Press Freedom

In this important study, commissioned by the International Federation of the Periodical Press, Lord McGregor analyses the controversy surrounding the possibility and desirability of a new world information and communication order. Drawing critically from research into mass communications, he argues forcefully that the policies which are being promoted through UNESCO are a grave threat to press freedom. As it is, the number of nations enjoying freedom in the dissemination of news, ideas and knowledge has declined to a figure now variously estimated pessimistically at little more than 20 and even optimistically at below 40. Lord McGregor comments sardonically that by regretting this decline and arguing in favour of press freedom his contribution to the debate will be widely seen as ‘heavily biased’.     

Entrepreneurial managers in large organizations

Success breeds resistance to change, and many organizations stifle and repress entrepreneurial workers. Yet, the person with the new ideas is often the one needed to guarantee the long-term success of the firm. Organizations need to nurture these innovators and employees must continue to practice creative dissent in order to maintain the American “can do” philosophy.     

Perceived correlates of illegal behavior in organizations

A survey was conducted of the perceived correlates of illegal abuses in the electronics industry. Human resource directors of thirty-one firms responded to a questionnaire which assessed their perceptions of the degree to which illegal behavior was caused by (1) deficiencies in the moral character of employees (2) the clarity of expectations and standards describing illegal behavior and (3) the presence of reinforcements and punishments contingent on these behaviors. All three variables were related to the frequency of abuses in three areas of organizational crime (e.g. administrative, labor, environment) and three areas of personal crime (theft, falsifying records kickbacks) as reported by the directors and/or indicated by archival records. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of how organizations may reduce illegal activity. Mitchell, Terence R., Edward E. Carlson Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Psychology, University of Washington. Professor Mitchell's interests are decision making, leadership, and social responsibility. He has recently published articles on these topics in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, The Academy of Management Review, The Journal of the Academy of Management, and the Journal of Applied Psychology. He is co-author (with J. Larson) of People in Organizations, and a joint author of Birnbaum, Scott and Mitchell, Organization Theory: A Structural and Behavioral Analysis. Mitchell is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Management. He is also a member of the Society for Organizational Behavior. Daniels, Denise is a graduate student in organizational behavior and human resources management. Denise's interests are motivation, self-efficacy, and groups. She has recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology and has presented papers at the Academy of Management national meeting. Hopper, Heidi is a graduate student in organizational behavior and human resources management. Heidi's interests are accountability, attributions, and motivation. She has recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology and has presented papers at the Academy of Management national meeting. Jane George-Falvy is a Ph.D. Candidate in Organizational Behavior. She received a B.A. degree in psychology. Her primary research interests include the areas of learning and motivation. She has recently co-authored articles which have appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, and Group and Organization Management. Her dissertation explores the moderating effects of task complexity and learning stage on the relationship between participation in goal setting and task performance. Gerald R. Ferris is Professor of Labor and Industrial Relations, of Business Administration, and of Psychology, and Caterpillar Foundation University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also is the Director of the Center for Human Resource Management at the University of Illinois. He received a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and subsequently served on the Department of Management faculty at Texas A&M University. Ferris is the author of numerous articles published in such journals as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Personnel Psychology, Academy of Management Journal, and Academy of Management Review, and he serves as editor of the annual series, Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management.     

Ethics of managing interpersonal conflict in organizations

Although managers spend over twenty percent of their time in conflict management, organization theorists have provided very few guidelines to help them do their job ethically. This paper attempts to provide some guidelines so that organizational members can use the styles of handling interpersonal conflict, such as integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising, with their superiors, subordinates, and peers ethically and effectively. It has been argued in this paper that, in general, each style of handling interpersonal conflict is appropriate if it is used to attain organization's proper end.M. Afzalur Rahim is Professor of Management at Western Kentucky University. He holds B.Com. (Hons.) and M.Com, M.B.A., and Ph.D. degrees. Dr. Rahim teaches courses on organizational behavior, strategic management, and management of organizational conflict. He is the author of over 65 articles and book chapters, five cases, and three research instruments on conflict and power. He is the author of six books, four of which are on conflict management. He is the editor of theInternational Journal of Conflict Management and theInternational Journal of Organizational Analysis. He is the founder of the International Association for Conflict Management and President of the International Conference on Advances in Management.Jan Edward Garrett is Associate Professor in the Philosophy and Religion Department at Western Kentucky University. His recent publications include Persons, Kinds and Corporations: An Aristotelian Perspective, which appeared inPhilosophy and Phenomenological Research, and Unredistributable Corporate Moral Responsibility, which appeared in this journal.Gabriel F. Buntzman is Associate Professor of Management at Western Kentucky University. His current research interests concern relationships between ethics, conflict and the strategic management of organizations. His work in the area of conflict management has appeared in theInternational Journal of Conflict Management, theJournal of Psychology, and three books.     

Mentoring in organizations: Implications for women

This paper reviews the literature on the mentoring process in organizations and why mentoring can be critical to the career success of women managers and professionals. It examines some of the reasons why it is more difficult for women to find mentors than it is for men. Particular attention is paid to potential problems in cross-gender mentoring. A feminist perspective is then applied to the general notion of mentorships for women. The paper concludes with an examination of what organizations can do to further mentor relationships and an agenda for further research in this area.     

The politics of age discrimination in organizations

Age discrimination, particularly in the context of performance evaluation decisions, has been a source of major concern and litigation for organizations in the past, and indications are that this area will pose serious challenges in the future. The present study attempted to delve more deeply into the process by which manifest age discrimination operates in the performance evaluation process. A conceptualization was proposed and tested which suggested that age-related influences on performance ratings operate through interpersonal distance and political influence of subordinates. Results demonstrated some support for this conceptualization.Gerald R. Ferris is Professor of Labor and Industrial Relations and of Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received a Ph.D. in Business Administration, and he has served on the faculty of the Department of Management at Texas A & M University. He has research interests in the areas of interpersonal and political influence in human resources systems.Thomas R. King is Visiting Assistant Professor of Business Administration. He is currently completing his Ph.D. in Business Administration. His research interests focus on the areas of organizational politics, the management of meaning in organizations, and the establishment and re-establishment of organizational legitimacy.     

The challenge of ethical behavior in organizations

This paper is designed to do three things while discussing the challenge of ethical behavior in organization. First, it discusses some reasons why unethical behavior occurs in organization. Secondly, the paper highlights the importance of organizational culture in establishing an ethical climate within an organization. Finally, the paper presents some suggestions for creating and maintaining an ethically-oriented culture.Ronald R. Sims is Associate Professor in the School of Business Administration at the College of William and Mary. His research interests include ethical behavior, experiential learning, employee and management training and development, and organizational transitions. His articles have appeared in a variety of scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals.     

Linking globalization of entrepreneurship in small organizations

The field of entrepreneurship spans a wide variety of topic areas, and among the most important is that of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). The aim of this paper is to link entrepreneurship and SMEs. Attempting to generalize the outcomes of entrepreneurship in small organizations from different sectors, countries or industries should be activities that are part of daily life on an international scale. In extracting and transferring the outcomes of this research into entrepreneurship and SMEs, policy makers should see an aspect that must be consolidated within the environment of international globalization that surrounds us. It should not be forgotten that what starts out as small (i.e. an SME) can become large over time and this entrepreneurship can form a part of a new organizational structure. A brief overview of the contents of each of the articles included in this special issue on the globalization of entrepreneurship in small organizations is also presented herein.      

Freedom and Protection in Contemporary Contract Law

How should contemporary contract law be characterized? Freedom or protection? Ewoud Hondius has made a plea for increased protection of the weaker party in contract law. In this contribution some critical remarks are made. It is argued that freedom of contract should be put back on the agenda. This accords with the new belief in the blessings of the free market and the awareness that protection is not always effective and may sometimes even generate adverse effects. The application of competition law and the regulation of information should have a higher priority than mandatory substantive contract law.     

Designing organizations to compete.

The ability of corporations to defend or take market share from competitors varies with the corporations' strengths and weaknesses, may of which spring from their own structures. The challenge is not to design organizational structures that are perfect, but to design structures that are better than those of competitors.     

协奏大上海--上海"大通关"经验大家谈

上海海关 上海对外贸易的迅猛发展对口岸通关构成了巨大压力.据上海海关统计,2001年初上海口岸进口货物平均通关时间(货主将有关单证交报关公司制单起至提取货物止)4.3天,其中海关作业时间(海关收到报关单电子数据起至实货放行止)0.9天,占口岸通关时间的21%.出口货物平均通关时间1.47天,其中海关作业时间0.2天,占13.6%.     

Implementation of quality programs in health care organizations

Any organization??s efforts to achieve continuous quality improvements must involve applying various quality related programs and tools. Such efforts are important for improving quality of products and/or services and increasing business performance. It is especially important for health care organizations as quality of care and service is a top priority. The focus of this study is on the implementation of quality programs which are based on tools, awards criteria, or standards to improve quality of care in the health care industry. Two hundred fifty-four hospitals with more than 100 beds that have quality programs were used to collect data for this study. Two of the most widely used quality programs were quality control (61.8?%) and total quality management (60.6?%). As widely known quality programs have shown to play a role in improving quality of care in the global health care market, some hospitals implement a combination of various quality programs to get certification or an award that helps them enter the international market such as medical tourism.     

A deontological analysis of peer relations in organizations

Using practical formalism a deontological ethical analysis of peer relations in organizations is developed. This analysis is composed of two types of duties derived from Kant's Categorical Imperative: negative duties to refrain from the use of peers and positive duties to provide help and assistance. The conditions under which these duties pertain are specified through the development of examples and conceptual distinctions. A number of implications are then discussed.Dennis J. Moberg is Professor of Management and Fellow of the Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.Michel J. Meyer is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Fellow of the Center of Applied Ethics at Santa Clara UniversityThe authors wish to thank Martin Cook, Jaques Delacroix, and Phil Zink for their helpful comments on various drafts of this paper.