基于《电子商务发展“十一五”规划》的电商发展新动向展望

日前,我国首部《电子商务发展"十一五"规划》出台,这是我国电子商务发展的最高指导性文件,本文从解读《电子商务发展"十一五"规划》入手,以当前我国电子商务发展态势为现实基础,以《电子商务发展"十一五"规划》为理论依据,从微观角度对未来我国电子商务发展方向作出试探性展望。     

Ethical choices in the design and administration of executive compensation programs

Within the past few years, executives have come under increased scrutiny and criticism for the levels of compensation they receive. At the same time, corporate practices surrounding the design and review of executive compensation programs have received increased attention. While some recent executive misconduct has involved violations of the law, many academics and other corporate critics view the issues involving executive compensation more from an ethical than a legal perspective. Several dimensions of the executive compensation decision process offer significant opportunities for ethical choices. This article identifies the major components of executive compensation and highlights decision points in the design and administration of each component where ethical issues may arise. Proposals to reduce the potential for ethical misconduct are also offered.     

我国企业开展B2B电子商务面临的问题与对策

本文首先介绍了B2B电子商务的涵义及竞争优势,其次在分析我国企业参与B2B电子商务现状的基础上,从培育网上市场、发展B2B中介服务网站和完善电子商务环境三个方面探讨我国企业开展B2B 电子商务面临的问题与对策。     

Influencing MNC strategies for managing corruption and favouritism in Pacific Asia countries: a multiple-theory configurational perspective

ABSTRACT

The research gap addressed here concerns how to encourage multinational corporations (MNCs) to combat corruption and favouritism. This study’s rationale is that MNCs can have a highly influential role in supporting or opposing such practices globally. The study examines how MNCs might choose flexibly among alternative strategies but could be encouraged positively. Three illustrative strategies are described in detail using theoretical propositions: (1) anti-corruption reform; (2) ‘tightrope’ balancing; and (3) tolerance for corrupt practices. A proposed multiple-theory configurational perspective is consistent with secondary data and reported cases about domestic corruption and MNC propensity to bribe focused on Pacific Asia countries.     

Response rates in international mail surveys: Results of a 22-country study

Researchers embarking on their first international mail survey find very little guidance in the present academic literature. In 1988, two articles were published in the fall issue of the Journal of International Business Studies that claimed that: “at the moment the crossnational researcher has very little evidence upon which to base his judgments about [mail] survey design” [Jobber and Saunders (1988) An experimental investigation into cross-national mail survey response rates, Journal of International Business Studies19, 488] and “Literature concerned with response rates from industrial samples drawn from multiple countries is nearly absent” [Dawson and Dickinson (1988) Conducting international mail surveys: the effect of incentives on response rates within an industrial population, Journal of International Business Studies19, 492]. Unfortunately, not much has changed since. Still, very little is known about how respondents from different countries react to mail surveys. This article intends to fill part of this gap by describing the results of a large scale international mail survey in 22 countries. Response rates are shown to vary considerably across countries in a way that contradicts much of the earlier (American) research on this subject. Several explanations for these differences in response rates are put forward.     

Academics' organizational characteristics and the generation of successful business ideas

This paper deals with the generation of Business Ideas (BI) by academics. It investigates organizational factors affecting the process through which new ventures are established by academics and are likely to affect their performance. The BI Market Attractiveness and the BI Articulation are addressed as two characteristics of academic spin-off companies which are likely to lead to their success. Two research hypotheses are formulated: (a) that the BI Market Attractiveness at the time of establishment of the new venture is positively influenced by the market orientation of the academic founders, and by their frequency of interaction with external agents; (b) that the BI Articulation at the time of establishment of the new venture is positively affected by the articulation of roles, and by the degree of prior joint experience of the academic founders. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 42 Italian academic start-ups. Implications for both universities and academic entrepreneurs are discussed.     

Turnaround, Corruption and Mediocrity: Leadership and Governance in Three State Owned Enterprises in Mainland China

We focus on moral climates through case studies of three state owned enterprises (SOEs) in a South China City. In Company A, a shipbuilding company, the general manager persuaded the supervisory bureau to allow him to replace the old top management team with managers chosen on merit, and who supported his desire for reforms. He exercised transformational leadership, established internal rule of law, cultivated a spirited moral climate, and achieved turnaround. At Company B, a financial services conglomerate, the general manager exploited strong political connections, enfeebled the governance structures, and with two subsidiary barons proceeded to milk company resources. That, and a large contingent of sleeping incumbents (idle protégés), bred a moral climate overrun by corruption, dereliction of duty and hubris. Bankruptcy was not averted. Hotel X, a subsidiary of company B, was a partial machine bureaucracy; its moral climate characterised by punishment avoidance and lack of spirit. A headquarters power bloc and the sleeping incumbents whom they protected prevented a law abiding, equity sensitive general manager from improving performance, and he lost heart. From these cases, we build a model of the relationship between moral leadership, institutional superstructure, internal governance and control systems, enterprise moral atmosphere, and performance.     

Fail better! Samuel Beckett's secrets of business and branding success

Samuel Beckett, the peerless Irish playwright, is widely regarded as the epitome of art for art's sake aestheticism. He hated salesmanship of any kind, famously describing it as “mercantile gehenna.” Yet, despite his anti-business reputation, Samuel Beckett is a perfect role model for our paradoxical times. His “fail better” philosophy is very much in keeping with today's creativity-driven, hyper-competitive, warp-speed world of fads, fashions, and here-today-gone-tomorrow consumer crazes. This article argues that, in a world where every organization is customer oriented and every executive is au fait with best textbook practice, Beckett's idiosyncratic esthetic encapsulates several salient secrets of business and branding success.     

Involvement, satisfaction, and brand loyalty in a small business services setting

Considerable resources are expended annually on building business brands, yet the literature is virtually silent on brand loyalty in a business setting. This study examines the relationship between attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty in a business services context, and attempts to identify two key antecedents of loyalty in this context. In particular, little is known about small businesses as customers, despite their significant contribution to the economies of developed nations. A longitudinal design is implemented, and data are captured on both attitudinal loyalty and subsequent loyalty behaviors (i.e., actual purchase behavior). The findings demonstrate the value of conceptualizing and measuring both attitudinal and behavioral components of brand loyalty. Specifically, the results indicate that attitudinal loyalty mediates the effects of the antecedents studied (category involvement and purchase satisfaction) on behavioral loyalty. Implications for marketing theory and practitioners are discussed, and possible directions for future research are sketched.     

‘The Business of Ethics and Gender’

Unethical decision-making behavior within organizations has received increasing attention over the past ten years. As a result, a plethora of studies have examined the relationship between gender and business ethics. However, these studies report conflicting results as to whether or not men and women differ with regards to business ethics. In this article, we propose that gender identity theory [Spence: 1993, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64, 624–635], provides both the theory and empirical measures to explore the influence of psychological gender traits and gender-role attitudes on ethical perceptions of workplace behaviors. Statistical analyses of the data reveal that based on sex alone, no differences occur between men and women in their ethical perceptions. Yet, when a multidimensional approach to gender is applied, results show that expressive traits and egalitarian gender-role attitudes contribute to both men’s and women’s propensity to perceive unethical workplace behaviors as unethical. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are presented.