Evaluating Moral Issues in Motivation Theories: Lessons from Marketing and Advertising Practices

Motivation theories in the management and organizational behavior literature represent researchers’ attempts to understand the processes that cause people to act productively in the context of the employment relationship, for the benefit of their employers (Miner Organizational behavior, performance and productivity New-York: Random-House 1988). These theories attempt to develop tools that will enable managers to make their employees’ behavior cost-effective and directed toward the achievement of the organization’s goals. From this perspective, motivational and marketing practices are quite similar, especially if we compare motivational and advertising practices. The goal of both is to propel people into behaving in a way that will benefit the organization. This paper examines what the well-developed criticism of advertising and marketing practices can teach us about the use of motivational practices in work organizations. Following Bishop’s (Business Ethics Quarterly 10: 371–398, 2000) framework of the moral issues raised by ads, this paper critically investigates the moral meaning of classic motivational theories and practices and their implications for both theoreticians and practitioners.     

Uneasy Alliances: Lessons Learned from Partnerships Between Businesses and NGOs in the context of CSR

Interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has proliferated in academic and business circles alike. In the context of CSR, the spotlight has traditionally focused on the role of the private sector particularly in view of its wealth and global reach. Other actors have recently begun to assume more visible roles in the context of CSR, including Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which have acquired increasing prominence on the socio-economic landscape. This article examines five partnerships between businesses and NGOs in a developing country context that fall in the realm of CSR. The article starts with a literature review, delineating foundational underpinnings that have to be carefully designed and crafted to promote the success of collaborative ventures. An empirical study of five selected partnerships between businesses and NGOs in Lebanon is then presented, allowing to derive interesting insights into types of existing alliances, their relational characteristics as well as salient factors considered most determinant of success or failure in this regard.     

Maturing born globals and their acquisitive behaviour

Born globals are becoming more common in our interconnected world. While a body of knowledge exists regarding the establishment and early growth of born globals, we know less about how these companies develop. Arguing that acquiring new knowledge, technologies, and products will enable companies to survive beyond their initial success, the current study specifically aims to explore the value of technology-motivated acquisitions, and their effect on performance. To this end, the study employs a hybrid methodology; statistically studying 108 acquisitions conducted by 45 maturing, technology-based born globals in Israel over a period of 10 years, and further substantiate the findings with an in-depth case analysis of four sample companies. The results indicate that technology-motivated acquisitions are valuable in terms of both financial performance and independent survival, but that there likely exists an optimal threshold, indicating that such a strategy, though beneficial, should be carefully managed.     

Relationships among Strategic Capabilities and the Performance of Women-Owned Small Ventures

This study of small, life-style ventures owned by women focuses on the strategic, firm-level factors related to business performance. A theoretical model drawing on the resource-based theory is developed and tested empirically. The model includes strategic capabilities, management styles, and their relation to performance. It is tested empirically on a sample of 220 Israeli female business owners. Analysis reveals that life-style venture performance is highly correlated with certain aspects of the business owner's skills as well as the venture&apops;s resources. Paradoxically, the owner/managers in the sample rate their skills and their venture's resources as being weak in precisely those areas that correlate positively with business performance. These findings suggest that performance of life-style ventures owned by women depends more on marketing, financial, and managerial skills than on innovation.     

Factors Inducing National Media Coverage for Tourism in Rural versus Urban Areas: The Role of Public Relations

This study examines the relationship between media coverage patterns of rural and urban tourist spaces in Israel, the characteristics of these spaces, and the way in which public relations (PR) are conducted to promote rural tourism in those areas. Using geographical distance, population size and type of tourist products for the spatial variables, PR financial budgets and PR practice types for the PR variables, the study examines their relative importance for rural versus urban tourism promotion. Results show that ongoing professional PR is crucial for the success of rural destinations in receiving large and positive national media coverage.