Intercultural Discourse Ethics: Testing Trompenaars' and Hampden-Turner's Conclusions about Americans and the French

Are culture driven ethical conflicts apparent in the discourse of the protagonists? A multi-year, multi-cultural study of managers by Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner resulted in two conclusions relevant to business ethics. The first is that intercultural business conflicts can often be traced to a finite set of cultural differences. The second is that enough similarities exist between cultures to provide the grounds for conflict resolution. The research reported here gives credence to their study when applied to an ethical conflict viewed from French and American perspectives.     

Dispute resolution and litigation in the construction industry. Evidence on conflicts and conflict resolution in The Netherlands and Germany

The construction industry is regarded to be a tough and competitive business characterized by short-term and opportunistic relations rather than being based on cooperative partnerships. In particular, conflicts and litigation have been claimed to proliferate in the construction industry. Upon closer inspection of the literature, it seems that the empirical basis of these claims is largely circumstantial. Using data on contractor–subcontractor relations in the construction industry in The Netherlands, we consider the extent to which litigation in construction is common. Then we compare the results to similar data sets on IT-purchasing both in The Netherlands and Germany, and to a data set with more general business-to-business transactions of larger Dutch and German firms. We find some evidence that the construction industry has higher percentages of transactions leading to either arbitration, suspension of the relation, or legal steps (1.6% versus 1.2, 0.4 and 0.6). The differences are however not as extreme as one might conclude based on superficial reading of the popular and scientific literature, and certainly not bigger than the differences between the other data sets.     

要约有效要件的实务解析

要约是人们订立经济合同的法定必经程序,而对于从事管理、营销、会计等工作的市场主体来说,正确掌握与应用要约的有效要件显得更为必要。要约必须同时具备的要件包括五方面:要约人应具备相应的订约能力;要约应是特定人的意思表示;要约具备足以使合同成立的基本条款;要约应向希望与之缔结合同的相对人发出;受要约人一旦承诺,要约人即受要约约束。     

Can the “Single Point of Entry” strategy be used to recapitalize a systemically important failing bank?

The Single Point of Entry (SPOE)—the FDIC strategy to implement its new Dodd–Frank Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA)—promises to reduce the financial market turmoil caused by the failure of a large complex financial institution by using parent holding company resources to recapitalize its large failing subsidiary banks. We identify legal and financial impediments that may prevent the use of a SPOE strategy for this purpose. Dodd–Frank does not authorize bank recapitalizations through SPOE or otherwise, and the OLA cannot be invoked unless the failure of a subsidiary puts the parent in danger of default. The imprecise legislative language that authorizes OLA creates a new source of systemic risk. Regulations required to operationalize SPOE will require bank holding companies to issue a substantial volume of new subordinated debt, increasing these institutions’ leverage and financial fragility. Unless the Dodd–Frank Act is amended, OLA could well magnify and not reduce market instability in the next financial crisis.     

Perspectives on representation and analysis of negotiation: Towards cognitive support systems

The rapid expansion of Decision and Negotiation Support Systems has been built mainly on decision-theoretic approaches. This has resulted in the decision maker being viewed through the lens of the problem. In this article, the focus is on the decision maker's view of the problem. Three levels of problem articulation are described. Special emphasis is placed on the needs level and the implications it carries for the cognitive and instrumental levels. The three levels of articulation, the organizational model of making decision in social settings, and the three basic approaches to decision making form the basis for computer support focused on understanding and change rather than preferences and outcomes. We argue that in the dynamic, interactive context characteristic of negotiations, a cognitive support system based on restructurable modeling provides a richer basis for support.     

Integrating Uncertain Preferences into Status Quo Analysis with Applications to an Environmental Conflict

An algorithm is put forward to conduct status quo analysis when preference uncertainty exists for at least one decision maker (DM) in a strategic conflict. This research integrates into a unified framework two recent expansions of the graph model for conflict resolution, preference uncertainty and status quo analysis. Both of these developments enhance the applicability of the graph model, preference uncertainty by accommodating uncertainty in DMs' preferences and status quo analysis by addressing the dynamics of conflict. The combination of preference uncertainty and status quo analysis improves the flexibility of the graph model in both modelling and analysis. A new model of an environmental conflict is analyzed to demonstrate how the new algorithm can be applied.     

Effects of relationship climate, control mechanism, and communications on conflict resolution behavior and performance outcomes

In this two-year study we develop and test a comprehensive model of conflict management. The conceptual model commences by demonstrating the importance of channel members’ past history of interactions as ‘setting the stage’ for members’ present ability to interact, that is, communicate, resolve conflict disputes, and ultimately, culminate in performance outcomes (financial as well as relational). In effect, we track the full gamut of conflict management related constructs in the conceptual model, from antecedent conditions to the consequents of conflict management. Empirical results, utilizing a sample of 282 retailing agents affiliated to a large North American supplier (principal) across two years, indicate strong evidence for fourteen of the eighteen hypotheses drawn from our conceptual model. Specifically, among other effects, data reveal that past history of cooperative versus conflictive orientations and bureaucratic versus trust-based governance mechanisms significantly influence the communication strategies adopted, which in turn determine whether the distributive or integrative conflict resolution behaviors are adopted. Further, the choice of conflict resolution behaviors adopted commensurately influences relational performance, and the type of communication strategy adopted influences financial performance. The paper concludes with a series of managerial implications and an agenda for future research.     

Some orthogonal arrays with 32 runs and their projection properties

Screening designs are useful for situations where a large number of factors are examined but only a few, k, of them are expected to be important. Traditionally orthogonal arrays such as Hadamard matrices and Plackett Burman designs have been studied for this purpose. It is therefore of practical interest for a given k to know all the classes of inequivalent projections of the design into the k dimensions that have certain statistical properties. In this paper we present 15 inequivalent Hadamard matrices of order n=32 constructed from circulant cores. We study their projection properties using several well-known statistical criteria and we provide minimum generalized aberration 2 level designs with 32 runs and up to seven factors that are embedded into these Hadamard matrices. A concept of generalized projectivity and design selection of such designs is also discussed.AMS Subject Classification: Primary 62K15, Secondary 05B20     

高校危机持续期和恢复期的传播策略——以广西几所高校为例

以高校危机可划分为潜伏酝酿、发展爆发、持续存在、减弱消退四个阶段为理论起点,指出其中的持续期和恢复期两阶段的传播应对策略容易被管理者所忽略。继而从理论层面进行剖析,并结合广西几所高校应对危机的实例,提出高校管理者须在此两个阶段继续掌握传播主动权,整合各种传媒资源,持续提供全面详尽的信息;进行反思与评估,积极配合媒体,重塑高校的良好形象。     

区域一体化中地方政府间合作困境及对策研究——以长株潭两型社会为例

随着长株潭两型社会的建设，长株潭地方政府之间的合作正在形成，在合作进程中遇到的问题也日益凸显。本文就长株潭三地政府间合作进程中的困境从实践和理论角度分析其生成原因，并提出了相关的对策建议。