Comparing EthicalIdeologies AcrossCultures

Using measures developed by Singhapakdi et al. (1996, Journal of Business ethics 15, 1131–1140) the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility (PRESOR) is measured among MBA students in the United States, Malaysia and Ukraine revealing a stockholder view and two stakeholder views. Relativism and Idealism are also measured. The scores of MBA students are compared among each other and with those of the U.S. managers who were part of the original study. Managers' scores tend to be significantly higher on the Stockholder and Stakeholder II views, and much lower on Relativism than the MBA students. The Malaysian MBA students scored higher than did the American MBA students on Relativism, Idealism and the Stockholder view. The Ukrainian MBA students' scores on the three PRESOR factors are generally similar to those of the American MBAs, while they had the highest scores of any group on the Relativism scale. Overall, the patterns of responses, as much as the significant differences on specific scales, support the notion that culture, however defined, affects both values and ethics. Several directions for future research are identified.'     

The future's poor: Projecting the population eligible for federal housing assistance

Microanalytic simulation techniques are used to show that, under a reasonable set of assumptions, the real income of elderly households can be projected to grow at a rate higher than that of other population groups over the next several decades. Simulation modeling also shows that current low marriage and fertility rates and high divorce rates, if continued, will lead to a future population that is proportionately more elderly and of smaller average family size. A number of federal, state, and local assistance programs restrict eligibility to low-income households. In an application to the major federal housing assistance program, it is shown that future growth in the number of elderly households may well be offset by their relatively high income growth, leaving the proportion elderly among those eligible for assistance essentially unchanged over the next 40 years. The findings imply that future changes in the demographic composition of the U.S. population may not be reflected in the composition of the low-income population. This possibility should be considered in planning assistance programs targeted on the poor.     

Claims Auditing in Automobile Insurance: Fraud Detection and Deterrence Objectives

Research on insurer management of opportunism in claiming has developed in two parallel literatures. One is a theoretical literature on insurance contracting that yields predictions about the nature of optimal auditing strategies for the deterrence of fraud. The other is a literature based upon statistical analysis of claims that yields empirical strategies for the detection of fraudulent claims. This article links the two literatures by providing an empirical assessment of insurers’ auditing practices in relation to theoretical predictions. The analysis makes use of a data set on the disposition of more than 1,000 randomly selected automobile personal injury protection claims settled in the state of Massachusetts. The findings of the article are consistent with the use of rational auditing strategies by insurers and with the use of audits for both deterrence and detection.     

The work of leadership

More and more companies today are facing adaptive challenges: changes in societies, markets, and technology around the globe are forcing them to clarify their values, develop new strategies, and learn new ways of operating. And the most important task for leaders in the face of such challenges is mobilizing people throughout the organization to do adaptive work. Yet for many senior executives, providing such leadership is difficult. Why? One reason is that they are accustomed to solving problems themselves. Another is that adaptive change is distressing for the people going through it. They need to take on new roles, relationships, values, and approaches to work. Many employees are ambivalent about the sacrifices required of them and look to senior executives to take problems off their shoulders. But both sets of expectations have to be unlearned. Rather than providing answers, leaders have to ask tough questions. Rather than protecting people from outside threats, leaders should let the pinch of reality stimulate them to adapt. Instead of orienting people to their current roles, leaders must disorient them so that new relationships can develop. Instead of quelling conflict, leaders should draw the issues out. Instead of maintaining norms, leaders must challenge "the way we do business" and help others distinguish immutable values from the historical practices that have become obsolete. The authors offer six principles for leading adaptive work: "getting on the balcony," identifying the adaptive challenge, regulating distress, maintaining disciplined attention, giving the work back to people, and protecting voices of leadership from below.     

Early Education and Children's Outcomes: How Long Do the Impacts Last?*

We evaluate the effects of undergoing any early education (before the compulsory starting age of 5) and of pre‐school on a cohort of British children born in 1958. In contrast to most available studies, we are able to assess whether any effects on cognition and socialisation are long‐lasting, as well as to estimate their net impact on subsequent educational attainment and labour market performance. Controlling for a particularly rich set of child, parental, family and neighbourhood characteristics, we find some positive and long‐lasting effects from early education. Specifically, pre‐compulsory education (preschool or school entry prior to age 5) was found to yield large improvements in cognitive tests at age 7, which, though diminished in size, remained significant throughout the schooling years, up to age 16. By contrast, attendance of pre‐school (nursery or playgroup) was found to yield a positive but short‐lived impact on test scores. The effects on socialisation appear to be more mixed: we found some positive, though short‐lasting, effects of pre‐compulsory education on teachers' reports of social adjustment (only at age 7); on the other hand, we found some adverse behavioural effects according to parental reports at age 7 which persisted up to age 11. In adulthood, pre‐compulsory education was found to increase the probabilities of obtaining qualifications and of being employed at age 33. For both pre‐compulsory education and pre‐school per se, we found evidence of a marginally significant 3–4 per cent wage gain at age 33.     

Aggregation of Local Housing Markets

This article explores the implications of spatial aggregation for parameter estimates in models of the housing sector. Using illustrative static and dynamic models and realistic assumptions about the true parameter values at the level of the local market, the article characterizes and quantifies the bias resulting from spatial aggregation and then uses the results to shed light on some previous findings from aggregate modeling of the housing sector.     

Location and service mix decisions for a managed health care network

For managers of managed health care organizations, the problem of designing a competitive multiple facility network cannot be solved by existing mathematical models. This paper thus presents a nonlinear integer model for determining a facilities design strategy that embodies the economic tradeoffs encompassed in a competitive strategy: minimizing cost and maximizing market share. The integrated location and service mix model determines the number, location and service offerings of facilities that maximize profitability in a two-level hierarchical referral delivery network where an organization's market share is represented by a multiplicative competitive interaction model. To demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed integrated model, a series of problems is solved by an interchange heuristic and compared to the solutions derived by a simpler approach that ignores market competition.     

Strategic human resource management,firm performance,and employee relations climate in China

We examined strategic human resource management (SHRM) and human resource practices in the People's Republic of China to assess the impact of these practices on firm performance and the employee relations climate. We also tested whether firm ownership moderates the above relationships. Empirical results from a sample of Chinese firms from various industries and regions showed that the levels of adoption of SHRM and HR practices were lower in state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) than in foreign‐invested enterprises (FIEs) and privately owned enterprises (POEs). Both SHRM and HR practices were found to have direct and positive effects on financial performance, operational performance, and the employee relations climate. However, the moderating effect of ownership type was significant for financial performance only. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How third‐party certification programs relate to consumer trust in online transactions: An exploratory study

Consumer fears about Internet security and ordering over the Internet can influence online buying behavior, and these fears may be exacerbated by increasing attention to identity theft. A key strategy to increase consumer trust in ordering has been participation in third‐party certification programs. This study presents a model describing the relationship between third‐party identifying logos, trust transfer, and trust buildup and tests the model with data collected by an online survey. The results support hypotheses that perceptions of third‐party logos are related to intensity of seal exposure, importance of trust factors in online shopping, and disposition toward third‐party certification. Also, such perceptions and the current level of consumer trust in general in online shopping are positively related to transfer of trust from certification to online e‐marketers. Prior research found that validating logos does not increase transfer of trust; a post‐hoc analysis revealed that this finding is dependent on type of logo. The findings indicate that Web site certification can reassure potential customers and increase the probability of purchase. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.