“Going natural”: Black women’s identity project shifts in hair care practices

Hair care, a seemingly mundane consumption practice, is packed with sociocultural meanings and constitutes an important realm of identity work for consumers. Drawing upon existing literature on consumer identity projects, this paper investigates the experiences of urban, Black women in Kenya as they disengage from the normative practice of altering their natural hair texture using chemical straighteners (a practice that conforms to Eurocentric beauty ideals of straight, flowing hair), and adopt the non-normative hair care practice of “going natural,” in which they embrace their natural hair texture and hairstyles. This paper traces the historical, sociocultural, and political events that underpin the normative ideology associated with the identity marker of natural Black hair, and how this ideology influences the women’s “going natural” experience. Findings reveal tensions that emerge in the women’s identity project disengagement and reconstruction process, and how the women navigate their position as they reimagine their embodied identity quest.     

Peers Versus National Culture: An Analysis of Antecedents to Ethical Decision-making

Given the recent ethics scandals in the United States, there has been a renewed focus on understanding the antecedents to ethical decision-making in the research literature. Since ethical norms and standards of behavior are not universally consistent, an individual’s choice of referent may exert a large influence on his/her ethical decision-making. This study used a social identity theory lens to empirically examine the relative influence of the macro- and micro-level variables of national culture and peers on an individual’s intention to behave ethically. Our sample consisted of respondents from Germany, Italy, and Japan. The results indicated that both national culture and peers were found to act as significant referents in ethical decision-making dilemmas. Although peers exerted a much stronger influence on an individual’s ethical decision-making, the impact of peers varied depending on the national culture levels of individualism and power distance. James W. Westerman is an Associate Professor of Management at Appalachian State University. He received his Ph.D in Management from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from Florida State University. His research interests include person-organization fit, compensation, and employee ethics, and has been published in the Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Journal of Business Ethics, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Group and Organization Management and the Journal of Business and Psychology, among others. Rafik I. Beekun (Ph.D., the University of Texas at Austin) is Professor of Management and Strategy in the Managerial Sciences Department at the University of Nevada. Reno, and Co-director, Center for Corporate Governance and Business Ethics. His current research focuses on business ethics, national cultures and the link between management and spirituality. He has published in such journals as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Relations, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics and Decision Sciences. Yvonne Stedham is a Professor of Management in College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. She received a Ph.D. in Business and an MBA from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Business from the University of Bonn, Germany. She joined the University of Nevada, Reno in 1988 and served as Chair of the Managerial Sciences Department from 1999-2002. Dr. Stedham's research covers a broad spectrum of management issues with a special focus on international, business ethics and gender aspects, and has been published in the Journal of Management. Women in Management Review, the Journal of Management Studies, the Journal of Business Ethics,the Journal of European Industrial Training, and the Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resource, and others. Jeanne H. Yamamura, CPA, MIM, PHD, is Associate Professor at the University of Nevada Reno. Her research is focused in the area of the international management of accounting professionals and in ethical decision making. She has published in journals such as the International Journal of Accounting, the International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation and the International Journal of Human Resource Management.     

品牌拟人形象性别一致性和品牌态度关系研究：品牌热情与能力类型的调节作用

三个实验检验了品牌拟人形象性别与目标消费者性别一致性的积极效应以及品牌热情能力定位对其的调节作用。结果表明：出于社会认同动机,当性别刻板印象未被激活时,消费者对于拟人形象和自身性别一致的品牌态度更加积极。而当性别热情能力刻板印象被激活时,性别一致性的积极效应被品牌热情能力定位调节。具体而言,对于男性消费者,相对于能力型品牌,热情型品牌由于和男性高能力低热情刻板印象不同,男性消费者对男性拟人形象的社会认同降低,品牌拟人形象与消费者性别一致性对社会认同和品牌态度的积极效应消失;而对于女性消费者,与传统刻板印象相反的高能力低热情的女性拟人形象并未对她们的社会认同及品牌态度产生负面影响。     

对爱国主义的解读

对爱国主义的正确解读建基于：准确把握爱国的“国”的内涵及爱国的主体身份,爱国主义才不会与狭隘的民族主义、伪爱国主义相混淆;在宪法、法律等制度框架内爱国,爱国主义才是理性的;将爱国主义教育融入我们日常的自治生活中．才能培育出真实的爱国主义情怀;我们之所以爱国,是因为这个“国”是建立在“健全的个人主义”基础之上的“为国人共谋安宁幸福之团体”。     

The kill programme: an ethnographic study of ‘dirty work’ in a slaughterhouse

It has been argued that ‘dirty work’ is characterised by strong occupational and workgroup cultures. This literature has mainly focused on direct workers, but this article largely attends to indirect ‘dirty’ workers, specifically meat inspectors, through ethnographic research conducted in a UK slaughterhouse. Four arguments are developed; the first is that ‘dirty workers’ may not all display group cohesiveness; indeed, individualisation may be more evident depending upon the technology used, internationalisation and employment conditions. Second, there is complexity and diversity within ‘dirty work’ and even single occupations can contain considerable variety, rendering generalisations problematic. Third, we argue that much greater attention needs to be given to the wider contextual issues affecting ‘dirty work’, specifically changing labour markets, itinerant labour, economic conditions and technologies. Finally, we argue that stigmatised work may become more so if it is equated with the low wage economy and/or undercutting conditions of employment through exploiting migrant labour.     

企业逆向跨国并购后的组织身份管理模式研究

“逆向跨国并购”(即并购发达国家企业)已成为中国企业获取海外战略性资产、提升全球竞争力的重要“跳板”。然而,与传统跨国并购相比,逆向跨国并购呈现“以弱并强”甚至“蛇吞象”的独特特征,导致并购双方存在显著的身份落差。身份落差使得并购后的“组织身份管理”变得尤为重要,因为不恰当的身份管理模式会对并购整合产生负面影响。基于此,本文综合采用探索性案例研究方法与大样本统计方法,探究中国企业逆向跨国并购后的组织身份管理模式。研究发现,组织身份落差的方向和强度是决定并购后组织身份管理模式选择的重要因素;高强度身份逆差与“单一隔离型”模式匹配,低强度身份逆差与“双元联邦型”模式匹配,身份顺差与“统一吸收型”模式匹配;不同身份管理模式在话语建构、业务运营、权力关系、象征行为等方面存在显著差异。进一步大样本统计研究表明,身份落差与身份管理模式的匹配关系具有较高普适性,但也受核心业务相关性、业务分割等因素影响。本文不仅揭示身份落差与身份管理模式之间的匹配关系,构建逆向跨国并购后的组织身份管理理论,也对中国企业在逆向跨国并购后有效管理双方组织身份、提升并购整合绩效具有启示意义。