The Economic Performance of State-owned Enterprises in Argentina an Empirical Assessment

This paper empirically investigates the economic performance of 13 Argentine SOEs. Among them, one displays a behavior consistent with profit maximization, eight exhibit a behavior consistent with output maximization with a maximum loss constraint, and four show a behavior consistent with employment maximization. Such behavior taken together is consistent with the use of SOEs to achieve government macroeconomic targets. We also have found that, although different political regimes have different effects on the behavior of individual SOEs, there is no evidence that the SOEs as a group performed differently under military regimes than under the populist Peron regime.     

Structuring assignments to improve understanding and presentation skills: Experiential learning in the capstone strategic management team presentation

In the strategic management course, students select, analyze, and present viable future alternatives based on information provided in cases or computer simulations. Rather than understanding the entire process, the student's focus is on the final presentation. Chickering's (1977) research on active learning suggests students learn more effectively when participating in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The authors highlight instructional changes with students, gathering primary data independently and later comparing findings in a team-based scaffolding process. Statistical analysis of students' self-reported understanding scores both before and following the experiential intervention support the benefits. Qualitative comments by the students, embedded librarian, faculty, and business practitioners also indicate improved learning resulted from course modifications.     

The Effects of Product Placement in Fictitious Literature on Consumer Purchase Intention

Three experiments tested whether brand‐name products placed in a short story would be more often selected when two identical products with different brand names were presented in either a picture or text format in forced choice purchase intention and placement recognition tests. In Experiments 1a and 1b, there was no significant influence of product placement in a pictorial purchase intention task. However, in Experiments 2a and 2b, a reliable and equal level of recognition memory was observed, regardless of whether the products were presented in a picture (Exp. 2a) or text (Exp. 2b) format. In Experiment 3, the products were presented in a text format in the purchase intention task and participants more often and more quickly chose the brand‐name product from the story. At a practical level, these results suggest some limits to the usefulness of product placement in text.     

When Navigation Trumps Visual Dynamism: Hospital Website Usability and Credibility

In-depth interviews about hospital websites were conducted with 15 participants ranging in age, gender, occupation, and computer proficiency. Interviewees completed detailed usability tasks along with questionnaires that gauged perceptions of organizational and website credibility, including visual and technical dynamism. Participants ranked the most dynamic site lower than the less dynamic one because of navigation difficulties. Researchers advocate including usability tasks in website studies, rather than assessing perceptions based on short-term browsing protocols. They present a schema of website concepts organized into language credibility, visual credibility, and technical credibility that can be used in future research or by health communication practitioners. A list of best practices in navigation features is also included.     

Misfortunes or mistakes? : Cultural sensemaking of entrepreneurial failure

This study examines cultural views of venture failure through the lens of sensemaking, which includes attributions of causality. Specifically, we explore failure accounts that are attributed to mistakes made by entrepreneurs, and those attributed to misfortunes outside the control of the entrepreneur. Reports of entrepreneurial failures from 1999 to 2001 were collected from seven major US newspapers, and 389 accounts of failure were analyzed for statements identifying the failure's cause. The data suggest that cultural sensemaking of failure varies by the geographical area where failure occurs. In addition, 331 accounts of the consequences of failure were analyzed which suggest that failure has a large impact on the stigmatization of the entrepreneur and entrepreneurship within the local area, as well as on the individual entrepreneur's view of themselves following failure.     

Web-based recruiting’s impact on organizational image and familiarity: too much of a good thing?

Abstract

Little is known about the efficacy of many of the newer forms of online recruitment. Using a quasi-experimental design, we tested the impact of individual exposure to corporate recruitment websites and Facebook on perceptions of organizational familiarity and organizational image over time. Most interestingly, we found evidence of a curvilinear or non-linear relationship between frequency of exposure to organizational communications and perceptions of organizational familiarity across time. Implications of our findings for HR theory and practice are discussed.     

Managerial and Peer Influence on Ethical Behavioral Intentions in a Personal Selling Context

This article evaluates the relationship between the ethical behavioral intentions of 374 future salespeople and the ethical climate of the firm. The ethical philosophy (high or low) of top management, immediate sales managers, and the peers of potential sales people were examined to see if they influenced: (1) comfort levels with the philosophy of the firm and (2) likelihood of engaging in unethical sales behavior. Ethical behavior measures included 14 situations such as deceptive sales tactics, deceptive pricing, and unethical behavior toward the employer.