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Book part
Publication date: 3 December 2018

Archana Voola and Ranjit Voola

There is an ongoing debate about the purpose of business and profit maximisation. However, contemporary marketing thinking suggests that pro-social behaviour is a critical aspect…

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate about the purpose of business and profit maximisation. However, contemporary marketing thinking suggests that pro-social behaviour is a critical aspect of marketing strategy, wherein this type of behaviour leads to marketplace advantage. Amongst the many theories and frameworks (such as, creating shared value and subsistence marketplaces) that re-imagine the purpose of business to include pro-social behaviour, a prominent one is the base of the pyramid (BoP) thesis. This thesis challenges firms to simultaneously alleviate poverty and make a profit by targeting the poorest socioeconomic segment. However, it has encountered robust criticism, with some scholars suggesting a lopsided focus on profits to the detriment of poverty alleviation. Specifically, the criticisms centre on the marketers’ narrow focus on income poverty. In order to overcome these criticisms, as well as to envision a pathway to succeed at the BoP, this chapter makes the case to conceptualise poverty beyond an economic focus of income, assets and wealth to capture beyond economic factors such as equality, justice and freedom. The authors employ Amartya Sen’s capability approach as a starting point to reconceptualise poverty to facilitate marketers to genuinely alleviate poverty whilst making profits at the BoP.

Details

Bottom of the Pyramid Marketing: Making, Shaping and Developing BoP Markets
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-556-6

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1997

Rodney Wilson

Economists usually try to avoid making moral judgements, at least in their professional capacity. Positive economics is seen as a way of analysing economic problems, in as…

Abstract

Economists usually try to avoid making moral judgements, at least in their professional capacity. Positive economics is seen as a way of analysing economic problems, in as scientific a manner as is possible in human sciences. Economists are often reluctant to be prescriptive, most seeing their task as presenting information on the various options, but leaving the final choice, to the political decision taker. The view of many economists is that politicians can be held responsible for the morality of their actions when making decisions on economic matters, unlike unelected economic advisors, and therefore the latter should limit their role.

Details

Humanomics, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0828-8666

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 10 October 2017

Abstract

Details

Research on Economic Inequality
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-521-4

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1994

Mark A. Lutz

The idea of what constitutes rationality has always been central to moral philosophy as well as to modern social science and economics; regardless of the fact that its meaning has…

Abstract

The idea of what constitutes rationality has always been central to moral philosophy as well as to modern social science and economics; regardless of the fact that its meaning has also greatly changed during the last five hundred years. While for Aristotle and his followers, full rationality implied not only effective deliberation of means towards any given end, but also that such end had to be rationally selected with the guidance of reason or “practical wisdom”, since the age of Thomas Hobbes and David Humes, the concept of rationality has been reduced to one of seeking the best means to any particular end, wise or unwise. In the process, reason was relegated to mere “reckoning”, of adding and subtracting according to arithmetic rules. The good was simply what was desired, motivated by a physiological appetite for survival or otherwise. As could have been expected, such mechanical mode of reasoning readily provided the rudiments of contemporary computational theories of action, in particular game theory (see Cudd, 1993).

Details

Humanomics, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0828-8666

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2004

Krishna S. Vatsa

Households are exposed to a wide array of risks, characterized by a known or unknown probability distribution of events. Disasters are one of these risks at the extreme end…

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Abstract

Households are exposed to a wide array of risks, characterized by a known or unknown probability distribution of events. Disasters are one of these risks at the extreme end. Understanding the nature of these risks is critical to recommending appropriate mitigation measures. A household’s resilience in resisting the negative outcomes of these risky events is indicative of its level of vulnerability. Vulnerability has emerged as the most critical concept in disaster studies, with several attempts at defining, measuring, indexing and modeling it. The paper presents the concept and meanings of risk and vulnerability as they have evolved in different disciplines. Building on these basic concepts, the paper suggests that assets are the key to reducing risk and vulnerability. Households resist and cope with adverse consequences of disasters and other risks through the assets that they can mobilize in face of shocks. Asustainable strategy for disaster reduction must therefore focus on asset‐building. There could be different types of assets, and their selection and application for disaster risk management is necessarily a contextual exercise. The mix of asset‐building strategies could vary from one community to another, depending upon households’ asset profile. The paper addresses the dynamics of assets‐risk interaction, thus focusing on the role of assets in risk management.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 24 no. 10/11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

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Article
Publication date: 2 May 2008

Ian I. Mitroff

The purpose of this paper is to show that more than ever than ever, businesses need to understand the nature of different concepts of knowledge and methods for producing them.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that more than ever than ever, businesses need to understand the nature of different concepts of knowledge and methods for producing them.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing the philosophy of inquiry, the extreme importance and relevance of applied epistemology (theories of knowledge/inquiry) for business is demonstrated. It introduces and briefly explains five archetypal inquiry systems from Western philosophy. Each system defines “truth” and “knowledge” in completely different ways.

Findings

The paper shows the strengths and the limitations of each system for “knowledge”, and especially for doing business in the systems age.

Originality/value

The philosophy of inquiry has been greatly underutilized, even ignored, in schools of business. This paper attempts to correct this.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

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Article
Publication date: 5 December 2016

Tony Burns

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Amartya Sen’s notion of adaptation and his views on identity politics by focussing on the issue of slavery and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Amartya Sen’s notion of adaptation and his views on identity politics by focussing on the issue of slavery and, more specifically, on the example of the happy or contented slave.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is text based. The methodological approach adopted is that of conceptual analysis, as is typical for work of this kind.

Findings

The paper concludes that the example of the happy or contented slave is indeed a fruitful one for those interested in exploring the relationship between Sen’s views on “the adaptation problem” and his views on identity politics, especially in relation to the subjection of women. Here Sen’s debt to the ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill is particularly important.

Research limitations/implications

One implication of the argument of the paper is that there is a need to consider more carefully the differences that exist between the views of Wollstonecraft and Mill, so far as the example of the happy or contented slave is concerned.

Practical implications

One practical implication of the paper is that, hopefully, it establishes the continued relevance of the ideas of thinkers such as Wollstonecraft and Mill today, not least because of the influence that they have had on theoreticians such as Amartya Sen.

Social implications

The paper addresses issues which are of considerable social and political significance, especially for women in underdeveloped societies today.

Originality/value

The example of the happy or contented slave has not received much discussion in the literature on Sen, although Sen himself has suggested that the distinction between happiness and contentment is an important one, which does merit further discussion.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 43 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1991

Abdelrehman Zeinelabdin

Introduction The term “Aid” refers to all forms of aid granting, whether loans or grants, from governments and multinational financing agencies. Private capital movements are…

Abstract

Introduction The term “Aid” refers to all forms of aid granting, whether loans or grants, from governments and multinational financing agencies. Private capital movements are excluded. I would also exclude emergency relief aid associated with natural calamities such as famines, floods etc., because of its temporary nature. In an ethical context, two major issues then arise. What are the possible ethical and/or non‐ethical considerations determining the flow of aid? Second, what is actually the status of aid granting in the world today? Can we, then, trace or develop a systematic moral case for aid granting? This would essentially entail an enquiry into the motives and effects of aid. Taking into consideration that economics deals, in the final analysis, with the real world and real human beings, it would be difficult to assume that human sentiments, greediness, self‐interest and global consciousness and responsibility are neutral elements in determining one's economic behavior. In this particular case, that is aid, it seems reasonable to talk of a number of considerations governing its motives. Put differently then, one needs to enquire the issue at two levels:

Details

Humanomics, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0828-8666

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 November 2023

Muhammad Saiful Islam

After the fall of Burma on 10 March 1942 the British government extensively implemented scorched-earth policies in Bengal like denial of rice and boats. The British government had…

Abstract

Purpose

After the fall of Burma on 10 March 1942 the British government extensively implemented scorched-earth policies in Bengal like denial of rice and boats. The British government had inadequate defense equipment to resist Japanese attack in Bengal. After the Japanese invasion supply of Burmese rice suddenly stopped. Faridpur district used to import rice from Burma. The Burmese conquest created an immediate and serious crisis for several rice imported districts and coastal districts of Bengal. Hence, none of the districts of East Bengal could escape its brutal clutches and severity recorded in Chittagong, Dhaka, Faridpur, Tripura, Noakhali, Bakargonj and so on.

Design/methodology/approach

Among the affected districts of Bengal, Faridpur has been chosen as study area due to severity of famine. This study addresses the famine scenario of Faridpur. Data has been collected from primary and secondary sources. Content Analysis Research method is used to test reliability and validity of the data. Historical Analysis Research method has been followed in this study.

Findings

Finding of the study shows that the government relief issues, ignorance of warnings, political nepotism and denial policy of British government intensified the famine of Faridpur district. The wartime tactics adopted by the colonial government aggravated the famine situation. This article has shed light on the government war time policy, activity and some impacts of British decline in Burma that fueled the famine in Faridpur district.

Originality/value

This study is my original research work and has not been published else where.

Details

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1819-5091

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 October 2023

Valentina Erasmo

This paper shows that Amartya Sen admitted self-sacrifice as an opposite motive to self-interest. Between the eighties and the nineties, in his works on development economics, Sen

Abstract

This paper shows that Amartya Sen admitted self-sacrifice as an opposite motive to self-interest. Between the eighties and the nineties, in his works on development economics, Sen often referred to the conditions of women in less developed countries, because these are areas where gender inequality is more pronounced, and women’s well-being is worsened by behavior motivated by self-sacrifice. But these women were affected by a perception bias that made them unable to understand their deprived condition. Perception bias made it harder to improve their freedom and reduce inequality. Sen offered a more complex analysis of economic behavior as compared to his contemporaries. Selfishness and public discussion might be identified as the ideal methods of improving individual well-being when inequality and perception bias leads people to self-sacrifice.

Details

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Selection of Papers Presented at the First History of Economics Diversity Caucus Conference
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-982-6

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