The New Economy: Ethical Issues

The new economy is a technological revolution involving the information and communication technologies and which affects almost all aspects of the economy, business, and our personal lives. The problems it raises for businesses are not radically new, and even less so from an ethical viewpoint. However, they deserve particular attention, especially now, in the first years of the 21st century, when we are feeling the full impact of the changes brought about by this technological revolution. In this article, I will try to draw a "map" of the main, positive and negative ethical challenges raised by the new economy, concentrating on its three basic features: (1) a knowledge- and information-based technological change, (2) which is taking place in real time on a planetary scale (globalization), and (3) which entails a new, flexible, network-based business organization.     

The Differing Nature of Consumerism in the Ghetto

Does a consumer movement that is white and middle class benefit those who are not white and not middle class? This paper argues that the movement is not likely, and perhaps ought not, to have major impact on ghetto consumer problems since those problems too often are qualitatively, not just quantitatively, different from those of the white middle class. Middle class misunderstanding of disadvantaged consumers' problems offers the strong suggestion that middle class involvement in problem solutions may make the situation worse not better.     

中国消费时代的消费蜕变

<正>2006年我国宏观调控取得积极成效,国民经济继续保持平稳快速的发展。国家统计局调查数据显示,城镇居民人均收入以较快速度     

Bags for Life: The Embedding of Ethical Consumerism

The aim of this paper is to understand why some ethical behaviours fail to embed, and importantly what can be done about it. We address this by looking at an example where ethical behaviour has not become the norm, i.e. the widespread, habitual, use of ‘bags for life’. This is an interesting case because whilst a consistent message of ‘saving the environment’ has been the basis of the promotion of ‘bags for life’ in the United Kingdom for many years, their uptake has only recently become more widespread and still remains at low levels. Through an exploratory study, we unpack some of the contextual barriers which may influence ethical consumerism. We do this by examining the attitudes which influenced people to start using ‘bags for life’, and how people persuade others to use ‘bags for life’. We use a case study analysis to try and understand why ethical behaviour change has stalled and not become sustained. We find that both individuals and institutions play a significant interaction role in encouraging a sustained behavioural change towards ethical consumerism.     

Chinese Consumer Market: Continual Emergence of New Business Patterns

In 2020,the Chinese consumer market will further face the challenge of the weakening demographic dividend and flow dividend.Although the consumer industry is still growing steadily overall,the industry has entered a new stage of stock competition,demand differentiation and accelerated innovation.     

The Emergence of a New Regime: Business Management and Office Mechanisation in the Dutch Financial Sector in the 1920s

During the 1920s the methods, procedures and technologies used in the Dutch office workers' sector to conduct administrative processes underwent sweeping changes. New management styles, office methods and information technologies were introduced. These changes were closely related to each other, and served as a new organisational model for large-scale office activities. We may therefore speak of the emergence of a new ‘regime’ of office organisation. Important elements of the new regime were the standardisation and formalisation of internal communication flows, the introduction of systematic analyses of office operations and the use of punched card technology. In this article the causes, characteristics and consequences of this regime shift are traced by closely examining a couple of reorganisation projects that took place in the 1920s at two different Dutch financial institutions, one of which was successful and one of which amounted to a failure. These institutions were the Rotterdamsche Bankvereeniging (Robaver) and the national Giro Service. The cases demonstrate that the different elements of the new regime were closely connected, and that the new management styles and office methods were indispensable for the successful introduction of the new information technology.     

Ethical Consumerism: A View From the Food Industry in Morocco

Both consumers and firms are now more concerned about ethics as a way to make business transactions a win–win deal. As consumers ensure profitability to businesses, they expect fair practices and honest behaviors toward society. The study reported here attempts to investigate Moroccans’ perceptions and attitudes toward ethical consumerism of food. Consumers’ willingness to buy those products and their motives for such purchases as well as factors preventing ethical purchases is investigated. Besides price, which drives most their decision to buy a food or not, Moroccans are driven by ethical claims such as “healthy,” “no fat,” “pasteurized,” etc. It was shown that consumers trust information on the labels of products besides information provided by consumer authorities. In relation to ethical aspects, Moroccans are mostly concerned about the environment and religion. Older men with high income are shown to be a good target for the ethical food market.     

消费主义文化中的商品逻辑

消费主义不仅体现为广告及其对欲望的制造，也是整个社会生产、包括文化生产的重要推动力。在市场经济条件下，不仅物质产品的生产受制于消费原则，而且文化产品的生产和传播也受制于商品和消费法则，技术理性消解着审美原则。因此，消费主义文化正是通过这样一种新的形式主义确立了其文化立场——迎合市场需要，臣服金钱，走向商业化、大众化。     

The Response of Canadian Business Schools to Consumerism

Of the major issues dominating the public interest in recent times, perhaps consumerism is by far the most vital one. Reaching the forefront during the second half of the past decade, consumerism has drawn considerable attention from virtually all groups having a stake in the performance of the market place. The interest of the academic community in consumerism is no exception. For business educators, the prevalence of consumer protests and dissatisfaction with the market behavior yields a number of compelling but, nonetheless, crucial issues. For instance, should a business school try to improve its existing image—that of preparing its student to be a shrewd businessman with one pervasive criterion in mind, namely, profit maximization? Or, should business schools adopt the concept of training its graduate to be an enlightened businessman who attempts to maximize the profit of his firm, but in the context of what is best for the whole society? Should a business school play the role of a mediator between consumers and the business sector at large? It is to these and similar questions that the present investigation is directed.     

Ethical Consumerism: The Case Of "Fairly–Traded" Coffee

Consumer concern for "ethical products", or ethical aspects of the goods which they purchase, is a subject of increasing interest and research,which is here illustrated by an examination of the Fair Trade movement, with special reference to coffee as an indicative commodity. Kate Bird, is currently Lecturer in the Development Administration Group, School of Public Policy, Birmingham University, Birmingham B15 2TT, England, having previously worked abroad and written her MSc dissertation at Wye College on fair trade in coffee products. Dr Hughest holds the Sainsbury Chair in Agribusiness and Food Marketing at Wye College, University of London, Wye, Ashford, Kent TN25 5AH, England (email: D.Hughes@wye.ac.uk), where he is also Director of the Food Industry Management Group. He has wide international experience of food management issues.     

全球价值链的新趋势、新平衡与关键命题

全球价值链对国际贸易和增长的影响,在近20年又有新的变化。来自发达国家和发展中国家的两种动力——为了更低成本的供应链转移和为了更高附加值的产业升级,其交相作用使得全球价值链达到一种新的平衡,任何一方面的力量都不应当被夸大。区域集聚效应使得亚洲成为全球产业链的关键区域,即平衡的中心点。对那些希望从效率驱动阶段进到了创新驱动阶段的发展中国家来说,当前的另一动向是,离岸服务是前景巨大的新市场。     

Evolution and Applications of the Term Consumerism: Theme and Variations

The term CONSUMERISM has had a variety of meanings over its relatively brief history. Coined in obscurity, the word was given negative connotations by business apologists before finally being adopted by the consumer movement to describe its activities. However, an unrelated and highly prejudicial meaning has been gaining currency. As a result, there are increasing possibilities for misunderstanding and negative responses to the term CONSUMERISM from the public.     

New technology in UK retailing: Issues and responses

Technology application in retailing has a considerable history, with applications for the most part aimed at labour cost reduction. The technologies now being applied in retailing and distribution however differ from these earlier ones in a fundamental way. The new technologies in micro‐electronic based computing and micro‐electronic communications differ by being general purpose and flexible and by developing very rapidly. The new technology is enabling changes to take place in the distribution channel. The areas of applications of the new technology and the applications and reasons of technology introduction are analysed in this paper.     

Working Weeks,Rave Weekends: Identity Fragmentation and the Emergence of New Communities

Popular music is one of the most ubiquitous forms of contemporary culture. This paper looks at the phenomenon known as rave or dance culture in Britain. It examines the nature of the consumer experience at a dance club through the use of a two stage methodology. Based on observations and the collection of phenomenological data, the findings suggest that the experience is linked to a series of behaviours, which are related to fragmentation and identity. These include narcissistic identity, the emergence of new communities, the need for escape, engagement and prolonged hedonism. The paper examines these concepts in relation to postmodern consumption. In particular, an evaluation of postmodern theory and its focus on fragmentation and the project of the self is offered, by arguing for a return to "community".     

企业在推动我国社会绿色消费中的作用分析

<正>一、引言绿色消费是既没有污染,有益于身体健康,又有利于生态平衡的消费。绿色消费的概念第一次被提出来,是在1987英国出版的《绿色消费者指南》一书中。它从消费的对象——商品的角     

CSR, Co-optation and Resistance: The Emergence of New Agonistic Relations Between Business and Civil Society

This article examines the theoretical implications of the changing relationships between NGOs and businesses that have emerged as a response to the evolving agenda around CSR and sustainable development. In particular, it focuses upon examining whether greater engagement from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in this area reflects a process of appropriation and co-optation of protest by the business community. To examine this process, the article considers two forms of appropriation—appropriation of language and appropriation via participation—as a basis for discussion. While co-optation pressures are identified within both areas, the article argues that co-optation is identified almost as an inevitable outcome of engagement without significant consideration of the ability of movements to identify and respond to these processes. In identifying an alternative approach, the article utilises Mouffe’s framework of agonistic pluralism. Mouffe’s framework, it is argued, provides an understanding of the way in which agonistic relationships are emerging between NGOs and businesses while highlighting the continuance of conflict between parties struggling to influence the contested interpretations of responsible business.