当道德和利润相遇：公司价值的转移

商业伦理问题长期困扰着我们。哈佛管理学院的莉恩·佩茵教授自20世纪80年代以来,一直从事公司价值和道德方面的研究。2002年她出版了《价值转移》一书。她提出,考核一个公司业绩提升的标准应该包括道德和财务两个维度。在接受哈佛管理学院应用知识期刊的采访时,佩茵教授详细介绍了这一领域的现状。问:与过去相比,商业道德的现状处在怎样的情形?答:商业伦理问题与商业本身一样古老。但是,作为一门学科来说,商业伦理学是比较新的。20世纪70年代的商业伦理状况与目前很相似,在商业中存在大量的信任缺失,这在美国的公共机构中更是普遍。1968年,…     

Can corporate codes of ethics influence behavior?

There is increasing public interest in understanding the nature of corporate ethics due to the knowledge that unethical decisions and activities frequently undermine the performance and abilities of many organizations. Of the current literature found on the topic of ways organizations can influence ethical behavior, a majority is found on the issue of corporate codes of ethics.Most discussions on codes of ethics evaluate the contents of the codes and offer opinions on their wording, content, and/or value. Unfortunately, very little research has been devoted towards discovering whether they are effective in promoting ethical decision-making behavior. Thus, due to the lack of empirical research on this particular topic, this paper attempts to further address this issue.Data was obtained through the use of a fifteen-item questionnaire, in which seven of the items were scenarios on the topic of ethical behavior, and the remaining eight questions were concerned with demographic information. The survey was administered to 150 business students at a large university.The results indicated that corporate codes of ethics are not influential in determining a person's ethical decision-making behavior.     

Individual differences in self-attributed motives for tipping: Antecedents,consequences, and implications

A web-based survey of consumers finds that: (i) individual differences in self-attributed motives for tipping load on two factors – intrinsic and self-presentational motives,(ii) more people claim to tip for intrinsic reasons than for self-presentational reasons, (iii) demographic differences in motives for tipping are small, (iv) individual differences in self-attributed motives for tipping are rooted in more general dispositional tendencies toward conformity and feelings of gratitude, (v) intrinsic motives for tipping are associated with larger restaurant percentage tips and greater likelihood of non-restaurant tipping, and (vi) self-presentational motives for tipping are associated with smaller restaurant percentage tips.     

Drowning among the lakeside fishing communities in Uganda: results of a community survey

The study aimed to determine the drowning burden in four Ugandan lakeside districts; the prevalence of life jacket use, and community knowledge and attitudes regarding water safety. Subjects were recruited as they disembarked from boats. A structured questionnaire was used for demographics, experience on water, details of incidents in water, and awareness of drowning prevention measures. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews were held. The study interviewed 544 participants; 81.1% male, 86.8% below 45 years, and 51.1% involved in the fishing industry. A quarter (26.1%) of the respondents were observed wearing life jackets as they disembarked. Participants who had been in a boat that nearly capsized (57.8%), or that actually capsized (21.7%), were no more likely to wear life jackets than those who had not had these experiences. Three quarters (73.2%) did not know how to call for rescue, and only 48.7% could swim. There drowning fatality rate in this community was 502 deaths per 100,000 population. Majority of drowning events occurred during transportation (51.7%) or fishing (39.0%). The most frequently mentioned factors were stormy weather and overloading. Drowning is a common threat to young adults in the fishing communities around Lake Victoria. Few preventive interventions are in place.     

Rethinking development : A role for innovation networking in the ‘other two-thirds’

As global competition intensified and the rate of technological innovation and diffusion accelerated over the 1970s and 1980s, the sustainability of comparative advantage based solely on the existence of location-specific raw materials or cheap labour began to erode and innovation emerged as the key to competitiveness. For those few Third World countries that successfully passed through the window of opportunity for effective catchup strategies that opened in the 1970s, a base was laid for innovation in products, processes or organizational technologies. The ‘other two-thirds’, however, were singularly unprepared to meet the challenges of a changing technological and competitive environment. In large part this resulted from the contradictions generated by the mass production, import reproduction model to which they had remained wedded for several decades. During the 1980s, a number of changes took place, in the strategies of multinational corporations with respect to the internationalization of R&D and the role of overseas subsidiaries more generally, and in government policies with respect to the role of innovation in international competitiveness. A slow process of technological accumulation in both public and private sector enterprises and universities in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean also got underway. These changes provide the foundation upon which well crafted policies to promote networks for innovation can be developed. In Latin America a number of such networks are already in place, and the article discusses the new role that both states and international donors are playing in stimulating and supporting them. A brief look at how such approaches might be adapted and generalized to Africa is also offered.     

The psychological impact of teleworking: stress, emotions and health

The paper examines the psychological impact of teleworking compared to office-based work. Results suggest a negative emotional impact of teleworking, particularly in terms of such emotions as loneliness, irritability, worry and guilt, and that teleworkers experience significantly more mental health symptoms of stress than office-workers and slightly more physical health symptoms.     

Tax Costs and Signalling Benefits: The Impact of Surplus ACT

Companies with surplus ACT are faced with additional tax costs if they use dividends to signal information to investors, hence there is a trade-off between tax costs and signalling benefits. This paper provides evidence that investors' reactions to dividend surprises are influenced by the signal generated by earnings and tax planning considerations. The results indicate that in the presence of a positive earnings signal and a binding tax constraint, decreases in dividends are value enhancing.