Corporate Ethics Codes: A New Generations' Tool for Strategic Global Management and Decision-Making

The premise of this article is that it is important to train domestic and international executives in management ethics using corporate ethics codes. Incorporating ethics codes into the professional development of executives in business and industry contributes to the institutionalization of codes in the global workplace. Ethics institutionalization imbues corporate structures with understanding, both internally and externally, of the concepts of ethics. At an east coast University School of Management a Comparative Code Method (CCM) was developed and tested. Among the major findings, was that the use of corporate codes quickly transitions employees from an individual ethical perspective to a corporate ethical perspective. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

中国收入不平等:发展、转型和政策

描述了中国改革开放以来收入不平等变动的主要趋势,并将其归因于如下四种因素的相互影响:第一,由传统的发展理论所刻画,以结构转型、市场扩展、剩余劳动力吸收和收入差距的库兹涅茨“倒U型”路径等为主要影响的发展因素。第二,经济制度的转型变化因素。在经济体制从计划经济向市场经济的转型过程中经济活动决策过程的微观化,多种所有制经济的出现,以及收入分配机制的变化引起了收入分配格局的改变。第三,经济体制转型不彻底和不完善的因素。这导致了寻租、设租和隐性收入的产生,带来收入差距扩大和收入分配不平等。第四,社会保障制度和再分配政策的逐步完善因素。这在一定程度上起到了缓解收入分配不平等的作用。     

Economies of Scope through Multi‐unit Skill Systems: The Organization of Large Design Firms

From a study of three large design firms in Italy, the UK and the USA, we derive a distinct model of how large knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS) firms organize to manage growth and realize economies in ways that differ from the organizational techniques that are familiar from scale and scope studies of large manufacturing enterprises. Case studies were compiled from interviews conducted at the three firms. Large design firms were selected as a contrasting context to Chandlerian manufacturing firms. Design firms were expected to differ from manufacturing firms in terms of strategy, organization and the overall possibilities of achieving economies of scale and scope. Our results show that competitive advantage of these large KIBS design firms derives from a particular multi‐unit skill system that enables the firms to exploit economies of scope. There are four distinctive organizational features of such KIBS firms. First, multiple business units within the firm play a dual role. These are able both to engage in inter‐unit coordination and resource sharing and to attract business independently, often with heterogeneous business models among units. Second, these firms develop formal organizational routines for involving multiple business units in client projects, thus facilitating the migration of clients' business from one unit to another. Third, there is an important role for cross‐unit strategic ‘insight’ agents. Fourth, these firms expand through the founding of specialized, even idiosyncratic, new business units (often with the important role of mastering new technological skills).     

Community-Based Service-Learning: Does It Have a Role in Management Education?

Community based service-learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs, together with structured opportunities designed to promote student learning and development. Can it be effectively applied to address the current struggles of management education? Management education is facing a gap between traditional curricular content and society's needs for new competencies. The Academy is also faced with the challenge of more effectively relating to society's social, economic and civic problems. The results of this analysis indicate that service-learning offers a means of closing the gap by helping to prepare students who are lifelong learners and active, caring participants in their communities. Service-learning appears to be a promising means of developing such managerial skills as leadership, critical thinking, teamwork, and cooperation. The limitations of service-learning for management education are addressed as well.