Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: A legal and moral analysis

The author examines the categories of bribes that are prohibited under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act from the perspective of three significant moral theories: utility, rights and justice. He concludes that the Act does not go too far in demanding ethical behaviors from U.S. business people doing business in foreign markets, therefore, it is not in need of a major revision. With regard to accounting provisions, movement from a reasonableness standard to one of materiality would be appropriate however. Bill Shaw is Professor of Business Law at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests are in the area of business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and environmental law. During the Spring Semester, 1987, he held the Lynn S. Autrey Visiting Chair of Business Ethics, Rice University. His articles have appeared in various journals and he is the author of Environmental Law: People Pollution and Land Use (1976) and The structure of the Legal Environment (1987) (with Art Wolfe).     

The federal role in international business education

Rapid global change, driven especially by the telecommunications, computing, and biotechnology industries, are rapidly transforming the international economic, social, and cultural landscape. Affected are both urban and rural businesses that face intense competition at home and abroad. If the United States is to continue to main‐tain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace, educational institutions must prepare the next generation of leaders for a pluralistic world in which multi‐culturalism dominates and international business education is multidimensional. This article addresses the role that the U.S. federal government has played in prepar‐ing international business graduates. It examines the contributions of two federal grant programs: the Business and International Education program and the Centers for International Business program, both authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended. ? 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Manager Perspectives on Embedding Workplace Spirituality into the Business Curriculum: Bridging the Gap

The purpose of this article is to share findings from an Australian qualitative study (n = 40) about the perspectives of managers and professionals around embedding workplace spirituality into the business curriculum. Academics are now publishing work that addresses workplace spirituality in the business curriculum, but few studies exist that focus on the perspectives of managers and professionals in the field. This article seeks to bridge that gap. Analysis revealed that managers as participants constructed rationales focusing on why workplace spirituality should or should not be addressed in the business curriculum and issues about how it might occur. Some of the perceived complexities of embedding workplace spirituality into public university programs were also identified. The findings of the paper would be particularly relevant to business schools considering the inclusion of workplace spirituality into their curriculum and structuring discussions to incorporate stakeholder perspectives from the business community. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Buy Australian Made

The Australian Federal Government introduced in 1994 the Trade Practices Amendment (Origin Labelling) Bill in the House of Representatives, Parliament of Australia, to establish a scheme to govern representations about the origin of consumer goods. This amendment to the Trade Practices Act (1974) applies only to Australian products, and provides two labelling alternatives, that is Product of Australia (no imported components and processing has been done completely in Australia) and Made in Australia (with some imported components). The Origin Labelling Bill 1994 is currently pending in the Senate, Parliament of Australia, for various reasons.Apart from the investigation into legal matters, a major aim of the research to be reported here was to question the impact of country of origin on the consumers' buying decision process, and in particular the impact of the Australian Made logo on sales of consumer goods. This logo is provided by the Advance Australia Foundation as a part of the Buy Australian Made campaign, started in 1986 to reduce the Australian import penetration.A Townsville-based consumer survey, conducted as a part of the research, showed that price, quality, and value for money were the over-riding factors in purchasing decisions. The survey sampled 647 interviewed consumers, and included an experiment in which business shirts and tea bags were used to determine reactions to country of manufacture information. It was found, for example, that the addition of a logo to a shirt had no positive influence on the Australian shirt's propensity to be selected as the preferred shirt when compared to the imported shirts.     

Disadvantaged Consumers: An Ethical Approach to Consumption by the Poor

This essay presents my research stream on impoverished citizens as it relates to transdisciplinary work at the intersection of consumer behavior, applied ethics, public policy, and marketing practice. The original studies that inform this discussion were conducted using ethnographic methods with subpopulations that included the homeless, rural poor, children living in poverty, and aborigines isolated in the Australian outback. The opening section frames my work within the context of the larger marketing domain. The next section describes dysfunctional business activities that reduce the consumer quality of life of disadvantaged citizens. Their reactions to this maltreatment then are presented, with an emphasis on the various groups noted. The essay closes with a brief discourse on restricted consumer behavior in business ethics research. Ronald Paul Hill is the Robert J. and Barbara Naclerio Endowed Chairholder and Senior Associate Dean of Intellectual Strategy in the Villanova School of Business.     

Attracting business travelers to a resort

When an Australian resort wanted to attract more business travelers, it found that its employees can be excellent marketing researchers     

PUBLIC MEASURES AFFECTING SMALL BUSINESS IN AUSTRALIA

Certain institutional arrangements in Australia seem to operate to the disadvantage of small business particularly in the fields of finance, taxation and access to specialized services. But the Australian Trade Practices Act is based upon two value judgements–the acceptance of competitive capitalism as a socio-economic system and the need to curb the misuse of economic power. This second aim, in particular has benefitted small businesses through the restriction of arrangements in restraint of trade (Section 45), through regulating monopolization (Sec. 46), through forbidding exclusive dealing (Sec. 47), through banning resale price maintenance (Sec. 48), through regulating price discrimination (Sec. 49) and through regulating mergers (Sec. 50). The misuse of economic power may be related to the concept of ‘public benefit’ or ‘social efficiency’ as contrasted to ‘economic efficiency’ and it is on these grounds that arguments for assistance to small business can be most convincingly made.     

The ethical issue of international bribery: A study of attitudes among U.S. business professionals

Restrictions upon international bribery by U.S. business firms, as incorporated in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, have been controversial since this legislation was passed in 1977. Despite many attempts to repeal or change the law, it remains as originally enacted.This article reports on a survey of U.S. business professionals concerning international bribery. Response to our survey reveals a divided business community in terms of their opinions on the ethics of international payments prohibited by the present law.In addition to a lack of consensus about the morality of payments, the survey also reveals a diversity in the viewpoints of respondents. Moralism, pragmatism, cultural relativism, and legalism are four distinct underlying assumptions apparent in the attitudes of U.S. business professionals on the issue of questionable international payments. Justin G. Longenecker is an Emeritus Chavanne Professor of Christian Ethics in Business at Baylor University. He has written several articles and he is the co-author of two books: Small Business Management (1987) and Management (1984). Joseph A. McKinney is Professor of Economics and Co-Director of Master of International Management Program at Baylor University. His articles have been published in journals such as Atlantic Economic Journal and Columbia Journal of World Business. Carlos W. Moore is an Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Marketing at Baylor University. He is the co-author of Small Business Management (Cincinnati, South-Western Publishing Company, 1987).     

Delineating Publicly Listed Family and Nonfamily Controlled Firms: An Approach for Capital Market Research in Australia*

Recent capital market research evidence suggests that a large proportion of public companies worldwide are characterized by controlling stockholders who are more often families, usually the founder(s) or their descendants. There has been considerable debate on whether “family” firms can indeed be accurately delineated from nonfamily firms given the diversity and abundance of family business definitions in the literature. This paper provides a robust definition of family business for the purposes of capital market research. Using an accounting‐based definition of family business, the paper outlines a four‐step procedure that provides validation for identifying family controlled companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. A significant feature of the research methodology was reliance on data collected from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Having access to the corporate regulator's restricted data enabled the researchers to establish important links between directors and their private related entities.     

Using a Qualitative Approach to Gain Insights into the Business Ethics Experiences of Australian Managers in China

This study investigated the business ethics experiences of Australian managers in China, using qualitative methodology to identify themes. Thirty-one Australian managers who had spent on average 8.7 years working in business connected to China participated in in-depth interviews regarding their business ethics experiences in China. Commonly, managers identified issues relating to a broad spectrum which could be labelled "bribery and facilitation". Other repeated themes included requests for visa assistance, employee theft, nepotism and non-adherence to contractual obligations. This study has important implications for helping Australian managers improve the way they approach potential ethical situations in China. Four key coping strategies can be identified from the data: managers spoke of not compromising their own morals, of attempting to understand the motivation of Chinese colleagues, of talking to others and of adhering to company policy. These strategies suggest practical steps may be taken by organisations when training managers for business activities in China. In particular, structuring of mentoring relationships between experienced and less experienced practitioners may be of assistance. Cultural training for managers and clear company policy on contentious issues such as bribery may also be of benefit. The themes identified in the study also have implications for academics researching expatriate business peoples' experiences in China.     

The ethical concerns of contemporary Zimbabwean managers: A preliminary sounding

An MBA course has recently been introduced in the Department of Business Studies at the University of Zimbabwe. Applications for the course are numerous, so selection can be very rigorous. Thus the students admitted to the course comprise many of the country's most promising junior managers. As an assignment for a course on business ethics, the students were asked to discuss an ethical problem they had met in the course of business. An analysis of the problems discussed is quite revealing. Besides several miscellaneous issues, the problems discussed focussed on sexual harrassment, nepotism, political pressure and particularly public corruption. The emphasis on public corruption is probably explicable in terms of the particular individuals admitted to the MBA course; it should not be explained by claiming that Zimbabwe is just one more corrupt third world country. Most surprising is the total absence of any problems relating to issues of race or to trading with South Africa, which might have been considered the major ethical issues in Zimbabwe business life. The lack of problems relating to these two issues is more difficult to explain.Paul Gifford is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Zimbabwe. He has published several articles on the cultural and religious developments of Southern Africa. Peter McBurney is a Doctoral Canadidate at the Australian Graduate School of Management in the University of New South Wales. He was awarded the University Medal in Statistics, Australian National University (1980). He is co-author of The Construction of an Index of Socio-Economic Status.     

The search for global competence: From international HR to talent management

This article describes the evolution of the search for global competence through a 50-year content analysis and review of published research in the field of International HR Management (IHRM), and more recently, Talent Management (TM), with special emphasis on the Journal of World Business. We present a detailed examination of the IHRM/TM content of the Journal of World Business from its inception in 1965 through 2014. To put the results of that review into perspective, we review key themes in global business and strategy from 1965 to the present, noting where IHRM/TM research and business trends correspond, diverge, and lag. Next, we present a brief history of IHRM and TM, showing how the emerging theme of TM offers challenges and promise for connecting future IHRM/TM research with emerging business, strategy, and social trends. We conclude with the implications of our findings for future research, and the importance of the search for global competence.     

Some Thoughts on Moriarty and Moeller

Abstact In a recent paper in Business Ethics Quarterly Professor Jeffrey Moriarty (2005) asserted the relevance of political philosophy to business ethics. Moriarty asked whether “businesses ought to be run (more) like states” and argued why that might be beneficial. This paper on the contrary asserts that there are distinct disadvantages to businesses attempting to be run more like states. Specifically, it asserts that any such an attempt increases the likelihood of the re-emergence of a totalitarian society as businesses currently often act as an intermediary between the individual and the state. The paper contemplates Moeller’s ambitions in the Weimar period for the business to be run like a state and the historical outcome of those ambitions. The paper also distinguishes between two different kinds of rights and argues that different kinds of rights pertain to different sectors which preclude business being run like a state. Dr. Michael Schwartz is an associate professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He also serves as the vice-president of the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics. His research in the field of business ethics has been published in Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations, the Journal of Business Ethics, Business Ethics Quarterly and Business Ethics: A European Review.     

How Australian organizations use global communications

Global communications technology offers those organisations that embrace it many strategic advantages in conducting business overseas. Despite this, it has not been a technology that Australian organisations have rushed to implement.This paper investigates several Australian organisations and looks at their use of global communications technology. The organisations chosen are a mix of those that are Australian owned and foreign companies. Some of the organisations have been exporting their products or services for a number of years, whilst others are new to business operations on a global scale.Whilst the number of organisations researched is small, there appears to be a clear indication that global communications is a technology that all the Australian organisations (included in the research) have investigated. However they have then only proceeded to implement the technology, provided that it offers some definable form of competitive advantage when conducting business overseas.The organisations included in the research may not have had a definite management strategy in place for global communications initially, but, as the technology has become more efficient, has proven to be advantageous or has been accepted by an organisation's competitors, it has been included in management's strategic planning.The results also show that the implementation of global communications has enhanced profitability. However, the additional profit is not always derived from an increase in revenue but often a reduction in costs.The research shows that those foreign organisations with headquarters overseas have been much quicker to implement the technology for one or more of the following reasons: to increase their competitive advantage to improve company reporting to lower the costs of communication to provide more efficient methods of sharing common information.     

Codes of ethics in Australian business corporations

Current debate on business ethics in Australia continues apace as the excesses of the 1980s are exposed. Codes of Ethics have been a high profile instrument in the American business scene. A survey of Australia's largest business corporations reveals a different situation. Codes are not as commonly used, tend to refer to legal requirements and do not have as high a profile within the corporation. Given the changing legal framework in Australia a greater role for Codes of Ethics may emerge.Dr. Bruce N. Kaye is Master of New College, the University of New South Wales, (1983-) and Director of the New College Institue for Values Research (1987-). He was formerly Vice-Principal of St. John's College and University Lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity, University of Durham, U.K., Dr. Theol. University of Basel, BD London, BA Sydney, Research Fellow Deutche Akademische Austanchdieuste 1974, and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His publications includeRight and Wrong at Work, Ethical Aspects of Labour Relations in Australia, Australian Youth and the Protestant Work Ethic.     

In the service of the society: The labour management practices of an Australian life Insurer to 1940

This article considers the labour management practices in use in the Australian life insurance industry during the inter-war period. Using the Australian Mutual Provident as a case study, it is argued that the specific human resource management practices evolved to deal with separate sets of problems arising from the functions of the life insurance business and the manner in which the principal/agent problem was manifested. The differing nature of work associated with the sales and management of life insurance fostered the development of primary and secondary labour markets in which the benefits flowing to one were superior to those accruing to the other.     

A Challenge-Feedback Learning Approach to Teaching International Business

This article introduces a challenge-feedback learning (CFL) approach based on the goal-setting theory of human motivation, the deliberate practice theory of expert performance, and findings from the research on active and collaborative learning. The core of the teaching concept is the CFL cycle in which students repeatedly progress through four steps (Challenge–Act–Feedback–Reflect). Upon completion of one cycle, a new, more complex challenge is introduced in which students have the chance to go beyond their current skills level. The article also presents an example for an implementation of the CFL approach in an international business (IB) curriculum. The CFL approach is particularly useful for acquiring the problem-solving, adaptation, communication, metacognition, and intercultural teamwork skills needed in IB practice.     

A Partnership Model of Corporate Ethics

The stock market crash of 1987 had a profound effect on corporate Australia and the Australian community in general. The fall-out revealed that some of our most respected business figures had not been as ethical, or even as lawful, as we would have hoped. This impropriety produced in Australia an awakening to business ethics. Whilst many companies endeavoured to introduce ethical practices into their corporations, they perceived ethics as a way of minimising damage to the corporation and in some cases as a means of competitive advantage. What was lost was the reason that one should embark on business ethics; and that is to make the society and corporate Australia a more ethical place in which to exist.This paper proposes a model based on 2 factors: commitment and partnerships, as a means of enabling corporate Australia to refocus attention on the main purpose of being inherently ethical in all that we do. This ethical model requires a commitment to partnerships with all stakeholders both internal and external in an attempt to enhance the level of ethical business practices that are contemplated and pursued within corporate Australia. Whilst the research agenda and the information collected is Australian-based, it is hoped that the ideas contained within this paper will have a wider appeal to corporations in similar cultural settings.     

Technology Acquisition,Firm Capability and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Case Study of Australian Glass Manufacturers Ltd, 1915–39

In 1915, Australian Glass Manufacturers Ltd (AGM) adopted a strategy of technology acquisition to ensure its survival and to establish a sustainable competitive advantage. By 1935, AGM was largely vertically integrated and its core container glass business was an Australian monopoly. AGM had also diversified into commercial glass and consumer goods production and was Australia's first manufacturer of flat glass. The analysis adopts the framework of the new institutional theory of the firm and focuses on the sourcing, assessing and securing of appropriate technologies. It is argued that operationalising the strategy crucially depended on developing managerial and technical know-how. It required the development of specialised teams and new effective precedents, and involved an extended period of learning by doing. AGM also comprises a limiting case for the historiographical stereotype of Australian manufacturing firms as inward looking and largely reliant on British technology in the inter-war period.     

Collaborative collective bargaining: Toward an ethically defensible approach to labor negotiations

In this paper I explain the present adversarial collective bargaining process (ACB) and then critique it on legal and ethical grounds. A new methodology, that I describe as the collaborative collective bargaining process (CCB), will then be explained and similarly critiqued. I argue that replacing the present ACB model with the CCB model will result in better long-term results for all parties concerned. This is because the ACB model is comparable, in many respects, to the adversarial process used in court litigation. It is a combat model based on power. ACB makes the battle lines clear, and it grants victory to the more convincing display of power, but it leaves casualties. Indeed it cannot operate except upon the casualties of the opposing party, and those casualties are the basis for ever-renewed combat. Tactics employed in ACB to achieve victory include deception, lying and the abandonment of truth as a moral value. I argue that, in sharp contrast, CCB can foster an environment which encourages candor and truthfulness. By following the CCB model, the parties can avoid the negative and self-defeating elements of ACB and can work together toward mutually beneficial goals by the use of an ethically defensible approach to labor negotiations. Frederick R. Post, J.D., M.B.A., is Assistant Professor of Business Law and Management at The University of Toledo. His research interests include business ethics and labor management relations. Professor Post teaches labor policy courses. Previously, he spent twelve years as a labor lawyer and has represented employers as chief negotiator in adversarial collective bargaining with many private sector international unions. He is the author of A Management Perspective on Collective Bargaining (1985) and Unionization Under the National Labor Relations Act: Organizing Through Collective Bargaining (1979).