Racial segregation in the public schools and adult labor market outcomes: the case of black Americans

Residential segregation has played a central role in theories of minority entrepreneurship and in the diversification of the U.S. labor market. Racial diversity in public accommodations, including schools, has been an issue of continuous public policy debate at least since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Plessy versus Ferguson decision (1896). This study applies theory from the literature on social capital to an examination of the role of racial segregation in the public schools of blacks during childhood on their adult likelihood to become self-employed and their level of occupational status. The model results indicate that, after controlling for a number of individual, household and metropolitan-area factors, lower rates of segregation during public schooling results in higher likelihood of wage-salary employment and self-employment among a cohort of black Americans that attended public schools during the 1960s.     

Network ties and entrepreneurial orientation: Innovative performance of SMEs in a developing country

This study investigates the role of intra-cluster ties, extra-cluster ties, and entrepreneurial orientation in shaping firms’ innovative performance. We conduct our analysis on a primary data set of 120 small and medium enterprises located in the Cibaduyut footwear-manufacturing cluster, Indonesia. We explore the effectiveness of knowledge acquisition through intra-cluster ties and extra-cluster ties on innovative performance. We find that extra-cluster ties mediate the relationship between proactiveness and innovative performance. Also, a combination of high extra-cluster ties and risk taking exert a positive impact on innovative performance. Surprisingly, we find that risk taking negatively moderates the influence of intra-cluster ties on innovative performance. Over-reliance on within-cluster knowledge sharing may result in the diffusion of redundant knowledge rather than making new knowledge available to the firm. Overall, our findings point to the synergistic effects of entrepreneurial orientation and extra-cluster ties on innovative performance.     

Deonance and Distrust: Motivated Third Party Information Seeking Following Disclosure of an Agent’s Unethical Behavior

This article explores the hypothesis that third parties are motivated to seek information about agents who have behaved unethically in the past, even if the agent and available information are irrelevant to the third parties’ goals and interests. We explored two possible motives for this information seeking behavior: deonance, or the motive to care about ethics and justice simply for the sake of ethics and justice, and distrust-based threat monitoring. Participants in a consumer decision task were found to seek out information about an agent who had behaved unethically even when the agent was explicitly excluded from the task; there were no intentions to purchase from the agent; performance expectations for the agent’s product were low; the information that could be sought was non-diagnostic, redundant or irrelevant to an ethical judgment; and alternatives in the market offered as good or better value as the unethical agent. Critically, this information seeking took place even when the observer could disengage from and was not vulnerable to the agent. The findings are discussed in terms of third party information seeking and its effects on ethical behavior in the marketplace.     

A Progressive Search for a Group Ranking with Robust Conclusions on Prudent Orders

We consider the problem where rankings, provided for instance by a group of evaluators, have to be combined into a common group ranking. In such a context, Arrow and Raynaud suggested that the compromise ranking should be a prudent order. In general, a prudent order is not unique. That is why, we propose to manage this possible multiplicity of compromise solutions by computing robust conclusions. This allows for a progressive refinement of the decision model and supports the group to eventually select one group ranking. The approach is illustrated on a problem where a group of junior researchers has to agree on a ranking of research domains.     

Managers’ Moral Reasoning: Evidence from Large Indian Manufacturing Organisations

Increased globalisation has also seen increased scrutiny of corporate behaviour by the communities. Clearly managers are under increased pressure from stakeholders not only to outperform their competitors, but also are expected to do so in an ethical manner. In order to act ethically an individual is expected to have a well-developed moral imagination and moral reasoning. Literature on ethical reasoning research indicates a positive relationship between higher levels of moral reasoning and ethical behaviour. This paper presents the findings of a study of the moral reasoning/moral development of managers working in large manufacturing enterprises situated in the state of Punjab in India. Kohlberg’s theory of Cognitive Moral Development forms the basis of the study. Moral Judgement Interview (MIG) developed by Weber, on the basis of Kohlberg’s theory was used for the study. Moral Reasoning Scores were calculated using Abbreviated Scoring Guide. More than half of the managers scored at post-conventional level of reasoning while assessing the moral dilemmas. The reasoning scores varied for the three dilemmas. Manjit Monga is a lecturer in the School of Management, at the Division of Business, University of South Australia. Her research interests are in the area of management and workplace ethics, organisational culture, research ethics and resource management. The aythor is a lecturer in the School of Mangement, at the Division of Business,University of South Australia. Her research interests are in the area of mangement and workplace ethics,organisational culture,research ethics and human resource mangement.     

Intangibles Trade and MNEs: Supply-Chain Trade in R&D Services and Innovative Subsidiaries

This paper contributes to the literature on vertical specialization in R&D (or ‘R&D fragmentation’) and trade in intermediate services by examining the role of multinational enterprises (MNE) activities associated with bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI). Prior work in production networks (or global value chains [GVCs]) and R&D fragmentation suggests a complementarity relationship between FDI in R&D and technological knowledge flows. The paper examines this proposition empirically for R&D services trade by extending the gravity framework of supply-chain trade for intermediate services with bilateral MNE operations as economic mass variables. The results are partially consistent with the hypothesized complementarity. The econometric strategy accounts for zero trade observations. The latter addresses possible selection and consistency issues of traditional gravity trade specifications, and allows exploring extensive vs. intensive margin of trade. Understanding the role of MNEs in these transactions may be useful for policies aimed at increasing participation and upgrading in MNE-driven GVCs.     

Linking international entrepreneurship to uncertainty,opportunity discovery,and cognition

In this paper, we suggest a model of international entrepreneurship that links cognition, noticing opportunities, absorbing uncertainty, and bearing uncertainty, to international entrepreneurial action, which is important because of the increased interest in international entrepreneurship. The ways in which cognition affects opportunity identification are discussed to show how international entrepreneurs’ cognitive processes work in terms of identifying opportunities. We also explore the role of cultural differences, with respect to tolerance for bearing uncertainty, on international entrepreneurship. Finally, the model is used to identify areas for future international entrepreneurship research.     

Asymmetric competition and collection rates differentials: determinants of prices in international telephone service markets

The paper investigates determinants of pricing in international telephone service markets. The analysis—focused on 24 worldwide national markets—shows the impact of several telecommunications-specific and macroeconomic variables on collection rate differentials and traffic imbalance between countries. An econometric model is aimed at performing quantitative analysis and providing support to future telecommunications policies.     

A Personalistic Appraisal of Maslow’s Needs Theory of Motivation: From “Humanistic” Psychology to Integral Humanism

Abraham Maslow’s needs theory is one of the most influential motivation theories in management and organizational behavior. What are its anthropological and ethical presuppositions? Are they consistent with sound business philosophy and ethics? This paper analyzes and assesses the anthropological and ethical underpinnings of Maslow’s needs theory from a personalistic framework, and concludes that they are flawed. Built on materialistic naturalism, the theory’s “humanistic” claims are subverted by its reductionist, individualistic approach to the human being, which ends up in a needs-based ethics that understands goodness, virtue, and rights in instinctual, subjectivistic, and relativistic terms. Its moral imperative, “Be yourself!,” is either the materialistic fiat of genetic drives or the voluntaristic command of unbridled will. Significant implications for business educators, managers, and organizations are discussed, along with recommendations. Managerial theories and approaches that reduce personality to individuality are inconsistent with proper anthropological and ethical business principles. Adopting those individualistic theories may ultimately undermine organizational effectiveness, and the very essence of business as human activity and of management as human calling. Instead, personalistic anthropology and virtue ethics, rooted in Aristotelian–Thomistic thought, soundly account for properly human nature and the good life. Business educators and practitioners are encouraged to embrace this integral, truly humanistic framework for motivation, and management theory and practice.