Business Ethics Perceptions of Public and Private Sector Iranians

Ethical maturity is a great concern to all educators, firms, and investors across the globe. This research surveyed 448 citizens, managers and employees in Iran to measure their Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) to see if age, education, management experience, and government work experience make a difference in making more ethical decisions. This study contributes to the theory of moral development across the Iranian culture as it is the first known study using this method. The results suggest that education and more years of government work experience make a difference in the moral maturity of respondents. This study confirms that the ethical maturity of respondents is enhanced either through the authoritarian regime or socialization with Islamic values. Kohlberg’s moral development theory regarding ethical maturity is partially supported since those with more years of experience in government and more formal education have higher business ethics scores. Implications are discussed.     

Rebounding from Corruption: Perceptions of Ethics Program Effectiveness in a Public Sector Organization

We examine the perceived importance of three organizational preconditions (awareness of formal ethics codes, decision-making techniques, and availability of resources) theorized to be critical for ethics program effectiveness. In addition, we examine the importance of ethical leadership and congruence between formal ethics codes and informal ethical norms in influencing employee perceptions. Participants (n=418) from a large southern California government agency completed a survey on the perceived effectiveness of the organization’s ethics program. Results suggest that employee perceptions of organizational preconditions, ethical leadership and informal ethical norms were related to perceptions of ethics program effectiveness. Based on these findings, organizations should evaluate the presence (or absence) of essential preconditions and take steps to ensure that leaders model espoused organizational values to foster perceptions of effective ethics programs.Kathie L. Pelletier is a doctoral student in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University, 123 East Eighth Street, Claremont, CA 91711; e-mail: kathie.pelletier@cgu.edu. Her research interests include organizational ethics, ethical leadership, and women’s issues in the workplace. Michelle C. Bligh is an assistant professor of Organizational Behavior in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University, 123 East Eighth Street, Claremont, CA 91711; e-mail: michelle. bligh@cgu.edu. Her research interests include charismatic leadership, political and executive leadership, and organizational culture.     

我国政府采购当事人的风险认知——基于10省份的问卷调查

防范与控制政府采购风险,仅仅通过完善政府采购制度及其配套制度是不够的,政府采购当事人对政府采购风险认知的程度与能力直接关系到政府采购的执行效果。基于对我国10省份政府采购当事人的问卷调查结果分析,政府采购当事人对于政府采购功能、政府采购执行、政府采购风险和政府采购制度的认知,不仅存在认知不全面的问题,而且还有认知上的偏差,这正是导致政府采购领域风险发生的一个重要因素。因此,防范政府采购风险必须同时从两方面着手:一是强化政府采购当事人的风险认知能力与水平;二是要完善政府采购制度及其配套制度。     

Client Perceptions of the Customer Orientation of Advertising Agencies

Abstract

A national random sample of advertisers evaluated the customer orientation of their advertising agencies. The respondents also rated the importance of various agency attributes for agency selection, as well as their level of satisfaction with the performance of their current advertising agencies. Client perceptions of the customer orientation of advertising agencies was found to be significantly related to clients' satisfaction with agency performance. The importance of customer oriented selling behaviors by advertising agencies are discussed.     

Priorities and Perceptions from the Client Point of View

No abstract available for this article.     

Perceptions of the risk of drowning at surf beaches among New Zealand youth

ABSTRACT

In many countries, beaches are a high-risk location for drowning. In New Zealand, youth and young adults are particularly at risk of drowning at beaches, accounting for 17.4% of drowning deaths and 18.4% of rescues at surf beaches between 2008 and 2013, over 90% of fatalities were male. This study explored New Zealand youth risk perceptions of drowning and their coping appraisal processes at a surf beach. A cross-sectional survey of high school students (n = 599) was conducted between February and April 2014. Females and non-New Zealand European students reported higher levels of perceived vulnerability and severity of drowning risk, and New Zealand European students reported higher levels of self-efficacy of preventive actions. By addressing the underlying causes of underestimation of risk and overestimation of ability, these findings can be utilized to increase awareness and to enhance water safety risk strategies for youth, especially males, in the surf beach setting.     

The Effects of Personal and Group Level Factors on the Outcomes of Simulated Auditor and Client Teams

The way that auditor and client teams develop team resources that they can later use in negotiating with their counterparts is a critical but unexplored issue in auditing research. This study examines several important issues that may affect the development of these team resources. Specifically, it uses interacting groups to evaluate the dynamic interplay between personal and perceived group level factors in determining individual team members' satisfaction with the team's solution, and the development of perceptions of team atmosphere.First, a model of the intra-person and intra-team decision processes is introduced. This model posits that individuals' personalities and hierarchical levels influence their choice of conflict style, the development of their perceptions of the team's atmosphere, and ultimately their satisfaction with the solution reached by the team. Conflict style also is posited to affect perceptions of the team's atmosphere and solution satisfaction. We then test the model using structural equation modeling. We also examine the development of consensus within the teams. Students working on their MBA and MS in Business and Accounting at two AACSB-accredited universities participated in this study. The results provide dramatic evidence of the influence of the factors of interest on the resources that each team brings to the ultimate negotiation with its counterpart team.     

Managerial Perceptions of Country-of-Origin: An Empirical Study of New Zealand Food Manufacturers

This study investigates food manufacturers’ motives for featuring country-of-origin (CoO) symbols, statements, and other indicators on their product packaging and labeling. Unlike the majority of CoO studies that employ survey and experimental methods, a qualitative approach is taken. Sixteen in-depth interviews with key informants of packaged food companies in New Zealand revealed five categories of themes as reasons why manufacturers indicate and often emphasize CoO associations—cognitive function, affective function, conative function, tangible benefits, and intangible benefits. Overall, the findings reveal that managers perceive that CoO associations deliver them benefits, but they do not measure the outcomes of these investments.     

Evaluating Facilitated Modelling Processes and Outcomes: An Experiment Comparing a Single and a Multimethod Approach in Group Model Building

Facilitated modelling approaches have been suggested as helpful tools to support negotiation in strategic analysis processes due to their potential to facilitate cognitive change and enhance consensus and commitment with final decisions. In the present research, we developed an experimental framework to compare what two of these approaches, that is, group model building and a multimethod approach, contribute to the process and outcomes in the negotiation of strategies. In the multimethod approach, we combined strategic options development and analysis with computer simulations of the group model building approach. We explored the differences between these two modelling approaches in facilitating cognitive change, consensus and commitment by building an experimental research design with real clients, working on their organisation’s problem. Furthermore, we compared the type and content of participants’ contributions in the strategic conversation. The lessons from the experiment conducted are twofold. On one hand, the multimethod approach encouraged more divergent contributions and produced a higher degree of cognitive change than group model building (i.e., the single approach). On the other hand, group model building encouraged more contributions about content related to causes of the problem and enhanced more commitment to the final solution than the multimethod approach. Hence, the conducted experiment brings new insights into the benefits of using multimethods and possible losses resulting from such combinations. Accordingly, we have presented opportunities for further research regarding the combination of facilitated modelling approaches.     

Market Orientation and Performance in the Public Sector

Abstract

Increased calls for transparency and accountability in government organizations underscores the need for a market orientation even in the public sector. The degree of market orientation and its effect on performance and on organizational commitment in government departments in three Australian states is considered. Results provide empirical support for a direct relationship between market orientation and performance and evidence of the mediating role of organizational commitment. Implications are drawn and directions for future research are discussed.     

Globalized New Public Management and its Impact on Scientific Research Activity in New Zealand

Since the early 1980s the concept of New Public Management (NPM) has had a considerable impact on both theoretical debate and practical management in the public sector. Within this debate issues of efficiency and productivity are critical when discussing the performance of publicly funded organizations. The concept of NPM is also relevant to the issues surrounding privatization and deregulation. New Zealand has been in the vanguard of these changes from the early 1980s and this contribution investigates how changes in government funding mechanisms have affected the organizational structure, culture and human resource management strategies and practices of one Crown research institute in New Zealand. The case study shows how difficult it is not only to change a public sector organization to one that is more ‘market-focused’, but also how this is compounded in a research and development institute.     

The Nature and Structure of Trade–Financial Networks: Evidence from the New Zealand Pastoral Sector

Recent work on business organisation has shown how a network based upon trade can evolve into a more widely embracing trade and financial network. A growing network may also engender leaders who intermediate to reduce communication costs. This paper provides an historically based variation on such hypothesised network structures by showing that trade and finance can exist together as part of a network from the outset. New Zealand pastoral agent firms recognised from very early on that regular trading transactions between agent and farmer generated trust, reputational effects, and mutual information exchange vital for successful lending and the provision of pastoral services. Agents, and sometimes other functional groups, served as intermediating leaders as the network grew in size and complexity.     

社会主义新农村建设中农村公共产品供给问题的对策研究

农村公共产品供给状况对于中国农业的发展、社会主义新农村的建设具有举足轻重的作用。针对当前农村公共产品供给不足的状况,加强农村公共产品供给体制建设具有很重要的意义。农村公共产品供给不足有其很多原因,急需采取有效的对策与措施来解决农村公共产品供给问题的,这样才能有利于提高和改善农村公共产品的供给效率。     

Factors Affecting the Adoption of the Internet in the Public Sector

ABSTRACT

Research in the area of electronic marketing has focused considerable attention on consumers' and advertisers' perceptions of the Internet as a marketing communication medium. Whilst such research has been undertaken mostly in the private sector, it is important to recognize, and attempt to understand, the growing number of public sector organizations that have an Internet presence. Results of a study of the perceptions of managers in public sector organizations of the Internet as a marketing communication tool are reported. Findings suggest that decision makers in the public sector who feel that there is a need for their organizations to have an Internet presence, are more inclined to adopt the Internet as part of their marketing communications program. Furthermore, they are more likely to feel that use of the Internet will improve their overall marketing effectiveness. It is also interesting to note that the perceived complexity of using the Internet has a significant effect on both the adoption of and attitude towards the Internet as a marketing communications tool. This suggests that there is still some uncertainty amongst public sector organizations as to the usefulness of the Internet in marketing their services.     

A Public Sector Marketing Model to Measure the Social and Environmental Values of Public Strategies: An Empirical Study on a Green Public Service

This article develops a public sector marketing model to measure the social and environmental values of public strategies. Applying partial least squares path modeling, the authors empirically test the model by conducting a quantitative survey (N = 603) among users of a green public service in the form of a public bike-sharing system. The findings reveal that users simultaneously perceive public outcomes on the social value and environmental value dimensions. The effect estimated on the perceived social value dimension of the green public service was slightly stronger than the effect on the environmental value dimension. Thus, users primarily perceive self-centered values, before considering values generated for the environment. The findings also show that engaging citizens now in the actual usage of green public services can foster green consumption intentions in the future.     

A Comparison of Group Model Building and Strategic Options Development and Analysis

A distinctive tradition within group decision support uses models to structure managerial problems. In this tradition, stakeholders jointly construct a model on their issue of concern in facilitated workshops. In the past decades a wide variety of theoretical insights into and techniques for model-based decision support have been proposed and tested in practical applications. Methods are designed and used by experts; guidelines on their use are not completely spelled out in the literature. This lack of transparency may lead to difficulties in showing the value of methods to researchers in other fields, limit transferability of methods and complicate recombining elements of methods into a multimethodology. In this paper we aim to contribute to transparency by contrasting two model-driven methods: group model building (GMB) and Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA). We first develop a framework for comparing methods on a theoretical and practical level. Second, we describe the separate use of each approach, on one and the same issue, with a similar group of participants. By contrasting the choices made in a practical application we clarify process and results in different phases of problem analysis. Our conclusion is that theoretical assumptions of both approaches are more similar than expected. Each method captures different aspects of the problem and in this sense methods may supplement one another: where SODA focuses on the future and identification of actions, GMB aims to create insight into the relation between (past) behavior and structure of the problem. In choosing which element of the methods to use, it is important to realize that each element strikes a particular balance between costs (e.g. time taken from participants or modelers) and benefits (e.g. level of involvement or model verification). For instance, some elements speed up the process but do so at the cost of lowering participants’ involvement. A practical combination of elements of GMB and SODA thus requires the user to assess the relative importance of insight and action as project deliverables, weigh costs and benefits of elements of either method and string these together in a logical sequence that creates the outcomes required.     

Competitive Tendering and Contracting in the Public Sector: A Survey

This paper is a survey of the role and impact of competitive tendering and contracting (CTC) policies in the public sector. The paper examines the theoretical rationale for introducing competition in the provision of public services and the methodology by which contracting decisions are reached. It investigates the extent of implementation and nature of outcomes in several countries. A broad sweep of the empirical findings suggests that CTC generates substantial cost savings. Lack of adequate data makes an assessment of the effect on quality more troublesome, and further research is needed     

Predictors of Ethical Code Use and Ethical Tolerance in the Public Sector

This paper reports the results of a survey of ethical attitudes, values, and propensities in public sector employees in Australia. It was expected that demographic variables, personal values, and contextual variables at the individual level, and group- and organisational-level values would predict use of formal codes of ethics and ethical tolerance (tolerance of unethical behaviour). Useable data were received from 500 respondents selected at random across public sector organisations in a single Australian state. Results supported the study hypotheses, but indicated that different mechanisms underlie each of the criterion variables. Use of ethical codes was determined primarily on the basis of a perception that others use the code, while ethical tolerance was determined by personal values. At an applied level, the research highlights the need for orgasnizations to establish a critical mass of code users, so that this operates as a normative influence on others in the organization.     

Toward a Model of Word-of-Mouth in the Health Care Sector

An important source of health information is word of mouth (WOM). Nevertheless, a model describing WOM in the health care sector does not exist. The aim of this paper is to contribute to research by providing concrete suggestions for a model of word of mouth in the health care sector. A conceptual framework comprising the theory of cognitive dissonance, the theory of the strength of weak ties, and the theory of perceived risk are used as a theoretical anchor. In order to gain a more precise knowledge of WOM in the health care sector, a literature review of leading health care journals is conducted. The findings are summarized in the form of a model proposal describing the creation, spread, and impact of WOM in the health care sector. As the model summarizes the current WOM literature, it seems to be a good starting point for further research by scholars. The paper also helps practitioners to better understand WOM and integrate the WOM aspects described into their daily work.     

In Search of the Divide Between the Private and Public Sector in Ecuador

ABSTRACT

The divide between the private and public sector is one of the underlying assumptions of economic policy making, political debates and economic reforms; so much so, that we take for granted its predictions from a theoretical as well as empirical point of view. This paper is an attempt to confront these predictions with Ecuadorian data using a wide range of statistical and econometric techniques. Its findings challenge conventional wisdom: the private sector is not necessarily more profitable and efficient than its public counterpart; both sectors have more behavioural commonalities than dissimilarities; the macro-economic impulse responses to both sectors dismiss the rationale for privatisation. Its conclusion calls for the deconstruction of welfare economics and management theory to capture non-paretian or second best environments.

RESUMEN. Una de las suposiciones subyacentes de la formación de la política económica, así como de los debates políticos y las reformas económicas yace en la separación entre el sector público y privado. A tal punto, que damos por sentado sus pronósticos tanto desde el punto de vista teórico como del empírico. Este estudio representa una tentativa de colocar frente a frente estos pronósticos con los datos ecuatorianos, utilizando una vasta gama de técnicas estadísticas y econométricas. Los hallazgos representan un desafío a la sabiduría convencional: el sector privado no es, necesariamente, más rentable y eficiente que su contraparte, el sector público; ambos sectores tienen más comunalidades comportamentales que diferencias; las respuestas a los impulsos macro-económicos para ambos sectores descartan las razones en pro de la privatización. Su conclusión aboga a favor de la deconstrucción de las economías asistecialistas y la teoría de la gestión usada para capturar entornos no paretianos o vengan en segundo lugar.

RESUMO. O divisor de águas entre o setor público e o privado é um dos pressupostos fundamentais das decis[otilde]es de política econômica, dos debates políticos e das reformas econômicas; tanto é que aceitamos seus prognósticos tanto do ponto de vista teórico quanto empírico. Este trabalho tenta confrontar tais previs[otilde]es com base em dados do Equador, utilizando uma vasta gama de técnicas estatísticas e econométricas. As descobertas desafiam o conhecimento convencional: o setor privado não é necessariamente mais lucrativo e eficiente do que o seu correspondente público; ambos os setores possuem mais semelhanças comportamentais do que diferenças; as reaç[otilde]es ao estímulo macro- econômico em ambos os setores descartam os fundamentos da privatização. A sua conclusão requer a desconstrução da economia do bem-estar e da teoria de administração para capturar os ambientes não-paretianos ou os melhores da segunda classe.