Maximin choice of voting rules for committees

In the context of a probabilistic voting model with dichotomous choice, we investigate the consequences of choosing among voting rules according to the maximin criterion. A voting rule is the minimum number of voters who vote favorably on a change from the status quo required for it to be adopted. We characterize the voting rules that satisfy the maximin criterion as a function of the distribution of voters’ probabilities to favor change from the status quo. We prove that there are at most two maximin voting rules, at least one is Pareto efficient and is often different to the simple majority rule. If a committee is formed only by “conservative voters” (i.e. voters who are more likely to prefer the status quo to change) then the maximin criterion recommends voting rules that require no more voters supporting change than the simple majority rule. If there are only “radical voters”, then this criterion recommends voting rules that require no less than half of the total number of votes.Received: June 2003, Accepted: September 2004, JEL Classification: D71Salvador Barberá, Carmen Beviá, Mirko Cardinale, Wioletta Dziuda, Joan Esteban, Mahmut Erdem, Bernard Grofman, Matthew Jackson, Kai Konrad, Raul Lopez, Jordi Massó, Hugh Mullan, Shmuel Nitzan, Ana Pires do Prado, Elisabeth Schulte, Arnold Urken and two anonymous referees provided helpful comments. Finally, I also acknowledge financial support from Capes, Brazilian Ministry of Education and Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (Project BEC2002-02130).     

Rituals of cruise consumption and the 'new' middle class: desiring and 'devouring' maritime cruises

The consumption of maritime cruises is one of the most striking facets of the phenomenon of a new middle class emergence in Brazil. This study investigates the use of maritime cruises by emerging middle-class consumers to enact their new social status. Specifically, the research looks at ritualistic behaviour performed by consumers before, during, and after a cruise. The research uses a multi-method design characterised by a combination of ethnography and group discussions. The study contributes to enlarge McCracken’s typology of consumption rituals, showing how emerging consumers use the cruise as a rite of passage, during which they perform rituals of preparation, production, possession, and divestment. It also sheds light on specific rituals performed by consumers in order to transfer meanings from the cruise to their own selves. Finally, the findings suggest that consumption rituals in the context of social ascent may not have the transformative power of traditional rites.     

What is Ethical Competence? The Role of Empathy,Personal Values,and the Five-Factor Model of Personality in Ethical Decision-Making

The objective of the present research was two-fold: (1) to provide a new definition of ethical competence, and (2) to clarify the influence of empathy, personal values, and the five-factor model of personality on ethical competence. The present research provides a comprehensive overview about recent approaches and empirically explores the interconnections of these constructs. 366 German undergraduate students were examined in a cross-sectional study that investigated the relationship of empathy, personal values, and the five-factor model of personality with moral judgment competence and counterproductive work behavior as indicators of moral judgment and behavior. We found self-transcendence values to be related to both, high levels of empathy and ethical competence, in contrast to self-enhancement values. Multiple mediation analysis revealed unique effects of empathy on ethical competence through values as mediators. Affective (but not cognitive) empathy transmitted its effect on ethical competence through benevolence, conformity, tradition, power, and hedonism. Most importantly, perspective taking lost its predictive power when investigated alongside affective empathy dimensions. These results converge to an important role of affective empathy, in particular empathic concern, with regard to personal values and ethical competence. Furthermore, the five-factor model of personality explained variance in measures of ethical competence. Our research suggests that organizational decision makers should consider the role of empathy, personal values, and the five-factor model in their human resource management in order to select employees with high ethical competence.     

The relational benefits of personalized communications in an online environment

This research investigates how personalized communications enhance customer‐company relationships, which ultimately produce favourable marketing outcomes. Two factors were manipulated in an online experiment: the perceived effort made by customers to obtain a personalized newsletter (high vs. low) and the level of relevance of the message (high vs. low). The results indicate that perceived effort positively affects calculative commitment (even more so for highly involved customers), while the level of relevance of the message increases affective commitment. In addition, the interaction between perceived effort and message relevance has significant effects on calculative and affective commitment. Finally, affective commitment partially mediates the relationships between relevance and both loyalty and word‐of‐mouth intentions. Managerial implications regarding the best usage of personalized communications are discussed. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bad news does not always travel fast: evidence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings

This paper examines the stock price performances of 275 non‐financial, non‐utility U.S. industrial firms that continue trading on the main exchanges after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy between 1 October 1979 and 17 October 2005. This paper identifies a negative and statistically significant post‐bankruptcy drift that lasts for at least 6 months. This finding adds to the literature showing that the market is unable to process bad public news events in a timely manner. Further analysis suggests that the theoretical model proposed by Hong and Stein (1999) can be used to help explain this market‐pricing anomaly.     

Single versus multiple channel strategies: typologies and drivers

Companies across every industry are increasingly relying on multiple channels to make their services available to consumers. Despite the popularity of multiple channel strategies, little is known about these distribution structures. In fact, the determinants of multiple channel strategies have remained virtually unexplored. The purpose of this article is to look at various approaches to classifying single versus multiple channel strategies, to look at some of the drivers of multichannel usage and to propose a new classification of single/multiple channels. Using data from the retail financial services sector, the article demonstrates that research into the drivers of multi-channels is sensitive to the classification used.     

The value relevance of IFRS in the European banking industry

The main purpose of the paper is to investigate the market valuation of accounting information in the European banking industry before and after the adoption of IFRS, the latest version of International Accounting Standards. In a value relevance framework, we apply panel methods to a multiplicative interaction model, in which the partial effects of earnings and book value on share prices are conditional on the adoption of IFRS. According to our evidence, the IFRS introduction enhanced the information content of both earnings and book value for more transparent banks. By contrast, less transparent entities did not experience significant increase in the value relevance of book value.     

Scenarios of the organic food market in Europe

Scenario analysis is a qualitative tool for strategic policy analysis that enables researchers and policymakers to support decision making, and a systemic analysis of the main determinants of a business or sector. In this study, a scenario analysis is developed regarding the future development of the market of organic food products in Europe. The scenario follows a participatory approach, exploiting potential interactions among the relevant driving forces, as selected by experts. Network analysis is used to identify the roles of driving forces in the different scenarios, and the results are discussed in comparison with the main findings from existing scenarios on the future development of the organic sector.     

The Digital Transformation of Search and Recombination in the Innovation Function: Tensions and an Integrative Framework*

Search and recombination are important mechanisms in the creativity phase of innovation. Digital transformation and the resulting pervasive digitalization of the innovation function have often been associated with increasing possibilities for search and recombination. In this paper, by systematically integrating the search and recombination literature with the literature on digitalization, we demonstrate that digitalization may engender new idiosyncratic tensions in the organizational antecedents of search and recombination and, by implication, in their likely outcomes. We propose that, depending on the interactions among the idiosyncratic tensions identified herein, knowledge recombination might spur very different outcomes, including knowledge layering, knowledge integration, knowledge grafting, or even no recombination at all (which we label “search for the sake of search”). These outcomes may not always be the initially planned desired outcomes. Finally, we provide implications of our integrative framework pertaining to product development and to organizing for innovation.