A Quality-of-Life Theory Derived from Maslow's Developmental Perspective

A bstract . A quality-of-life (QOL) theory developed from Abraham Maslow's human developmental perspective is presented. Developed societies involve members who are mostly preoccupied in satisfying higher-order needs (social, esteem, and self actualization needs), it is argued, whereas less-developed societies involve members who are mostly preoccupied in satisfying lower-order needs (biological and safety related needs). QOL is defined in terms of the hierarchical need satisfaction level of most of the members of a given society. The higher the need satisfaction of the majority in a given society the greater the QOL of that society. Institutions are designed to serve human needs in a society, and therefore a society's QOL. Societal institutions that serve human needs include productive, maintenance, managerial/political , and adaptive institutions. Each of these types of societal institutions involve a hierarchical dimension. It is argued that progressive increases in QOL are accompanied with hierarchical changes of these societal institutions.     

TARGET PAYOUT AND THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DIVIDENDS AND SHARE PRICES*

The hypothesis that share prices react differently to unexpected dividend changes conditional upon firm target payouts is examined empirically. The cumulative abnormal return metric is used to measure price reactions for firms in various combinations of target payout class and dividend change. Two models are used as surrogates for expected dividends: the Fama-Babiak model and one using analyst dividend forecasts. In general, the information hypothesis is not supported in the case of unexpected dividend decrease, but target payout is found to be a significant explanatory variable of share price behaviour in the case of unexpected dividend increase.     

A defense of employee rights

Recent trends in business ethics along with growing attacks upon unions, suggest that employee rights will be a major social concern for business managers during the next decade. However, in most of the discussions of employee rights to date, the very meaning and legitimacy of such rights are often uncritically taken for granted. In this paper, we develop an account of employee rights and defend this conception against what we take to be the strongest in-principle objections to it. Joseph R. Des Jardins is Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy of Villanova University. He is co-editor, with John McCall, ofContemporary Issues in Business Ethics (1984) and An Introduction to Ethics (forthcoming, both published by Wadsworth. John J. McCall is Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy of St. Joseph's University and formerly at Iowa State University.     

Choosing between discrete marketing policy alternatives under uncertain market response conditions

Models for decisions under uncertainty are reviewed and the use of expected utility is recommended. A general framework for choosing between discrete marketing policy alternatives is developed, allowing for different non-Gaussian probability distributions of market response functions to be assumed. An example of an actual application is presented.     

Learning in the thick of it

The U.S. Army's Opposing Force (OPFOR) is a 2,500-member brigade whose job is to help prepare soldiers for combat. Created to be the meanest, toughest foe that soldiers will ever face, OPFOR engages units-in-training in a variety of mock campaigns under a wide range of conditions. Every month, a fresh brigade of more than 4,000 soldiers takes on this standing enemy. OPFOR, which is stationed in the California desert, always has the home-court advantage. But the force being trained--called BLU FOR--is numerically and technologically superior. It possesses more resources and better, more available data. It is made up of experienced soldiers. And it knows just what to expect, because OPFOR shares its methods from previous campaigns with BLUFOR's commanders. In short, each BLUFOR brigade is given practically every edge. Yet OPFOR almost always wins. Underlying OPFOR's consistent success is the way it uses the after-action review (AAR), a method for extracting lessons from one event or project and applying them to others. AAR meetings became a popular business tool after Shell Oil began experimenting with them in 1998. Most corporate AARs, however, are faint echoes of the rigorous reviews performed by OPFOR. Companies tend to treat the process as a pro-forma wrap-up, drawing lessons from an action but rarely learning them. OPFOR's AARs, by contrast, generate raw material that is fed back into the execution cycle. And while OPFOR's reviews extract numerous lessons, the brigade does not consider a lesson to be learned until it is successfully applied and validated. It might not make sense for companies to adopt OPFOR's AAR processes in their entirety, but four fundamentals are mandatory: Lessons must benefit the team that extracts them. The AAR process must start atthe beginning of the activity. Lessons must link explicitly to future actions. And leaders must hold everyone, especially themselves, accountable for learning.