Ethical behaviours in organizations: Directed by the formal or informal systems?

Past research has focused on individual culpability with the assumption that individuals will further their own self interest over that of the organization, given an appropriate opportunity. In contrast, this research shifts the focus from individual motivation to the influence of the formal and informal control systems of organizations on ethical behaviours. An open-ended interview approach was used to collect data. It was found that pressures within the informal system were the dominant influence in the resolution of ethical issues. The dominance of the informal system, however, varies according to the economic position of the organization.Loren Falkenberg and Irene Herremans are Associate Professors in the Faculty of Management at the University of Calgary. Both have published in a wide variety of academic journals. Loren Falkenberg teaches courses in business ethics and management of human resources while Irene Herremans teaches in the accounting and tourism areas.     

Sharing risk within and across countries: the role of labor market institutions

This paper studies the effect of labor market institutions on within- and cross-country risk sharing, using a model of international trade in risky assets modified to include a subset of agents, labor-owners who do not access financial markets, and employment security provisions. Labor market, institutions, by promoting within-country risk-shifting arrangements between agents with or without, access to financial markets, reduce the fluctuations of non-tradable labor incomes and amplify the, fluctuations of capital incomes. Capital flows become more volatile across countries, and if the, configuration of labor markets differs across countries, capital-owners bear the burden of systematic, undiversifiable world aggregate uncertainty.     

Isolating Cultural and National Influence on Value and Ethics: A Test of Competing Hypotheses

We live in an increasingly globalizing world, in which countries are closely linked by international trade and investment ties. Cross-cultural comparative studies of national values and ethics have attracted growing research interest in recent years, because shared practices, values and ethical standards depend on shared beliefs. However, the findings of such studies have been unable to reach a consensus on the impact of culture on ethics-related attitudes and behavior. Empirically, many “cross-cultural” differences reported by previous studies might actually stem from cross-national differences. In order to partially fill this gap, this study advocates an analytical framework that isolates the role of cultural and national differences in order to test their relationship to individual level variables. Within this framework, we test␣competing hypotheses based on both cultural and national contexts by comparing groups of Chinese and American respondents together with a “bridging group” of Chinese Chinese-Americans. Theoretically, this contextual approach helps resolve the debate on the role of␣culture, by showing that culture plays a far more important role in shaping value orientations than the national background. Specifically, the two ethnic Chinese groups had many cultural values in common, and differed significantly from the Caucasian group. Implications are discussed.     

Is Rationing an Option for Approaching Healthcare Services Provision? The Case of the Greek Cardiac Patients

This paper attempts to address some of the issues surrounding rationing of healthcare services, with application to Greece’s delivery of cardiac services. To this end, first, we provide highlights of the current debate concerning rationing worldwide and critically discuss them. Following that, an empirical analysis of the way ‘key’ stakeholders perceive rationing issues in Greece, is performed. Findings indicate that rationing is a highly disputed approach, subject to individualistic interpretations and moral issues. At policy level, it becomes evident that rationing is a mixture rather than a single policy concern, depending on a complicated range of locally-based reconciliation made at various levels of interested parties. Hence, no universal formula exists to fit all countries’ healthcare systems and further case-by-case research, is required.     

Diversification,vertical integration,and industry analysis: New perspectives and measurement

Vertical integration, diversification, and industry analysis are fundamental topics in strategic management content research. We develop the conceptualization of these issues by exploring their nature as well as their correct measurement. Toward these ends, we conduct an extensive analysis of the COMPUSTAT II data base and the TRINET data base in all three research contexts. In addition to these two data bases, we also evaluate the Census of Manufacturers, S&P's Financial Dynamics, S&P's Industry Surveys and Dun and Bradstreet's Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios, for purposes of industry analysis. Important contributions include our identification of the potential of COMPUSTAT 11 data to distinguish within-stage forward and backward vertical integration, and between-stage forward and backward vertical integration, as well as our recommendations for the protection of the integrity of studies based on the COMPUSTA T II and TRINET data bases.     

A research note: information technology and company performance in the textile industry

Here the authors examine the role of computer networks on organisations engaged in textile and clothing manufacture. The results reveal that companies with a computer network performed significantly better than those without, both in terms of growth in employment and return on sales over the period 1985–87     

Gender and local economic policy

Booth, C., Darke, J. and Yeandle, S. 1996: CHANGING PLACES: WOMEN'S LIVES IN THE CITY. London: Paul Chapman, £14.95 paper.

Gardiner, J. 1997: GENDER, CARE AND ECONOMICS. Basingstoke: Macmillan, £15.99 paper.

Dijkstra, G. and Plantenga, J. (eds) 1997: GENDER AND ECONOMICS. A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE. London: Routledge, £45.00 cased, £14.99 paper.     

Professional Ethics Code Conflict Situations: Ethical and Value Orientation of Collegiate Accounting Students

Public accounting in the United States is generally guided by the Code of Professional Conduct of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It has been suggested that education in understanding and accepting their ethical code would increase accountants' adherence and ethicality. This study was designed to examine the level of consensus to AICPA ethical standards by accounting students (ethical orientation). Situation ethics provided the theoretical rationale for this study. The data were gathered by contacting colleges in the New York Metropolitan Area who offered curriculums which were registered by the State Education Department of New York State for Certified Public Accountancy preparation. The final sampling units for this study consisted of 306 beginning accounting students and 294 advanced accounting students. Included in the secondary sampling units were both private and public colleges, secular and non-secular colleges, and American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and non AACSB-accredited colleges. Three instruments were used to collect data for this study: a student demographic questionnaire; the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS); and a researcher-adapted questionnaire, the Index of Ethical Congruence (IEC) which measured the level of consensus to the AICPA Code of Conduct (ethical orientation). T-tests were used to compare the levels of consensus to the Code (IEC score) between beginning and advanced accounting students, and between accounting students who had, or had not, taken a course in ethics. No significant difference in scores were found for those students who had been exposed to the Code or who had taken a course in ethics. Significant differences in IEC scores were found for those students who had attended AACSB-accredited colleges and meaningful differences for those students who had attended public colleges as compared to private colleges. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the relationship between the ethical orientation score (IEC) and personal values measured by the RVS. No relationship between personal values measured by the RVS and ethical orientation was found by this study. This study does not support the influence of situation on ethical orientation. The results indicate that ethical orientation is not significantly improved through exposure to the AICPA Code of Conduct in collegiate courses in accounting.     

Reviews

INDUSTRIAL POLICY: MARKETS VERSUS PLANS.

Employment Institute, 1991: Improving Britain's Industrial Performance. London: Employment Institute, £4.50 paper.

Beynon, H., Hudson, R. and Sadler, D. 1991: A Tale of Two Industries: The Contraction of Coal and Steel in the North East of England. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, £9.99 paper.

LOCAL SPACE.

Murray, R. 1991: Local Space: Europe and the New Regionalism. Manchester/Stevenage: CLES/SEEDS.

THE VITAL ECONOMY.

Michael Fass and Richard Scothorne 1990: The Vital Economy - Integrating Training and Enterprise. Fountainhall, Edinburgh: Abbeystrand Publishing £7.99 paper.

THE QUALITY DEBATE.

Hodge, M. 1991: Quality, Equality, Democracy: Improving Public Services. London: Fabian Pamphlet 549, £3.50 paper.