Disability and Discrimination - a UK Perspective

"Discrimination on the grounds of disability is seldom malicious, but stems more from a lack of understanding." A disabled businessman explores the need for businesses to cultivate and implement greater disability awareness. After graduating in engineering, he gained his MBA from London Business School in 1992. He now works as a consultant, capitalising on his background in business management and his personal experience of disability to assist clients in developing anti-discriminatory policies and practice.     

论儒商精神的内涵

儒商积极倡导以儒家思想作为商业经营的基本指导理念,形成了具有浓厚儒家文化特色的儒商精神,主要包括职业精神、商业价值观、商业道德、管理理念、人格理想等几个方面。儒商精神凸显了儒商的基本特色和本质规定,保障了商业经营的成功。深入探讨和分析儒商精神的主要内容有助于进一步深化对儒商的认识,并为当代商业经营者提供理论借鉴。     

When customers get clever: Managerial approaches to dealing with creative consumers

Creative consumers (defined as customers who adapt, modify, or transform a proprietary offering) represent an intriguing paradox for business. On one hand, they can signify a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyright and intellectual property. On the other hand, they represent a gold mine of ideas and business opportunities. Central to business is the need to create and capture value, and creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of how firms accomplish both. Based upon their attitude and action toward customer innovation, we develop a typology of firms' stances toward creative consumers. We then consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy and examine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers: awareness, analysis, and response.     

The Response of Canadian Business Schools to Consumerism

Of the major issues dominating the public interest in recent times, perhaps consumerism is by far the most vital one. Reaching the forefront during the second half of the past decade, consumerism has drawn considerable attention from virtually all groups having a stake in the performance of the market place. The interest of the academic community in consumerism is no exception. For business educators, the prevalence of consumer protests and dissatisfaction with the market behavior yields a number of compelling but, nonetheless, crucial issues. For instance, should a business school try to improve its existing image—that of preparing its student to be a shrewd businessman with one pervasive criterion in mind, namely, profit maximization? Or, should business schools adopt the concept of training its graduate to be an enlightened businessman who attempts to maximize the profit of his firm, but in the context of what is best for the whole society? Should a business school play the role of a mediator between consumers and the business sector at large? It is to these and similar questions that the present investigation is directed.     

论供应链的复合联结特征

当前,越来越多的企业认识到存在于企业与供应商和经销商之间的相互依存关系,纷纷与供应商和经销商开发明确的联结以提高运作绩效。本文从网络组织的视角,探讨了供应链联结的本质特征,认为,供应链成员之间的联结是核心企业与关键企业之间形成的复杂的联结关系,具有多层级强联结、多重互动联结以及多阶段动态联结特征,并提出了供应链复合联结概念。     

略论隐名合伙

隐名合伙本质上应是隐名投资合同,而非商事合伙组织,与有限合伙、两合公司、挂名投资等形似而神异。隐名合伙的性质决定了其适用范围的有限性,隐名合伙的双方当事人都具有严格的身份限制,隐名合伙人仅限于自然人,出名营业人则主要是独资企业主。隐名合伙关系中隐名合伙人的隐名性暗合了部分国人不愿露富的传统文化心理,具有不同于有限合伙的优势和特色,同时也潜藏着一定的投资风险。隐名合伙的立法模式选择,权宜之计是通过合同自由的司法解释承认其存在的合理性与正当性,理想方案则是将其作为一种有名合同纳入民法典债编。     

The Role of Religious and Nationalist Ethics in Strategic Leadership: The Case of J. N. Tata

This paper examines the role that religious ethics, complemented by a nationalist principle, can play in a sustained exercise of strategic leadership, hypothesizing a positive association with a societal reputation for credibility or integrity. The key to this relation is the constraining effect on strategic or financial pressures, even if there is coherence in the long-term. J. N. Tata, the founder of Tata Industries who lived in British India, was a Parsee priest and an advocate for Indian national self-reliance and ultimately independence. Even as Tata's two ethics dovetailed with his business interests in the long-term, they conflicted sufficiently with the business calculus of some of his immediate and intermediate strategic interests such that he could enjoy a sterling societal reputation in India, his credibility transcending that of a businessman.     

Capital is king!

The business world is, hopefully, emerging from a mega-downturn. So, should the savvy businessman be focused on the top line (revenues) or the bottom line (profits)? Says John Mullins : neither! Working capital is what companies like Costco need to survive, and it may also be precisely what your business needs to prosper.     

多样性价值观与浙商崛起

昔日众多的商帮群体,改革开放之后浙商独领风骚,与浙江人多样性价值观的形成有所关联。文章用辛普森多样性指数对代表性区域的调查样本分析表明,如同生物在多样性的竞争中最终形成了进化一样,多样性价值观的现实同样与经济和商业活力正相关,这种多样性价值观的形成是多种因素作用的结果。     

常大伟的字画生意

<正>北京电视台2009年大年初五播出的春节晚会上,在节目最后结束时展出了"平安北京"四个大字,这四个字苍劲有力,表达了对北京城和北京人民的美好祝福,给许多观众留下了深刻的印象。其实,这四个字并非出自哪位书法大家,而是出自一位经营了十几年字画生意的商人——常大伟。     

You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial: The unique role of imaginativeness in new venture ideation

Bestsellers like The Lean Startup and Business Model Generation have suggested that ideation—the generation and selection of ideas—is important to new venture creation; yet, little empirical research on the topic has been conducted. Using a creative problem-solving approach, we developed and tested a new scale that found imaginativeness predicts new venture ideation over and above the effects of the usual suspects of attitude, knowledge, and evaluation. Imaginativeness is an ideational skill that combines task-relevant knowledge in three distinct domains—creative, social, and practical—with the latent ability of imagination. In this article, we explain why a new scale was needed, why imaginativeness appears to be especially useful to individuals who lack entrepreneurial experience, and how imaginativeness enables just about anyone to generate and select new venture ideas with the proficiency of a habitual entrepreneur.     

Financial reforms in Chinese banking: The impact on personal lending and operational efficiency

The Chinese financial system has historically been one of secrecy, distrust, and corruption. The process does not align with the western standards of transparency and auditing. In contrast to the transaction-based business culture of the West, Chinese business society is relationship-based (quanxi), which still seems to play a key role in the credit decision. With the growth of the emerging middle class, access to financial instruments such as credit cards, life insurance, stock purchases, and the like will play a greater role in the life of the Chinese consumer. Based on these forecasts, the authors recommend seven actions to manage financial activities in China, all of which are explored within this article.     

A comparison of Nigerian to American views of bribery and extortion in international commerce

This study investigates the differences in the way bribery and extortion is perceived by two different cultures — American and Nigerian. Two hundred and forty American business students and one hundred and eighty Nigerian business students were presented with three scenarios describing a businessman offering a bribe to a government official and three scenarios describing a businessman being forced to pay a bribe to an official in order to do business. The Reidenbach-Robin instrument was used to measure the ethical reactions of the two samples to these scenarios. Results indicate that ethical reactions to bribery and extortion vary by (a) the nationality of the person offering the bribe, and (b) the country where the bribe is offered. In addition, Nigerians perceived some of the scenarios as being less unethical than did Americans. John Tsalikis is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Florida International University. His research interests include marketing ethics, international marketing, and direct marketing. His articles have appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Psychology and Marketing, and the Journal of International Consumer Marketing. Osita Nwachukwu is an Assistant Professor of Management at Western Illinois University. His research interests include marketing ethics, and business policy. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of International Consumer Marketing.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">featuring</Emphasis> phenomenon in music: how combining artists of different genres increases a song’s popularity

The appearance of songs including featured artists on Billboard’s Hot 100 music charts has increased exponentially in the past two decades. This particular type of creative collaboration involves one artist integrating another artist’s contribution, either instrumentally or vocally, into their work and publicizing it with a “featuring” credit. According to broad literature in sociology on categorical boundaries, artists who deviate from existing genres are expected to be penalized for violating collective expectations and norms. We find songs featuring other artists actually have a greater likelihood of making it into the top 10 than songs not featuring other artists. Additionally, consistent with theorizing about congruency in the co-branding literature, we observe that the greater the difference (cultural distance) between the genres of the artists involved, the more likely the song is to reach the top of the charts. We argue that by combining the expertise of specialists in each genre, as well as comingling audiences while still maintaining each collaborator’s original positioning, artists who feature artists from other genres are able to produce more successful songs.     

Oikonomia Versus Chrematistike: Learning from Aristotle About the Future Orientation of Business Management

As a philosopher, whose theory about economics and business is systematically connected to a moral and political philosophy, Aristotle provides a rich conceptual framework to reflect upon personal well-being, the wealth of households, and the welfare of the state. Even though Aristotle has mainly been portrayed as an enemy of business, interest in his teachings has been on the rise among management scholars. Several articles have examined Aristotle’s position with regard to current managerial approaches such as total quality management, knowledge management, crisis management, and networking. Even though Aristotle is a constant reference point for business ethics scholars, only rarely have there been attempts to see what consequences his thinking would have for reorienting business philosophy and organizational strategy. In this study, we will outline how Aristotle’s theory of household management can be applied to the management of modern corporations. We argue that conceptions of chrematistike and oikonomia provide a basis to discuss the relationship between business and society and to draw important conclusions for business management.     

吴伯超和他的仙踪林

<正>他是一名退伍军人,他将卖红茶作为自己一生的事业,他让一杯小小的红茶有了大大的学问,他创办了全球最大的泡沫红茶品牌——仙踪林。台湾的特色饮品"珍珠奶茶",在大陆可谓是家喻户晓。珍珠奶茶具有奶茶的香浓口感和粉圆的嚼劲,一经推     

Bribery and extortion in international business: Ethical perceptions of Greeks compared to Americans

This study investigates the differences in he way bribery and extortion is perceived by two different cultures — American and Greek. Two hundred and forty American business students and two hundred and four Greek business students were presented with three scenarios describing a businessman offering a bribe to a government official and three scenarios describing a businessman being forced to pay a bribe to an official in order to do business. The Reidenbach-Robin instrument was used to measure the ethical reactions of the two samples to these scenarios. Results indicate that ethical reactions to bribery and extortion vary by (a) the nationality of the person offering the bribe, and (b) the country where the bribe is offered. In addition, Greeks perceived some of the scenarios as being less unethical than did Americans.John Tsalikis is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Florida International University. His research interests include marketing ethics, international marketing, and direct marketing. His articles have appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Psychology and Marketing, and theJournal of International Consumer Marketing.Michael S. LaTour is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Auburn University. His research interests include marketing ethics, and emotional responses to advertising. His articles have appeared in theJournal of Business Ethics, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Health Care Marketing, and theJournal of Advertising.The authors contributed equally to this article.     

Attitudes towards business ethics of business students in Malaysia

The main objective of this paper is to assess the attitude of a group of Malaysian business students towards business ethics. The survey results indicate that the respondents in general are of the opinion that the businesses in Malaysia consider ethics as secondary. A greater emphasis on ethical values in the business curricular has been strongly supported by the respondents. Moreover, the majority of the respondents believe that moral/ethical education and top management attitudes are the most important factors influencing ethical standards in business practices.Dr Kazi Firoz Alam is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Accountancy, Massey University, New Zealand. He has been teaching Accounting to MBA students since 1984 and has supervised Masterate students in different areas of accounting, including accounting and tax ethics. He has written three books on Accounting and Taxation and has published articles on Corporate Taxation and Company Financial Policy, The Influence of Tax Incentives on Investment Decisions, Taxation and Company Dividend Policy and Business Ethics. Some of the journals where his publications have appeared includeMetu Studies in Development, Managerial and Decision Economics, Accounting Forum, Investment Analysts Journal andJournal of Business Ethics.     

Dealing with Organised Crime in a Foreign Country

“What is the worth of moral values that only inform easy decisions but are impotent in more difficult circumstances?” Yet should one not at times tailor one’s moral views to suit circumstances? Drawing on his personal business experience in Taiwan Peter Huang reflects on the ethical issues raised by trying to do business honestly in a climate of organised crime. Currently completing his MBA at London Business School, he is of Taiwanese origin and returned there from Canada to found his own design company.     

刘军 破解梦想的行者

<正>世界上的旅游胜地都有自己独特的定位:巴黎的定位是"浪漫",罗马推销的是"永恒",韩国的口号是"炫动"。而新加坡的口号是"非常新加坡",模糊的定位不足以留下鲜明的印象。懂得定位者有可能分得市场的蛋糕;反之,就可能成为消费者心中"被遗忘的存在"。