Work-related Attitudes, Values and Radical Change in Post-Socialist Contexts: A Comparative Study

Marcoux argues that job candidates ought to embellish non-verifiable information on their résumés because it is the best way to coordinate collective action in the résumé ‚game’. I do not dispute his analysis of collective action; I look at the larger picture, which throws light on the role game theory might play in ethics. I conclude that game theory’s conclusions have nothing directly to do with ethics. Game theory suggests the means to certain ends, but the ethics of both the means and ends must be assessed separately before any ethical recommendation can␣be made. Marcoux makes several highly disputable assumptions in order to fit résumés into game theory; his analysis does not take into account the consequences that embellishing has beyond the submission and assessment of␣résumés; his argument depends on his claim that a résumé system in which everyone embellishes is attainable; and finally, his argument relies on an idealization of human␣motivation, rather than abstraction. I conclude that candidates should never embellish their résumés.John Douglas Bishop is a Professor in the Business Administration Program at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. His research interests include both business ethics and ethics and capitalism. He is the editor of Ethics and Capitalism, University of Toronto Press, 2000.     

Cultural Themes in Brazilian and U.S. Auto Ads: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Abstract

Do Brazilian and U.S. advertisers employ different themes in print advertisements? If so, what can we conclude about cross-cultural differences in values? In our study of automobile ads that appeared in the business magazines of Brazil and of the U.S. during the 1970s, we found that (1) urban themes were used more frequently in Brazilian ads than in U.S. ads, (2) leisure themes were used more frequently in U.S. ads than in Brazilian ads, (3) work themes appeared as frequently in Brazilian ads as in U.S. ads, and (4) work themes appeared more frequently in U.S. ads as the 1970s progressed. Thus, our study suggests that values differ between the business subculture of Brazil and that of the United States. Importantly, our latter two findings disaffirm the theories of many historians and sociologists. Because the application of historical and sociological theories may produce erroneous advertising decisions, we advise advertisers to research carefully each national market before using a “standardized” advertising theme.     

How Economic Incentives May Destroy Social,Ecological and Existential Values: The Case of Executive Compensation

Executive compensation has long been a prominent topic in the management literature. A main question that is also given substantial attention in the business ethics literature—even more so in the wake of the recent financial crisis—is whether increasing levels of executive compensation can be justified from an ethical point of view. Also, the relationship of executive compensation to instances of unethical behavior or outcomes has received considerable attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore the social, ecological, and existential costs of economic incentives, by discussing how relying on increasing levels of executive compensation may have an adverse effect on managerial performance in a broad sense. Specifically, we argue that one-dimensional economic incentives may destroy existential, social, and systemic values that influence the manager’s commitment to ensure responsible business conduct, and have negative spillover effects that may reduce the manager’s performance. There are well-documented findings that demonstrate that reliance on sources of extrinsic motivation (such as economic incentives) may displace intrinsic motivation. Our perspective is a holistic one, in the sense that we will explore the influence of sources of extrinsic motivation on the manager’s intrinsic commitment to different types of values. We will in particular investigate how it may influence the manager’s ethical reflection and behavior or lack thereof.     

Researches in Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Shifting Focus,Paradigms, and Methodologies

Owing to the growing academic and practitioner’s interest in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility, there is a need to do a comprehensive assessment and synthesis of research activities. This article addresses this need and examines the academic literature on Corporate Social Responsibility and Performance using a paradigmatic and methodological lens. The objective of this article is fourfold. First, it examines the status of CSR research from its beginning especially after 1970 to year 2008 in leading academic journals and reports to assess the focus areas of research on CSR so far. Second, it analyzes the research paradigms adopted in these research articles using the Operations Research Paradigm framework. Third, it compares and contrasts various kinds of research articles, methodologies, and research designs used in various researches in literature. Finally, it uncovers the implications of this study and directions for future research.     

人力资本、社会支持与流动人口社会融入 ——以北京市为例

作为"首善之区",北京一直是很多流动人口向往和驻足的地方,也因此成为推进新型城镇化和流动人口市民化压力最大的城市之一。基于2017年北京市流动人口动态监测调查数据,分析了流动人口社会融入水平的整体特征、空间差异和影响因素。研究表明,北京市流动人口的社会融入总体水平不高且存在空间异质性。人力资本积累对流动人口的社会融入具有显著的影响,其中,跨城市流动经历有利于经济和行为融入的积累,而心理和文化维度的融入则依靠本地居留时间的增加。家庭、朋友、社区等层面的社会支持显著提升流动人口总体的社会融入水平。经济收入水平的提高是人力资本和社会支持影响流动人口社会融入的重要路径,但对不同类型人力资本和社会支持及不同维度社会融入的中介效应强度差异较大。     

The Impact of Involvement,Perceived Moral Intensity,and Satisfaction upon Trust in Non-Profit Relational Contexts: Processes and Outcomes

ABSTRACT

This study applies the basic concepts of relationship marketing, including involvement, knowledge, moral intensity, satisfaction and trust in the non-profit environment, specifically in a university setting. These relational concepts are employed in the development of a relational model used in an exploratory investigation. Results indicate significant relationships between the constructs, emphasizing the importance of relationship management for non-profit and public sector entities. Results, managerial implications and research implications are included.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in China: A Corporate Governance Approach

Ethics training—an important means to foster ethical decision-making in organisations—is carried out formally as well as informally. There are mixed findings as regards the effectiveness of formal versus informal ethics training. This study is one of its first kinds in which we have investigated the effectiveness of ethics training as it is carried out in the Indian IT sector. We have collected the views of Indian IT industry professionals concerning ethics training (N = 266), and employed positivist (regression analysis and hierarchical linear modeling) and interpretive research (content analysis). We first have argued that the importance of the perception towards ethics has bearings not only on the individual ideologies but also on the organisational ethical values. In doing so, first we have conceptualised a theoretical framework: Perception of Ethics Training in Employees and Organisations (PETINEO). Second, we have studied the correlations between various components of this model. Third, we, under the rubric of PETINEO, examined the effectiveness of ethics training programmes for the Indian IT companies. Fourth, we have elaborated upon the results of our study. Our results suggest that the combination of both formal and informal means to undertake ethics training has superior impact on ethical decision-making in the Indian IT industry as compared to the use of any one of them in isolation.     

参与、孵化、培育——“社会创新”中的企业角色

与政府、NGO组织、公众以及其他社会组织相比,企业是综合能力与社会资源比较集中的组织形式,是人类生存、发展活动中的主要参与单位,其丰富的志愿者资源、专业的技术创新与运营管理能力、持续的资金支持等等,都为以创新的方式更好地解决社会问题带来了巨大的动力。企业从“重经济效益轻社会效益”发展到“经济、社会效益并重”并进而开始“通过社会效益来实现经济效益”,参与和推动社会公共领域的创新洪流逐渐成为了他们可持续发展战略中不可或缺的一部分。但是,对于更多依然观望并踌躇难进的企业来说,如何更好地理解这些企业的致力于社会创新的初衰、如何效仿与传递这些积极的理念和模式,是有效地释放“社会创新”中企业群体能量的重要路径。     

A Tale of Two Cultures: Charity, Problem Solving, and the Future of Social Entrepreneurship

Two cultures are at play in the field of social entrepreneurship: an age-old culture of charity, and a more contemporary culture of entrepreneurial problem solving. These cultures permeate activities from resource providers to front line operations. Both have roots in our psychological responses to the needs of others and are reinforced by social norms. They can work hand-in-hand or they can be at odds. Some of the icons of the social entrepreneurship movement have spoken harshly about charity, yet most of them rely to some degree, at least early in their development process, on resources that are given out of a charitable impulse. The success of social entrepreneurship requires an integration of values from each of these cultures, in which the satisfactions of giving are correlated with social benefits of rigorous problem solving.     

Social Capital,Informal Governance,and Post-IPO Firm Performance: A Study of Chinese Entrepreneurial Firms

Social capital can serve as informal governance in weak investor-protection regimes. Using hand-collected data on entrepreneurs’ political connections and firm ownership, we construct several original measures of social capital and examine their effect on the performance of entrepreneurial firms in China after their initial public offerings. Political connections or a high percentage of external investors tend to enhance firm performance, but intragroup related-party transactions commonly lead to performance decline. These forms of social capital have a strong influence on the performance of Chinese firms, whereas formal governance variables such as board size or board independence have little effect. Although social capital may serve as an informal governance mechanism and effectively substitute for formal governance mechanisms in an emerging market, this role of social capital raises several ethical concerns, notably the development of rent-seeking and crony capitalism.     

Contextual Richness in Teaching IB: Ethics,Language, and Social Factors

Internationalizing the business curriculum has been the subject of increased discussion and interest At the academic level, the realization of the need and the urging of accrediting bodies has brought forth internationalization efforts which vary from substantial to modest undertakings. This DaDer reDorts on a survey of business curriculum intemation'alization.&;ong ~J.s. business schbk. The results show a continuation of internationalization approaches similar to those reported in earlier studies. Also, approachis with a less immediate and direct impact on the business curriculum are being adopted, including the establishment of faculty exchange programs and international business centers.     

How constrained a response: A comparison of binary,ordinal and metric answer formats

A question is the main measurement instrument in the social sciences. Yet no conclusive results exist with respect to the suitability of alternative answer formats for typical constructs studied in this field. Furthermore, no prior studies have used real answers from respondents to investigate differences in responses as a consequence of answer formats, typically assuming the way in which individuals translate their responses from one answer format to another.In this study we make a first step towards filling the above two gaps. We investigate answer format effects for two different constructs (attitudes, intentions) and three formats (binary, ordinal, metric) using a repeat measurement design.Results indicate that formats lead to the same managerial interpretations with the same reliability; differ in speed and perceived speed while being perceived as equally simple, pleasant, and useful to express feelings. Binary and metric answer formats are found to represent interesting alternatives to the predominantly used ordinal format, especially when speed of completion or the availability of metric data for analyses is essential.     

Ethical Leadership,Organic Organizational Cultures and Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Study in Social Enterprises

While recent studies have increasingly suggested leadership as a major precursor to corporate social responsibility (CSR), empirical studies that examine the impact of various leader aspects such as style and ethics on CSR and unravel the mechanism through which leadership exerts its influence on CSR are scant. Ironically, paucity of research on this theme is more prevalent in the sphere of social enterprises where it is of utmost importance. With the aim of addressing these gaps, this research empirically examines the interaction between ethical leadership and CSR and, in addition, investigates organic organizational cultures (clan culture and adhocracy culture) as mediators in the above interaction. To this end, a model was developed and tested on the sample of 350 middle- and top-level managers associated with 28 Indian healthcare social enterprises, using Structural Equation Modeling Analysis, Bootstrapping and PROCESS. Results reveal that ethical leadership both directly and indirectly influences CSR practices. The indirect influence of ethical leadership involves nurturing clan and adhocracy cultures, which in turn influence CSR. These findings are significant for social enterprise leaders seeking to encourage their organizations’ socially responsible behavior.     

Community Development and Social Regeneration: How the Third Sector Addresses the Needs of BME Communities in Post-Industrial Cities

Interest in third sector organisations (TSOs) is growing as their role in addressing social regeneration, especially in urban environments, is regarded as crucial by governmental and supra-governmental organisations. The challenge is increased in multicultural environments, where those from ethnic minorities may struggle to participate in the mainstream economy and society more broadly. There is an assumption that TSOs make a positive contribution to the social good of the diverse communities and client groups that they serve. However, although there have been many studies of ethicality in commercial and public sector organisations, few focus on TSOs. Furthermore, black and minority ethnic (BME) TSOs, in particular face specific pressures, caught between the high expectations of their capacity to engage with diverse communities where the public sector has failed and, in common with all TSOs, the struggle to secure the resources necessary to manage their organisations and deliver front-line services. In this article, we investigate how implicitly ethicality is constructed in TSOs, including those with a primary mission to provide support for and services to BME communities. Building on information obtained for 305 TSOs in a post-industrial city we develop a structural equation model (SEM) in order to evaluate the relationships between elements that we argue comprise ethicality. We then assess the manner in which TSOs generally, and BME TSOs specifically, vary in the manner in which they communicate their ethical purpose and the outcomes of their actions.     

Evolution and Implementation: A Study of Values, Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

There is growing recognition that good ethics can have a positive economic impact on the performance of firms. Many statistics support the premise that ethics, values, integrity and responsibility are required in the modern workplace. For consumer groups and society at large, research has shown that good ethics is good business. This study defines and traces the emergence and evolution within the business literature of the concepts of values, business ethics and corporate social responsibility to illustrate the increased emphasis that has been placed on these issues over time. Two organizations that have successfully dealt with these issues were analyzed to identify the links among values, ethics, and corporate social responsibility as they are incorporated into the culture and management of a firm. This study identified the presence and implementation of values, business ethics, and CSR actions within the two organizations studied.     

Brands,Friends, & Viral Advertising: A Social Exchange Perspective on the Ad Referral Processes

Advertisers worldwide are designing advertising with an eye toward viral activity particularly within social networking sites such as Facebook. Yet, little is known about the social processes at play when ads are shared. Taking a consumer-centric approach, this study investigates the social processes central to ads going viral within the Social Web. Conducting a national online experiment, the intertwining roles of brand relationships, interpersonal relationships, and sharing motivations in the social exchange of advertising are explored by testing two proposed referral decision-making processes: referral and referral acceptance. Results suggest that brand relationships and interpersonal relationships impact referral of ads within SNSs, and brand relationships interact with sharing motivations to impact decisions; specifically, brand relationships are conduits for ensuring reciprocal altruism in exchange, but their influence is tempered within stronger interpersonal relationships. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Self-Interest, Love, and Economic Justice: A Dialogue Between Classical Economic Liberalism and Catholic Social Teaching

This essay seeks to start a dialogue between two traditions that historically have interpreted the economy in opposing ways: the individualism of classic economic liberalism (CEL), represented by Adam Smith and Milton Friedman, and the communitarianism of Catholic social teaching (CST), interpreted primarily through the teachings of popes and secondarily the U.S. Catholic bishops. The present authors, an economist and a moral theologian who identify with one or the other of the two traditions, strive to clarify objectively their similarities and differences with the opposing perspective. Section one focuses on each position's perspective of love of self and love of others. We find both CEL and CST saying that self-love, rightly understood, constitutes a moral good and that the love of others serves as an important principle in the political economy. We find less agreement in section two regarding justice and rights, but even here, we discover a few surprises. Both traditions uphold justice (giving to each party what is due) as essential to the political economy, and recognize some similarity in that type of justice called commutative. We note, however, substantial differences regarding a second type of justice that we call "public justice." First, they differ over the extent to which government should be involved. Here the meaning of rights, especially that of individual freedom, arises. Secondly, the traditions diverge over whether benevolence as a motivator ought to serve as a partner for public justice. Thirdly, CEL in general opposes CST's emphasis on social justice that calls upon institutions to be proactive in helping citizens and groups to become active participants in the economy. We conclude our essay by summarizing our discoveries and by suggesting areas for further dialogue.     

How humor in advertising works: A meta-analytic test of alternative models

This study tests a cognitive and an affective model based on extant explanations of the effects of humor along with a new affective?Ccognitive model. Results are derived from meta-analytic data and show how previous explanations may be integrated in order to explain how humor in advertising works. Humor reduces negative cognitions related to the ad because it serves as a distraction from counter-argumentation. In order to maintain positive affect, humor reduces cognitive efforts, in particular those related to brand-related cognitions, thus supporting a vampire effect; that is, humor distracts from processing central benefits of the brand. Humor exerts its strongest impact along affective paths, supporting the dominance of affective mechanisms. Affect and cognition do interplay in line with a congruency effect where the impact of positive affect on attitudes towards the ad is mediated by positive cognitions. The models differ when they are performed based on data from studies using either real or fictitious stimuli. Depending on the type of stimuli, slight changes occur that can be explained by the lack or existence of prior brand experience. Overall, the integration of affect and cognitions into one model provides a better explanation than the previous solely cognitive or solely affective models.