Social Issues and Media Sensationalism: The Effectiveness of Teaching Methods to Affect their Perceived Importance

This study assessed the perceived importance of various social issues and the effect that teaching methods have on business students' perceptions of those issues. Subjects in the test group were shown an educational video that explained how some social issues are reported inaccurately with extensive coverage, or sensationalized in the media, resulting in a moral panic. Other issues are not covered as extensively, but may have a more significant impact on business, society and the subject. The importance of five social issues was rated by students who had completed a course that covered business ethics and social responsibility content and those who had not taken the course yet.Results indicated that business ethics and social responsibility course content had no effect on perceived importance of social issues, but that viewing the video did. Subjects who viewed the educational video on social issues in the news media rated those issues receiving extensive coverage as lower in importance than those subjects who did not view the video. Also, subjects who viewed the educational video rated those issues not receiving extensive coverage as higher in importance than those subjects who did not view the video. Implications for business ethics and social responsibility educators are discussed.     

Stock price distributions with stochastic volatility: an analytic approach

We study the stock price distributions that arise when pricesfollow a diffusion process with a stochastically varying volatilityparameters. We use analytic techniques to derive an explicitclosed-form solution for the case when volatility is drivenby an arithmetic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (or AR1) process. We thenapply our results to two related problems in the finance literature:(i) options pricing in a world of stochastic volatility, and(ii) the relationship between stochastic volatility and thenature of 'fat tails' in stock price distributions.     

Facilitator‐based interactive video as a means of assisting businesses to foster better relations with neighbouring communities

South Africa's new dynamic social environment calls for innovation to develop interaction between businesses and communities to ensure meaningful corporate social responsibility programmes. This research note examines the use of facilitator‐based interactive video, in the context of the RDP, as a communication channel for stimulating free, informal dialogue between businesses and their neighbouring communities to encourage communities to care for their natural environment and in so doing improve their quality of life.     

Absence/lost time management: strategies to keep the workforce productive

Managed disability is an effective tool to reduce the expense of disability claims. However, many employers have not realized the financial significance of lost time due to unexpected absence. This article discusses emerging trends that contribute to the need for absence/lost time management, quantifying the costs of lost time to the employer. Methods for tracking absence/ lost time are illustrated, as well as examples of lost time management.