Righteousness and Profitableness: The Moral Choices of Contemporary Confucian Entrepreneurs

The present study takes Confucian entrepreneurs as an entry point to portray the dynamics and problems involved in the process of putting moral precepts into practice, a central issue in business ethics. Confucian entrepreneurs are defined as the owners of manufacturing or business firms who harbor the moral values of Confucianism. Other than a brief account of their historical background, 41 subjects from various parts of Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were selected for in-depth interviews. By studying the moral choices they made in the market, it was discovered that, contrary to the prevalent mode of inquiry in economics either to reduce all social phenomena to rational calculations or to consider moral actions in terms of utilitarian values, their economic action cannot be accounted for by the postulate of utility maximization, and that the efforts to do business according to their moral principles can be very costly. The study also attempts to document how these Confucian entrepreneurs reconciled the conflict between the moral values they cherished and the instrumental goals they pursued, and will seek to uncover how they responded when faced with this dilemma.     

Righteousness and Profitableness: The Moral Choices of Contemporary Confucian Entrepreneurs

This paper explores the relationship of various trait emotions to the ethical choices of 189 college students who completed a managerial decision-making task as part of an in-basket exercise in a laboratory setting. Prior research regarding emotion influences on ethical decision-making and linkages between emotions and cognition informed hypotheses about how different types of emotions impact ethical choices. Findings supported our expectations that positive and negative emotions classified as active would be more strongly related to interpersonally-directed ethical choices than to organizationally-directed ones, and that passive emotions would be less related to ethical choices than active emotions. Implications for ethical decision-making research and organizational practices are discussed.     

Multiples of Six: The Six Companies and West Coast Industrialization, 1930-1945

In this article I explore the protean organizational forms usedby the Kaiser and Bechtel construction companies between 1930and 1950. Kaiser and Bechtel prospered during the Depressionand World War II because, as members of the Six Companies consortiumof construction firms, they refused to adopt a "best practice"model of corporate organization drawn from the diversified manufacturingand distribution sectors. Instead, Kaiser and Bechtel used avariety of organizational forms to win numerous government contractsfor public works and defense production, transforming themselvesfrom small regional firms into substantial national and globalcorporations. I contribute to modern academic debate over thehistorical forms of business enterprise and the conjunctionof state consumption and private production.     

The Promising Stone Group Company

Arenowned non-governmental high-tech enterprise in China,Stone Group is an important force in the electronic informationindustry.Stone was born in May 1984 in Zhongguancun where the world high-techwave converged with the deluge of the Chinese reform. Without the investmentof a single cent from the state, some scientific andtechnological workers resigned from their publicposts to set up the company with a line of credit of20,000 RMB.The company was run under theprinciple of "raising fund by…     

The Dilemma of Growth: Understanding Venture Size Choices of Women Entrepreneurs

In recent years the number of women-owned firms with employees has expanded at three times the rate of all employer firms. Yet women remain underrepresented in their proportion of high-growth firms. A number of plausible explanations exist. To develop richer insights, a two-stage research project was undertaken. A mail survey was sent to a sample of female entrepreneurs to assess motives, obstacles, goals and aspirations, needs, and business identity. Based on the survey results, follow-up, in-depth interviews were conducted with entrepreneurs, selecting equally from modest-growth and high-growth ventures. In terms of quantitative findings, growth orientation was associated with whether a woman was "pushed" or "pulled" into entrepreneurship, was motivated by wealth or achievement factors, had a strong women's identity in the venture, had equity partners, and believed women faced unique selling obstacles. The qualitative research made clear that modest- and high-growth entrepreneurs differ in how they view themselves, their families, their ventures, and the larger environment. The results of both stages suggest that growth is a deliberate choice and that women have a clear sense of the costs and benefits of growth and make careful trade-off decisions.     

四集电视专题片边关第一集界碑叙说

1.(广西山区外景) 在广西大兴县硕龙镇中国与越南的边境线上,两棵野生的木棉树格外瞩目.     

失地农民利益表达的行动选择和理性思考

当前我国失地农民所拥有的组织资源、经济资源和文化资源相对不足,其利益表达空间狭小、利益表达通道不畅。失地农民权益受损关涉社会和谐稳定,引导和规范失地农民在良性互动中实现利益有序有效表达,对构建社会主义和谐社会,具有重要理论意义和现实意义。     

生命周期结束产品再生模式选择分析

本文认为,对生命周期结束的产品进行再造、翻新、再生是逆向物流的主要内容,也是企业管理的重要组成部分,对供应链具有重要意义。文章提出,影响再生模式选择的因素主要有两个:一是生命周期结束的产品是否适合拆解;二是再生处理的执行是否外包。这两个因素密切相关,决定着再生的四种可供选择的模式,即再生不拆解外包(低成本选择)、再生并拆解外包(折中的再生方式)、企业再生不拆解(控制物料和创建新的市场)、企业再生并拆解(通过循环供应链创造独特的价值),这四种模式都是可行的选择。外包必须在合乎环境要求的情况下进行,外包具有前期成本相对较低的优势,但也有风险。企业独自或积极参与再生,是企业发展的新思路。企业独自或积极参与再生并拆解,从竞争角度看是一种高风险的选择,要求企业固定资产投资较高并能引发企业发展战略的重大转移,这种选择一旦成功,企业将获得丰厚回报,减少或消除对原材料和市场的依赖性,减少环境风险,保证用户最终得到既经济又环保的新颖产品。     

The Location Choices of Multinational Firms: The Role of Internationalisation Experience and Group Affiliation

This paper investigates whether location choices of multinational firms depend on their past export, import or Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) experience on foreign markets or the experience of other affiliated firms. Regardless of locations' characteristics, we find that exporting in a given country, and to a smaller extent importing from it, significantly increases the probability of investing in that particular country the following year. This preliminary exporting phase appears more important for firsttime investors. Moreover, location choices not only depend on the investor's own international experience, but also on the international experience of other affiliated firms: firms tend to invest in countries where the group already exports or owns a local affiliate. These last findings suggest the existence of coordinated strategies and/or information sharing between affiliated firms.     

The Domestic Domain: Chances,Choices and Strategies of Family Households.

As a setting, the closing months of the twentieth century provide a significant challenge for authors mapping and analysing household behaviour. Increased longevity and changed patterns of working, of working lives and of the expectations household members have for their economic, social and emotional existence have transformed older certainties and conventions. Post-modern urban contexts have made us conscious of the diversity of household forms and, perhaps, of their relative transience. Finally, worldwide diversity in household patterns should remind us of the profound difficulties of shaping meaningful general models from on-going transformations based on different starting points and time-frames.     

Rehabilitation or Liquidation: Consumers' Choices in Bankruptcy

The purpose of this analysis is to identify the legal, environmental, and economic characteristics of debtors that are predictive of their Bankruptcy Code choices. The probability that debtors file under the rehabilitation procedure provided by the Bankruptcy Code (Chapter 13) is influenced by the availability of credit counseling as an alternative to bankruptcy and by the adverse effects of a liquidation bankruptcy (Chapter 7) on future ability to qualify for consumer and mortgage credit. More generous state laws protecting debtors' assets from liquidation in Chapter 7 have a negative effect on the probability that a debtor will contract to repay some debts out of future income in Chapter 13. The results also suggest that the enactment of the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984, which restricted Chapter 13 plans providing zero repayment of unsecured debts, precipitated a decline in the probability that nonbusiness debtors would choose the rehabilitation alternative.     

Choices on museum attendance: An agent-based approach

This paper presents an agent-based model to study museum attendance, with the final aim of evaluating how the rules on free admission affect charged visits. Heterogeneous agents of a population are assumed to make their choices over a bundle of goods and activities which include museum attendance along with other consumption and leisure-time alternatives. Simulations show that larger free-admission rules always lead to an increase in the number of total visits. A specific focus is dedicated to show which conditions let the free admittance policies induce an increment also in charged visits. Agents are characterized in terms of income and education. Addiction to cultural consumption is modelled both with and without reference to education. Specific aspects, such as crowd effects and renovation of exhibitions, are also considered, as features of the museum attendance.     

中国未来生育政策的选择

近年来社会上对是否应该放开中国的计划生育政策有很多争论。争论的起因是由于一些调查数据反映的和某些学者估计出的我国目前生育率非常低;鉴于低生育率已经给比较发达的国家带来了很多问题,所以有人呼吁中国的生育政策应该放开。通过对放开生育政策和不放开生育政策两种情形可能导致的人口学后果进行估计,结合国外的经验和教训,从低生育率的长期后果来分析如何合理地选择生育政策。为了避免人口达到零增长后的快速负增长、快速老龄化和人口规模的迅速减少,国家应该密切关注人们生育意愿的变化,必须在适当的时候放开生育政策,使生育水平保持在2.0左右,从而尽可能地避免长期的、过快的负增长给国家和社会带来更为严重的人口与社会经济问题。     

The Influence of Consumers' Environmental Sensitivity on Product Choices

Abstract

Given that current landfills are running out of space, consumers are becoming more concerned with reducing waste-particularly in product packaging. The literature cites conflicting findings regarding who is the environmentally conscious consumer. Some researchers have pointed to attitudinal characteristics while others emphasized demographic characteristics as predictors of environmental consciousness. Hence the purpose of the study was to predict the factors that influence intention to purchase environmentally packaged products. A convenience sample surveyed students enrolled in a southern California university (n = 179). The questionnaire was developed to assess respondents' attitudes regarding an organization's role in environmental conservation, societal orientation to physical surroundings, attitudes toward solid waste, intention to purchase environmentally packaged products and demographic characteristics. Results of Stepwise regression analysis indicated that attitudinal factors, not demographic characteristics, played a larger role in predicting intention to purchase environmentally packaged products at the p < 0.001 level. Implications of these findings suggest that marketers need to target those with strong attitudes toward the environment rather than market segment profiles based on demographic characteristics.     

中国未来生育政策的选择

近年来社会上对是否应该放开中国的计划生育政策有很多争论.争论的起因是由于一些调查数据反映的和某些学者估计出的我国目前生育率非常低;鉴于低生育率已经给比较发达的国家带来了很多问题,所以有人呼吁中国的生育政策应该放开.通过对放开生育政策和不放开生育政策两种情形可能导致的人口学后果进行估计,结合国外的经验和教训,从低生育率的长期后果来分析如何合理地选择生育政策.为了避免人口达到零增长后的快速负增长、快速老龄化和人口规模的迅速减少,国家应该密切关注人们生育意愿的变化,必须在适当的时候放开生育政策,使生育水平保持在2.0左右,从而尽可能地避免长期的、过快的负增长给国家和社会带来更为严重的人口与社会经济问题.     

White collar productivity: The search for the holy grail

The search for increased productivity has led to a great many claims about how it might be accomplished. Nowhere have the claims been more brazen and yet less well supported empirically than those made on behalf of the technologies designed to support office work. The paper examines some of the arguments and claims made, suggesting that most of them are off target. While the new technologies may be of substantial value, the emphasis should beon increased effectiveness, not on greater efficiency. Only then are the visions of the future likely to be fulfilled. David W. Conrath is Professor of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo. He was formerly Assistant Professor of Industry and Operations Research at the University of Pennsylviania. He has published more than fifty articles in such journals as: Management Science, Computer Networks, Behavioral Science, Canadian Medical Association Journal, New York State Journal of Medicine, Health Services Research, etc. He has been the founder and initial director of the Centre for the Evaluation of Communication-Information Technologies.     

白发和金发

面对老龄化的机遇与挑战,中欧各方特别是各行业企业完全可以取长补短,研究机构、NGO、政府间的合作也很值得期待。     

Collective Choices Under Ambiguity

We investigate experimentally whether collective choice environments matter for individual attitudes to ambiguity. In a simple two-urn Ellsberg experiment, one urn offers a 45 % chance of winning a fixed monetary prize while the other offers an ambiguous chance. Participants choose either individually or in groups of three. Group decision rules vary in the level of individual responsibility for the others’ payoffs: the collective choice is taken by majority, randomly delegated to two group members, or randomly delegated to a single group member. Although most participants display consistent ambiguity attitudes across their decisions, taking responsibility for the others tends to foster ambiguity aversion.     

国家粮食安全：现实挑战与路径选择

尽管我国粮食生产实现了“九连增”,但粮食安全并非高枕无忧。由于工业化、城镇化不断发展和人口递增趋势未减,保障粮食安全面临着诸多挑战,粮食安全仍需要引起全社会的高度关注。从我国粮食安全面临的现实挑战入手,本文提出我国实现粮食安全的现实路径：严格保护水土资源,改善生态环境、节约资源;加强农业技术创新,提高粮食单产的技术支撑;增强政策支持,改善种粮的经济效益;粮食生产立足国内,粮食贸易多元自主发展。     

Restaurant Food Choices by Moms: An Exploratory Study

Restaurants are always seeking to better understand customer decisions. Mothers are of significance to restaurants as they have a direct influence on others, primarily children and spouses. This study focuses on what affects the restaurant food choices of “Moms” (a woman with at least one child 10 years or under). Three categories of factors were uncovered: externalities which occur outside of the restaurant environment, concurrencies which occur in the restaurant at the point of purchase, and confirming factors which cause an item to be confirmed or rejected after the purchase intention has formed. This article examines the externalities category.