Political consequences of ethical investing: The case of South Africa

This paper discusses the economic impact and political consequences of ethical investing, with particular attention to the case of South Africa. The origins of ethical investing are examined, along with the institutions and strategies by which ethical investing operates today. Of immediate relevance to managers is a recent judicial decision upholding Baltimore's divestment ordinance. The discussion concludes with an assessment of the likely consequences of ethical investing for U.S. multinationals in Southern Africa. Dr. Paul is an Associate Professor of Management at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She took her Ph.D. from Emory University in 1974. She has published and presented widely on the subject of Business Ethics and Business and Public Policy. Her current research interest in business and South Africa has taken her to South Africa on a Fulbright Fellowship. Dr. Paul has also been named a Radcliffe Peace Fellow for 1987–88. She has just edited Business Environment and Business Ethics: The Social, Moral, and Political Dimensions of Management (1987) for Ballinger Press.Mr. Aquila has been a full time Lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology since 1984. He took his M.B.A. degree from New York University in 1980 and is just finishing his Ph.D. at the University of Rochester in American History. Mr. Aquila was awarded the David Parker Memorial Prize in History from the University of Rochester in 1986.     

The influence of ethical climate on marketing employees' job attitudes and behaviors

In this study, two data sets were used to test the validity of the Babin, Boles, and Robin (Babin BJ, Boles JS, Robin DP. Representing the perceived ethical work climate among marketing employees. J Acad Mark Sci 2000;28(3):345-358.) measure of ethical work climate and its relationship with role stress, pay satisfaction, supervisor satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance, and turnover. The results indicated that ethical work climate is a multidimensional construct and that its dimensions influence marketing employees' job attitudes and job behaviors. Facets of job satisfaction and organizational commitment mediated the relationship between ethical work climate and turnover intentions and turnover.     

Personal attributes,organizational conditions,and ethical attitudes: a social cognitive approach

This paper investigates the impact of personal attributes and organizational conditions on attitudes toward corporate misdeeds. On the basis of social cognitive theory, we develop hypotheses that are tested against data collected from 215 German employees using an online survey. Our findings suggest that personal attributes (i.e. gender, age, Big five personality traits) have a much greater impact on ethical attitudes than organizational conditions (i.e. organizational culture). Further, a moderating effect of control‐oriented culture on the relationship between personality traits (i.e. conscientiousness, extraversion) and attitudes toward corporate misdeeds is found. We derive implications for human resource management and further theory development.     

The relationship between ethical and customer-oriented service provider behaviors

This study examines the relationship between the ethical behavior and customer orientation of insurance sales agents engaged in the selling of complex services, e.g. health, life, auto, and property insurance. The effect of ethical and customer-oriented behavior, measured by the SOCO scale (Saxe and Weitz, 1982), on the annual premiums generated by the agents is also investigated. Customeroriented sales agents are found to engage in less unethical behavior than their sales-oriented counterparts. Further, sales-oriented agents are found to perceive greater levels of unethical behavior among their significant others. Alarmingly, higher levels of sales premiums are found among those agents who engage in unethical behavior.     

The case against Microsoft: An ethical perspective

This paper discusses the complex Microsoft anti-trust trial and the company 's questionable behavior during the browser wars with Netscape.It reviews the essentials of the legal case against Microsoft along with the company 's efforts to refute the charges against it, including the presumption of monopoly power. After laying the groundwork by providing conceptual background on the notion of fair competition, the paper turns to an ethical analysis of Microsoft 's conduct. We conclude that Microsoft 's behavior was excessively opportunistic during the browser wars.The company did not compete constructively or positively, but instead sought to undermine the competitive process.It also developed biased software code that tilted the playing ?eld in its direction.These actions caused harm to the company 's stakeholders by obstructing consumer choice and impeding innovation.     

The World Is Watching: Polaroid and South Africa

This article examines the Polaroid Corporation’s "experiment"in South Africa during the 1970s, which began after AfricanAmerican workers pressured the company to pull its operationsout of South Africa in protest of the white minority government’sapartheid policies. It argues that Polaroid’s initiatives,little studied until now, led other American companies to questiontheir presence in South Africa and inspired both student divestmentmovements at Harvard and other colleges and universities andthe efforts of Leon Sullivan, whose 1977 "Sullivan Principles"urged American companies to treat their workers in South Africaas they would treat their counterparts in the United Statesin an effort to battle racism and apartheid. Despite Polaroid’sefforts, engagement with South Africa and apartheid proved futile,which initiated a larger movement to completely disengage fromSouth Africa.     

Organic purchasing motivations and attitudes: are they ethical?

Despite the increased documentation of consumers’ purchases of organic food products, the motivations for such purchases are relatively under‐researched. An individual’s choice of food products can be linked clearly to ethical stances, but ethical choices can also vary from individual to individual, from industry to industry and among countries. Consequently, this paper investigates the degree to which ethical beliefs influence Scottish consumer perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and purchasing decisions, with regard to organic dairy products. Consumer purchasing motivations are revealed as being self‐interest‐centred (i.e. better tasting, safer), rather than altruistic. Therefore, to achieve future market development, organic dairy producers cannot rely upon the minority of hardcore green consumers to sustain growth, but must aim to modify perceptions and attitudes of larger consumer segments by implementing educational marketing campaigns that reinforce the ethical, environmental and societal benefits of organic production.     

The leverage of foreigners: Multinationals in South Africa

This article argues that foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) in South Africa cannot evade an ethical choice, how best to exercise their leverage against apartheid? Disinvestment is only one, ambiguous option. MNCs need clear ethical goals and an effective strategy. Both arise from the political economy of the MNC (1). It involves 3 relationships, between the MNC parent and its subsidiary; the MNC home society and host society; and the MNC home state and host state. That political economy explains the MNC's dependency (1a) and modernization effects (1b). Those effects give foreigners some leverage against apartheid; but an effective and ethical MNC strategy is needed (2). It involves four goals: dismantling apartheid, a mixed economy, full democracy, and a negotiated peace (2a). It suggests a sequence of MNC/home state options from Do Nothing or Divest to More Corporate Activism, Home State Support, and International Sanctions (2b). But victory is not around the corner; rather, we are all condemned to freedom.     

Intergenerational influence on sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors: Roles of family communication and peer influence in environmental consumer socialization

Intergenerational research on sustainable consumption remains scarce, particularly in relation to which factors may affect the level of intergenerational similarity and the direction of intergenerational transmission. The present study addresses these gaps and adds to the growing body of literature in environmental consumer socialization by examining intergenerational influence on sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors in a sample of 146 dyads comprised of mothers and college-age daughters. In the domain of intergenerational influence, we study two potential moderating factors suggested in past consumer research: communication effectiveness and peer conformity. Using the co-orientational model and nominal dyad method, we reveal the existence of intergenerational similarity in dyads' sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors—after accounting for nominal effects— and show that stronger parent–child communication between mother–daughter pairs leads to greater intergenerational similarity, whereas stronger peer influence on daughters reduces intergenerational agreement. Our analysis further suggests the presence of reverse environmental socialization, in which intergenerational influence predominantly occurs from daughter to mother. Dyads' subjective knowledge regarding sustainable consumption provides empirical insights for this co-orientational model finding on reverse intergenerational transfer. Overall, outcomes of this study encourage marketing managers to leverage young-adult offspring in the process of communicating sustainable marketing strategies.     

The ethical attitudes of students as a function of age,sex and experience

In this paper, we explore whether the ethical positions of students are firmly entrenched when they enter college, or do they change due to maturity, experience to ethical discussions in coursework, work experience, or a combination of factors. This study compared the ethical attitudes of freshmen and junior accounting majors, and graduate MBA students when confronted with two ethical dilemmas. Undergraduates were found to be more justice oriented than their MBA counterparts, who were more utilitarian in their ethical approach. While males tended to be more utilitarian, they were also more tentative and neutral in their responses. Females expressed more definite ethical positions than males when assessing specific ethical behaviors. Prior exposure to ethics via coursework or employment did not significantly affect ethical attitudes.Susan C. Borkowski is Assistant Professor at La Salle University. Her research interests are domestic and international transfer pricing, and the integration of ethics into business curriculum. She has published articles in theJournal of Management Accounting Research, Woman CPA, andAdvances in International Accounting (forthcoming).Yusuf J. Ugras is Assistant Professor at La Salle University, where he teaches M.B.A. and undergraduate managerial/cost accounting courses. His research interests include cost allocation, performance evaluation, and ethics in business.     

Social and environmental accounting: A practical demonstration of ethical concern?

The accounting profession has regarded itself as ethical ever since the first modern professional accounting body was founded in the second half of the 19th Century. However, the code by which members have bound themselves have been professional ethics codes, which are more concerned with the relationship between professional and professional, or professional and client, than that of the professional and society as a whole. Recently, a number of educational programmes have been developed which attempt to go beyond the limited view of professional ethics, and into the field of ethics and professionalism. These programmes are based on an application of the work of Kohlberg and that of Rest. In the opinion of the author these aspects of ethics and professionalism are important developments, which need to be followed up by the development of social accounting, which would be a practical demonstration of ethical concerns by members of the accounting profession. This aspect of business ethics is outlined in the chapter.Professor M. R. Mathews is Professor of Accountancy and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Business Studies, Massey University, New Zealand. Professor Mathews has academic qualifications in accountancy, economics and education and is a Fellow of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research at the University of Dundee, Scotland.     

Executive attitudes,organizational size and ethical issues: Perspectives on a service industry

Responding to Randall and Gibson's (1990) call for more rigorous methodologies in empirically-based ethics research, this paper develops propositions — based on both previous ethics research as well as the larger organizational behavior literature — examining the impact of attitudes, leadership, presence/absence of ethical codes and organizational size on corporate ethical behavior. The results, which come from a mail survey of 149 companies in a major U.S. service industry, indicate that attitudes and organizational size are the best predictors of ethical behavior. Leadership and ethical codes contribute little to predicting ethical behavior. The paper concludes with an assessment of the relevant propositions, as well as a delineation of future research needs.Dr. Paul R. Murphy is currently Associate Professor of Business Logistics at John Carroll University. His previous publications have appeared in journals such as theTransportation Journal, Transportation Research, Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Global Marketing, andIndustrial Marketing Management.Dr. Jonathan E. Smith is Associate Professor of Management and Marketing at John Carroll University. He teaches courses in organizational behavior and human resource management. His current research interests are in business ethics, leadership and organizational uses of information. Dr. Smith consults with organizations regarding management development, ethics and business/organizational communications.Dr. James M. Daley is Associate Dean at John Carroll University and is a consultant to business, government, and academia; his publications include one book and over 40 articles.     

The contextualization of a microfinance model: From India to South Africa

Microfinance has come to be seen as the “magic bullet” to alleviate poverty across the world. Focus has been on scaling up “successful” models within, and beyond, singular cultural settings. We explore why different stakeholder groups perceived the same microfinance model as successful in India, yet less successful in South Africa. The study is an explorative case study, combining the literature on social capital and contextualization, and suggests that historical, socioeconomic, and legislative antecedents to social capital in India are different in South Africa, thus resulting in a lower perception of microfinance success in South Africa. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Factors affecting attitudes and behavioural intention towards social networking advertising: a case of Facebook users in South Korea

This study examined factors (e.g., ad values and social networking advertising characteristics) influencing consumers' attitudes and behavioural intention towards three types of social networking advertising (SNA) on Facebook – home page ad, social impression ad, and organic impression ad. Findings demonstrate that peer influence had the most significant impacts on attitude and behavioural intention across all types of SNA. The significant interaction term of invasiveness and privacy concern indicates that both attitude and behavioural intention were diminished, particularly when perceived invasiveness and privacy concern were high simultaneously. In addition, results suggest that attitudes towards the ad played a mediating role between SNA characteristics and behavioural intention. Lastly, among the types of SNA, consumers preferred organic impression ads that featured friends' names on their newsfeed more than paid ads located on the sidebar of their Facebook pages.     

The role of the seven dimensions of job satisfaction in salesperson's attitudes and behaviors

To date, the majority of studies on job satisfaction use either a global measure or the JDI measure. To extend current research, this study uses the seven dimensions of job satisfaction as described by Churchill et al. [Churchill, G.A., Ford, N.M., Walker, O.C. Measuring the job satisfaction of industrial salesmen. J Mark Res 1974; 11 (3): 254-260.] to explore the relationship between job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, organizational commitment and propensity to leave. Findings suggest that: 1) emotional exhaustion only relates to certain dimensions of job satisfaction and 2) job satisfaction dimensions related to organizational commitment and propensity to leave are not necessarily the same. Overall, this research provides an argument for the use of the seven dimension job satisfaction scale, as opposed to global measures or the JDI measure.     

The ethical issue of international bribery: A study of attitudes among U.S. business professionals

Restrictions upon international bribery by U.S. business firms, as incorporated in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, have been controversial since this legislation was passed in 1977. Despite many attempts to repeal or change the law, it remains as originally enacted.This article reports on a survey of U.S. business professionals concerning international bribery. Response to our survey reveals a divided business community in terms of their opinions on the ethics of international payments prohibited by the present law.In addition to a lack of consensus about the morality of payments, the survey also reveals a diversity in the viewpoints of respondents. Moralism, pragmatism, cultural relativism, and legalism are four distinct underlying assumptions apparent in the attitudes of U.S. business professionals on the issue of questionable international payments. Justin G. Longenecker is an Emeritus Chavanne Professor of Christian Ethics in Business at Baylor University. He has written several articles and he is the co-author of two books: Small Business Management (1987) and Management (1984). Joseph A. McKinney is Professor of Economics and Co-Director of Master of International Management Program at Baylor University. His articles have been published in journals such as Atlantic Economic Journal and Columbia Journal of World Business. Carlos W. Moore is an Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Marketing at Baylor University. He is the co-author of Small Business Management (Cincinnati, South-Western Publishing Company, 1987).     

Leading with moral courage: The interplay of guilt and courage on perceived ethical leadership and group organizational citizenship behaviors

This study uses a moderated mediation model to investigate the role of leaders’ moral courage and guilt in promoting group‐level organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Based on the idea that leaders model ethical behavior among followers, we examine whether leaders’ display of morally laden emotions weaken follower perceptions of ethical leadership, thus disrupting the influence of moral courage on followers. Two independent studies examined the proposed model. Study 1 used an experimental design to examine leaders’ moral displays, testing the interactive effects of leader moral courage, and guilt on follower perceptions of ethical leadership. Study 2 used a multisource field study with 100 leaders and 336 subordinates to explore how a leader displays of courage and guilt influenced group‐level OCB, mediated by ethical leadership. Consistent with our theoretical model, we find an indirect positive relationship between a leader’s moral courage and group OCB. However, we also find that this effect is weakened by displays of guilt by the leader.     

Assessing some determinant effects of ethical consulting behavior: The case of personal and professional values

A random sample of 207 national business consultants is employed to test the effects of individual values and professional ethics on consulting behavior. The results suggest that the individual values held by consultants are positively correlated with professional ethics, but are negatively correlated with consulting behavior. Moreover, there appears to be no significant relationship between the professional ethics of consultants and business consulting behavior. Findings and issues regarding the effectiveness of codes of ethics and implications for both the provider and recipient of professional consulting services are discussed.Dr. Jeff Allen is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. He received his D.B.A. in Marketing. Professor Allen has published in theJournal of Travel Research theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Education for Business. Dr. Allen's research interests include social responsibility, distribution management, and the development of marketing strategy.Dr. Duane Davis is currently a Professor in the University of Central Florida's Department of Marketing. Dr. Davis received his D.B.A. in Marketing. Professor Davis has published in theJournal of Psychology, theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Travel Research, Interfaces, andIndustrial Marketing Management. This research stream largely focuses on research methodology, marketing of services, and strategic marketing management. In addition, Dr. Davis has co-authoredBusiness Research for Decision Making with PWS-Kent Publishing Company.     

Bank ethics: An exploratory study of ethical behaviors and perceptions in small,local banks

This article addresses five research questions: What specific behaviors are described in the literature as ethical or unethical? What percentage of business people are believed to be guilty of unethical behavior? What specific unethical behaviors have been observed by bank employees? How serious are the behaviors? Are experiences and attitudes affected by demographics? Conclusions suggest: There are seventeen categories of behavior, and that they are heavily skewed toward internal behaviors. Younger employees have a higher level of ethical consciousness than older employees. The longer one works for a company, the more one may look to job security as a priority; this can lead to rationalizing or overlooking apparently unethical behaviors. More emphasis is needed on internal behaviors with particular attention on the impact that external behaviors have on internal behaviors.     

Entrepreneurial proclivity: its environmental conditions and growth consequences

To contribute to the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) literature, this study investigates how business unit growth relates to environmental risks and rewards (i.e., environmental dynamism and market growth rate) and three facets of entrepreneurial proclivity (i.e., innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness). The authors find that perceived environmental dynamism has a direct and positive influence on strategic business units' innovativeness and proactiveness. Moreover, this study explores the interplay between the risk and reward facets of the market environment and reveals that firms are most likely to adopt EM strategies in a high-growth, highly dynamic business environment. The results also show that whereas the industry growth rate promotes a firm's market expansion, but not market sustention, the firm's innovativeness and proactiveness positively influence both market expansion and sustention.