Implications of Caritas in Veritate for Marketing and Business Ethics

In an effort to assess the latest thinking in the Roman Catholic Church on economic matters, we examine the newest encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) for guidance concerning marketing and business strategy. Core ethical values, consistent with historical Catholic Social Teachings (CST), are retained. However, some important nuances are added to previous treatments, and, reflecting the mind of the current Pontiff, certain points of emphasis are shifted to account for recent global developments. Key areas of consistency and differences (as we perceive them) are spelled out along with some brief commentary on the evolution of the CST position on matters of importance to business decision makers. We close our analysis with a brief discussion of how the lessons of the encyclical can be applied to selected marketing problems embedded with ethical issues, including some criteria for evaluating marketing programs. Finally, we note some editorial commentary published in the wake of the letter’s release along with our own summation.     

Developing breakthrough products: challenges and options for market assessment

Competitive pressures and market forces are augmenting the importance of product innovation as a source of competitive advantage. Key drivers underpinning market success have the capacity to develop the “right” products for the “right” customers, using the “right” channels, with a shorter development cycle than competitors. But when breakthrough products (BTPs) are involved, how do we sort out what is “right”? How do we identify customers' future requirements when the technology platforms are still unfolding, products are still in development and customers lack experience with the product? Traditional product development market research techniques are problematic since they assume the customer has historical experience with products similar to those being created. The objective of this paper is to raise the awareness of the OM community with the strengths and weaknesses of existing methodologies for developing and introducing innovative products to market. Further, it suggests promising future directions for both practice and research when BTPs are involved. This is important because of the central role OM plays in managing the success of the BTP development process.     

Heterogeneous workers and international trade

In this paper, I survey the recent theoretical literature that incorporates heterogeneous labor into models of international trade. The models with heterogeneous labor have been used to study how talent dispersion can be a source of comparative advantage, how the opening of trade affects the full distribution of wages, and how trade affects industry productivity and efficiency via its impact on sorting and matching in the labor market. Some of the most recent contributions also introduce labor market frictions to study the effects of trade on structural unemployment and on mismatch between workers and firms.     

An Open Source Web-Mapping System for Tourism Planning and Marketing

Core retail management functions include defining market areas and profiling customers. For tourism enterprises, market areas are geographically dispersed with many customers residing beyond the immediate area surrounding the attraction. Visualization and analysis of these distributed market areas are significantly enhanced by the capabilities of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and help to support management objectives. Unfortunately, many businesses are unable to utilize GIS due to its complexity and expense. This study develops a decision support tool for tourism planning and marketing that is customized and easy to use, employs open source software to reduce expense, and allows for broad accessibility via web delivery. Users can easily visualize and examine the spatial distribution of their own United States (US) client origins and visitation patterns along with relevant tourism-specific and general demographic information. This functionality can be beneficial in developing or augmenting business plans or marketing strategies, and for informing tourism theory.     

Determinants of Student Attitudes toward Team Exams

Abstract

We examine how student attitudes toward their group, learning method, and perceived development of professional skills are initially shaped and subsequently evolve through multiple uses of team exams. Using a Tobit regression model to analyse a sequence of 10 team quizzes given in a graduate-level tax accounting course, we show that there is an anchoring effect, in that in later rounds satisfaction on all dimensions rests on the foundation laid in the initial round. Subsequently, however, self-perceptions and the perception of others may influence satisfaction on a particular dimension. We also find that the satisfaction with one's group tends to increase when students make more correct switches but decreases when there is greater disagreement among the group. Furthermore, satisfaction with team exams tends to lessen, and to an increasing extent over time, as the number of errors a student has committed on the most recent quiz increases.     

The Association of Ethical Judgment of Advertising and Selected Advertising Effectiveness Response Variables

This study examines the potential effects of unethically perceived advertising executionson consumer responses to the ad. The study found that the unethical perceptions of the advertisement shown significantly and negatively affected all advertising response variables examined in the study.     

Ownership Structure, Agency Costs, Specialization, and Efficiency: Analysis of Keiretsu and Independent Insurers in the Japanese Nonlife Insurance Industry

This article uses the nonparametric frontier method to examine differences in efficiency for three unique organizational forms in the Japanese nonlife insurance industry—keiretsu firms, nonspecialized independent firms (NSIFs), and specialized independent firms (SIFs). It is not possible to reject the null hypothesis that efficiencies are equal, with one exception. Keiretsu firms seem to be more cost‐efficient than NSIFs. The results have important implications for the stakeholders of the NSIFs. An examination of the productivity changes across the different organizational forms reveals deteriorating efficiency for all three types of firms throughout the 1985–1994 sample period. Finally, the evidence also suggests that the value‐added approach and the financial intermediary approach provide different but complementary results.     

为教育设计一份全球契约

现在全世界的教育处在无声的紧急状况中——超过10亿的正处于应该接受基础教育年龄阶段的儿童失学了；15亿在上学的儿童在完成基础教育以前极有可能辍学；在非洲和南亚，只有不到1／3的儿童能够读和写。然而，尽管每天都有儿童死于艾滋病、营养不良以及其他一些只要他们的母亲完成过优质的基础教育就有可能被预防的疾病，但是CNN绝对不会捕捉到一个儿童因缺少教育而死亡这样的镜头。