Mentoring receipt and personality: Evidence for non-linear relationships

The research investigates the relationship of the Big-Five of personality with mentoring receipt with the use of two independent studies. The findings of the studies show substantial consistency. Equations of quadratic form describe half of the tested relationships better than linear equations. The association of openness to experience and agreeableness with mentoring receipt is of inverted U-shape. The benefits of being open and agreeable for mentoring receipt cease to exist at high values of these traits. On the other hand, emotional stability and conscientiousness demonstrate exclusively positive linear relationships with mentoring receipt. The form of the relationship of extraversion differs between the two studies, but the overall trend is positive. The substantial quadratic component in the association of personality with receipt of mentoring means that research hitherto may be grossly underestimating the effects of personality on developmental relationships because earlier studies assume strictly linear associations. Parts of the results also imply that the associations of certain personality traits with mentoring receipt may depend upon the occupational context.     

Adventures in Misplaced Mentoring

As listed in an appendix to this editorial, JCA has published a number of articles and commentaries of cautionary guides for researchers. But a more basic issue comes from lapses in the students' doctoral education, or, as one member of the editorial board once put it, the lost practice of student mentoring which also applies to the lost guidance for new junior faculty.     

Mentoring: A Path to Prosocial Behavior

Public accounting firms can build integrity within their organizations through early detection of fraud. One way to reduce and detect fraud is to encourage whistleblowing as a prosocial behavior. We explore the impact of mentoring on intention to report fraud. A survey with 120 responses from the US public accountants suggests that quality mentoring relationships, a common feature in the profession, and caring ethical climate positively relate to internal reporting of fraud. Two intermediate variables, trust and affective commitment, mediate these effects. Mentor-relationship quality also increases perceptions of caring ethical climate. The study contributes to two bodies of research by (1) finding extended benefits from mentoring, beyond those typically discussed in academic literature; and (2) identifying a previously unexplored firm intervention capable of positively influencing prosocial behavior and combating fraud.     

Ethics in organizations: A framework for theory and research

In a climate of increasing interest and activity within the field of business ethics, as yet there exists no coherent conceptual framework for organizational theory and research. From a review of current thinking and previous writings a framework of concepts is suggested to help set an agenda for empirical research. The elements of this are, first, a taxonomy of ethical domains: the foci of organizations' and their agents' ethical concerns and conduct. Second, it is considered how ethical functioning might be analysed in terms of causal relationships between expressive forms, voluntary action and instituted forms. Third is discussed ethical process, the means by which ethical awareness is aroused. Fourth and last, the paper examines how normative evaluations might apply to the ethical condition of organizations and their agents, meaning change or stability in reputation and integrity. At each stage of the argument possible objectives for research are developed.Professor Nigel Nicholson is Chairman of the Organisational Behaviour Group and Director of the Centre for Organisational Research at London Business School. Previously, he led investigations into Individual and Organisational Change at Sheffield University's Social & Applied Psychology Unit, and has also held visiting appointments at American, Canadian and German universities. He has published 8 books and over 65 articles on a wide range of topics, and been honoured with an award from the Academy of Management for his contribution to theory.     

New developments in government consumer policy: A challenge for consumer organizations

In this paper, it is pleaded that consumer organizations ought to play a larger role in the development and execution of consumer policy at the national and international levels.The present environment in which government consumer policy operates is entirely different from that of one or two decades ago, and this necessitates the search for new avenues to pursue the consumer policy objective. Although government remains responsible for providing basic consumer protection, it should scrutinize its own organization in order to achieve a better integration of the consumer aspect in sectoral policies.Especially in the field of economic consumer protection, consumer organizations should start negotiations with business with a view to obtain, e.g., better contract terms and complaint handling mechanisms. If government maintains that the achievement of such goals is worthwhile from the consumer point of view and leads to a better functioning of markets, but wants to refrain from legal action, it should provide consumer organizations with the means to perform these negotiations. Consumer organizations are urged to accept this challenge.Further, the organization of EC policies and those of the Consumer Committee of the OECD are discussed. The roles of BEUC and IOCU within this framework are also dealt with.

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Neue Entwicklungen in der Verbraucherpolitik: Eine Herausforderung an die Verbraucherorganisationen

Zusammenfassung Das Umfeld staatlicher Verbraucherpolitik hat sich in den letzten beiden Jahrzehnten grundsätzlich geändert. Daraus ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit, bei der Verfolgung verbraucherpolitischer Ziele neue Wege zu finden. Den Verbraucherorganisationen sollte bei der Entwicklung und Durchführung politischer Maßnahmen auf nationalem und auf internationalem Niveau eine größere Rolle beigemessen werden.Sie sollten insbesondere im Bereich des Verbraucherschutzes in Verhand-lungen mit der Anbieterseite auf bessere Richtlinien für Kaufvertrags-Abschlüsse und für die Behandlung von Reklamationen drängen. Wenn der Staat einerseits diese Ziele sowohl unter verbraucherpolitischem sowie auch unter marktpolitischem Blickwinkel für wichtig hält, andererseits aber in diesem Bereich nicht gesetzgeberisch handeln will, sollte er die Verbraucherorganisationen materiell und personell in den Stand versetzen, diese Aufgaben wahrzunehmen. Die Verbraucherorganisationen sollten diese Herausforderung unbedingt annehmen.Auch internationale Gesichtspunkte der Verbraucherpolitik im Rahmen der EG und der OECD werden ebenso wie die Rolle von BEUC und IOCU im Rahmen dieser Vorschläge diskutiert.

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Joop Koopman is Director of Consumer Policy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, P.O. Box 20101, The Hague, The Netherlands.This contribution expresses personal views, which do not necessarily correspond exactly with official government thinking.     

Technology support for cooperative work: A framework for studying introduction and assimilation in organizations

This article draws on published research on the nature of the innovation process and exploratory field research in 10 companies to develop a framework for research on organizations’ introduction and assimilation of computer‐supported cooperative work technologies. The research reported in this article, part of a much larger study of the general process of innovation in organizations, focuses specifically on the transfer and assimilation of new technology innovations.

Technologies to support group process, communication, and coordination in face‐to‐face group meetings [electronic meeting support systems (EMSS)] were chosen to illustrate the use of the research framework. The article focuses on the transfer of these technologies from R“D units to target organizational units and the alignment of group, technology, and task during assimilation by end‐user groups. Research propositions are developed and discussed. Future articles will present the findings from current research that utilizes the frameworks presented in this article to study the introduction, transfer, and assimilation of EMSS in organizations.     

Alternatives for consumer policy: A study of consumer organizations in the FRG

The most important findings of a research project on consumer organizations in the FRG point to the necessity for an alternative orientation in consumer policy in circumstances of economic crisis. During the thirty years of their existence, consumer organizations have specialized in educating the consumer about the rules under which the market operates and have requested the suppliers to comply with these rules. The organizations are faced today, however, with the situation that the process of interaction between producer and consumer functions only to a limited extent as an instrument for securing the satisfaction of wants. Many indicators show that the dynamics of economic development are taking a hold on more and more spheres of life and are jeopardizing the substance of natural and social living conditions. The inquiry shows that the consumer organizations, in contrast to the numerous initiatives of those affected, have gained no effective access to this problem. This reinforces the tendency towards an unfruitful polarization between grassroots-oriented forms of protest and traditional, in part publicly financed and institutionalized, interest representation structures.

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Verbraucherpolitische Alternativen: Eine Untersuchung der Verbraucherorganisationen in der Bundesrepublik

Zusammenfassung Gegenstand des Forschungsprojektes waren Alternativen der Verbraucherpolitik und der Organisierung von Verbraucherinteressen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Innerhalbe eines kooperativen Arbeitszusammenhangs von 6 Forschungsteams bildet das Projekt einen Bestandteil des Verbundes EMPIRISCHE VERBRAUCHERFORSCHUNG. Die hier thesenhaft referierten Ergebnisse beziehen sich auf die Evaluation unterschiedlicher Verbraucherorganisationen in der BRD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Verbraucher, Verbraucherzentralen, Stiftung Warentest, Stiftung Verbraucherinstitut).Die Verbraucherorganisationen stehen gegenwärtig vor dem Problem, daß aus dem Umfeld von Konsum und Reproduktion Problemlagen entstanden sind, die mit der traditionellen Orientierung der Verbraucherorganisation an Markt und Wettbewerb allein nicht mehr effizient zu bearbeiten sind. Umwelt- und Gesundheitsgefährdung, Verknappung der Rohstoffe sowie die Zerstörung traditioneller Lebens- und Kommunikationsformen bilden Stichworte einer gesellschaftlichen Diskussion, die als Indikator dafür zu werten ist, daß die Dynamik der ökonomischen Entwicklung auf immer mehr Lebensbereiche übergreift und natürliche und soziale Lebensbedingungen in der Substanz gefährdet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die Verbraucherorganisationen bisher keinen effizienten Zugang zu diesen Problemen gefunden haben und so die Tendenz zu einer unfruchtbaren Polarisierung zwischen basisorientierten Formen des Protestes und den traditionellen, teilweise öffentlich finanzierten und institutionalisierten Strukturen der Interessenvertretung verstärkt wird. Die Untersuchung geht daher der Frage nach, ob die für die gesellschaftliche Integration wichtigen intermediären Organisation so organisiert werden können, daß sie ihre Vermittlungsfunktion zwischen den zentralen gesellschaftlichen Entscheidungsprozessen und der Ebene alltäglicher Betroffenheit nicht verlieren. Dem stehen die korporatistischen Beziehungen zwischen den Verbraucherorganisationen und der Bürokratie entgegen, über die sich gegenwärtig die staatliche Option der Rückverweisung ökonomischer, sozialer und gesellschaftspolitischer Problemlagen an den Steuerungsmechanismus der Marktregulation auch in der Verbraucherpolitik durchsetzt. Ein deutlicher Hinweis ist die Tendenz zur Ökonomiesierung der Verbraucherorganisationen. Mit der zunehmenden Umstellung auf kommerzielle Angebote an Verbraucherinformation drohen sie zu Dienstleistungsunternehmen zu entarten. Der Alternativentwurf zielt darauf ab, daß die Verbraucherorganisationen, entgegen der bisherigen Konzentration auf Probleme des formalen Austauschprozesses zwischen Produzenten und Konsumenten, neue und u.U. konfliktäre Problemfelder des Konsumbereiches zum Selektionskriterium ihrer Tätigkeit machen. Soweit hierbei disparitäre Bedürfnisbereiche und nicht Marktprozesse den Ausgangspunkt bilden, wird die Orientierung der Verbraucherpolitik an Markt und Wettbewerb in Teilbereichen durch die Bedürfnisorientierung ergänzt.

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Bernd Biervert is Professor of Economics and Reinhard Rock is Professor of Business Administration, both at the Bergische Universität — Gesamthochschule Wuppertal, P.O. Box 10 01 27, D-5600 Wuppertal, FRG. Kurt Monse is Wissenschaftlicher Angestellter at the same university.     

Returning young adults: Implications for marketers

This article examines a growing phenomenon termed returning young adults or RYAs. It looks at currently held beliefs about the group, examines characteristics of a matched sample of RYAs and persons not living at home, and discusses implications about the viability of the RYA group as a segment of interest to marketers. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Marketing and distribution strategies for international organizations

Recently international organizations as e.g. the International Monetary Fund or the GATT have increasingly been criticized particularly by developing countries. Even the creation of a kind of super-UNCTAD is under discussion. Other institutions are also subjected to increasing pressure to justify the investments of their sponsors in terms of the “product” which they are offering. What about adequate strategies for the international organizations?     

Motivation to Manage in China: Implications for Strategic HRM

Since 1979, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has made tremendous economic progress. As a result, China and its management practices have received increasing research attention. Human resource management practices in China have been extensively explored elsewhere. Unfortunately, little research has dealt with the concept of hierarchical role motivation theory; its main construct, motivation to manage; and its potential implications for strategic human resource practices in the PRC. The study reported here is an attempt to fill this void.     

Protectionism in the European Union: Implications for Latin America

In the course of the 1990s EU exports to Latin American countries have grown considerably. At the same time, however, EU imports have increasingly favoured eastern Europe and the emerging Asian markets. Latin America continues to lose presence in European markets. What are the reasons for this? Is European protectionism the root of the problem?     

Entrepreneurial managers in large organizations

Success breeds resistance to change, and many organizations stifle and repress entrepreneurial workers. Yet, the person with the new ideas is often the one needed to guarantee the long-term success of the firm. Organizations need to nurture these innovators and employees must continue to practice creative dissent in order to maintain the American “can do” philosophy.     

Control system diversity: Implications for selling centers

It is often the case that members of selling centers are governed by different control systems (i.e., some selling center members are governed more by behavior controls while others are governed more by outcome controls). Surprisingly, there is little research which examines the impact of control system diversity (CSD) on selling center processes (e.g., decision comprehensiveness) and outcomes (e.g., performance). The present research integrates the literature on psychological stakes to show that CSD is positively related to decision comprehensiveness when psychological stakes are high but not when they are low. Decision comprehensiveness, in turn, is positively related to performance. This research uses data from multiple sources across 61 selling centers to provide novel insights into a new form of diversity and the under researched context of selling centers.     

Unequal Pricing in the Information Economy: Implications for Consumer Welfare

This article presents an economic analysis of information good pricing and consumer welfare, and discusses the implications of price discrimination in the information economy. It argues that network externalities, coupled with information asymmetry, enable a dominant marketer to price unequally, extracting late adopters surplus to compensate for the loss from early adopters. In the short term, the minority early adopters benefit by paying less, but in the long term, the majority late adopters suffer by paying more. Considering that late adopters are likely to be at a disadvantage in resources, this discriminatory pricing amounts to the poor subsidizing the rich. Based on this analysis, implications for consumer welfare are discussed.     

Assumptions in Decision Making Scholarship: Implications for Business Ethics Research

While decision making scholarship in management has specifically addressed the objectivist assumptions within the rational choice model, a similar move within business ethics has only begun to occur. Business ethics scholarship remains primarily based on rational choice assumptions. In this article, we examine the managerial decision making literature in order to illustrate equivocality within the rational choice model. We identify four key assumptions in the decision making literature and illustrate how these assumptions affect decision making theory, research, and practice within the purview of business ethics. Given the breadth of disciplines and approaches within management decision making scholarship, a content analysis of management decision making scholarship produces a greater range of assumptions with finer granularity than similar scholarship within business ethics. By identifying the core assumptions within decision making scholarship, we start a conversation about why, how, and to what effect we make assumptions about decision making in business ethics theory, research, and practice. Examining the range of possible assumptions underlying current scholarship will hopefully clarify the conversation and provide a platform for future business ethics research.