诚信建设与企业发展

本文认为,诚信建设对企业发展至关重要,无论是要维持正常的经营活动,还是要通过创立品牌做强做大,乃至于要走出国门,参加全球竞争,都离不开诚信。企业缺乏诚信,必然会失去社会的信任,进而导致自身利益的丧失;坚守诚信,必然能赢得社会的信任,并从中获得利益。文章强调,企业不能将诚信建设仅仅作为一种谋取自身利益的手段,单纯从赢得用户的信赖出发,从企业自身的利益出发,而应该培植真正的诚信品质,最根本的是要着眼于提高人的精神追求与道德素质。诚信建设一靠教育,二靠制度。     

Disciplining: A question of ethics?

The importance of evaluating a discipline system from an ethical perspective is considered. Disciplinary practices in contemporary organizations are frequently characterized by managers having to choose from among alternative courses of corrective action. Since the selected alternative may have serious consequences for the individuals involved, its rightness or wrongness is of concern. The pattern of these choices reflects the overall disciplinary practice of the organization, and is an issue that warrants attention from an ethical perspective. Basic schools of thought that influence contemporary discipline practices are discussed and suggestions are made for conducting an evaluation of the ethical nature of a discipline system.     

转型期国有企业改革的伦理困惑与破解--基于中国的实践和西方的经验

经济转型意味着旧的"社会契约"被打破,而新的契约尚未订立,作为企业行为调控机制的伦理作用得以彰显.我们在分析市场经济体制下,西方企业在不同管理时代的"伦理"与"绩效"关系的基础上,阐明企业伦理本身的特有属性及经营绩效的内涵;同时结合中国国有企业目前面临的伦理困惑,认为国有企业要破解这些伦理困惑,就必须根据变化了的现实对其管理伦理进行合理定位,以"社会期望"为前提谋求企业与社会的和谐,以市场经济游戏规则为准谋求企业之间的和谐,以人本管理为依托达到企业与员工关系的和谐统一、以生态优先为基准谋求企业与自然的伙伴关系,以与全球经济接轨为基础实现国有企业组织个性化,以"权威声誉、伦理声誉"营造社会激励伦理行为的氛围.     

创业研究前沿理论发展动态

本文评述并探讨了经济学、社会心理学、社会文化理论、资源观、机会观和社会资本观等对创业研究的贡献、不足以及未来的研究方向。传统经济学理论无法解决创业现象从外部给均衡状态带来的冲击问题,奥地利学派虽然持动态系统观点,却无法模型化。社会心理学视角的创业研究结果相互矛盾,也没有产生多少有见地的观点。社会文化学观点讨论了社会文化环境对形成创业家个性与行为特征的影响,但同样没有取得什么重要的进展。资源观试图将资源观、创业能力和均衡联系在一起,但仍然不能解释创业机敏现象。文章作者认为,机会观点和社会资本观点摈弃均衡分析方法,转而考察创业过程中的创业个体和机会因素,为创业研究建构了一个全新的研究框架。     

浅析当前金融体制改革中有争议的几个问题

本文针对当前深化金融体制改革中存在的有关改革的方向、商业银行命运与发展前途、当前金融体制改革的侧重点、中国金融体系以什么为核心、对政府监管体系的改革等问题的不同争议进行评价、提出自己的见解。     

Ethical Unit Trust Financial Performance: Small Company Effects and Fund Size Effects

Recent papers which have examined unit trusts have controlled either for a 'fund size effect' or for the 'small firms effect' in the investment portfolio. The contribution of this paper is an analysis of the 'small firms effect' whilst simultaneously controlling for the 'fund size effect'. We show that the ethical unit trusts have significantly greater exposure than general unit trusts to the 'small firms effect', and that net of this there is no significant evidence of over or under performance by ethical trusts using an adjusted Jensen measure. Using two cross-sectional approaches, we demonstrate that whilst a 'small firms effect' has a role to play in explaining unit trust performance, fund size is not correlated with the financial performance of unit trusts. This cross-sectional analysis also provides some evidence that ethical unit trusts may perform less well than general unit trusts.     

Environmental protection or subversion in mining? Planning challenges,perspectives and actors at the largest gold deposit in Europe

The gold ores in Roşia Montană have been intensely mined for the last two thousand years, as this mining district was one of the richest gold deposits in the Apuseni Mountains (the so-called Golden Quadrangle of Romania). Itis currently considered the largest gold deposit in Europe. Up until a few decades ago, gold mines had a relatively predictable path, which began with exploration and ended with abandonment. This has since changed, once the impact of abusive past or current exploitation methods and technologies has been deemed unacceptable by the state and the public. With its millennia-old history of mining, Roșia Montană raises the intriguing question of what does the future hold for different actors in a situation that is clearly unsustainable, but which may be continued through environmental rehabilitation, or even a larger mine. We address the question for this particular mine by drawing on a worldwide database of similar cases contained in the Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas). We consider three scenarios, namely: 1) continued degradation with no intervention; 2) approval of large-scale mining, due to international arbitration; 3) environmental rehabilitation. These capture the most plausible future scenarios of the Roșia Montană case and, by relating them to the relevant transnational environmental justice context, we aim at assessing their implications for different actors and also the extent to which they are illustrative for the fate of other mines worldwide. Mine closure and the rehabilitation of the environment, regardless how distant they may seem at the beginning of the prospection and extraction stage, are imminent in the mine life cycle and a mandatory step of the environmental management process. We conclude by suggesting under which governance regimes each scenario is likely to unfold and what implications can be drawn for public policy.     

Understanding conflicting perspectives in event planning and management using Q method

There is a need to better understand the interests of actors in the planning and management of major events. The diversity of actor perspectives about an event creates a wicked problem set that event organisers and public officials find difficult to understand, let alone address. This paper focuses on problem identification as one stage in the event planning and management process. It explores how problem structuring can contribute to more effective planning and management of actors' interests. The value of Q methodology is explored through a case study of the Australian World Rally Championship. Four perspectives are identified in the problem structuring process: the Skeptics, the Materialists, the Middle-grounders and the Supporters. The findings demonstrate that Q methodology is effective in identifying the depth and breadth of different problem perspectives, providing insights into the importance of different perspectives, and can be used reflexively to anticipate and manage potential conflict.     

The role of travel agents’ ethical concerns when brokering information in the marketing and sale of sustainable tourism

ABSTRACT

Using conservation tourism as a test case, this study explores the role high-end travel agents play in selling sustainable tourism. It examines a niche marketing activity in that process. The study focuses on agents’ consideration of ethics as they act as information brokers between tourists and operators. Data were collected from interviews with agents and analysed using a deductive content analysis based on six overarching concepts and theories on ethical decision-making. The findings emphasize the implicit influence within conservation tourism of tourism's ethical dimensions, whilst identifying many constraints that prevent a full consideration and/or disclosure of ethical concerns in the sales process. Most importantly, agents made assumptions using a false consensus bias about clients' preferences for service over concerns for the environment, and were not prepared to discuss the more sensitive issues surrounding conservation with their clients. A number of recommendations are proposed regarding the need to unpack conservation information, overcome the false consensus bias, and agents’ reluctance to discuss ethics in the sales process. Finally, the findings have broader implications for the development of sustainable tourism, which ultimately will depend on a dialogue of ethical concerns and values within the tourism supply chain between suppliers, brokers and tourists.