Does It Make Sense to Be a Loyal Employee?

Loyalty is a much-discussed topic among business ethicists, but this discussion seems to have issued in very few clear conclusions. This article builds on the existing literature on the subject and attempts to ground a definite conclusion on a limited topic: whether, and under what conditions, it makes sense for an employee to offer loyalty to his employer. The main ways in which loyalty to one’s employer can contribute to human flourishing are that it makes the employee more trustworthy and therefore more valuable as an employee; makes it easier to form authentic relationships in other areas of the employee’s life; expands the employee’s field of interests and gives her or him a richer identity; provides greater motivation for the employee’s work; makes it possible to have a greater unity in the employee’s life; improves the performance of the organization for which the employee works; contributes to the protection of valuable social institutions; and, in so far as many employees share an attitude of loyalty towards the organization which employs them, it becomes possible for this organization to become a true community. Last, but not the least, loyal relationships have an inherent value. The article also reviews the main arguments that have been offered against employee loyalty and concludes that none of them offers a reason why it would be inappropriate in all cases for an employee to be loyal to her or his employer. The force of these arguments depends on the specific attributes of the organization for which the employee works. The main conclusion of the article is that while being a loyal employee involves risk, it has the potential to contribute significantly to the employee’s fulfilment. The main challenge for employees is to identify employers who are worthy of being loyal to.     

大型体育旅游事件营销问题研究——基于旅游动机和旅行限制的因素

通过研究发现,事件吸引力和人们对于限制因素的感知程度居中,完全削弱了旅游动机和潜在参与者背景对于参与奥运会旅游可实行性的影响;财务方面的限制因素会影响人们参与奥运会的渴望程度;渴望社交和追求励志性对事件吸引力和人们渴望参与奥运会的程度有一个直接和积极的作用和影响。作为奥运会举办方,应该认识到体育事件市场营销交流和沟通的重要性。     

The Forms and Limits of Insurance Solidarity

What makes insurance special among risk technologies is the particular way in which it links solidarity and technical rationality. On one hand, within insurance practices ‘risk’ is always defined in technical terms. It is related to monetary measurement of value and to statistical probability calculated for a limited population. On the other hand, and at the same time, insurance has an inherent connection to solidarity. When taking out an insurance, one participates in the risk pool within which each member is reciprocally responsible for others’ risks. The combination of technical controllability and solidarity has made insurance a successful tool for governing welfare societies during the twentieth century. From the point of view of business ethics, it is interesting that, as we argue in this article, the connection between insurance and solidarity is not limited to social welfare assemblages, but is evident in relation to private insurance as well. At the same time, however, it is important to understand that insurance does not advance all forms of solidarity. Hence, this theoretical article analyzes the specific conceptions of solidarity that the different forms of insurance practice produce. Particular emphasis is put on the distinction between ‘chance solidarity’ and ‘subsidizing solidarity’. The main questions of the article are: What kinds of conceptions of solidarity are built in the insurance technology? And how are the limits of solidarity defined and justified in different forms of insurance?

     

Some Ethical Considerations on the use of Criminal Records in the Labor Market: in Defense of a New Practice

Employers’ access to and use of criminal records as a selection mechanism in the labor market makes it far more difficult for ex-offenders to find jobs, especially regular, well-paid jobs, than those without criminal convictions. The paper asks whether there is anything morally problematic about this practice. The aims of the paper are twofold. First, arguments based on premises of wrongful discrimination against the current, commonest use of criminal records are critically discussed. It is argued that employers do not necessarily engage in morally wrongful discrimination against job applicants when they use criminal records in recruitment screening, but it is also argued that ex-offenders who apply for jobs are subject to what can be called “structural and morally wrongful discrimination” when laws allow employers to request (or directly access) a job applicant’s full criminal record. Second, preliminary proposals on how criminal records can be used by employers in a way that avoids wrongful structural discrimination of ex-offenders will be presented and critically assessed. I suggest that it should be lawful for an employer to access an applicant’s criminal records only where there is a relevant and special match or link between the crime on the records and the job being applied for and the crime is serious. This proposal is defended against two objections, one based on concerns about crime prevention and the other based on the employer’s interest in knowing whom not to hire.     

Culture and the Star-Power Strategy: Comparing American and Korean Response to Celebrity-Endorsed Advertising

ABSTRACT

Given the wide interest in celebrity endorsements in advertising, it is surprising that there are no quantitative cross-cultural studies on their effectiveness across target audiences. Previous content-analytic research makes assumptions about effectiveness, but has not examined these assumptions. Our article fills this gap by comparing American versus Korean student samples’ response to celebrity-endorsed ads. We find these cultures diverge in purchase intentions after viewing celebrity-endorsed ads. We also find the emphasis of intuitive moral domains drives purchase intentions. Our discussion focuses on marketing implications as well as outlining future directions for this surprisingly underexplored research area.     

我国涉案WTO争端解决的国内法审查以及应对研究

随着我国加入WTO之后的国际贸易地位日益提高,贸易争端也接踵而至。我国在WTO被诉争端解决案件均涉及国内法,并不得不接受WTO争端解决机构的审查,从而对我国在扩大改革开放的新形势下如何建立健全国内法制,构成了前所未有的挑战。本文首先在界定此类审查的含义基础上,分析了WTO争端解决机构对已决案或待决案涉及的我国国内法进行审查的实践;然后提出应区分WTO争端解决机构审查我国涉案国内法的一般与特殊标准,并据此结合案例展开我国涉案的分析,指出两者一致的客观评估理念;最后从加强研究WTO法律框架下的国内法解析、建立与之适应的我国涉案国内法的举证机制和依据有关审查标准完善国内法这三方面,提出应对我国涉案的国内法审查以及在新形势下推进我国法制建设的路径。     

Guest editorial: perspectives on sustainable consumption

The typical guest editorial within a special issue of a journal will explain the theme of the special issue, introduce the different contributions that follow, outline the contributions that each makes and identify the common threads that connect them. By contrast, this editorial article seeks to provide an overview which explores the broader context for the challenges that are presented by the pursuit of ‘sustainable consumption’ as a field of scholarship, a form of behaviour and a public policy goal. It explores some of the complexities involved in understanding sustainable consumption, and the ways in which conventional approaches to understanding consumption and consumer behaviour may be insufficient to understand and promote sustainable consumption.     

WTO发展中成员地位改革及中国应对建议

发展中成员的特殊与差别待遇是当前WTO改革中的重点议题。美国在WTO提案提议取消多数发展中成员的特殊与差别待遇,美国总统特朗普更是威胁WTO如果不能就发达国家和发展中国家的"过时"二分法做出实质性改革,美方将不再承认任何一个发展中国家的特殊地位。欧盟的《WTO现代化概念文件》则倾向于鼓励发展中成员自愿"毕业"。本文基于WTO内发展中成员并无明确标准、特殊与差别待遇是WTO核心宗旨和基本原则,分析了特殊与差别待遇的历史渊源,当前解决特殊与差别待遇问题的几种思路,指出中国仍是发展中国家,不能放弃发展中成员身份,并提出了相应的政策建议。     

基于日本地震背景下某公司供应风险评估

今年3月的日本大地震震断了全球产业链,暴露了供应链的脆弱性。特别是由于我国是日本汽车零部件的进口大国,此次地震必将对我国的汽车制造业造成影响。本文将以此为背景,以某汽车制造公司为例,通过观察其地震发生后一系列连锁反应,以供应风险为研究对象,建立供应风险的评价指标体系,并模糊综合评价法评价供应风险的大小。国内专门针对供应风险的研究尚属空白,因此本文的研究将在一定程度上弥补这方面的不足。     

市场结构与家电零售厂商绩效——基于一线城市数据的实证检验

本文采用2002-2008年18个一线城市家电零售企业层面的数据,对家电零售行业市场结构与利润的关系进行了研究。结果表明,我国家电零售行业市场份额和市场集中度对利润率的影响都比较微弱,无论是基于合谋的SCP假说还是基于单方面效应的相对市场势力假说都不成立。而X-效率变量既与利润率呈显著正相关,又与市场份额呈显著正相关,因此相对于其他三种假说,X-效率结构假说对家电零售行业市场结构-利润关系更有一定程度的解释力。由于国美对永乐、大中的并购既没有提升利润,也没有增加市场势力,所以不应采取过分严厉的反垄断并购政策。     

Germany’s Post- Wirtschaftswunder Struggle

For many years after World War II, Germany’s economic output grew very rapidly—a period commonly referred to as the “Wirtschaftswunder,” or economic miracle. It came to an end in the 1970s. This paper addresses three questions: Why did growth decline after the 1970s? Why did Germany take so long to embark on reforms? What is the economic outlook today? It argues that two factors were responsible for falling growth: the end of the post-World War II economic catch-up and a failure to reform the economy in response to shocks. Because of Germany’s political system, economic reforms require broad popular support. However, this support changes constantly due to frequent elections, which makes it difficult for governments to push through ambitious reforms that typically have payoffs stretching beyond electoral cycles. Nonetheless, the depth of the 2001-05 economic downturn and Germany’s comparatively poor economic growth performance in Europe have by now forged a general agreement on the need for change. The European Union, notably with its policies that combat state aid and that call for sound fiscal positions, has played an important role in forging this agreement. Accordingly, Germany’s economic outlook has by now improved noticeably, although significant challenges remain.     

The dark side of innovation: How new SKUs affect brand choice in the presence of consumer uncertainty and learning

New product activity is critical for sustained success of consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. However, the impact of new SKUs on the perceived quality, quality uncertainty and subsequent choice of the brand as a whole is, as of yet, not well understood. The authors study how new additions to the brand line shape consumers’ quality perceptions, and how this – next to the mere line length effect – influences their choice of brands over time. They do so in the setting of an emerging market (China), where new product activity is particularly pervasive. Using a unique scanner panel dataset of Chinese households over the period 2011–2014, they estimate a Bayesian learning model that accommodates varying quality, on two CPG categories, and for two types of new-product additions (new sensory SKUs vs. new non-sensory SKUs). They show that while adding new SKUs may lift the brand’s perceived quality level, it also makes consumers more uncertain about the quality of the brand – dampening their brand choice. This holds especially for light customers – an important part of the brand clientele. Managerial implications are discussed.     

China’s open-door policy and its significance for transformation of the economic system

The open-door policy of the People’s Republic of China is entering its 14th year in 1993. Petra Pissula and Dieter Lösch¹ presented a report in 1990 in which they took stock of the successes and failures of this policy by taking the special economic zones as an example, and they tended to assess China’s future foreign trade activities pessimistically. Further progress has occurred in the open-door policy since that time, so that a revised evaluation is necessary. The aim of the present article is to show the more recent developments and problems and to examine the relationships between reforms and the open-door policy, particularly from the point of view of system transformation.     

特别清算论——对我国公司法修改中的一点建议

特别清算,是与普通清算相对应的一种清算制度,其在日本公司法及我国台湾地区的公司法中均有规定,克服了普通清算对债权人利益保护不周的弊端,也避免了破产清算的高额花费,较好地兼顾了当事人自治与社会秩序,均衡了效益与公平。我国现行公司法中缺乏对特别清算的相关规定,进而造成了某些公司未经清算即丧失主体地位的情况,极大地损害了社会主义市场经济信用体制的建立,在未来公司法修改中,诚有加以填补的必要     

Supererogation: Beyond Positive Deviance and Corporate Social Responsibility

The special class of supererogatory actions—those that go “beyond the call of duty”—has thus far been omitted from the management literature. Rather, actions of a firm that may surpass economic and legal requirements have been discussed either under the umbrella term of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or the concept of positive deviance as articulated by the Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) movement. This paper seeks to clarify how “duty” is understood in these literatures and makes an argument that paradigmatic examples of corporate supererogation in fact lie beyond what is traditionally conceptualized as CSR and positive deviance. In so doing, this paper contributes to the growing body of research on Positive Organizational Ethics, as well as both the CSR and POS literatures, by presenting an extended deontological framework of CSR and bringing conceptual clarity to an otherwise muddied domain.     

资产证券化的会计确认难题及其解决方法

资产证券化凭其独特的构思和精妙的结构既使发起人获得所需资金同时又有效地分散了资产支持证券的风险 ,因此成为国际金融市场上的宠儿。但是伴随资产证券化的广泛应用 ,出现了资产证券化的会计确认难题———销售抑或融资 ,这是发起人 (融资方 )的内在动力、金融创新技术发展、外在制度以及传统方法的缺陷共同作用的结果。解决资产证券化的会计确认难题的关键在于设置金融工具的终止确认标准。会计界制定了金融合成分析法来解决资产证券化的会计确认难题。     

我国出口贸易环境成本内在化效应的实证分析与政策建议

从成本效应角度看,环境成本内在化对我国的出口贸易有负面影响;从创新效应角度看,环境成本内在化对我国出口贸易有正面影响。但综合起来看,创新效应对出口的积极影响弥补了成本效应对出口的消极影响,最终会促进中国出口。既然环境成本内在化有利于实现环境保护与出口增加的双赢,中国应当加强实施环境成本内在化政策,包括进一步提高环境标准、推进自然资源价格改革、改变排污收费政策等。中国实施环境成本内在化的政策应当是经济手段与管制手段并用,但若着眼于未来,应当逐渐转向以经济手段为主。     

试论快递服务合同保价条款

保价条款不仅是违约责任条款,而且从缔约目的和实际功能来看还具有担保性,后者表现为保价约定既通过事先特殊防范措施保障用户债权的实现,又通过对限赔条款的排除适用使用户方能够获得更为充分的救济,尤其是其对不可抗力这一法定免责事由的排斥,更表现出其优越于一般担保措施的超强担保力。正是这一性质使保价条款成为快递服务合同的从合同,而从合同在成立判断上的独立性决定了该条款是否成立应依独立合同的成立标准来判断。保价条款的成立既包括通常合同之一般要件,又包括反映其个性特征的某些特殊要件,即前者要求当事人应对保价之必要条款协商一致,并对是否保价做出肯定性勾选;后者要求快递企业依法对保价条款履行了提示义务,且寄件人在缔约时依约支付了保价费。在对保价条款进行效力评判时,应明确评价对象仅限于特定条款范围,属于快递企业自主经营权并作为双方缔约前提的事项,并非保价条款的效力评价对象。对于保价条款中的低保低赔约定,可以根据故意、重大过失造成财产损失的免责条款无效之法律规定否定其效力,但不应适用《中华人民共和国合同法》中有关格式条款的效力规范判定其无效,也不应依据该法中的显失公平规定对其予以撤销。     

The machinery of policy making in LDCs

At Nairobi, during this year’s annual conference of the International Monetary Fund, the Fund’s President, Mr Robert S. McNamara, called upon the LDCs to treat a more equitable distribution of personal incomes as a priority aim. However, the LDCs’ machinery for making policy decisions makes it very difficult to pursue such an aim.     

Foundations and Applications for Contractualist Business Ethics

Contractualism is one of the most promising ‘centers of gravity’ in business ethics. In this guest editorial we provide a concise roadmap to the field, sketching contractualism’s historic and disciplinary antecedents, the basic argumentative structure of the contract model, and its boundary conditions. We also sketch two main dimensions along which contributions to the contractualist tradition can be positioned. The first dimension entails positive versus normative theorizing – does a given contribution analyze the world as it is or how it ought to be? The second dimension involves four different levels of analysis that are commonly employed in contractualist business ethics: the nano, micro, meso, and macro levels. We then proceed to position the articles comprising this special issue along these two dimensions.