法式贵族生活蒙太奇

高大的古树下,Philippe Hurault伯爵坐在草坪的白色长凳上,看着一百米外的城堡。温暖的阳光下,城堡的蓝色屋顶和周围的一切都是那么安静。他浅喝了一口温和的上等葡萄酒,咀嚼着嘴里配以柠檬酱马铃薯块的焗帘蛤,满意却又疑惑的咕噜着要是有韭菜、红枣、百里香烹调出的小羊肉就更好啦!我坐的这白色长凳好像以前没有!确实,白色的木质长凳是后来修建的。同时,我站在艾斯克丽蒙城堡酒店的人工湖边的草坪上,这也是假设我拍摄的一部法国惊险悬疑电影的开始镜头。     

缤纷里昂

从戴高乐机场乘坐TGV(高速列车)区区不过两个小时,我就已经从车窗之外看到了高大的里昂银行大楼。和之后到访的法国其他城市相比,里昂的色彩是眩目的:湛蓝色的天空,红色屋顶的楼群,穿城而过的隆河和索恩河上绿色的河水以及遍布城市大街小巷之中的各色花朵。整个城市就像被染坊里的色彩粉刷过一般。在里昂我住在来法国求学一年多的师兄那里,他的家在索恩河左岸的富尔敏丘上,这片地区全部被联合国划定为人类文化遗产保护区。房东的房子是所祖宅,建造年头实在久远,斑驳的墙壁上甚至可以寻找到古罗马人刻在上面的文字。高大的房子大概建于十四五世纪的时候,没有任何钢筋水泥的结构,完全是用整块整块的石头垒砌而成。在户外炎炎的夏日阳光之下暴晒过之后,推开厚重的大门回到房子里,感觉就像一道大门隔开了两个季节:     

地摊归来，草根化的全新创业实练

[前语]地摊是创业的前奏。地摊与商铺的区别只在于我们不用交租金。摆地摊不会没面子,同样我们也叫老板。在重庆地摊联盟的网站上,这样的标语是地摊族的心声。都市迷离的夜色里,行人归家的路途中,越来越多的地摊,重新出现在城市最生动的画面上。在上世纪80年代,地摊曾被认为是没面子的生意——甚至称不上生意,只是就业无门者被迫的谋生手段。而现在的地摊族,则心怀自豪与坦然,他们用地摊推广产品,积累资金,用地摊的形式完成创业最初的起步过程,他们甚至把结成地摊联盟作为时兴。当地摊重新归来,改变的,不只是产品与特色,更是对于创业、对于生意的观念。     

我国林业可持续发展的非正式制度选择

相对正式制度而言,意识形态等非正式制度对促进林业可持续发展的功能是辅助性的,但意识形态等非正式制度有时会成为制度创新和变迁的推动力量.针对林业外部性的存在,本文认为,单纯依靠制度的规范是难以彻底克服的,因此为弥补制度的不足而进行的社会道德教育,对林业的良性、稳定发展具有重要的意义.     

从外包到众包的商业模式变革及启示

外包提高了企业的效率,这已经成为众多现代企业运转中不可缺少的一种分工协作方式.随着企业分工的深入发展,更有价值的商业模式即众包,正渗透到许多企业的生产实践中.外包是专业化规模经济下的产物,强调的是剥离非核心业务;而众包则受益于市场差异化、多样化带来的创新潜力,是更加个体的行为,两者涵义有着本质的不同.本文立足于现实,对两者的内涵做了深入的对比,分析了众包迅速发展的原因,阐述了众包对组织的影响,最后把着落点放在国内企业上提出了相应的启示.     

Homestay:住进陌生人家

选择B&B的理由1.个人化的风格,大多数的B&B的主人是个人,而经营依赖的是口口相传的口碑,这就意味着主人必须有自己独特的方式让你在这儿待得最舒适。进一步说,B&B也就那么几个客人,所以相比较而言,得到的关注更多一些。还有,客人在吃早餐的时候,很容易就交上朋友呢。     

只做配件精加工 十年成就“金牌”供应商

迦南饰品成立于1998年,原是温州木禾企业的在义乌的一个分部。经过十年的发展,"迦南饰品"以精湛的工艺技术、丰富的品种和前卫的款式,在众多的采购商中留下了非常良好的印象,其美誉度已经在国内外市场广为传播。企业总经理金达先生是一位三十多岁,血气方刚的温州商人。     

每一个箱子后面，都有个故事——Rimowa行李箱传奇

当你身在旅途,远离家人的时候,身边的旅行箱往往就扮演了关键性的角色。以旅游起家的Louis Vuitton,Damier Geant系列以轻巧耐用的帆布材质为主;专门从事旅行箱设计的Samsonite、Tumi也分别在材质、造型与轻便性上下工夫。至于本文的主角Rimowa,和以上品牌的不同之处在于,这个附有沟槽设计、历史绵延一个多世纪的德国品牌,俨然成为成功人士的必要装备,Rimowa这个名字,更成为商务+实用的代名词。     

有理违法要担责

在农村时常碰到这样的情况,邻里的畜禽棚舍搭在上风向,常常散发出异味;或者田地宅院边界的树木枝权伸长遮挡了他人的阳光。遇到这样的情况,感觉受损的一方有时会私下对对方的棚舍、树木等进行有意的破坏或清除,自以为对方因理亏而毫无办法。但事情的结果往往不是想象的那样,有的人看     

我国外汇储备过快增长的利弊分析

改革开放以来,我国对外开放程度日益提高,利用外资规模不断扩大,尤其是1994年外汇体制改革后,大规模国际资本的持续流入,不仅造成了我国资本项目的巨额顺差,同时也造成了我国经常项目的巨额顺差,这种国际收支持续的"双顺差".是我国外汇储备高速增长的直接原因.外汇储备的快速增长增强了我国的综合国力,提高了我国的国际资信,加速了国民经济的发展.但外汇储备高速增长给人民币升值和通贷膨胀带来压力,同时增加了储备资产管理的难度和风险.我国外汇储备快速增长吸引了众多学者的关注.对外汇储备快速增长的原因进行定量分析,指出存在的风险并进行前景预测,具有非常重要的现实意义.     

How the Netherlands became a bicycle nation: Users,firms and intermediaries, 1860–1940

In 1925, the Netherlands was a country of cyclists and cycle producers, as all classes cycled and almost all cycles were produced domestically. The bicycle was not a Dutch invention and the country had an open economy, and this raises the question ‘how did the Netherlands become a bicycle nation?’ This article investigates the interactions of users, firms and intermediaries from 1860 to 1940 and how these impacted the bicycle, its production and its use. Furthermore, it analyses knowledge flows and the roles of intermediaries. It illustrates changes in activities and the relevance of interactions between users, firms and intermediaries, and the effects of World War I. It shows how user organisations created an infrastructure and culture which made cycling Dutch. Firms created a cartel which produced bicycles that were wanted and used by all Dutch, as they were made in the Netherlands.     

Price and Quality Strategies for Services:

Developing effective price and service quality strategies requires an understanding of the effect of price and service quality on buyers' attitudes, intentions and purchase decisions. Consumer Involvement is an important variable that may interact with price and service quality, and is the focus of this research. This paper examines the influence of involvement, price and service quality on attitudes and intention to purchase automobile insurance and long-distance telephone services.     

Organics: marketplace icon

This essay explores and debates the status of organics as a marketplace icon. Organic products are somewhat unique in having a place in both mainstream and niche markets. The breadth of organic products and sales continue to rise, and certification processes have become more sophisticated, stringent and successful. Organics are loved and loathed by consumers, and loved and loathed (and often parodied) in popular culture. The market is both friend and enemy of organic products and organic consumers. What organics mean is complicated and confusing, and their benefits for both the natural environment and human health are contested. Scrutiny of organics allows us to explore how the relationship between regulations, the market and popular culture contribute to the development of an icon, firmly rooted in the marketplace, while also maintaining its status as ambivalent commodity. I conclude that organics are indeed marketplace icons – but decline to offer advice on whether or not I recommend becoming an organic consumer (despite my own avid purchase of all things organic).     

Strengthening Globalization’s Invisible Hand: What Matters Most?

In this paper, we investigate what matters most to sustaining strong economic growth in today’s more globalized, knowledge economy. An examination of 2005- 2006 statistical and survey data across 52 countries reveals that economic growth is driven mainly by developed and trustworthy financial markets, a well-educated and skilled workforce, and access to information and communications technologies. Moreover, we find that creditworthy financial markets are strengthened by free and open economies based on the rule of law and legal protections. Our findings support the notion that innovative ideas and entrepreneurship are at the heart of economic growth. However, these ideas need support from institutional policies and practices that create and sustain growth by providing needed protections and a market in which to finance them. JEL Classification F02, F16     

Knowledge and training in family firms of the European periphery: Spain in the eighteenth to twentieth centuries

This article is a first attempt to explore the relationship between training and entrepreneurship in Spanish family firms. It examines changes and continuities over time, and relates the evolution of the training practices of Spanish family firms to the technical and economic conditions of the first and second industrial revolutions. The article demonstrates the interaction betweeen technical and educational ideas, the creative adaptation to the entrepreneurial needs of regions and economic sectors, and institutional conditions. It is organised in three main sections. The first briefly introduces new institutional and sociological theories applied to the study of the formation of business groups. The second summarises existing literature and research that deals with knowledge transference and business training in Spanish family firms, and provides a general survey of informal and formal business education in eighteenth to twentieth-century Spain. The third presents case studies of changing training practices in big and old family firms, and relates this evidence with theoretical and institutional insights.     

Mapping symbolic (anti-) consumption

Rejection is at the heart of anti-consumption and is therefore key to some of the central relationships in symbolic consumption. However, researchers find rejection difficult to study because of the lack of material traces. This article draws on earlier frameworks to develop a new integrated and expanded conceptualization in order to achieve a more nuanced view of how rejection operates within symbolic consumption; and also to initiate research directions for investigating and theorizing rejection in anti-consumption. The focus on anti-consumption incorporates the interaction between avoidance, aversion and abandonment, and the relationship between distastes and the undesired self (mediated by the marketing, social and individual environments). A series of interrelationships and illustrations suggest how the expanded conceptualization is useful for theorizing and investigating anti-consumption.     

Striking a Balance Between Rules and Principles-based Approaches for Effective Governance: A Risks-based Approach

Several recent studies and initiatives have emphasized the importance of a strong ethical organizational DNA (ODNA) to create and promote an effective corporate governance culture of trust, integrity and intellectual honesty. This paper highlights the drawbacks of an excessively heavy reliance on rules-based approaches that increase the cost of doing business, overshadow essential elements of good corporate governance, create a culture of dependency, and can result in legal absolutism. The paper makes the case that the way forward for effective corporate governance is to strike an optimal balance between rules-based and principles-based approaches. The recent corporate scandals have demonstrated that the ethical ODNA is critical to the driving force and basis of legal and regulatory requirements. Effective governance means adhering to ethical principles, not merely complying with rules, and is a crucial guardian of a firm’s reputation and integrity. It is through an effective corporate governance program (that is, one that optimally captures and integrates the appropriate aspects of rules-based and principles-based approaches, and identifies and assesses the related risks) that an organization can reconfigure its ODNA for improved performance. Focusing on the ethical ODNA as the basis of new governance measures provides an opportunity to develop a competitive advantage as it represents a potential source of differentiation, strengthens the relationship with all stakeholders of the organization by building a culture of trust and integrity, and re-instills investor confidence. This paper employs dialectical reasoning that links the ODNA through principles-driven rules in developing a risks-based approach. A comparison from a risk assessment perspective between rules-based and principles-based approaches is presented. Although there have been few applications employing dialectical reasoning in business research, this methodology can be extremely useful in isolating ethical issues and integrating them into the business process. The risks-based approach captures the benefits of both rules-based and principles-based approaches, and incorporates trust-based principles such␣as solidarity, subsidiarity and covenantal relationships.Sundera Arjoon is a Senior Lecturer in Ethics at the Department of Management Studies, The University of the West Indies, Trinidad, He has served as Head of Department (2002–2005) and as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (1996–2002). His publications have appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Markets and Morality, Global Development Studies, Social and Economic Studies, Applied Financial Economics, and the Journal of Eastern Carribean Studies. His current teaching and research interests include ethical decision-making, corporate governance, virtue ethics and familial ethics.     

Factors Associated with Opinion Seeking

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between opinion seeking and cultural values and individual characteristics in the context of electronic products by surveying cosmopolitan adults of 15 nationalities, namely, American, Australian, British, Dutch, Filipino, German, Hong Konger, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, New Zealander, Singaporean, Swedish, and Thai. It finds (i) positive correlation between opinion seeking and power distance, category knowledge, category purchase intention, category innovativeness, opinion giving, market maven, brand loyalty, and susceptibility to interpersonal influence, (ii) negative correlation between opinion seeking and the masculinity and uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions, category ownership, self-esteem, education, and age, and (iii) no correlation between opinion seeking and individualism, long-term orientation, and risk taking. It then discusses the managerial implications of the findings.     

Traditional Sushi for Modern Consumers: A Comparison Between Sushi Consumption Behavior in Japan and Norway

This study focused on differences between uses and users of sushi and sashimi in Norway and Japan. The study was based on a consumer survey that was completed by a representative sample of 902 participants from Norway and 897 participants from Japan. The survey included questions about food consumption frequency, ways of sourcing sushi and sashimi and situational factors related to consumption. Participants also reported their knowledge about, attitudes toward, and ambivalence related to sushi and sashimi, social acceptability of sushi and sashimi consumption, domain-specific innovativeness, and social and demographic characteristics. Differences in sushi consumption behavior between Japanese and Norwegian consumers considering the situational parameters surrounding sushi and sashimi consumption were revealed. Considerations for future research and implications on export strategy development were discussed.