Avoiding integrity land mines

How does a large multinational keep thousands of employees, operating in hundreds of countries, honest in a high-pressure business environment? As the chief legal officer at General Electric for nearly 20 years, Ben Heineman was part of the senior management group that sought to do just that--to make sure its executives and employees are moved to do the right thing as strongly as they are motivated to make their numbers. Heineman describes a set of systems that combine the communication of clear expectations with oversight, deterrence, and incentives. Nowhere are the expectations higher--and the sanctions more powerful--than for top executives. Heineman recounts example after example of senior leaders terminated for ethical lapses even when the business consequences of doing so were painful--and even when they had no direct knowledge of the violations occurring on their watch. To make expectations clear throughout the company, GE has systematically sought to set uniform standards that stay well ahead of current legal developments and stakeholders' changing attitudes about corporate accountability. Responsibility for implementing those standards, which are embedded in GE's operating practices, rests with the business leaders in the field. Oversight is both methodical and multifaceted. A host of auditing and assessment systems enables GE to compare the performance of its various business units against one another and against industry benchmarks. Perhaps the most powerful is the company's ombudsman system, which doesn't just allow but requires employees to lodge concerns. Failures to report into the system or up the line, or retaliation in any form, are firing offenses. The current intense focus on board-level governance has missed the point, Heineman argues. It is time to shift the debate from board oversight of the CEO to how top company leaders can most effectively infuse integrity at all levels of the corporation.     

The effect of information on consumers' willingness to pay for natural and organic chicken

This study examined the effect of definitions for organic and natural on willingness to pay a premium for organic over natural chicken. Data were collected using surveys and experimental auctions that were conducted before and after information was presented. Before information, approximately two‐thirds of participants inaccurately equated the requirements of natural with those for organic. After information, nearly 50% increased their premium, while 30% decreased their premium. Logistic regression results showed that consumers who had overestimated the requirements for natural were most likely to have an increased premium after information, with significantly higher bids for organic. For those who decreased their premium after information, awareness of consuming genetically modified (GM) foods was a key variable. The non‐genetically modified (non‐GM) requirement of organic appears to be of low value to some consumers. Overall, consumer confusion regarding organic and natural standards may be having substantial impacts on the two markets.     

基于J2EE的社保系统框架关键技术的研究应用

文章通过研究基于J2EE架构的社保系统框架,并结合本框架在实际软件项目开发中的运用实例进行实证分析,结果表明:通过运用可重用框架,系统开发人员不仅能极大地提高软件的开发效率和代码的复用度,而且还能增强系统的灵活性和可扩展性,更加有助于系统的维护和升级,从而在很大程度上减轻了系统开发及维护人员的工作负担。     

Market Orientation,Corporate Social Responsibility,and Business Performance

This study examines the moderating effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the association between market orientation and firm performance in the context of an emerging economy. The results from a sample of firms that operate in Dubai indicate that CSR has a synergistic effect on the impact of market orientation on business performance. The results of our research on the moderating effects of CSR on market orientation subsets reveal that although CSR moderates the association between customer orientation and business performance, it does not moderate the association between competitive orientation and inter-functional coordination and performance. The results of this study are discussed, and implications for practitioners and researchers are presented.     

廉州话的代词

廉州话,是合浦县的主要方言之一,是一种颇具特色的粤方言。文章对廉州话代词的形式和功能进行介绍并对其特殊用法进行描写和分析,以揭示廉州话代词的基本面貌。     

High Leverage and Willingness to Pay: Evidence from the Residential Housing Market

I document a strong correlation between paying the full listing price on homes and borrowing 100% loan‐to‐value. Homebuyers who do both overpay by 2.8% to 3.9% ($4,800 to $6,700) and are 22.7% more likely to have their properties foreclosed within one year. The correlation is not mechanical: there is a discontinuity in the average leverage around the full listing price. The correlation is stronger in areas with a high fraction of financially constrained and unsophisticated residents, and in areas of high past price growth (potentially indicative of buyer optimism).     

外资水务企业在华直接投资浅析

对外资水务企业在我国直接投资的发展阶段进行研究,认为外资水务企业在我国的直接投资大致经历了初期、扩张与撤退并存、停滞与渗透并存3个阶段;探讨了外资水务企业进入我国市场带来的主要问题,即:水务产业安全、与我国水务企业的竞争加剧、公众利益保护等。最后提出解决以上问题的方案:根据水务产业的特征将水务产业链细分成自然垄断环节和非自然垄断环节,对自然垄断环节进行严格的管制,而非自然垄断环节,可以适度引入竞争机制;通过示范效应和人才流动学习外资水务企业先进的管理经营和技术,构建我国水务企业的竞争优势;提高公众和企业的参与度,加强对外资水务企业的监督管理。     

居民参与城市森林生态服务供给的行为分析

从生态效用构成角度分析居民参与城市森林生态服务供给的行为动因,将参与城市森林生态服务供给的居民划分为关心社区绿化、受利益驱动和随波逐流等三种类型,居民对环境状况的心理偏好、对环境的满意程度、户外活动习惯以及收入水平、受教育程度、社会阅历、空气质量情况、周边环境绿化状况、周围人的态度等因素决定和影响居民参与城市森林生态服务供给行为,同时给出研究结论和相应的建议.     

Improving the speed of adoption of agricultural technologies and farm performance through farmer groups: evidence from the Great Lakes region of Africa

The article examines the effect of membership in farmer groups (MFG) on adoption lag of agricultural technologies and farm performance in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. We use duration and stochastic production frontier models on farm household data. We find that the longer the duration of MFG, the shorter the adoption lag and much more so if combined with extension service delivery. Farmer groups function as an important mechanism for improving farm productivity through reduced technical inefficiency in input use. We discuss policy implications under which farmer groups are a useful channel to reduce adoption lag, and the means through which improved farm performance can be achieved.