Student Ethical Perceptions and Ethical Action Propensities: An Analysis of Situation Familiarity

Recently McCuddy and Peery (1996) have suggested that business students may not respond the same way to unfamiliar business ethical dilemmas as they would to more familiar academic ethical dilemmas. The purpose of this study was to present the same students with both unfamiliar business dilemmas as well as possibly more familiar academic dilemmas in order to examine this issue.Findings of the study revealed that students did not exhibit different perceptions of the unethical actions performed in the academic and accounting/business ethical vignettes. However, the students indicated that both they and their peers would be more likely to act unethically to resolve the dilemmas in the accounting/business cases than in the academic cases. This finding is troubling in that it suggests that students either feel less compelled to act ethically in business, or that they perceive that ethical standards in the business world are generally low when compared to their current educational environment. In addition, the students in the study maintained the same halo effect (i.e., the difference between an individual's perception of their likelihood of performing an unethical action compared to their perception of their peers' likelihood to perform the same unethical action) across the two types of ethical dilemma.     

Structural Applications of the Discrete Choice Model

A growing body of empirical literature uses structurally-derived economic models to study the nature of competition and to measure explicitly the economic impact of strategic policies. While several approaches have been proposed, the discrete choice demand system has experienced wide usage. The heterogeneous, or mixed, logit in particular has been widely applied due to its parsimonious structure and its ability to capture flexibly substitution patterns for a large number of differentiated products.We outline the derivation of the heterogeneous logit demand system. We then present a number of applications of such models to various data sources. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of directions for future research in this area.     

Firm size,small business presence and sales of innovative products: A micro-econometric analysis

In our generalized TOBIT analysis we identify a number of variables which have an impact on a firm's innovation output. Among others we find that larger firms generally have a higher probability of selling some innovative products, although this probability increases less than proportionately with firm size. Given that a firm has some sales of innovative products, the share of such products in a firm's total sales tends to be higher in smaller firms. Moreover, a strong small business presence in a sector seems to enhance imitative innovation but has no influence on true innovations, whereas market concentration has no influence on innovation output in whatever definition. We also find evidence of regional knowledge spill-overs. Furthermore, our results are consistent with Schmookler's hypothesis that the growth of demand enhances innovation. The outcomes about the impact of R&D collaboration and technology transfer on innovation remain ambiguous.     

Learning to solve the right problems: The case of nuclear power in America

Three general types of problems entail different strategies. Continuing to seek solutions to tame problems when we face messes, let alone wicked problems, is potentially catastrophic hence fundamentally irresponsible. In our turbulent times, it is therefore becoming a strategic necessity to learn how to solve the right problems.

But then, you may agree that it becomes morally objectionable for the planner to treat a wicked problem as though it were a tame one, or to tame a wicked problem prematurely, or to refuse to recognize the inherent wickedness of social problems. Rittel and Webber (1973).

Jonathan King is Associate Professor of Management at the College of Business at Oregon State University. His primary research interests are in the areas of moral philosophy and modern technology. His most important publications are Confronting Chaos and Common Knowledge of the Second Kind,Journal of Business Ethics (1989).     

On Creating and Claiming Value in Negotiations

This paper presents a negotiation model that includes value creation. It shows that creative negotiation efforts tend to intensify toward the deadline, and that the deadline is determined endogenously by the tension between two motives, creating more value and claiming from existing value. When the parties can present misleading offers in order to claim rather than create value, the outcome in early negotiation rounds may display an impasse where any proposal is rejected without inspection, while negotiation activities such as value creation through sincere offers and inspection of clauses intensify toward the deadline.     

Integrating the Dirichlet-multinomial and multinomial logit models of brand choice

This paper discusses the interpretative benefits that arise from merging the Dirichlet-multinomial (DM) model as a loyalty variable in the multinomial logit (MNL) model of brand choice. The estimated parameters of this hybrid model compare favorably to those of a pure DM model (with no marketing mix variables) as well as those of a standard MNL model with an exponentially smoothed loyalty measure. The hybrid model offers an index of consumer heterogeneity and estimates of each brand's preference share, adjusted for the effects of price and promotional activities. We illustrate the unique interpretations offered by these parameters across four different product categories, showing how changes in heterogeneity (across categories or model specifications) are closely related to changes in the overall impact of marketing mix variables.The author is grateful to Bruce Hardie, Barbara Kahn, Jim Lattin, Len Lodish, Bob Meyer, and Don Morrison for their comments and suggestions. He appreciates the support of Doug Honnold and Information Resources, Inc., for providing the data and computational facilities used in this paper.     

An Easily Implemented Framework for Forecasting Ticket Sales to Performing Arts Events

This paper presents an easily used framework for modeling ticket sales to performing arts and entertainment events. Unlike existing efforts in this area, our framework allows us to: (1) model demand for events that consist of more than a single performance; (2) account for the influence of promotional effort on ticket sales; and (3) account for sellouts of some performances. The framework is applied to ticket sales for a university theater company, where it predicts ticket sales well in both an estimation and holdout sample. We discuss how the framework has influenced the company's marketing decisions.     

‘I am we’ consciousness and dialog as organizational ethics method

There is a practical five-step method of ethics dialog developed by John Woolman, an 18th c. businessman and ethical activist, that was used by Robert K. Greenleaf, a 20th c. A.T.&T. Corporate Vice-President, that includes: (a) friendly, emotive affect; (b) discussion of mutual commonalities; (c) discussion of issue entanglements; (d) discussion of potential experimental solutions; and, (e) trial and feedback discussion. This method of dialog appears to proceed with a type of consciousness considered by John Woolman and Bernard Lonergan as one where the I is conscious that I and Others are part of a more foundational, larger and prior We. This type of dialog is different than Socratic dialog. The corresponding type of consciousness is different than the more derivative, e.g., two allies being united in their response to a common goal. It is also different than Buber's I and Thou appreciative consciounsess of the interestingness, value, diversity, and uniqueness of others. Woolman dialog as seen in four cases appears to be a concrete method that has some value both as an end in itself and as instrumental means that can: be issue effective, help build ethical organization/community culture, and help facilitate peaceful, evolutionary change and development. Limitations of the method are also considered. The method may also be a several hundred year anticipation of experiment based pragmatist philosophy that is anthropologically sensitive to cultural entanglements.

John Donne (17th c.)

Richard P. Nielsen is a professor in the Department of Organizational Studies, School of Management, Boston College. Related articles of his include: Dialogic Leadership As Organizational Ethics Action (Praxis) Method, Journal of Business Ethics(October 1990); Negotiating As An Ethics Action (Praxis) Strategy, Journal of Business Ethics(May 1989); Changing Unethical Organizational Behavior, Academy of Management Executive(May 1989); Arendt's Action Philosophy and the Manager as Eichmann, Richard III, Faust, or Institution Citizen, California Management Review(Spring 1984); and Cooperative Strategy, Strategic Management Journal(September–October 1988).     

Changing demand for opening hours in Norway. Consumer policy implications

In Norway, a lively mass media debate, together with legal deregulation, has caused shops to extend their opening hours. In addition, the same debate slightly influenced consumer demand for extended opening hours. Consumer demand also changed in response to the actual extension of opening hours, an effect which was stronger than the mass media effect. In some cases, the demand for extended opening hours appears to have been based upon objective needs, in other cases upon subjective desires. Underlying the debate and the deregulation there must be some basic phenomena connected to the general economic and cultural development in society, since the appearance of the opening hours issue on the political agenda has occurred more or less simultaneously in several European countries.

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Änderungen beim Bedarf nach Ladenöffnungszeiten in Norwegen — verbraucherpolitische Implikationen

Zusammenfassung Die Liberalisierung der Regelung der Ladenöffnungszeiten und eine lebhafte Debatte darüber in den Massenmedien hat in Norwegen viele Läden zu einer Ausweitung ihrer Öffnungszeiten veranlaßt. Auch der Wunsch der Konsumenten nach verlängerten Öffnungszeiten wurde durch diese Debatte leicht beeinflußt. Stärker allerdings wurde dieser Wunsch durch die tatsächliche Ausweitung der Öffnungszeiten beeinflußt. Man kann sogar sagen, daß das Angebot verlängerter Öffnungszeiten die entsprechende Nachfrage erst geschaffen hat und nicht umgekehrt. In manchen Fällen dürfte die Nachfrage nach längeren Öffnungszeiten auf objektive Bedürfnisse, in anderen Fällen auf subjektive Wünsche zurückgehen.Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, daß der Wunsch von Konsumenten nach längeren Öffnungszeiten umso stärker ist, je dichter besiedelt das Gebiet ist, in dem sie leben. Ferner zeigt sich, daß jüngere Konsumenten längere Öffnungszeiten (bei Geschäften und bei Banken) haben wollen als ältere. Ähnliches gilt für politisch konservativ eingestellte Konsumenten und für solche, die lange Arbeitszeiten haben. Andererseits gibt es aber auch Konsumenten, die eigentlich einen objektiven Bedarf nach längeren Öffnungszeiten haben müßten, diese subjektiv aber nicht wünschen (z. B. solche, deren Arbeitszeit die Ladenöffnungszeiten überstreicht). Diese Einstellung resultiert vermutlich aus traditionellen Denkformen und aus empfundenen Konflikten zwischen Verbraucher- und Arbeitsinteressen. Manche Konsumenten äußern ausdrücklich ihre Solidarität mit den Beschäftigten in den Geschäften, deren Arbeitszeit von den Änderungen der Öffnungszeiten berührt wird. Wenn andererseits ein Wunsch nach längeren Öffnungszeiten tatsächlich besteht, so steht dahinter häufig das stärker empfundene eigene Verbraucherinteresse, häufig werden aber längere Öffnungszeiten einfach nur als bequem und attraktiv empfunden.

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Randi Lavik is a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Fund for Market and Distribution Research (FMD). Her address: FMD, Fredensborgveien 24 G, N-0177 Oslo 1, Norway.     

Technological paradigms,innovative behavior and the formation of dissipative enterprises

Although many studies have assigned a key role to technological paradigms in the development and diffusion of new technologies, which are often pioneered and led by small businesses, the nature of this term has remained somewhat unclear. This paper uses concepts from modern theories of chaos, information theory and dissipative structures, to describe the process through which new technological paradigms form and how the evolve. This analysis shows that the development of a new and innovative product or production methods drive existing as well as new firms to search for innovations. The interaction of all firms that are affected by this explorative behavior generates escalating waves of change and thereby creates chaos, which is the source of the materials from which new technological structures emerge. These new structures are arrangements of production tasks and activities that link an extended, interindustry group of firms into an interdependent system. This structure constitutes a technological paradigm when it serves as a matrix, or template, through which all firms in the system engage in innovative activity.     

Are German Banks Different?

In recent years there has been a vigorous revival of the long-standing debate about the uniqueness of German banks. To date little consensus has been reached; while some see few differences between the role of banks in Germany and in other countries, others claim that universal banks' equity shareholdings in and nomination of representatives to the boards of nonfinancial firms are the key institutional features driving the rest of the German model of long-term investment in high-quality, internationally competitive manufacturing. This article argues that the uniqueness of the German banking system lies (1) in its unusually high capacity to provide industrial finance in the form of long-term debt capital, and (2) in its avoidance of the speculative boom-credit crunch cycle experienced by almost every other advanced industrialized country in the 1980s and early 1990s. These two key characteristics are attributable to a regulatory framework which involves strict prudential regulation, access to long-term refinancing sources, and a federalist form of corporatism. Furthermore, the behavior of German banks must be analyzed within a broader institutional system of economic governance which includes corporatist labor market institutions and a relatively large and modern SME sector.     

Consumers and the internal market for services: Shortcomings of the “new approach” of the Community

The paper discusses the new approach of the Community in the area of services, namely the principle that every service — like every good — should be allowed to circulate freely in the entire Internal Market provided it meets the standards of EEC law and of the country of origin. There are some exceptions to this principle, especially in the insurance area (market segregation in the industry's interest). The paper points out that the new approach might endanger consumer protection of Member States unless adequate standards of the receiving country exist. ECLG makes a number of suggestions to overcome the lacunae left by the new approach, especially by opting for minimal harmonisation, by applying rules of private internal law under the Rome Convention, and by providing for safeguard clauses.

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Verbraucher und Binnenmarkt für Dienstleistungen: Mängel der sog. neuen Konzeption der Gemeinschaft

Zusammenfassung Die Gemeinschaft versucht in Vewirklichung der Grundfreiheiten des durch die Einheitliche Akte geänderten EWG-Vertrages die Vollendung des Binnenmarktes auch im Dienstleistungsbereich. Dabei sind unterschiedliche Herangehensweisen denkbar, nämlich das Prinzip der Minimalharmonisierung, die Marktsegmentierung oder die sog. neue Konzeption. Letztere findet sich vor allem im Banken- und Rundfunkbereich; dancah soll es für den Marktzutritt im gesamten Binnenmarkt ausreichen, daß die (angeglichenen) Standards des Ursprungslandes eingehalten werden. Die ECLG befürchtet einen Abbau des Verbraucherschutzes bei einer konsequenten Durchführung dieses Prinzips und macht Gegenvorschläge. Diese beziehen sich auf eine verstärkte Durchsetzung des Prinzips der Minimalharmonisierung, auf die Notwendigkeit der Anwendung der Regeln des Internationalen Privatrechts nach dem Römischen Schuldrechtsübereinkommen von 1980, und durch Verankerung von Schutzklauseln.

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The European Consumer Law Group (ECLG) is a group of lawyers and law scholars in the EEC and EFTA countries, concerned with legal aspects of consumer protection. Correspondence regarding the paper should be directed to: Professor Norbert Reich, Centre for European Legal Policy, Universitätsallee GW 1, D-2800 Bremen 33, Federal Republic of Germany.     

Where Did They Go Wrong? An Analysis of the Failure of Knowledgeable Internet Consumers to Detect Deception Over the Internet

This paper uses an information-processing model of deception detection to understand the reasons underlying Internet consumers' success and failure at detecting forms of intentional deception that occur on the Internet. Eighty MBA students visited either a real commercial site or a deceptive copycat (page-jacking) site. The deceptive site was identical to the clean site except that it contained six deceptive manipulations (e.g., forged favorable quotes from authoritative sources). This study compares the information processing behavior of four groups of subjects: those who detected the deception, those who missed it, those who correctly identified the real site as non-deceptive, and those who incorrectly believed that the real site was deceptive. It was found that (1) priming subjects to generate the hypothesis of deception weakly facilitates detection success, (2) competence at evaluating the hypothesis of deception is a strong differentiator between successful and unsuccessful detectors, and (3) successful detectors rely on assurance cues and heavily discount trust cues. Unsuccessful detectors do the opposite.     

Reconciling the irreconcilable: The global economy and the environment

This paper focusses on the relationship among structural adjustment policies and practices, the business activities of transnational corporations and what Robert Reich has called the coming irrelevance of corporate nationality. The argument presented is that the force of these combined factors makes environmental sustainability impossible.Dr. Deborah Poff is a professor of philosophy and the Dean of Arts and Science at the University of Northern British Columbia. Professor Poff has published extensively in the areas of feminism, equity, violence and applied ethics. She is the editor of theJournal of Business Ethics.     

An assessment of ethics instruction in accounting education

Business school faculty have begun to increase ethics instruction, but very little has been done to assess the effectiveness of this instruction. Curricula-wide studies present conflicting results of the effect of ethics integration into the business curricula. Several studies suggest that courses like business ethics and business and society might have an effect on the ethical awareness or ethical reasoning of business students. A belief of many individuals interested in business ethics is that students must be exposed to ethical awareness and ethical reasoning in business ethics and business and society-type courses and this should be supplemented by discussions of these topics in various business courses such as Accounting, Finance, Marketing, and others.This study reports the results of integrating a unit of business ethics into eleven accounting classes at two universities. An approach for measuring the effect of ethics integration into accounting and other business courses is suggested, and an assessment is made of the impact of ethics integration on students in accounting classes. Results indicate that the principles on which students rely when making moral decisions were affected by ethics integration. After ethics integration, students relied more heavily on the disclosure rule, the golden rule, and the professional ethic.Kenneth M. Hiltebeitel, Ph.D., CPA is an Associate Professor of Accountancy at Villanova University. He has included a unit on business ethics in his Auditing and Advanced Accounting classes for the past two years.Scott K. Jones, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Delaware. He has included a unit on business ethics in his Cost Accounting classes for the past two years.     

Wisdom Paradigms for the Enhancement of Ethical and Profitable Business Practices

Many organizations continually search for new business models and ways to conduct business ethically, yet profitably. Kirk Cheyfitz (2003) proclaims that organizations should not waste time trying to create new business models because the rules of commerce never change. Instead of searching for new business models, organizations can improve business practices by looking at different paradigms or mental models for seeing how to build practices that lead to long-term success. The employment elements of wisdom as paradigms for developing sound structures and practices that will encourage management behaviors that are ethical and lead to profitability. First, a theory of wisdom is developed. Then, the elements of wisdom are applied to the design of a general business structure and to refocusing some basic business practices.     

A choice-making ethic for organizational communication: The work of Ian I. Mitroff

This article examines the ethical implications of Ian Mitroff's scholarly contribution to the study of Organizational Communication. Although Mitroff does not specifically ground his work in ethics, this article considers an ethic of choicemaking to be a significant interpretive key for understanding the contribution of his research. In addition, this article provides another conceptual key for understanding the considerable quantity of Mitroff's work by organizing it around three major themes: science, decision-making, and myth. The goal of this article is to make explicit two conceptual keys to Mitroff's scholarship, an ethic of choice and a three-fold division of his work that exemplifies his commitment to maximizing choice in organizational settings. Ronald C. Arnett is Academic Dean at Manchester College in Indiana. He has won Recipient of Outstanding Article of Year Award in Religious Communication, 1979, and Elected Vice-Chair Elect of Communication Ethics Commission of Speech Communication Association in 1986. He is the author of numerous articles and of two books: Dwell in Peace: Applying Nonviolence to Everyday Relationships, Brethren Press, 1987 (3rd pr.) and Communication and Community: Implications of Martin Buber's Dialogue, Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 1986.     

Contextualized representations of brand extensions: Are feature lists or frames the basic components of consumer cognition?

According to the common view in consumer behavior, consumers represent brands and product categories mentally as lists of independent product features and engage in feature matching when they evaluate brand-product category compounds such as brand extensions. However, we demonstrate that brand extension concepts are subject to context effects and largely contextually organized — empirical evidence which suggests that they are represented by more flexible mental structures than independent feature lists. As an alternative, brand extensions (e.g., McDonald's Theme Park) may be viewed as conceptual combinations in which the original brand or company name (e.g., McDonald's) acts on the head concept of the extension category (e.g., theme parks) as a modifier. Moreover, we suggest that the contextual and relational structure of brand extensions may be explained more adequately by mental frames than feature list representations.     

The Advantage of Hybrid Split Ads Over Uninterrupted Ads and How to Augment it

Split ads involve presenting advertising information as two separate and distinct parts, such as when two short commercials for a given brand are separated by other television content. An emerging form of the split ad strategy combines a short ad in one medium with a second short ad that appears in a completely different medium. Two studies investigate the relative effectiveness of such hybrid split ads. In particular, we explore a form of the hybrid split ad strategy that is gaining in popularity and that involves combining an ad in a traditional medium with an addendum ad on a web site. Results of Experiment 1 indicate that a hybrid split ad can produce more positive attitudes toward an advertised product than a traditional uninterrupted ad. This seems to occur, because the hybrid split ad focuses particular attention on information contained in its latter half. In Experiment 2, we further show that varying the difficulty with which the latter half of a hybrid split ad is accessed can enhance the amount of added weight given to information in its latter half and can thus further enhance attitudes.     

Ethics in organizations: A framework for theory and research

In a climate of increasing interest and activity within the field of business ethics, as yet there exists no coherent conceptual framework for organizational theory and research. From a review of current thinking and previous writings a framework of concepts is suggested to help set an agenda for empirical research. The elements of this are, first, a taxonomy of ethical domains: the foci of organizations' and their agents' ethical concerns and conduct. Second, it is considered how ethical functioning might be analysed in terms of causal relationships between expressive forms, voluntary action and instituted forms. Third is discussed ethical process, the means by which ethical awareness is aroused. Fourth and last, the paper examines how normative evaluations might apply to the ethical condition of organizations and their agents, meaning change or stability in reputation and integrity. At each stage of the argument possible objectives for research are developed.Professor Nigel Nicholson is Chairman of the Organisational Behaviour Group and Director of the Centre for Organisational Research at London Business School. Previously, he led investigations into Individual and Organisational Change at Sheffield University's Social & Applied Psychology Unit, and has also held visiting appointments at American, Canadian and German universities. He has published 8 books and over 65 articles on a wide range of topics, and been honoured with an award from the Academy of Management for his contribution to theory.