Developing a Learning Community Approach to Business Ethics Education

In this paper we discuss a project, still in progress, that moves away from a traditional lecture based educational pedagogy. We present a team taught approach to ethics teaching that embraces a progressive philosophy of education and is focused on the development of a discussion based learning community. We describe our primary pedagogical tools of case discussion and the development of student expert role assignments as a locus, and how they relate to the learning community, course content and course objectives. Finally, we provide our preliminary review of outcomes and emerging issues.     

Understanding Social Welfare Capitalism,Private Property,and the Government’s Duty to Create a Sustainable Environment

No one would deny that sustainability is necessary for individual, business, and national survival. How this goal is to be accomplished is a matter of great debate. In this article I will show that the United States and other developed countries have a duty to create sustainable cities, even if that is against a notion of private property rights considered as an absolute. Through eminent domain and regulation, developed countries can fulfill their obligations to current and future generations. To do so, the governments must reject perfectly competitive free market capitalism and the absolute right to private property, and more fully adopt social welfare capitalism as their economic system. The result will be a sustainable society that balances democracy, individual rights and individual flourishing with the community’s flourishing.     

The Telecommunications Act at three years: an economic evaluation of its implementation by the Federal Communications Commission

The competitive free-for-all that Congress envisioned in the 1996 Telecommunications Act has for the most part not appeared. The Act calls for two forms of regulatorily-assisted entry into local markets: lease of network elements and resale. The FCC has decreed that the charges for those elements and the resale discounts must emulate the costs of an ideally-efficient firm. This standard is in fact not efficient, and the FCC’s attempt to jump-start the entry of competitors in this way has short-circuited the competitive process itself and jeopardized achievement of the goals of the Act.     

时艰更看领导力（上）

金融危机席卷而来。2009年，麦肯锡咨询公司特别采访了多家大公司的14名领导人，请他们反思自己觉得从危机中学到了什么。当然，这次访谈也不想把他们的评论仅仅局限于当前的衰退，还请他们思考了在以前扭亏为盈的转型或危机期间曾经面临的挑战。     

Anchoring Induced Biases in Consumer Price Negotiations

Two studies were conducted with the aim of demonstrating anchoring induced biases in consumer price negotiations.In Study 1, 96 undergraduate students of business administration who were recruited as subjects played the role of buyers of a condominium. All subjects were given the same market information. They were then asked to state whether their reservation price was higher or lower than an arbitrary price example (irrelevant anchor) that for different groups of subjects was either low or high. Finally, subjects indicated their reservation price. As would be predicted if adjustments from the anchor are insufficient, the indicated reservation price was lower when the anchor was low than when it was high.In Study 2, employing 64 undergraduate students of psychology who conducted dyad negotiations about the price of condominiums, the effect of the irrelevant anchor on the initially indicated reservation price was replicated. In addition, an anchoring effect of the seller's initial offer was observed. The results also revealed effects of both irrelevant anchor and initial offer on the purchase price.From a public policy point of view, the results imply that consumers may be strongly influenced by irrelevant anchors provided by sellers. Provision of accurate market price information may however lessen the impact of irrelevant anchors.     

FINANCIAL CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO MANAGEMENTS'STOCK SPLIT AND STOCK DIVIDEND DECISIONS

Several studies have made inquiries of corporate managers concerning their motivations for undertaking stock splits and stock dividends. This paper investigates whether the factors identified by these studies are in fact associated with the actual stock distribution decisions of managers. The results are consistent with the view that managements issue large stock distributions (25 per cent or greater) in order to keep the per share price in an optimal range and to signal optimistic expectations to the market. Firms with relatively low per share prices were inclined to issue small stock distributions (less than 25 per cent); the signaling motivation also played a role here.