The effectiveness of regulatory (in)congruent ads

In a 2 (ad tone: emotional versus rational) × 2 (ad’s regulatory focus: prevention versus promotion)× 2 (viewer’s self-regulatory focus: prevention versus promotion) between-subjects experimental design, the effectiveness of fair trade campaigns is tested. The results show that, in the case of a rational ad, regulatory congruence (versus incongruence) effects were found (though only for prevention focused people), whereas in the case of an emotional ad, regulatory incongruence (versus congruence) effects were found (though only for promotion focused people).     

The business of ethics and the ethics of business

This is an essay in personal business ethics of executives as distinguished from the institutional ethics of corporations. Its purpose is to give practical moral guidance to executives for the conduct of their lives both as corporate decision-makers and as human beings. The pivotal concept in this model of personal business ethics is a direct appeal to the self-interest of executives in their being moral. Our thesis is that generally there is a twofold return on investment in ethics (ROIE) for executives. The first one is related to employee output: by becoming a self-actualizing moral type, executives indicate commitment to excellence. Accordingly, they so manage employees that the latter can also live up to their full potential and excell. And that would increase corporate productivity and product or service quality. The second payback of morality is personal: fully developed, self-actualized managers are generally happier people than those whose growth has been arrested. In brief, moral self-actualization is the same as commitment to excellence and there is a payback in being the best. Return on investment in ethics and return on investment in excellence can both be abbreviated as ROIE. We accomplish the purpose and establish the thesis of this essay by seeking answers to the following questions: What business does ethics have in business? What business does business have in ethics? Is there a return on investment in ethics for executives? and Does being moral help executives become more effective managers? In sketching answers to these questions, we first show why executives need a personal business ethics especially in today's world. Then, we sketch the nature of ethics and of business. After these introductory materials, the body of the paper argues for a personal business ethics for executives by correlating elements of management theory with ethics. Specifically, it links a theory of employee motivation with a scale of values, management character types with moral types, and management leadership styles with morality. Then, the practical technique of life by objectives (LBO) is explained. It can help executives manage their lives more effectively in both the business and ethical sense. We conclude by explaining ideals of excellence which can guide executives in their work and development both as managers and as human beings.     

The ethics of greenmail

In the contemporary flurry of hostile corporate takeover activity, the ethics of the practice of greenmail have been called into question. The authors provide an account of greenmail in parallel with Daniel Ellsberg's conception of blackmail, as consisting of two conditions: a threat condition and a compliance condition. The analysis then proceeds to consider two questions: Is all greenmail morally wrong? Are all hostile takeovers morally wrong? The authors conclude that there is no basis for answering either question in the affirmative. While there is no cause for moral concern per se, the practices of both greenmail and hostile takeovers yield deeper and more interesting questions for the theory of corporate governance.     

Extremely thin models in print ads: The dark sides

To appeal to consumers as social beings, advertisers include social settings and human images in commercial messages. Extant empirical research shows that thin models are perceived as more attractive and that the use of attractive models results in higher ad effectiveness. However, this study offers empirical evidence of ‘dark sides’ of extremely thin models, such that they harm advertising performance. The negative effects of extremely thin models stem from their influence on consumers' psychological well-being, as well as their ethical judgements of the advertisement. Respondents in this study also regard an extremely thin model as less attractive than a more average model. These results suggest that organizations should reconsider the portrayal of extremely thin models in their promotional messages and, more generally, consider consumer ethics when developing marketing communication messages.     

The ethics of empowerment

Driven by competitive pressure, organizations are empowering employees to use their judgment, creativity, and ideas in pursuit of enhanced organizational performance and both employee and shareholder satisfaction. This empowerment offers both benefits and potential harm. This article explores the benefits and harm associated with role, reward, process and governance empowerment and makes recommendations for minimizing the harm while maximizing the benefits.Jeffrey Gandz is a Professor and the Director of the MBA Program, at the Western Business School, teaching courses in Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, and Industrial Relations in both degree and executive programs. His current research is focused on the achievement of organizational effectiveness through the matching of organizational strategies, cultures, and individual values. Frederick Bird is a Professor of Comparative Ethics at Concordia University in Montréal, where he directs the Ph.D. in Religion and teaches in the Religion and Management Departments and in the Executive MBA. He is the co-authors with Jeffrey Gandz of Good Management: Business Ethics in Action (Prentice-Hall) and the author of Good Conversations: A Practical Role for Ethics in Business (Boston College) and numerous articles. He is currently directing a research project with Manny Velasquez and Jeffrey Gandz studying how corporation manage moral issues.     

The ethics of investing

In this paper, I examine various popular notions concerning the ethics of investing. I first consider and reject the absolutist view that it is always wrong to invest in “evil” companies and the view that what makes investments in evil companies morally objectionable is the fact that by making such investments, investors are taking steps to benefit from the wrongdoing of others. I then defend the view that what makes certain investments morally objectionable is the fact that by making such investments, investors enable others to do wrong. According to this view, when weighing the purchase of a certain company's stock, investors should ask themselves the following question: “Would this sort of investment, if made by many people, enable others to do wrong?” If the answer to this question is yes, and if an investor nevertheless makes the investment in question, he can justifiably be accused of moral wrongdoing.     

How banner ads can be effective

This research examines the impacts of exposure duration and banner ad complexity on advertising persuasion in a web advertising environment. Processing fluency is used to explain the underlying process that occurs among consumers during exposure to advertisements, and refers to the ease of stimulus encoding and processing that is facilitated by prior exposure to a banner ad. Based on previous studies (e.g. Reber et al. 1998), this research used a priming phase and a testing phase, in which respondents viewed two banner ads for the same brand. A banner ad presented in the priming phase facilitates viewer processing of a target banner ad in the testing phase due to processing fluency. The findings show that, when a banner ad is difficult to process in the priming phase, increasing the duration of exposure to the ad in the priming phase causes a linear increase in respondent attitudes towards the target ad and brand in the testing phase. When the priming banner ad is moderately difficult to process, increasing the exposure duration in the priming phase first increases, and then decreases, respondent attitudes towards the target ad and brand (an inverted-U pattern) in the testing phase. When the priming banner ad is easy to process, increasing the exposure duration in the priming phase first decreases, and then increases, respondent attitudes towards the target ad and brand (a U pattern) in the testing phase.     

Standardization vs. adaptation: consumer reaction to TV ads containing subtitled or English dubbed ads

The aim of this study is to gain a better insight into the effect of using linguistically standardized (in English) TV adverts as opposed to two types of linguistically adapted commercials (dubbed in the local language or subtitled in the local language) on attitude-towards-the-ad and attitude-towards-the-brand. We ran a between-subjects experiment in three countries (Italy, Germany, and Spain) with three different versions of commercials (English only, dubbed in the local language, and subtitled in the local language) and assessed the effect of three different versions of the ads on attitude-towards-the-ad and on attitude-towards-the-brand. Results indicate that English-only adverts were less preferred than the alternatives and led to lower brand attitudes as well. This result was consistent for three advertised products (mobile phone, canned drink, and automobile) and replicated in all three countries, showing that this effect is robust.     

阿佩克思达彼思公益广告作品赏析

蓝光 一次灾难背后，有一个民族的坚强、从容与不屈，我们很荣幸身为其中一员，在余震中坚持做好自己的事。我们的客户——蓝光集团，在第一时间为灾区捐款1000万元和100。万瓶纯净水，并要求把他们一贯低调的风格延续到公益海报上。     

The two-tiered ethics of EDP

Ethical questions regarding access to and use of electronically generated data are (if asked) commonly resolved by distinguishing in Lockean fashion between raw (unworked) and refined (worked) data. The former is thought to belong to no one, the latter to the collector and those to whom the collector grants access. Comparative power separates free riders from rightful owners. The resulting two-tiered ethics of access is here challenged on the grounds that it inequitably establishes a rule of law for the strong while leaving the weak in a Hobbesian state of nature. Efforts at legislative constraints are reviewed; but such constraints are found to afford inadequate protections of privacy if a data subject may not prohibit others under ordinary circumstances from using recognizably name-linked data.Edmund F. Byrne is Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University in Indianapolis. His research interests center on policy and practices regarding technology, community, and social welfare. His most recent book isWork, Inc. (Temple University Press, 1990); and he is now writing another tentatively subtitledDemocracy, Civil Society, and Benevolence.     

The ethics of rent control

Residential rent control is a contentious issue in many jurisdictions throughout the world. While tenant groups have often argued vociferously in defence of control, landlord groups and the vast majority of economists have been equally vehement in their criticisms. This paper examines some key normative issues involved in rent control. In particular I examine arguments in favor of control based on the alleged unfairness of winfall profits, upon affordability, and finally on the creation of rights to security of tenure. Various objections by libertarian and free market philosophers and economists are examined. I conclude with a somewhat limited defense of rent control as used in specific situations as part of a more comprehensive policy to satisfy the normative demands at the root of tenant pressure for rent control. Ken Hanly is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Brandon University. His most recent publications are two book reviews in January and March 1990 in Canadian Philosophical Reviews. His research interests include business ethics, moral, and political philosophy.     

The ethics of impression management

There are differences among forms of impression management that are relevant to its ethical evaluation. Sometimes, moral appraisal is to do with impression management as a tactic of influence, but not about deception. In other cases, an audience is given a true or a false impression, and ethical questions of deception arise, but they are made more complex by the need to consider the responsibility of an audience in reaching its conclusions. Cases where that is an issue blend into a third category in which impression management is joint social performance. Such cases raise additional possibilities of the problematic influence of one agent by another, but also begin to move ethical concerns from the behaviour of an individual agent to the social practices that sustain their expectations. Such social practices invite ethical appraisal because they may impose constraints. But they may also provide opportunities for achievement and pursuit of excellence.     

The institutionalization of organizational ethics

The institutionalization of ethics is an important task for today's organizations if they are to effectively counteract the increasingly frequent occurrences of blatantly unethical and often illegal behavior within large and often highly respected organizations. This article discusses the importance of institutionalizing organizational ethics and emphasizes the importance of several variables (psychological contract, organizational commitment, and an ethically-oriented culture) to the institutionalization of ethics within any organization.... institutionalizing ethics may sound ponderous, but its meaning is straightforward. It means getting ethics formally and explicitly into daily business life. It means getting ethics into company policy formation at the board and top management levels and through a formal code, getting ethics into all daily decision making and work practices down the line, at all levels of employment. It means grafting a new branch on the corporate decision tree — a branch that reads right/wrong (Purcell and Weber, 1979, p. 6). Ronald R. Sims has been an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the College of William and Mary since 1986. He is the author of more than fifty scholarly papers and chapters and these books: An Experiential Learning Approach to Employee Training Systems, and co-author of Readings in Organizational Behavior, and Managing Institutions of Higher Education into the 21st Century: Issues and Implications, both forthcoming.     

The ethics of business intelligence

A review of the strategic management, policy, information management, and the marketing literature reveals that many large and medium sized companies now collect and use business intelligence. The number of firms engaging in these activities is increasing rapidly.While the whys and hows of this practice have been discussed in the academic and professional literature, the ethics of intelligence gathering have not been adequately discussed in a public forum. This paper is intended to generate discussion by advancing criteria which could be used as the basis for judging actions of those involved in business intelligence and for creating reasonable policies in this sensitive area of practice.Norm Schultz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Accounting and Taxation at Colorado State University.Allison Collins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Accounting and Taxation at Colorado State University.Mike McCulloch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Colorado State University.     

The ethics of corporate governance

The failure of the critics of corporate governance to agree on what should be done to improve the governance process can, in most cases, be traced to a different understanding of the role of corporate directors in that process. This article analyzes and contrasts the obligations of directors under two legal theories, the fictional person theory and the organic theory, of the corporation. A comparison of the director's obligations under each theory indicates that the organic theory provides a better basis for assessing the performance of directors and initiating reform.Among the boards of directors of Fortune 500 companies, I estimate that 95% are not fully doing what they are legally, morally, and ethically supposed to do. And they couldn't, even if they wanted to.E. Eugene Arthur, S.J., is Associate Professor of Management and Economics at Rockhurst College. He is a Visiting Fellow at Trinity Center for Ethics and Corporate Policy.     

The ethics of subliminal communication

Assume that we communicate for the purpose of trying to change a person's behavior either overtly or covertly. As long as this is done in an honest manner, no concern with ethics is involved. But suppose a communication pattern — subliminals — is developed that covertly tries to change our behavior without our consent. Then, concern with ethics is involved.Very little evidence exists to support a definitive quantitative impact of subliminal communication. There is a suggestion, however, that subliminals do in fact manipulate people to do certain things. If this is so, then we have an over-riding issue in ethics — the ultimate invasion of a person's privacy — his mind.Dr. Gratz has been Director of Business at Shippenburg State College in Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Business Education Department at the University of Iowa and a visiting professor at the University of Vermont, the University of Michigan, and the University of Houston.Currently a professor of Business Administration at Pan American University, Dr. Gratz has published over 30 books and articles. Recently he has been named to the Board of Directors for the National Hall of Fame for Business Education.     

The ethics of smoking policies

Smoking has long been declared a health hazard. In 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General revealed that smoking was related to lung cancer. Subsequent reports linked smoking to numerous other health problems. Recent statements by the Surgeon General indicated smokers do have the right to decide to continue or quit; however, their choice to continue cannot interfere with the nonsmoker's right to breathe smoke-free air. The full impact of adverse health consequences of involuntary smoking may not be recognized yet. Smoke is now known to affect everyone who breathes it. Even when one doesn't smoke, the nonsmoker is susceptible to the ill effects because of inhaling smoke. Are smoking policies justified? Companies are discovering that smoking has a negative economic and ethical impact on business. Smoking has been linked to increased health care costs, reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and lowered morale. Has the number of smokers decreased? About 1.3 million smokers quit annually, while about one million young people begin annually. Businesses can help educate young people of health hazards of smoking. What are the effects of legal and ethical success of smoking policies? Results of a survey of U.S. corporations in 1987 indicated that 54 percent (increased from 36 percent in 1986) had smoking policies. A Federal Appeals Court judge ruled recently that smoking is not protected by the constitutional right to privacy.     

The foundations of business ethics

The author rejects the ‘main-line’ policy that business ethics can be taught better by ignoring theoretical foundations and the excuse that several alternative theories are available for appeal if one cares to consult them. He proposes recognizing enlightened self-interest as the theory already practiced by persons and groups, implicitly when not explicitly, and that frank recognition that it is presupposed will encourage more intelligent solutions because this will direct attention to needs for enlightenment of many kinds. Deliberate pursuit of enlightenment — general, specific and particular — should result in greater achievement and, when achieved, in increased reliability of solutions.