Gender Discrimination in Chinese Recruitment Advertisements: A Content Analysis

Sex-role stereotypes exist as a primary source of gender inequality in employment. This issue becomes even more salient in the social context of China, where the traditional view of female inferiority persists and the legal system provides inadequate protection of equal employment rights. Reporting a content analysis of Chinese recruitment advertisements, this article concludes that gender discrimination is practiced by Chinese employers in recruiting for white-collar positions. It also finds that female applicants are more likely to encounter other forms of discrimination such as age and physical appearance requirements as well.     

Content Analysis of Secondary Data: A Study of Courage in Managerial Decision Making

Empirical studies in business ethics often rely on self-reported data, but this reliance is open to criticism. Responses to questionnaires and interviews may be influenced by the subject's view of what the researcher might want to hear, by a reluctance to talk about sensitive ethical issues, and by imperfect recall. This paper reviews the extent to which published research in business ethics relies on interviews and questionnaires, and then explores the possibilities of using secondary data, such as company documents and newspaper reports, as a source for empirical studies in applied ethics. A specific example is then discussed, describing the source material, the method, the development of the research questions, and the way in which reliability and validity were established. In the example, content analysis was used to examine the extent to which the executive virtue of courage was observed or called for in items published in four international daily newspapers, and to explore the meaning which was attributed to "courage" in the papers.     

The Role of the Internet in the Delivery of Export Promotion Services: A Web Site Content Analysis

ABSTRACT

This article examines the role of the Internet in the delivery of export promotion services. Based on a content analysis of the Web sites of 250 export promotion organizations (EPOs) representing over 130 countries, it is concluded that the majority of these organizations have not fully exploited the potentials of this technology in the delivery of support services to national exporters. Use of the Internet is primarily limited to dissemination of basic information with little effort made to utilize the interactive and customization features of the technology. The managerial and policy implications of this failure in terms of increased cost of market entry, lost export revenues, and exporter attrition are discussed.     

An Exploratory Content Analysis of Product Placement in Top Grossing Films

ABSTRACT

The current study examines the prevalence and characteristics of brand appearances in the top grossing films broadcast in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Hong Kong (H.K.). An average of 13 brand appearances per film was recorded and similarities and differences in brand execution features were revealed in the two cultural markets. Most of the films registered on the U.K. and H.K. top grossing lists are US production, which demonstrates that product placements are increasingly exported to other cultures. It suggests the importance of examining product placement effectiveness across cultures and provides valuable insights for brand practitioners.     

Environmental Reporting of Global Corporations: A Content Analysis based on Website Disclosures

Today, more corporations disclose information about their environmental performance in response to stakeholder demands of environmental responsibility and accountability. What information do corporations disclose on their websites? This paper investigates the environmental management policies and practices of the 200 largest corporations in the world. Based on a content analysis of the environmental reports of Fortune’s Global 200 companies, this research analyzes the content of corporate environmental disclosures with respect to the following seven areas: environmental planning considerations, top management support to the institutionalization of environmental concerns, environmental structures and organizing specifics, environmental leadership activities, environmental control, external validations or certifications of environmental programs, and forms of corporate environmental disclosures.     

国内社会政策领域的研究方法考察:基于2007-2010年核心期刊论文的内容分析

采用定量与定性相结合的方法,对近三年发表于核心期刊的389篇社会政策研究文章所使用的研究方法进行了内容分析。在我国的社会政策研究中,规范性研究较多,实证性研究较少,实证研究中主要使用的是调查研究、实地研究、文献研究与制度分析等研究方法,其中也确实涌现出了一批较为规范的实证研究,但是还远未能形成与国际接轨的研究方法体系,这也阻止了我国社会政策学科的专业化和本土化。应该加强社会政策研究方法体系的建设,促进社会政策学科的成熟,为社会政策的理论与实践提供研究工具上的支撑。     

Perception of Women Managers in Singapore: A Media Analysis

The paper exmaines the factors that facilitate and inhibit women's entry into managerial positions, drawing on the findings from a previous study conducted in 1993 and comparing the results against those based on an analysis of selected contributions (from 1993–2003) in the media. A content analysis is conducted in three local newspapers on how they described woman and male managers. Profile, word and theme analysis are carried out on the selected contributions. Findings reveal that successful women managers are increasingly accepted and recognized by the society. Nonetheless, they still have to fulfill their traditional social roles. Only the talented women can make it. Implications of the findings are discussed..     

Cultural Dimensions and Prototypical Criteria for Multi-Criteria Decision Support in Electronic Markets: A Comparative Analysis of Two Job Markets

Electronic markets are virtual meeting places where buyers and sellers interact to trade products or services. The main motivation for both buyers and sellers to participate in an electronic market is the desire to maximize their private utility (Bakos 1998). Electronic markets therefore usually provide some form of communication, decision or negotiation aid for buyers and sellers to support their utility maximizing goals. This paper presents a comparative analysis of two electronic job market case studies conducted at a university in Europe (Brussels, Belgium) and in the United States (Newark, New Jersey). At the occasion of the universities’ career fairs, students (n = 392) and local companies (n = 57) were invited to participate in an electronic job market to identify the best job offers (n = 137) and students, respectively. Participants were able to create personalized software agents to aid their search and decision making activities in the market. Every software agent was embedded with a multi-criteria decision support tool to produce a rank ordered list of students or job offers. Preference data gathered from market participants’ use of the multi-criteria decision model allow us to construct relational preference structures using a technique based on the mathematical theory of fuzzy relations (Bandler and Kohout 1980). These preference structures express relationships among the criteria that students and companies have used to identify job offers and companies, respectively. The purpose of the paper is to present the communicative and cultural implications of these relational preference structures. The theories of Hofstede (1983), Hall (1977) and Trompenaars (1993) on cultural dimensions allow us to discuss cultural differences on the choice of prototypical criteria. The paper concludes with implications for the use of electronic markets in the staffing industry and the role of software agents in such job markets.