Cultural and Ethical Effects in Budgeting Systems: A Comparison of U.S. and Chinese Managers

This study developed and tested a model of culture’s effect on budgeting systems, and hypothesized that system variables and reactions to them are influenced by culture-specific work-related and ethical values. Most organizational and behavioral views of budgeting fail to acknowledge the ethical components of the problem, and have largely ignored the role of culture in shaping organizational and individual values. Cross-cultural differences in reactions to system design variables, and in the behaviors motivated or mitigated by those variables, has implications for the design and effectiveness of budgeting systems. The data largely support our research model, demonstrating the hypothesized national cultural differences in system design variables (e.g., participation, standards tightness, budget emphasis, etc. which we characterized as the opportunity and incentives to create budgetary slack), and the expected relationship between incentives (but not opportunity) to create slack and slack creation behavior. The data demonstrate hypothesized cultural differences in ethical ideology but show ethical ideology related to slack creation behavior only for U.S. managers. A discussion of the results and their implications is included.     

Evaluation of the Spanish flat rate for young self-employed workers

The dramatic growth of unemployment figures in Spain during the economic downturn has increased policies fostering entrepreneurship, particularly among the youth. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of a Spanish programme fostering self-employment among unemployed youth workers. We use an administrative dataset (the Continuous Working Lives Sample) to study the survival of subsidized start-ups compared to those not subsidized. Using a differences-in-differences approach, our results suggest that the programme has no effect in terms of survival rates.     

Lessons Learned from Ethics in the Classroom: Exploring Student Growth in Flexibility, Complexity and Comprehension

This study shows the link between teaching ethics in a college setting and the evolution of student thinking about ethical dilemmas. At the beginning of the semester, students have a rigid "black and white" conception of ethics. By the end of the semester, they are thinking more flexibly about the responsibilities of leaders in corporate ethical dilemmas, and they are able to appreciate complex situations that influence ethical behavior. The study shows that education in ethics produces more "enlightened" consumers of ethics information who are able to make sound determinations about responsibility in ethical dilemmas.     

Does the ideal entrepreneurial team exist?

Up until now, studies on entrepreneurs and their relationship to business performance have focused primarily on analyzing the entrepreneur as an individual. While studies have been conducted on the entrepreneurial team, their focus has centered on team size and degree of diversity - cultural, age, gender - leaving a gap in the analysis of the effect of a team’s competencies on the outcome of the ventures. This research aims to help fill this gap by using the psychometric instrument DISC. This research analyzes entrepreneurship by opportunity, evaluating the performance of 109 Colombian companies and the composition of their entrepreneurial teams. The results obtained provide the basis for better understanding of the make-up of entrepreneurial teams, considering the variances and interdependencies of the competency development level among their members. They reveal that identifying the similarity or heterogeneity in certain groups of competencies, as well as how developed they are, can have an impact on the ventures’ success. The cluster analysis carried out suggests that highly developed competencies associated with the ‘dominance’ dimension in the members of an entrepreneurial team are essential. These must be above-average in heterogeneous levels among the team members. They must also be accompanied by the ‘steadiness’ competency provided by the team-oriented partners, as well as an average, homogeneous level of competencies associated with ‘conscientiousness’ if the new business is to achieve good financial results in its early years. The ‘influence’ dimension did not play a significant role. The teams made up of more homogeneous partners obtained the poorest financial results. Furthermore, the study provides new perspectives for measuring business performance in a venture, as well as for evaluating the relationships between the entrepreneurial team's competencies and the company’s results in the first years of business. Accordingly, it offers inputs for future research.