Social Media as the Missing Link: Connecting Communities of Practice to Business Strategy

Communities of Practice (CoP) have long been considered powerful Knowledge Management (KM) mechanisms. CoP, however, are often viewed independently from organizational goals and structures, as they are primarily seen as a means of individual knowledge sharing and learning. In this article, we argue that CoP supported by social media have great potential to contribute to organizational goals, such as business strategy. We seek to support this statement through an embedded case study that includes 54 CoP within a prominent multinational engineering firm. This investigation explores the extent to which CoP contribute to business strategy. The paper's contribution is in providing five guidelines for practice that outline how CoP can be best designed to contribute to business strategy and how social media can serve as the “missing link” to execute those guidelines.     

The Cultural Roots of Ethical Conflicts in Global Business

This study examines the cultural roots of ethical conflicts in the global business environment. It begins with a brief look at worldviews on ethical behavior in general. Based on this, it is argued that an in-depth understanding of ethical conflicts has been hampered by an overreliance on Western models and viewpoints. Three common sources, or bases, of ethical conflicts are discussed as they relate to business practices, including conflicts over tastes and preferences, the relative importance of moral imperatives compared to legal requirements, and people’s level of tolerance for different values among others. It is then argued that an understanding of ethical conflicts can be facilitated through different levels of understanding, including the meaning of universal values, the relationship between values and practices, and the existence of multiple levels of conflict within the same organizations or industries. These specific and interrelated ingredients in cross-cultural ethical conflicts form the basis for a broader discussion of the meaning of truth as it relates to such conflicts. The paper concludes with the need for more research that is cross-cultural and multidisciplinary in order to improve theory building and managerial practice.     

The Business of Business is the Human Person: Lessons from the Catholic Social Tradition

I describe an ethic for business administration based on the social tradition of the Catholic Church. I find that much current thinking about business falters for its conceit of truth. Abstractions such as the shareholder-value model contain truth – namely, that business is an economic enterprise to manage for the wealth of its owners. But, as in all abstractions, this truth comes at the expense of falsehood – namely, that persons are assets to deploy on behalf of owners. This last is “wrong” in both senses of the word – it is factually wrong in that persons are far more than business assets, they are supernatural beings, children of God; and it is morally wrong in that it is an injustice to treat them as the former when they are the latter. I draw upon the social tradition of the Catholic Church to recognize that the business of business is not business, but is instead the human person. Following Church teachings, I describe a person-centered ethic of business based upon eight social principles that both correct and enlarge the shareholder-centered ethic of much current business thinking. I discuss implications of this person-centered ethic for business administration.     

The International Dimension of Legal Environment of Business in Undergraduate Business School Curricula

The international dimension of business courses in colleges and universities has come a long way from the days when the existence of international business itself as an identifiable discipline in the undergraduate curricula was very much in doubt. The EWA Reoort. one of the earlier studies which orooosed to close the 'international' information gap in the American ;n&ersity education, concluded ". . . there is not now a formal body of knowledge, outside international economics sufficient to justice host of equal courses with "international" used mainly as an adjective." Payerweather, one of the pioneers of the internationalization of Amerlcan education argued, "Clearly, international business is not another functional field to be added alongside accountrng, finance, marketing" Those who viewed "international business as a distinctive field of study" were in the minority in the 1960s. To the uninitiated it still spells haziness and cannot readily be conceptualized as clearly as economics, accounting, mathematics, or law.     

我的地盘我做主：组织内领地行为与人际冲突的关系研究

领地行为是重要的、广泛存在的,然而在组织生活中却经常被忽视,相关的理论与实证研究较少,其理论体系尚未完全建立,极富研究价值。本文以组织内个体为研究对象,着力于剖析其领地行为与人际冲突的反应模式,以期从组织内领地行为的视角寻找到引发不同冲突的路径与作用机制,推动相关理论的发展,并为相应的管理实践提供理论指导和参考依据。研究结果表明：身份导向标记行为和预先防卫行为越多,关系冲突越少;控制导向标记行为和反应性防卫行为越多,关系冲突越多;只有预先防卫行为可以引发正向的任务冲突,其他领地行为不和任务冲突建立直接的联系。     

Business ethics: Conflicts,practices and beliefs of industrial executives

This paper presents the responses of 118 executives to a mail survey which examined their views of business ethics and various business practices. In addition to identifying various sources of ethical conflict, current business practices are also examined with respect to how ethical or unethical each is believed to be. Results are also presented which outline executive responses to four ethical business situations. Overall conclusions to the study are outlined, as well as future research needs.Scott J. Vitell is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi. His most important publications include A General Theory of Marketing Ethics (1986) (with Shelby D. Hunt) and Marketing's Contribution to Economic Development: A Look at the Last 30 Years (1985) (with Van R. Wood). Troy A. Festervand is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Festervand obtained his Ph.D. in 1980 from the University of Arkansas. His publications have appeared in the Akron Business and Economic Review, Journal of Small Business Management, and elsewhere. He is active in a number of organizations and a frequent participant at professional meetings.     

Corporate Social Strategy and the Generation of Benefits: Case Studies in the Brazilian Electricity and Supermarket Industries

In recent years, scholars and executives alike have devoted attention to the implications of Corporate Social Responsibility policies and practices as well as their relationship to strategy. The objectives of the present article are to investigate the interaction between corporate social responsibility and strategy and the benefits that this relationship can yield to companies. For this purpose, a qualitative multiple case study was made of four Brazilian corporations, two in the supermarket sector and two in the energy distribution sector, comparing a competitive and a monopolized sector in Brazil. The data were collected through interviews with executives from social and environmental areas and through secondary sources. The study finds that corporate social strategy provides several benefits, among them attracting and retaining valuable human resources and enhancing company image and reputation     

差异化战略在商战中的应用

在竞争日益激烈的商战中,企业如何避免与竞争对手的正面冲突,发挥自身独特的优势在市场上谋取一席之地?正确制定和运用符合本企业客观情况的发展战略,通过树立品牌形象、提供特性服务以及技术优势和技术创新等手段来强化产品特点,使得消费者感觉物有所值,甚至是物超所值是极其重要的。     

Interfirm Alliances in the Small Business: The Role of Social Networks

In light of the increasing importance of strategic alliances in shaping competition, this study explored whether the social network of small firm executives can be leveraged to facilitate the establishment of interfirm alliances. Analyses are based on a mail survey of 149 small manufacturing firms in the northeast United States. Results indicate that the social networks of senior executives account for 11–22 percent of the variance in the degree to which firms engage in alliances, depending on the type of alliance. Results also show that the number of interfirm alliances is positively related to several networking properties (propensity to network, strength of ties, and network prestige). Findings are discussed in the context of network theory, social embeddedness, and the overall implications for management researchers and practitioners.     

FOCUS: The Social Responsibility of Business: Who Are the Responsible Agents?

Resolving the strongly polarised debate about whether or not business has social responsibilities may call for distinguishing more clearly between a business as a non-moral agent with a purely financial raison d'être and its managers who may have wider and more complex commitments. The author worked as a financial manager in industry and taught at City University Business School for many years, and also served on the professional conduct appeal committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is currently co-writing his third book, a study on business strategy.     

文化维度视阈下国际商务文化意识的培养探索

经济全球化和我国企业的走出去战略日益凸显国际商务活动角色和作用。国际商务活动本质上是一种跨文化交际活动,其间隐藏了各国文化的价值观。只有深入了解各国的文化维度和价值观,国际商务活动的参与者才能在各类跨文化商务活动中游刃有余,顺利达成各自的目标和使命。为了深入了解各国的文化维度和价值观,从霍夫斯泰德的权力距离、不确定性的规避、个人主义和集体主义以及长期取向和短期取向四个文化维度着手,探讨国际商务文化意识的培养。进而使国际商务活动的参与者在商务活动中加以运用,顺利达成各自的目标和使命。     

制造业的下游战略及其商业运营模式探讨

分析了近年来制造业发展滞后于其它商业的主要原因,从战略角度提出了制造业新的经营战略——下 游战略,在阐述其核心理念的基础上,针对下游战略应采取的商业运营模式进行了探讨。     

“商务领航”业务品牌推广策略探析

<正>引言自20世纪90年代以来,整个电信业经过几次改革后发生了很大的变化,电信运营商都面临着向综合信息服务转型的压力。在激烈的市场竞争中,中国电信迫切需要向新的契合企业信息化     

Social Enterprise and the Capability Approach: Exploring How Social Enterprises Are Humanizing Business

ABSTRACT

This mixed-method empirical study applies the capability approach, a multidimensional framework for evaluating human development, to survey 115 social enterprises on their social activities. Findings reveal that social enterprises create services and programs that seek to meet an average of three types of human needs and are more likely to target some human needs more than others. Research implications include the creation of a model and a tool for applying the capability approach to examine social value creation in social businesses. Findings contribute to practice by introducing a tool that leaders of social organizations, consultants, or training institutions may use to design the social activities of social enterprises and other social businesses and organizations.     

Post-Partnership Strategies for Defining Corporate Responsibility: The Business Social Compliance Initiative

While cross-sectoral partnerships are frequently presented as a way to achieve sustainable development, some corporations that first tried using the strategy are now changing direction. Growing tired of what are, in their eyes, inefficient and unproductive cross-sectoral partnerships, firms are starting to form post-cross-sectoral partnerships (?post-partnerships’) open exclusively to corporations. This paper examines one such post-partnership project, the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), to analyse the possibility of post-partnerships establishing stable definitions of ?corporate responsibility’. We do this by creating a theoretical framework based on actor-network theory (ANT) and institutional theory. Using this framework, we show that post-partnerships suffer from the paradox of striving to marginalise those stakeholders whose support they need?for establishing stable definitions of ?corporate responsibility’. We conclude by discussing whether or not post-partnership strategies, despite this paradox, can be expected to establish stable definitions of ?corporate responsibility’.     

自由贸易条件下企业营销策略的基本走向

为有效应对环境变化带来的风险,抓住由此带来的发展机会,企业应当适时地审视自由贸易条件下的营销策略.对于面临着外国倾销、反倾销和保障措施等多重阻击的中国企业来说,必须明确满足和创造消费者是决定其营销策略的基本导向,约束价格竞争是其实现良性发展的基础,通过营销持续创新实行非价格竞争,有助于形成竞争与合作并存的局面,进而实现企业发展的良性循环.     

Generating Business Referrals for SMEs: The Contingent Value of CEOs' Social Capital

We examine how small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) chief executive officers' (CEOs) social capital (as measured by strength of ties and structural holes) can help them bring business to their firms through the spread of positive referrals. Based on a sample of 408 French SME CEOs, we find a direct effect of social capital. Such effect is contingent on the CEO's personality, with social capital being most beneficial to CEOs with low levels of conscientiousness. CEOs' social ties facilitate the distortion of information, thereby leading personal contacts to give referrals to and endorse a focal CEO, even in the presence of negative signals, such as low conscientiousness.     

家族企业社会责任:研究动态

尽管企业社会责任问题已引起学术界的广泛关注,但有关家族企业社会责任问题的研究却明显不足.文献研究表明,家族企业社会责任的内涵界定与测量、家族企业社会责任意识与行为、家族企业社会责任的影响因素、家族企业社会责任与组织竞争优势是目前家族企业社会责任研究领域的重要主题.由于家族企业是家族涉入企业所形成的复杂系统,基于家族涉入视角的家族企业社会责任研究是明晰家族企业与非家族企业社会责任差异性的一个尤其值得关注的主题.     

The Social Responsibilities of International Business Firms in Developing Areas

Three principles must be taken into account in assessing the social responsibilities of international business firms in developing areas. The first is an awareness of the historical and institutional dynamics of local communities. This influences the type and range of responsibilities the firm can be expected to assume; it also reveals the limitations of any universal codes of conduct. The second is the necessity of non-intimidating communication with local constituencies. This requires the firm to temper its power and influence by recognizing and responding to local concerns in the pursuit of its own objectives. The third is the degree to which the firm’s operations safeguard and indeed improve the social and economic assets of local communities. At issue is the question of adequate compensation for the inevitable disruptions that an international business brings to a local community. Beneficial returns must be shared and sustained over the long term in an equitable manner. The nine studies in this special edition illustrate in different ways the importance of these three principles. Joseph Smucker is Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University, Montreal. His research publications are in the areas of industrialization, labor markets, labor market policies, and models of economic development. Frederick Bird holds a Research Chair in Comparative Ethics at Concordia University, Montreal. He is the author of The Muted Conscience: Moral Silence and the Practice of Ethics in Business (1996), and has co-edited three volumes of essays on international business ethics: International Businesses and the Challenges of Poverty in the Developing World (2004), International Business and the Dilemmas of Development (2005), and Just Business Practices in a Diverse and Developing World 2006).     

文化维度视角下国际商务谈判的策略选择探索

国际商务谈判究其本质是一种跨文化交际活动,人们也逐渐意识到文化差异是导致跨文化商务谈判失败的主要原因。霍夫斯泰德的文化维度理论有助于国际商务谈判者更清楚地认识双方的思想文化特点并采取相应的谈判策略,让己方的利益最大化,同时让对方觉得合作有利,促进谈判的成功。