Business ethics,company value and ownership structure

This paper examines the effect of ethical performance on the value of a company and the attractiveness of its stocks for major owners; institutional investors and insiders. Using the Ethisphere^® Institute Ethics Quotient to distinguish between ethical and unethical companies, results show that good ethical performance enhanced company value for a sample of 240 large US companies. Furthermore, strong evidence is found that institutional investors are attracted to ethical companies, but that insiders do not show any investment preferences based on the ethical performance of a company.

     

The triumph of pragmatism over dogmatism or death of the Shibboleths

Managerial thinking has been subject to dogma for a very long time, whether in socialist or capitalist economies. Based on a group of research papers discussed at a conference in Barcelona, the author develops the argument that pragmatism is replacing dogmatism, almost universally. He illustrates his theme with examples from the discussion.     

Misbehaving physicians and professional ethics

Consider a true story about physician misbehavior and see how it was handled. Sometimes a gentle touch works well in situations of unexpected and unintended behavioral problems.     

Scientific ethics and publishing conduct

The publishing conduct of scientists is increasingly becoming the object of science-based ethical considerations. Studies have shown that questionable publishing conduct is not a rare phenomenon in this area. National and international scientific organisations are making recommendations about appropriate scientific publishing conduct and, in doing so, are referring to universal ethical principles. A number of science-related ethical norms, for example the prohibition to fabricate or manipulate data, can be justified for all sciences by the goal of knowledge and common epistemological assumptions. On the other hand, other science-related ethical norms, such as rules governing the assignment of authorship and the prohibition of plagiarism, can be justified by means of a science-specific incentive mechanism, which was only explicitly analysed for the first time in detail by Merton (The sociology of science. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 286–324, 1957/1973): the attainment of recognition in the scientific community through published original articles on scientific progress. Particularly in conjunction with forms of remuneration based on this, this incentive mechanism leads to the temptation to make one’s own contribution to the development of science greater than is actually justified.     

The leadership of pragmatism: Reconsidering Franklin in the age of charisma

In recent years, our quest to understand outstanding leadership has focused on the characteristics of charismatic or transformational leaders. In this article, however, we will argue that outstanding leadership need not always involve charisma but may instead be based on a functional, problem-centered approach we refer to as a pragmatic leadership strategy. Initially, certain key propositions pertaining to the nature of pragmatic leadership are described. Subsequently, these propositions are evaluated with respect to 10 cases of noteworthy leadership evidenced by Benjamin Franklin. It is argued that pragmatic leaders, such as Franklin, exercise influence by identifying and communicating solutions to significant social problems, working through elites in solution generation, creating structures to support solution implementation, and demonstrating the feasibility of these solutions. The conditions under which this pragmatic approach can effectively be applied are discussed and contrasted with current views of the conditions calling for charismatic, transformational, and transactional leadership.     

Fundamental and technical methods of ethics

Consequentialists and deontologists alike tacitly presume that moral decisions should be reached from basic assessments of theoretically set moral value. The presumption they share, I argue, is seriously mistaken. We need to distinguish two general methods of reaching moral decisions, that of the moral fundamentalist and that of the moral technician. Moral fundamentalists and technicians differ in their methods, but not in their aims. The distinction between the two general methods of ethics is particularly important for consequentialism. I maintain that a consequentialist may be without inconsistency a utilitarian fundamentalist and a deontological technician. I suggest that when we pay heed to our epistemic constraints, we have strong consequentialist grounds for adopting this unusual position.     

Membership of institutional ethics committees

There are no absolutes in regard to the composition of the institutional ethics committee. The basic principle of membership appears to be that it should be diverse in composition, large enough to provide a broad spectrum of perspectives, and yet small enough to function as a learning, dialoging, service panel. The average size appears to be 15 members, but the range is from 6 to 30.     

An international study of ethics

This study presents the results of a survey of graduate students from three cultural backgrounds. English, German, and American business students responded to an eleven-item survey designed to assess one's beliefs about what is necessary to succeed in graduate business programs. The results indicate that the attributes which students believe are required to succeed differ among cultures, with the greatest differences occurring between the American and European respondents.     

Unemployment and Business Cycles

We develop and estimate a general equilibrium search and matching model that accounts for key business cycle properties of macroeconomic aggregates, including labor market variables. In sharp contrast to leading New Keynesian models, we do not impose wage inertia. Instead we derive wage inertia from our specification of how firms and workers negotiate wages. Our model outperforms a variant of the standard New Keynesian Calvo sticky wage model. According to our estimated model, there is a critical interaction between the degree of price stickiness, monetary policy, and the duration of an increase in unemployment benefits.     

现代电子商务给企业信息管理带来的机遇与挑战

物联网、移动互联网和云计算为现代电子商务的发展带来了不可多得的机遇。电子商务有助于企业在提高企业信息管理水平方面获得长足进步。而凭借全球最大的互联网和移动互联网网民数量,中国势必在不久的将来出现类似腾讯、百度的全球性互联网巨人。     

Business Ethics and Business History: Neglected Dimensions in Management Education

This article highlights two large gaps in the business school curriculum: the neglect of historical and ethical dimensions. An overview is provided of progress made so far in the UK in the evolution of business history as an academic discipline; and also of the take–up of business ethics in university teaching. Both have had some success, but overall the response to these areas has been somewhat lacklustre — at least in the UK. A justification is provided for adding both components to a fully relevant business education. When the two are combined, the result can be a highly rewarding combination that provides insights that may not be possible for management writers, who work only in the present. Corporate ethics, the social responsibility of companies, disclosure, the environment, the actions of multinational companies overseas, the dilemmas of whistle–blowing, the impact of lobby groups and health and safety issues can all be understood more fully by students if they approach these subjects from an ethical and historical standpoint.     

The philosophical impact of Shintoism,Buddhism, and Confucianism on Japanese management practices

The philosophical influences of Shintoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism manifest themselves in a variety of ways in modern Japanese management practices. The paper explores the historical roots of these driving social forces and explains their relationship to such management practices as performance appraisal, employee motivation, leadership, equal employment opportunity, teamwork, and strategy formulation.This paper was presented at the Association of Management National Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia on August 5–9 1993.     

The role of organizational ethics committees

Health care services are increasingly provided in an atmosphere that is fractured by conflicting ethical concerns. This trend had been most noticeable in institutional settings. In response, hospitals have for many years had ethics committees. Their purpose has been to guide providers, patients, and families when decisions with ethical implications have to be made. The shift in focus within the health care delivery system away from hospitals and more to managed care systems and to domination of decision making by primary care providers suggests that expansion of the ethics committee concept may be advisable.