Managing diversity: Impact of religion in the Indian workplace

Religious diversity in India stems from centuries of foreign traders and invaders ranging from the Mongols to the Mughals, French and British who came with their faiths. Religious diversity has created much political conflict and bloodshed in society at large (e.g. the recent blasts in Mumbai), but many differences have been reconciled in the workplace over time. MNCs seeking to engage in the Indian economy are attracted by the intellectual capital of this diverse nation. I examine the presence of religion in the Indian workplace through cultural values, beliefs and management practices and their impact on IHRM practices in managing diversity.     

A model of income,unemployment and inflation for the USA

A simple three equation macroeconomic model is developed to explain the dynamics of output, umemployment and inflation for the USA. The model is estimated, with the annual data, for 1946–1989. Insights gained through some recent developments are used to specify and estimate the model.     

Consumer ecological concern and adaptive behavior

Consumer concern with the environmental problems and the related adaptive behavior have been investigated. For purposes of analysis the respondents are categorized into high concern and low concern groups on the basis of the degree of concern expressed by the respondents. Differences between the groups were analyzed in relation to the following consumer response variables: (1) attitudes towards pollution control; (2) pollution related message recalls; (3) believability of corporate pollution related advertisements; (4) purchase intentions of non-polluting products under different conditions of adaptive behavior; (5) willingness to make monetary and convenience sacrifice in buying non-polluting products; and (6) non-polluting product purchase recalls. Data analysis leads to the following conclusions: respondents in general do not consider that the dangers of pollution are exaggerated; respondents in both the groups expressed more willingness to adapt or change their behavior in situations involving socio-psychological, convenience and economic variables than product quality variable; and the two groups significantly differed with regard to the number of non-polluting product purchases recalled.     

Incentives in the Asian Context: Theory and Preliminary Evidence

Incentive design for productivity gains has become important for Asian organizations in recent years. This paper introduces the theory of incentive design to an Asian audience while extending the agency theoretic approach to control. Hypotheses derived from this theory were tested in 61 retail stores in Singapore. The results show that employee skills, output measurability and task uncertainty impact incentive design. The results indicate that agency theory may be applicable across cultures. Implications for the Asian context, and its adaptation in terms of behavior, are discussed.     

Managerial Behavior and the Link between Stock Mispricing and Corporate Investments: Evidence from Market‐to‐Book Ratio Decomposition

We examine the impact of mispricing on corporate investments and its components: capital expenditures, research and development, acquisitions, and asset sales. By decomposing the market‐to‐book ratio into mispricing and growth components, we show that corporate investments are linked to mispricing through market‐timing and catering, after controlling for growth and financial slack. This investment‐mispricing link is more pronounced in financially constrained firms and in firms with short‐horizon shareholders. Overall, our study indicates that the sensitivity of investments to mispricing is a function of the nature of mispricing, the type of investment, and the firm's characteristics.     

开放条件下贸易利益内涵的界定及其相关理论评述

长期以来,参与国际分工与贸易的各国是否能从国际贸易中获得利益这一问题,一直是理论界争论的焦点,因此,本文从狭义的贸易利益与广义的贸易利益,真实的贸易利益与潜在的贸易利益,贸易利益与地区经济一体化,贸易利益与不完全竞争、规模报酬递增四个角度作了一些评述。本文认为,只有在一定的条件之下,一国才可以从开放的国际贸易中获得贸易利益,最终实现一国经济持续增长的目标,如政府在开放经济条件下采取适当的贸易政策、在开放贸易情况下补偿受损人群的利益、参与区域经济一体化等。     

The effect of published reports of unethical conduct on stock prices

This study adds to the empirical evidence supporting a significant connection between ethics and profitability by examining the connection between published reports of unethical behaviour by publicly traded U.S. and multinational firms and the performance of their stock. Using reports of unethical behaviour published in the Wall Street Journal from 1989 to 1993, the analysis shows that the actual stock performance for those companies was lower than the expected market adjusted returns. Unethical conduct by firms which is discovered and publicized does impact on the shareholders by lowering the value of their stock for an appreciable period of time. Whatever their views on whether ethical behaviour is profitable, managers should be able to see a definite connection between unethical behaviour and the worth of their firm's stock. Stockholders, the press and regulators should find this information important in pressing for greater corporate and managerial accountability. Dr. Spuma M. Rao is Associate Professor of Finance, College of Business Administration, University of Southwestern Louisiana. His publications appear in such journals as Global Finance, American Business Review, Financial and Strategic Decision Making, Business and Economic Review, The Appraisal. J. Brooke Hamilton III is Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, University of Southwestern Louisiana. He was head of the Philosophy Department at Tuskegee Institute, spent 14 years in industry and returned to academe after completing his M.B.A. His work appears in the Journal of Business Ethics, Southeastern Journal of Legal Studies in business, and the proceeding of the Southern and Southwestern Marketing Associations.