Beyond the Business Case: An Ethical Perspective of Diversity Training

Extant literature on diversity training programs continues to yield little evidence of their overall effectiveness. Whereas the most common approach to diversity training entails justifying the value of diversity on the basis of its contribution to the organization's bottom line, we argue that approaching diversity training from an ethical perspective may bolster the effectiveness of traditional approaches. Specifically, to the degree that traditional bottom‐line justifications are enhanced with social justice arguments, training effectiveness will increase. In the following article, we discuss traditional approaches to diversity training, provide a general overview of ethics, discuss how theory and research from behavioral ethics literature might help to address some of the challenges faced in diversity training, and draw from ethics literature to make specific, novel suggestions about the implementation and presentation of diversity training.     

Demand for carbonated soft drinks: implications for obesity policy

This article examines consumer choices of Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSDs) and their implications for obesity policy. Demand in relation to product and consumer heterogeneity is estimated via a random coefficients logit model (Berry et al., 1995) applied to quarterly scanner data for 26 brands in 20 US cities, involving 40?000 consumers. Counterfactual experiments show that caloric taxes could be effective in decreasing caloric CSD consumption though having little impact on obesity incidence.     

Minority membership on boards of directors: the case for requiring pictures of boards in annual reports

Affirmative action and diversity continue to be contentious issues in the United States. Financial markets are still reeling from the effects of Enron, WorldCom and other corporate exemplars of corruption and malfeasance. The role of the board of directors in these scandals is the subject of serious and ongoing concern. Weak and/or ineffectual boards are often the consequences of “old-boy networks” and a lack of diversity in membership. This research study argues for an increased presence of gender and race diversity on boards of directors. Empirical evidence is presented that shows a significant increase in the presence of ethnic minorities and females when pictures of board members are included in annual reports. We suggest that requiring pictures of board members in annual reports and regulatory filings would result in a larger presence for gender and race diversity on boards of directors. This requirement is not a significant burden and merely represents compliance with the spirit and intent of the “full disclosure” principle.     

Is the MPC's Voting Record Informative about Future UK Monetary Policy?

It is shown that the voting record of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England helps predict future policy rate changes. This result is robust to the inclusion of market participants’ expectations as measured by the slope of the term structure of money market rates and interest rate futures. Moreover, expectations seem to adjust to the information contained in the voting record, which suggests that publishing the minutes of MPC meetings increases the transparency of monetary policy.     

The Forewarning Effect of Critical Audit Matter Disclosures Involving Measurement Uncertainty*

We present experimental evidence suggesting that critical audit matter (CAM) disclosures in the auditor's report involving areas of high measurement uncertainty forewarn users of misstatement risk. Specifically, in our first study with MBA students, financial analysts, and attorneys, we find that CAMs (i) lower premisstatement assessments of confidence in the financial statement area disclosed as a CAM, and (ii) lower assessments of auditor responsibility for a subsequently revealed misstatement in a CAM-related area. In our second study with student participants proxying as mock jurors, we find that the responsibility-mitigating effect of CAM disclosure is driven by CAM disclosures involving measurement uncertainty, as opposed to CAM disclosures involving categorical determinations. Combined, our findings help reconcile mixed evidence from prior research, supporting the view that the forewarning effect of CAM disclosures involving measurement uncertainty could mitigate perceived auditor responsibility for CAM-related material misstatements.     

An examination of the role played by internships in nurturing management competencies in Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) students

This article examines how the development of management competencies occurs within Hospitality and Tourism Management education programs at a 4-year higher education institution based in the Midwest. Its purpose is to address concerns raised by industry on how universities can best prepare graduates for success in their careers. As a result, this article examines internships as a vehicle for identifying both the development of management competencies and conversely is used to ascertain potential deficiencies in students’ development and marketability.

The findings suggest that due to the disparate needs of students, educators and employers, discrepancies do exist between stakeholder perspectives concerning the most beneficial way to facilitate programs.     

Souvenirs: Icons of meaning, commercialization and commoditization

This article examines the development of souvenirs research in tourism studies. It looks at souvenirs from four broad vantage points, namely historical perspectives on souvenirs research, souvenirs as messengers of meaning, souvenirs as tradable commodities and the commodification of souvenirs and handicrafts. Part of this includes the supply and demand aspects of souvenir production and consumption, including the distribution system and various aspects of producers. The paper also considers the commodification process of native arts and crafts into consumable tourism products and suggests future directions for additional works in this understudied area of tourism research.     

The picture of luxury: A comprehensive examination of college student consumers' relationship with luxury brands

This study examines college student consumers' relationship with luxury brands through two studies. Study 1 analyzes collages to determine what represents luxury to them, how consumers perceive their relationships with luxury, and who they are as luxury consumers. Study 2 analyzes qualitative interviews to validate the findings of Study 1 and to add further insights. Results of Study 1 suggest that college student consumers represent a vibrant segment in the luxury market. These consumers perceive a wide variety of products and brands as meeting their luxury needs. They are currently interested in luxury and their potential will only increase as their incomes do. Results of Study 2 confirms their views of luxury and emphasizes the critical roles social media, peers, and family play in influencing college student consumers' luxury consumption and provide insights for how to build an emotional bond with them. Luxury marketers can build brand relationships with college student consumers by offering them entry-level products as they are current luxury consumers and see their consumption expanding in the future. Given that college student consumers are both vulnerable and savvy in recognizing when they are being manipulated, caution needs to be taken in approaching this segment in relationship-building efforts.     

Health state utilities associated with treatment options for acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

Abstract

Aims: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment typically involves remission induction chemotherapy followed by consolidation chemotherapy. New treatments for AML have recently been introduced, including a chemotherapy formulation called CPX-351, which is administered via less time-intensive IV infusion than the standard “7?+?3” continuous infusion regimen of cytarabine plus an anthracycline. The purpose of this study was to estimate utilities that could be used in economic modeling of AML treatment.

Materials and methods: In time trade-off interviews, participants from the UK general population valued 12 health states drafted based on literature and clinician interviews. To identify disutility associated with chemotherapy, two types of induction and four types of consolidation were added to an otherwise identical health state describing AML. The decrease in utility when adding these chemotherapy regimens represents the disutility of each regimen. Five additional health states were valued to estimate utilities associated with other AML treatments.

Results: Two hundred participants completed interviews. Mean (SD) utilities were 0.55 (0.31) for pre-treatment AML and 0.66 (0.29) for AML in temporary remission. Adding any chemotherapy significantly decreased utility (p?<?0.0001). Induction had a mean disutility of –0.11 with CPX-351 and –0.15 with 7?+?3. Mean disutility for consolidation ranged from –0.03 with outpatient CPX-351 to –0.11 with inpatient 5?+?2. Utilities are also reported for other AML treatments (e.g. transplant, low-intensity chemotherapy).

Limitations: One limitation is that the differences in adverse event profiles between the treatment regimens were based on clinician opinion. Future use of CPX-351 in clinical trials or clinical settings will provide additional information on its adverse event profile.

Conclusions: While all chemotherapy regimens were associated with disutility, regimens with shorter hospitalization and less time-intensive infusion were generally perceived as preferable. These utilities may be useful in cost-utility models comparing the value of AML treatments.