Structure of neutral and monotonic binary social decision rules with quasi-transitive individual preferences

The paper investigates the structure of neutral and monotonic binary social decision rules with unrestricted domain under the assumption that individual weak preference relations are reflexive, connected, and quasi-transitive. Among other results, neutral and monotonic binary social decision rules on this domain are characterized for alternative social rationality assumptions.     

The impact of ethical climate types on facets of job satisfaction: An empirical investigation

This study examines the impact of ethical climate types (professionalism, caring, rules, instrumental, efficiency, and independence) on various facets of job satisfaction (pay, promotions, co-workers, supervisors, and work itself) in a large non-profit organization. Professionalism was the most reported and efficiency was the least reported ethical climate type in the organization. Among various facets of job satisfaction, respondents were most satisfied with their work and least satisfied with their pay. None of the climate types significantly influenced satisfaction with pay. A professional climate significantly influenced satisfaction with promotions, supervisors, and work. It also significantly influenced overall job satisfaction. Those respondents who believed that their organization had caring climate were more satisfied with their supervisors. An instrumental climate had a significant negative influence on overall job satisfaction and satisfaction with promotions, co-workers, and supervisors. Rules, efficiency, and independence climate types did not significantly affect any facets of job satisfaction. Satish Deshpande is an Associate Professor of Management at Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University. He teaches human resource management courses. His current research interests include business ethics, managerial decision-making, and applied psychology in human resource issues. His publications include articles in the Academy of Management Journal, Compensation and Benefits Review, Human Relations, Journal of Small Business Management, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.     

A story to sell: The influence of storytelling on consumers' purchasing behavior

Storytelling can arouse consumers' emotions and affect purchasing behavior through desires and attitudes. While the marketing literature discusses storytelling, there is a lack of consensus because of the diverse conceptual and operational definitions used. To untangle the complexities and consolidate the fragmented knowledge about storytelling in marketing, this research examines how the marketing literature has addressed the influence of storytelling on consumers' purchasing behavior. The findings aid in understanding how the topic has been discussed from a marketing perspective in consumer behavior studies. Through a systematic literature review using a bibliometric analysis, we demonstrate that the marketing literature features four strands about the uses of storytelling to influence consumers' purchasing behavior. First, storytelling stimulates the consumer's identification with the brand. Second, storytelling allows consumers to experience emotional value. Third, storytelling supports engagement behaviors. Finally, storytelling has a downside in that it also propagates harmful speech. This study concludes with a roadmap for future research about how storytelling impacts consumers' purchasing behavior.     

Characterizing the Distribution of Macronutrient Intake among U.S. Adults: A Quantile Regression Approach

Since the risk of dietary inadequacy or excess is greater at the tails of the nutrient intake distributions than at the mean, marginal effects of explanatory variables estimated at the conditional mean using ordinary least squares may be of limited value in characterizing these distributions. Quantile regression is effective in this situation since it can estimate conditional functions at any part of the distribution. Quantile regression results suggest that age, education, and income have a larger influence at intake levels where the risk of excess is greater compared with intake levels where the risk of excess is lower.     

Ethical climate and the link between success and ethical behavior: An empirical investigation of a non-profit organization

This study examines the ethical climate and ethical practices of successful managers (n=206 managers) of a large non-profit organization. The influence of different dimensions of ethical climate on perceived ethical practices of successful managers were also investigated. Results show that a majority of the respondents perceive successful managers as ethical. Compared to previous research, managers in our sample were less optimistic about the relationship between success and ethical behavior. Those who believed that their organization had a caring climate perceived a strong positive link between success and ethical behavior. Those who believed that their organization had an instrumental climate perceived a strong negative link between success and ethical behavior. Satish Deshpande is an Associate Professor of Management at Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. He teaches human resource management courses. His current research interests include business ethics, managerial decision-making, and applied psychology in human resource issues. His publications include articles in the Academy of Management Journal, Compensation and Benefits Review, Human Relations, Journal of Small Business Management, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.     

Ethics,success, and job satisfaction: A test of dissonance theory in India

A survey of middle level managers in India (n=150) showed that when respondents perceived that successful managers in their organization behaved unethically their levels of job satisfaction were reduced. Reduction in satisfaction with the facet of supervision was the most pronounced (than with pay or promotion or co-worker or work). Results are interpreted within the framework of cognitive dissonance theory. Implications for ethics training programs (behavioral and cognitive) as well as international management are discussed. Chockalingam Viswesvaran is assistant professor at Florida International University. His research interests include business ethics and personnel management. He has published in Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Relations Industrielles. Satish P. Deshpande is associate professor at Western Michigan University. His research interests include business ethics, managerial decision making. He has published in Academy of Management Journal, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Relations Industrielles, and Human Relations.     

Trade Liberalization and Productivity Growth: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

The impact of trade liberalization on productivity growth is still an empirical issue; the theoretical literature is as yet unclear on the direction of any such association. This paper develops an analytical framework and employs it to empirically test whether trade liberalization in Indian manufacturing has raised total factor productivity (TFP) growth. The answer is in the affirmative. The results also support a key postulate of the new growth theories, that liberalization of the intermediate-good sectors has a larger favorable impact on TFP growth than that of the final-good sectors.     

The influence of mergers on firms' product‐mix strategies

This study draws on the institutional and resource‐based theories of the firm and examines whether multi‐product firms use mergers as a strategic tool to reconfigure their product‐mix toward high‐profit products. We propose that mergers facilitate product‐mix reconfiguration by relaxing institutional and organizational constraints on resource redeployment. Analysis of data from the U.S. hospital industry reveals that, relative to non‐merging hospitals, merging hospitals increased their presence in profitable, insured services but did not shift away from low‐profit services used by the uninsured. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.