Learning Atmosphere and Ethical Behavior,Does It Make Sense?

In the wake of corporate ethical scandals that have harmed millions of employees and investors, there has been an increase in the number of works written in the last decade, which aim to answer one apparently simple question: what causes unethical behavior, and what can we do, if anything, to prevent similar transgressions in the future? The extensive research around this question is the best proof of its real complexity as the challenge of disentangling the background of ethical behavior has obvious academic and practical interest. This study aims to take a further step toward that goal. Much research has noted the impact of multiple aspects of organizational contexts on individuals’ ethical behavior. However, studies that analyze the impact of organizational learning capability (OLC) on employees’ ethical behavior are few and far between. This was the first aim of this study. The second centered on gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between OLC and ethical behavior by analyzing the mediating role of employability and organizational commitment. We tested our hypotheses through a structural equation methodology applied to a sample of 641 workers from 166 Spanish consultancy firms and found a positive, direct relationship between OLC and employability, OLC and organizational commitment, employability and organizational commitment, and organizational commitment and ethical behavior.     

South Asia: Does Preferential Trade Liberalisation Make Sense?

This paper systematically analyses the issue of trade liberalisation in the South Asia region and offers a qualitative assessment of alternative approaches. I compare two broad approaches to trade liberalisation: non‐discriminatory and preferential. The former approach can be pursued on a unilateral basis by each country in the region, on a concerted basis by the countries in the region, or multilateral basis under the auspices of the WTO. The latter approach can take the form of criss‐crossing bilateral free trade areas between various countries in the region or a region‐wide free trade area. The view I take in the paper is that the move towards preferential trading is a mistake, at least from the viewpoint of India. India continues to have very high trade barriers so that the scope for trade diversion and the losses accompanying it are likely to be considerable. Business lobbies being relatively powerful in most of the countries in the region, they are likely to exploit the rules of origin and sectoral exceptions in these arrangements in ways that will maximise trade diversion and minimise trade creation. Inasmuch as the rules of origin give bureaucrats power, employment and opportunities to share in the rents created by tariff preferences, they too will become active parties to the diversionary tactics of business lobbies. Therefore, the member countries are better advised to proceed along non‐discriminatory lines in achieving further liberalisation.     

Technology-Based Entrepreneurs: Does Internet Make a Difference?

This paper is an empirical analysis of the personal characteristics of Italian high-tech entrepreneurs. We analyze differences in the characteristics of founders according to the sector of operation of the start-up. In particular, we investigate whether entrepreneurs in Internet related activities differ from those operating in other ICT industries (especially in manufacturing). For this purpose, we analyze a sample composed of 246 entrepreneurs that between 1984 and 1999 established 116 new firms that operate in ICT manufacturing and service industries and are located in Northern Italy. The findings highlight that Internet entrepreneurs generally are younger and less educated (especially in technical fields) than the other sample founders. They quite often are at their first professional experience; if they have prior working experience, it generally is in unrelated industries. Such findings are related to evolutionary theories that emphasize the role of the nature of technical change and of the stage of the industry life cycle in influencing the characteristics and behavior of new firms and their founders.     

Does It Pay to Promote on eBay?

Promotional upgrades to auction listings are now a ubiquitous feature of auction Web sites. We examine 705 auctions of a single consumer-electronic product on eBay and test whether use of various promotions results in a greater probability of sale or a higher realized price. We find that promotions that focus on display enhancements, such as border, bold, or highlight, are not worth the cost. However, the subtitle promotional tool is effective and worth the cost. We also find interesting results regarding seller reputation: although seller reputation does not increase the probability of a sale overall, it can result in higher realized price if a reputable seller is selected. Implications for promoting on eBay are discussed.     

What Does It Mean to Act With Integrity?

This exploratory study was aimed at understanding more about theconcept of integrity, first, and second, to identify whatintegrity looked like in practice. The sample consisted of over300 high school students who completed a college entrance essayabout acting with integrity as part of their college application. Their responses were content analyzed along a number ofdimensions. Results revealed, in the first place, some confusionabout the concept of integrity. The focus of acting withintegrity was most often directed to one's own behaviors ratherthan the behaviors of other people but, in this regard, theactions typically assumed a leadership responsibility (in apersonal rather than organizational context). Self-esteem wasone very important reinforcing outcome of such actions.     

Does Ethics Statement of a Public Relations Firm Make a Difference? Yes it Does!!

Attempting to determine solutions for unethical practices in the field, this research was designed to assess the effectiveness of public relations firms’ ethics statements in decreasing the incidence of malpractice. This study revealed an encouraging finding that practitioners working in firms with ethical parameters were significantly more likely to engage in ethical practices. Moreover, educating public relations practitioners about the content of ethics statement could positively influence their ethical practices. At the same time, this study’s findings suggest further questions for consideration in future scholarship and in the application of ethics statements to practice within the field.     

Can Japan Make a Comeback?

Since the beginning of the 1990s Japan has experienced economic stagnation. The economy had been allowed to overheat in the 1980s and a bubble had been built up. When this burst, there was massive asset‐deflation, which led to a banking crisis. The bad debts were not faced up to effectively. Japanese banks could not achieve high enough margins to recapitalise themselves, and the government was for a long time reluctant to intervene effectively. The shock made economic agents more pessimistic, which led to an imbalance between savings and investment‐demand. Excess savings were placed abroad and used to finance a domestic fiscal deficit, but this was not enough to close the gap and sustain growth. To be able to run a large current account surplus the yen needed to depreciate, but this was not achieved due to expectations about a future appreciation. The strategy to get out of the liquidity trap would include credible inflation targeting and yen depreciation. Monetary policy should have an inflation target well above zero per cent. Such macroeconomic measures need to be complemented by structural reforms such as deregulation of financial services, competition policy and reallocation of public investments. The Japanese development model with close connections between firms and banks needs to be reformed. Japan should be able to achieve stable growth again, but since the catch‐up phase is over one would not expect growth in Japan to be higher than in other developed countries, even if Japan undertakes the needed reforms.     

Will It Take a Crisis to Fix Fiscal Policy?

The U.S. national debt is on a trajectory to reach 185 percent of gross domestic product by 2035 unless there is a drastic change in federal fiscal policy. The main drivers of this situation are Social Security and health care programs, whose growth is amplified by an aging population and increasing medical costs, a dysfunctional Congress and an unwillingness to tackle the increasing burden of Social Security and the medical programs. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and the Bipartisan Policy Center's Debt Reduction Task Force have produced thoughtful and sound plans for debt reduction but have produced little political traction. Reluctance to come to grips to the U.S. federal debt problem has increased the risks of a sovereign debt crisis, and the paper spells out potential responses, should one occur. Given the obstacles to a major overhaul of fiscal policy, it is difficult to see how it will be avoided.     

Commitment to Employees: Does It Help or Hinder Small Business Performance?

This study used a sample of 4,637 small businesses to test the relationship between organizational commitment to employees (OCE) and company performance. OCE was significant in all five of the performance models. The results of the employee productivity model revealed a significant positive relationship between OCE and company performance, suggesting that small businesses might be able to realize some benefit in employee productivity from OCE programs. In addition, results from the return on assets, return on sales, return on cashflow, and employee growth models indicated that some OCE programs might be more beneficial to small businesses than others. Potential antecedents of OCE were also examined. Company size, owner education, and gender of the owner had positive relationships with OCE. Partial support was also found for a positive relationship between owner experience and OCE. Differences in the results of this study compared to studies for larger corporations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

虚拟财产交易:To Be or Not to Be?

<正> 所谓虚拟财产,是指有别于有形财产的一种新型财产,通常出现在网络游戏中,包括游戏积分、装备、账号和货币等。因其具有一定程度的使用价值和交换价值,常被公开或私下买卖,由此产生了虚拟财产交易。由于目前并无明确定义,所以,普通账号、游戏币乃至域名,都可以成为虚拟财产而被网民进行互相交换和自由买卖。     

If Advertising Won't Die,What Will It Be? Toward a Working Definition of Advertising

Answering recent calls for a new definition of advertising, we identify three dynamics—(new) media and formats, (new) “consumer” behaviors, and extended effects of advertising—that drive the evolution of advertising. Based on these, and a survey of advertising academics and professionals, we formulate an updated working definition of advertising as “brand-initiated communication intent on impacting people.” We also test and validate this definition and the three dynamics in a content analysis of recently published advertising research (2010 to 2015). In doing so, we hope to contribute to a more diverse and contemporary development of advertising research.     

How Do European SME Owner–Managers Make Sense of ‘Stakeholder Management’?: Insights from a Cross-National Study

The vast majority of empirical research on stakeholder management has traditionally focused on multinational corporations. Only in recent years, scholars have begun to pay attention to the stakeholder management concept in relation to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The few existing studies in this area, however, discuss SMEs as a context free category or remain focused on single country analysis. This cross-national empirical research investigates SME owner?Cmanagers?? perceptions of stakeholder management in six European countries. The comparative analysis is followed by a discussion of how institutional, cultural and linguistic contexts can influence owner?Cmanagers?? sensemaking of stakeholder management. Our study questions the universality of specific management terms and proposes that more attention should be paid to the institutional, cultural and linguistic environments that shape economic activity in different parts of Europe.     

The Relative Importance of Ethics as a Selection Criterion for Entry-Level Public Accountants: Does Gender Make a Difference?

This paper examines public accountants’ perceptions of the relative importance of business ethics as a selection criterion for entry-level public accounting positions. Also, it seeks to determine whether gender differences do exist with respect to these perceptions. The data were collected through a survey of 335 professional accountants in four southeastern states. The results show that, among the eight selection factors that were studied, technical competence in accounting, communication skills, and interpersonal skills were the most influential, while professionalism and leadership abilities were the least important. Ethics was ranked fourth by the females and sixth by the males. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences between the genders with respect to five of the eight factors. The females’ scores were higher for ethics and interpersonal skills and lower for conceptual aptitude, strategic thinking, and leadership abilities. Implications for accounting educators and practitioners are discussed.     

Does Service Employee Arrogance Discourage Sales of Luxury Brands in Emerging Economies?

Upscalex stores selling luxury brands from Western, developed countries are having a strong presence in many emerging markets. However, it is not uncommon to find that the service employees of these stores are arrogant and inhospitable. This article uses a dual attitudes perspective to show how service employee arrogance affects customers’ attitudes and purchase intentions toward luxury brands in emerging markets. Experimental findings show that arrogance produces dual attitudes, with positive implicit attitudes exerting a stronger influence than unfavorable explicit attitudes on purchase intentions. In addition, for customers with high self‐esteem, service employee arrogance has a negative effect on their purchase intentions. In line with the expectation disconfirmation model, when service employees change their arrogant attitudes and subsequently show hospitality, customers also change their expectations. When the improved service exceeds customers’ expectations, their explicit attitudes turn positive and exert a stronger influence on purchase intentions than when service employees are consistently hospitable.     

Connecting the Two Faces of CSR: Does Employee Volunteerism Improve Compliance?

In 2004, the United States Sentencing Commission amended the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to allow firms that create “effective compliance and ethics programs” to receive better treatment if prosecuted for fraud. Effective compliance and ethics, however, appear to be limited to activities focused on complying with the firms’ internal legal and ethical standards. We explored a potential connection between the firms’ external corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviors and internal compliance: Is there an organizationally valid relationship between these two firm activities? That is, when organizations demonstrate CSR with behaviors external to the firm, such as employee volunteerism, are their employees more likely to demonstrate uncompromised legal and ethical compliance behavior internally? We collected data from 164 working professionals enrolled in a top-tier MBA program in the southeastern United States regarding their employer-sponsored volunteer activities and their intentions to comply in various organizational compliance vignettes. We found that employer-sponsored volunteerism is associated with uncompromised compliance choices in one of the three vignettes. This finding indicates preliminary support for further inquiry into the relationship within the firm between external CSR behaviors and policies regarding organizational compliance. Post hoc analyses suggest that employer-sponsored volunteerism is strongly associated with a positive organizational identity, but organizational identity is not associated with the significant compliance vignette. This evidence suggests that the underlying mechanism that connects external CSR behaviors and internal compliance intentions is complex and requires future study.     

State Used Motor Vehicle Disclosure Laws: Do They Make a Difference to the Consumer?

Because of recurring unfavorable consumer experiences, there have been a number of market and nonmarket responses to the quality uncertainty encountered in the used vehicle market. Several states have enacted used vehicle disclosure laws. This paper examines whether certain state used vehicle disclosure laws provide consumers with enough additional information so as to impact the quality mix of traded vehicles. The reported repair records of recently transacted vehicles in three states were examined: Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. Using Census data from the TIU Survey, pairwise tests of the equality of the mean maintenance expenditures of recently transacted vehicles from these three states were performed. Results were verified with a regression analysis. We were unable to find evidence that the currently mandated disclosure requirements in Wisconsin and Iowa were effective in increasing the number of good quality vehicles traded in the market. Our conclusions are drawn exclusive of any secondary benefits or costs that might accrue to the consumer and to society.