MkIS design is defined in terms of the perceived usefulness of several information characteristics, which may be associated with a marketing information system. The paper suggests that MkIS design research should consider a range of contextual variables drawn from the organisational behaviour, behavioural decision-making and personality/cognitive psychology literatures. Drawing on empirical results from three sets of literature and from studies of information systems design (particularly management and accounting information systems design), the authors present a framework for exploring the design of a MkIS.