Resources prospectively: How actors mobilize resources in business settings

Actors work with resources in putting their business plans into practice, some of which are close-at-hand and some at arm's length to that business. Furthermore, actors can transform and translate resources in more or less complex ways in bringing them into the realm of a business activity, for instance through a single transactional market exchange or a series of social exchanges, the economic dimensions of which are very much in the background. The IMP group's framings of resources in the Actors, Resources and Activities (ARA) approach and in the Resource Interaction approach form this paper's conceptual focus. The paper examines three cases of actors mobilizing resources and emphasizes: (1) The prospective or future-oriented quality of resources, in connection with actors' business plans and activities; (2) The distinct rules, customs and practices in settings that individuals recognize to be more or less economic and more or less social; and (3) The roles and identities of individuals alongside their business units.     

Alliances,Acquisitions and Multinational Advantage

This paper reviews recent empirical evidence to assess the implications of alliance formation and increasing merger and acquisition activity of multinationals in the context of the eclectic paradigm. Specifically, the paper will concentrate on the performance implications of international expansion via alliances and mergers, and their relationship to the so-called asset-augmenting foreign direct investment. It has been argued in the literature that the way in which multinationals are able to build on their existing advantages and to add to them by virtue of their international activities confers specific benefits to multinationality. We argue that the growth of cross-border acquisitions and alliances as modalities for international expansion has resulted from the continuing convergence of value-adding capabilities within the Triad, and while such activity can help to augment the asset base of the investing firms, it also has potentially anti-competitive implications.     

Ethical Codes of Conduct and Organizational Context: A Study of the Relationship Between Codes of Conduct, Employee Behavior and Organizational Values

Codes of ethics are being increasingly adopted in organizations worldwide, yet their effects on employee perceptions and behavior have not been thoroughly addressed. This study used a sample of 613 management accountants drawn from the United States to study the relationship between corporate and professional codes of ethics and employee attitudes and behaviors. The presence of corporate codes of ethics was associated with less perceived wrongdoing in organizations, but not with an increased propensity to report observed unethical behavior. Further, organizations that adopted formal codes of ethics exhibited value orientations that went beyond financial performance to include responsibility to the commonweal. In contrast to corporate codes of ethics, professional codes of ethical conduct had no influence on perceived wrongdoing in organization nor these codes affect the propensity to report observed unethical activities.     

The International Business Ethics Index: European Union

The present study expands the systematic measurement of consumers’ sentiments towards business ethical practices to the international arena. Data for the Business Ethics Index (BEI) were gathered in three countries of the European Union (UK, Germany, Spain). The Germans were the most pessimistic while the British were the most optimistic about the future ethical behaviour of businesses. John Tsalikis is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Florida International University. His articles have appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, and Psychology in Marketing. Bruce Seaton is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Florida International University. His research interests include the role of national stereotyping in consumer choice and the application of experimental methods to investigate models of business ethics. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, and Journal of Global Marketing.     

Modeling the relationship between networking and firm performance

Network theory suggests that successful business ownership might depend on the ability of owners to gain access to resources not under their control in a cost effective way through networking. To date, however, there has been little empirical support for this proposition, particularly for established firms. The results of this study, based on a large longitudinal database, indicate a significant positive relationship between networking (particularly with formal networks such as external accountants) and both firm survival and, to a lesser extent, growth, but not ROE. Further, network intensity is found to be associated with survival, and network range with growth.     

Border tax adjustments and U.S. trade

This paper reports welfare and terms of trade effects from border adjustments in the indirect taxes used by major U.S. trading partners using a numerical general equilibrium model of world trade and production due to Whalley (1985). Where the United States is a net importer of manufactures (as with Japan and the EEC) the United States gains by having these countries administer taxes on a destination rather than an origin basis. This is because the taxes involved typically have higher rates on manufactured products, and a discriminatory origin basis tax with higher rates on exportables operates akin to an export tax.     

Responsibility and moral reasoning: A study in Business Ethics

This essay was written for the 1984 General Motors Intercollegiate Business Understanding Program. It consists of three sections, each responding to a separate issue posed by General Motors. The opinions expressed are not those of the General Motors management.The first section attempts to document, through the use of Harvard Business Review articles, a shift in the notion of managerial responsibility from a narrowly focused role responsibility to a more widely focused moral responsibility.The second section explicates the different conceptions of Justice behind the United States and West German economic systems. It gives examples of the consequences of the different conceptions both in methods of policy formation and results.The third section deals with business ethics in international contexts. It argues that law is by itself inadequate in the regulation of business activity and must be supplemented by public discussion, which employs the traditional methods of moral reasoning.John Davis Feldmann, John Kelsay, and Hugh E. Brown III are or have been graduate students in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. Their essay, written under the direction of James F. Childress, Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Ethics, won first prize in the 1984 General Motors Intercollegiate Business Understanding Program.John D. Feldmann, currently writing a dissertation on justice and tax reform, holds a law degree from the University of Virginia. He has practiced business law, served as a Vice-President of a banking corporation, and worked for the Center for Applied Ethics at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.John Kelsay, an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., holds a Ph.D. in Religious Ethics from the University of Virginia and has been serving as an Instructor there. His dissertation dealt with ethics and society in Islam.Hugh E. Brown III, now preparing for the Episcopal ministry at Virginia Theological Seminary, holds an M.A. in Religious Ethics from the University of Virginia. Prior to entering graduate school, he had experience in business as a supervisor for an AT&T affiliate.     

Embodied ethics: Some common concerns of religion and business

De George's understanding of theology is limited to one of five commonly recognized models of theology, the orthodox model. This model is vulnerable to De George's criticisms. When religious ethics operates out of the revisionist model of theology, however, his criticisms lose their sting. Revisionist religious ethics, moreover, can make a fruitful contribution to business ethics. Such a religious ethic acknowledges the embodiment dimension of business activities, it complements philosophical analysis with the practice of moral discernment, and it recognizes irony as an active component in decision-making.John T. Leahy is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at DePaul University.     

Output-inflation tradeoffs in 34 countries

This article examines the responsiveness of real output to the variability of inflation and aggregate demand. In the manner of Lucas (1973), estimates of the output-inflation tradeoff are computed for a large sample of countries. This measure is then correlated with the variances of the inflation rate and the growth rate in nominal income. Because differences in inflation variance (and hence the tradeoff) are viewed as the outcomes of differences in demand variance, correlations between these two variables are also reported. Cross-time and cross-country results provide a good measure of support for Lucas and the notion that attempts to exploit the tradeoff weaken it.