Business Commons^™

Myth: Hard Work And Credentials Determine Employment Opportunities

Alev Dudek

Profits And Professions: Essays In Business And Professional Ethics, Wade Robison, Michael Pritchard, Joseph Ellin

Michael Pritchard

Suppose an accountant discovers evidence of shady practices while ex­ amining the books of a client. What should he or she do? Accountants have a professional obligation to respect the confidentiality of their cli­ ents' accounts. But, as an ordinary citizen, our accountant may feel that the authorities ought to be informed. Suppose a physician discov­ ers that a patient, a bus driver, has a weak heart. If the patient contin­ ues bus driving even after being informed of the heart condition, should the physician inform the driver's company? Respect for patient confidentiality would say, no. But what if the …

Legal History Meets The Honors Program, Robert Bennett

Robert B. Bennett

In this article, the author discusses the "Law and Culture" course that he developed to teach in the Butler University Honors Program. The course looks at some landmark periods or events in legal history and explores how those events were the product of their culture, and how they affected their culture. Among the events or periods that the author has looked at in iterations of this course were the survival instinct on display in "Regina v. Dudley and Stephens," the Nuremberg trials, the Scopes Monkey Trial, the modern American litigation explosion, and the events surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court decision …

External Administration In Corporate Insolvency And Reorganisation: The Insider Alternative, Larelle Chapple, James Routledge

James Routledge

This article considers the merits of alternative policy approaches to management of companies in insolvency administration, in particular from an identity economics theoretical perspective. The use of this perspective provides a novel assessment of the policy alternatives for insolvency administration, which can be characterised as either following the more flexible United States Chapter 11-style debtor-in-possession arrangement, or relying on the appointment of an external administrator or trustee to manage the insolvent company, who automatically displaces incumbent management. This analysis indicates that stigma and reputational damage from automatic removal of managers in voluntary administration leads to “identity loss” and that an …

Chapter 7: Determining Environmental Values: Storytelling At Bp., Jacob Massoud, David M. Boje

Jacob Massoud

To enhance sustainable development research and practice the values of the researchers, project managers and participants must first be made explicit. Values in Sustainable Development introduces and compares worldviews and values from multiple countries and perspectives, providing a survey of empirical methods available to study environmental values as affected by sustainable development. The first part is methodological, looking at what values are, why they are important, and how to include values in sustainable development. The second part looks at how values differ across social contexts, religions and viewpoints demonstrating how various individuals may value nature from a variety of cultural, …

International Migration And The Welfare State: Asian Perspectives, Noel Gaston, Gulasekaran Rajaguru

Gulasekaran Rajaguru

Immigration is a controversial topic in Australia and some of its Asian neighbours. Given the potential impact on native welfare, such as effects on relative wages and unemployment, there has been political mobilisation on the immigration question. The presence of a redistributive welfare state in all major immigrant host countries creates yet another margin on which immigration affects native welfare. The focus of the paper is whether a large intake of immigrants leads to a reduction in welfare state effort. It is often argued that steady increases in immigration lead to public pressure for stricter immigration controls or for less …

Democracy And Corruption: A Complex Relationship, Shrabani Saha, Rukmani Gounder, Neil Campbell, J Su

Neil Campbell

We argue that an 'electoral democracy' is not sufficient to reduce corruption. Our contention is that the institutions associated with mature democracy are crucial to successfully deterring corrupt behaviour. At the core of our argument is the idea that with well-functioning institutions, the probability of detection and punishment is sufficiently high to deter most decision makers from choosing to act corruptly. The empirical evidence we present supports this idea. The nonlinearity of democracy variables is tested to confirm that an advanced stage of democracy is crucial for combating corruption.

Ethics In A Time Of Crisis: Editorial Introduction To Special Focus, Stephen Matthias Harney, Roland Curtis, Campbell Jones

Stephen Matthias Harney

No abstract provided.

The Corporate University And Business Ethics Teaching, Stefano Harney, Amitabh Rai

Stephen Matthias Harney

No abstract provided.

Through The Lens Of The Other: Implementing Liberal Management Education, Stephen Matthias Harney, Howard Thomas, Thomas Gene Estad

Stephen Matthias Harney

The purpose of this paper is to explore the prerequisite conditions for implementing a liberal management education and for fostering ethical students using examples from the core curriculum at Singapore Management University (SMU).

Beginning with a reading of the Carnegie Foundation's Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education: liberal learning for the professions (2011), the paper examines the contribution and limits of the findings and recommendations before discussing the place of the liberal arts in the modern university and describing a case study of liberal management education in process at SMU. It concludes with a reading of the work of Emmanuel Levinas and …

Readings And Cases In Information Security: Law & Ethics, Michael Whitman, Herbert Mattord

Herbert J. Mattord

Readings and Cases in Information Security: Law & Ethics provides a depth of content and analytical viewpoint not found in many other books. Designed for use with any Cengage Learning security text or as a standalone professional reference, this book offers readers a real-life view of information security management, including the ethical and legal issues associated with various on-the-job experiences. Included are a wide selection of foundational readings and scenarios from a variety of experts to give the reader the most realistic perspective of a career in information security.

Consumer Attitude Towards The Spirit Airline Online Advertising, Tamilla Curtis, Blaise Waguespack, Anke Arnaud

Dr. Tamilla Curtis

Corruption, Democracy And Asia-Pacific Countries, Neil Campbell, Shrabani Saha

Neil Campbell

This paper argues that the relationship between democracy and corruption is nonmonotonic. When a country shifts from autocratic rule to highly imperfect democracy (an ‘electoral democracy’) it is frequently perceived that the level of corruption increases. Conversely, when the democracy level is already relatively high (approaching ‘mature democracy’) an increase in the level of democracy is typically expected to decrease the level of corruption. To assist with our discussion of these issues, before going on to the empirical part of the paper, we look specifically at the case of South Korea to illustrate how corruption responded to an increasing level …

Developing A Reputation For Incorruptibility In A Corrupt Environment, J Kline, Neil Campbell

Neil Campbell

We construct a simple two-stage model of reputation building in a corrupt environment. The existence of incorruptible firms helps corruptible firms establish a reputation for not paying bribes.

Does Weak Intellectual Property Rights Protection Deter Investment In R&D? Evidence From The Tea Industry In China, Neil Campbell, Kainan Huang, Shravan Luckraz

Neil Campbell

In July 2010 representatives of the EU and governments of the US and many other countries met in Switzerland for the ninth round of negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). While the purpose of the ACTA is to establish a voluntary international legal framework (outside the WTO) to promote the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR), many developing countries like India and China strongly opposed proposed policies that would strengthen IPR protection.

Global Culture Concerns, Korcel M. Price

Korcel M Price

The following proposal seeks to change hiring, promoting, and firing practices among global and trans-national companies. The changes are intended to fortify the organization through better management, a better employee contract, and by moving closer to a learning organization.

At the heart of the proposal is the desire to move hiring, promoting, and firing practices to an external or internal third party, as means of creating a global culture that consistently applies the values of supra system’s organization.

Ethics In A Time Of Crisis: Editorial Introduction To Special Focus, Stefano Harney, C Jones

Stephen Matthias Harney

The financial crisis that has swept the globe since 2008 still rumbles on. Not only has it precipitated a sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and threatened growth rates and political stability in India and China, but also the liquidity of many banks is still a matter of debate. Despite the refuge that capital has taken in assets other than finance, worries remain that the basic financial machine may again freeze up in a renewed bout of crisis. The alternative to ever-increasing waves of crisis hardly looks more appealing, however. Ordinary people from Britain to Greece, Spain to California, face years …

Public Intervention In Business Ethics: A Auto-Case Study, Rowland Curtis, Stefano Harney, Campbell Jones

Stephen Matthias Harney

No abstract provided.

Building Responsible Management Education In Vietnam, Stephen Matthias Harney

Stephen Matthias Harney

No abstract provided.

Maybe It’S Right, Maybe It’S Wrong: Structural And Social Determinants Of Deception In Negotiation, Mara Olekalns, Chris Horan, Philip Smith

Mara Olekalns

Context shapes negotiators’ actions, including their willingness to act unethically. Focusing on negotiators use of deception, we used a simulated two-party negotiation to test how three contextual variables - regulatory focus, power, and trustworthiness - interacted to shift negotiators’ ethical thresholds. We demonstrated that these three variables interact to either inhibit or activate deception, providing support for an interactionist model of ethical decision-making. Three patterns emerged from our analyses. First, low power inhibited and high power activated deception. Second, promotion-focused negotiators favored sins of omission whereas prevention-focused negotiators favored sins of commission. Third, low cognition-based trust influenced deception when negotiators …

Agency Theory And Bounded Self Interest: The Moderating Role Of Fairness, Robert Phillips, Douglas Bosse

Robert Phillips

While agency theory’s contributions to our understanding of economic organization and strategic management are unparalleled, reviews of the empirical tests call for more explanatory muscle at the extremes. This paper provides arguments that answer that call. Relying on well-established findings from social psychology and other disciplines, we propose that agency theory’s assumption of pure self-interest be replaced with the more descriptively accurate assumption of self interest that is bounded by norms of fairness and reciprocity. The resulting arguments explain that perceptions of fairness/justice moderate the effectiveness of incentive alignment and monitoring mechanisms.

Maybe It’S Right, Maybe It’S Wrong: Structural And Social Determinants Of Deception In Negotiation, Mara Olekalns

Mara Olekalns

Context shapes negotiators’ actions, including their willingness to act unethically. Focusing on negotiators use of deception, we used a simulated two-party negotiation to test how three contextual variables - regulatory focus, power, and trustworthiness - interacted to shift negotiators’ ethical thresholds. We demonstrated that these three variables interact to either inhibit or activate deception, providing support for an interactionist model of ethical decision-making. Three patterns emerged from our analyses. First, low power inhibited and high power activated deception. Second, promotion-focused negotiators favored sins of omission whereas prevention-focused negotiators favored sins of commission. Third, low cognition-based trust influenced deception when negotiators …

Corporate Governance And The New Trend Of Directors In Company Law In Other Countries, Christopher Chao-Hung Chen, Shuaisheng Huang

Christopher Chao-hung Chen

No abstract provided.

Investment Protection Of Wealth Management Business: From The Case Of Ubs Auction-Rate Securities, Christopher Chao-Hung Chen, Shuaisheng Huang

Christopher Chao-hung Chen

No abstract provided.

Moral Hazards, Crisis, Bail Outs And E-Scads, Judy Johnston, Alexander Kouzmin, Kym Thorne, Stephen Kelly

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

No abstract provided.

The Public Sector Manager As A Bully: Analysis Of Litigated Cases, Helen Lavan, Marsha Katz, Michael Jedel

Helen LaVan

No abstract provided.

Finding A Jewel: Identity And Gendered Space In Islamic Finance, Karen Ahmed

Karen Hunt Ahmed

In this article, I explore how globalization discourses practices work together to form the identities of female Islamic bankers working in the first stand-alone women’s Islamic bank in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. An Islamic bank interacts with the individual by providing a discursive and physical space in which the subject can shape and respond to her desire to identify and engage with the debates in the global Muslim community about morality, practice and the role of Islam in every day life. Global financial systems and local gender practices are embodied in these buildings in a kind of financial purdah: building …

Application Of Stakeholder Theory To Corporate Environmental Disclosures, Pamela Kent, Christopher Chan

Pamela Kent

Ullmann's (1985) three-dimensional model of social responsibility disclosure is tested to determine whether it can be operationalized to help explain the quantity and quality of environmental disclosures in Australian annual reports. The stakeholder power dimension of Ullmann's framework is significant in explaining environmental disclosures while content of the mission statement and existence or otherwise of environmental or social responsibility committees also find strong statistically significant support in the results. Ullmann's stakeholder theory has previously been applied to explain social disclosures in general (Roberts, 1992) and is an important theory because it introduces a measure of strategy. The current paper demonstrates …

Crisis Opportunism: Bail Outs And E-Scads In The Gfc, Judy Johnston, Alexander Kouzmin, Kym Thorne, Stephen Kelly

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

As a response to the “junk-debt”- inspired, global, economic crisis, governments, with supra-national organizational approval, have appropriated billions of taxpayers’ dollars for bail-outs, have set-up special funds and under-written depositors’ savings in the desperate hope of alleviating the threat of rapid, economic decline and systemic destruction of value. Whether these governments have a democratic mandate for such unprecedented action is debatable. More importantly, though, is whether such decisions amount to good re-regulatory policy.

First, it is known that some of the bail-out money to large corporations has been squandered by oligarchic recipients and appropriated by them in their own interests. …

The Scandal Beneath The Crisis: Getting A View From A Cultural-Moral Mental Model, Kevin Jackson

kjackson@fordham.edu

No abstract provided.