McMahon on Workplace Democracy

This paper offers a sympathetic critique of Christopher McMahon’s Authority and Democracy: A General Theory of Government and Management. Although I find fault with some of his arguments, my goal is not to show that these arguments are irreparable, but to highlight issues that deserve further consideration. After defining some terms, first, I raise an objection to McMahon’s rejection of the moral unity of management (MUM) thesis. Second, I draw attention to his “moralization” of the workplace, and examine the role it plays in his arguments about the relative strengths of the different kinds of authority. Third, I raise questions about his reliance on an analogy between states and firms. I suggest that states and firms are in some ways more alike, but in other ways less alike, than he allows.     

Do culturally distant partners choose different types of joint ventures?

Studies of international joint ventures yield conflicting results when looking at the role played by cultural distance. We argue that managers understand the problems associated with cultural distance and seek to mitigate its impact by selecting certain types of joint ventures. Using Das and Teng's [Das, T. K., & Teng, B.-S. (2001). A risk-perception model of alliance structuring. Journal of International Management, 7(1): 1–30] typology of unilateral and bilateral alliances to categorize a sample of ventures based on their strategic focus, our results indicate that greater cultural distance is associated with an increased probability that a marketing or supplier alliance will be formed and a lower probability that an innovation-oriented alliance will be formed.     

An exploratory look at supermarket shopping paths

We present analyses of an extraordinary new dataset that reveals the path taken by individual shoppers in an actual grocery store, as provided by RFID (radio frequency identification) tags located on their shopping carts. The analysis is performed using a multivariate clustering algorithm not yet seen in the marketing literature that is able to handle data sets with unique (and numerous) spatial constraints. This allows us to take into account physical impediments (such as the location of aisles and other inaccessible areas of the store) to ensure that we only report feasible centroid paths. We also recognize that time spent in the store plays an important role, leading to different cluster configurations for short, medium, and long trips. The resulting three sets of clusters identify a total of 14 “canonical path types” that are typical of grocery store travel, and we carefully describe (and cross-validate) each set of clusters. These results dispel certain myths about shopper travel behavior that common intuition perpetuates, including behavior related to aisles, end-cap displays, and the “racetrack.” We briefly relate these results to previous research (using much more limited datasets) covering travel behavior in retail stores and other related settings.     

Teaching business ethics

Business ethics should be taught in business schools as an integrated part of core curricula in MBA programs with a dual focus on both analytical frameworks and their applications to the business disciplines. To overcome the reluctance of many faculty to handle ethical issues, a critical mass of faculty must develop suitable materials, educate their peers in its use, and take the lead by introducing it in their own courses and on senior management programs.Jeffrey Gandz is an Associate Professor in the School of Business Administration, The University of Western Ontario. Following ten years of management experience in Europe and North America, Professor Gandz completed his Ph.D. at York University. He is active as a mediator and arbitrator in labour disputes, teaches Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, and Labour Relations at Western, and has published widely in those fields.Nadine Hayes is a Ph.D. candidate at The University of Western Ontario and a graduate of Western's Honors Business Administration Program. She has written several case studies in the field of Business Ethics and has worked with Jeffrey Gandz in developing the School's approach to the teaching of business ethics.     

The effect of agriculture on repayment efficiency: a look at MFI borrowing groups

There is a widely held industry assumption from microfinance institutions that agricultural loans have poorer repayment rates, which has resulted in many loans being provided for small businesses as opposed to agricultural purposes. Using data from a sample of 100 borrowing groups from a south Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFI), this study challenges this belief by analyzing the repayment efficiency of borrowing groups and reflects on the implications for agricultural microfinance loans. The analysis is run using Bayesian stochastic frontier estimation with an exponential hierarchical prior on the efficiency term. Our results indicate that the average efficiency of the borrowing groups analyzed was approximately 75% and that having a higher percentage of agricultural loans increased borrowing group efficiency while gains in efficiency also rose as the size of the borrowing group increases.     

Agricultural extension,trust, and learning: results from economic experiments in Ecuador

Using an artefactual economic experiment and a randomized training intervention in Ecuador we test if trust conditions a farmer’s decision to learn during an agricultural training. We present a simple model of farmer behavior during the agricultural training in order to link play in the laboratory to behavior in the field. We find evidence that farmers who trust agricultural technicians relatively more than community farmers in the trust game learn more during training. The results provide insight into the design of agricultural extension services in Ecuador.     

Searching for farmland preservation markets: Evidence from the Southeastern U.S.

Farmland preservation is a topic of much discussion in many areas of the United States, but of little action. Only 1.6 million acres of U.S. farmland are permanently protected nationwide, a number not too different from some estimates of annual losses of farmland to development. While a number of studies have estimated the non-market benefits of preserved farmland (cf. Wichelns, D., Kline, J.D., 1993. The impact of parcel characteristics on the cost of development rights. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 22 (October) 150–158), this study is the first to focus on the potential for a market for farmland preservation. Using primary data collected from farmers and citizens specifically to address this issue, we estimate the supply of and demand for farmland for preservation. Separate models are estimated for both privately and publicly run preservation programs. Demand is estimated under private-voluntary, public-voluntary, and public-mandatory scenarios. The results show that both public and private programs can be successful. The market capable of preserving the most acres is a tax-funded, state-run program which could permanently preserve over 200,000 acres in 5 years.     

The Development of Undergraduate International Business Practicums in Small Business Schools: An Experiential Learning Framework

The value of the inclusion of experiential learning opportunities in international business education has been well established in the literature. We set out to examine industry-identified skills and experiences that could lead to enhanced employability and early career performance. Through our extensive review of theory, empirical work, leading programs, practicum channels, and our own qualitative study, we proposed frameworks to help guide small business schools best structure their undergraduate international business experiential learning offerings. Specifically, we suggest the establishment of tracks or concentrations with supplemental skill focus, emphasis on foreign language proficiency, and requiring at least two international internship or service learning practicums, preferably abroad, that include mini-consulting projects, presentations, and deliverables.     

Islamic,socially responsible,and conventional market comovements: Evidence from stock indices

This article extends the literature on ethical investment risks, correlations, and comovements. Through a sample of 17 Islamic, socially responsible investment (SRI), and conventional stock indices, we investigate cointegration and dynamic correlations for the period 2005–2015. We also examine these stock indices’ responses to two major economic factors, namely, oil prices and market volatility. Our results show cointegration between Islamic, SRI and conventional stock indices, and comovements with mutual causalities. During crises, dynamic correlations tend to spike; however, quite a different pattern emerges during postcrisis periods when there is more variability in conditional covariances. Finally, we provide evidence that all three types of stock indices react positively to oil price changes, but negatively to global equity market volatility, albeit with different magnitudes. Overall, investors can obtain portfolio diversification benefits through SRI and Islamic stock indices, particularly in postcrisis periods.     

Integrating Negative Social Cues in Tobacco Packaging: A Novel Approach to Discouraging Smokers

Smoking is an international health crisis. Tobacco packaging is an important vehicle to convey antismoking messages, which to date have been predominantly limited to fear‐based health appeals. Using an experimental approach, we examine whether a novel alternative—using negative social cues on packaging—is effective at discouraging smoking. Our results support the notion that packaging which conveys to smokers that “others” view smoking negatively is sufficient to trigger feelings of self‐consciousness, which in turn reduces smoking intentions. This approach is particularly effective in “isolated” smokers who do not see smoking as identity‐relevant or congruent with their social self. These findings suggest that for a particular segment of the smoking population, the integration of negative social cues on packaging may be an effective complement to current fear‐based appeals.