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The probability of a successful CIM implementation is enhanced when the firm takes certain measures to provide the proper environment prior to implementation. A pre‐implementation strategy that stresses the importance of continuous improvement in processes is described. The pre‐implementation strategy is based on a systems analysis and design project procedure that extricates sources of inefficiencies and establishes a foundation of sound management practices.

This paper uses a stakeholder framework to review the empirical literature on corporate social performance (CSP), focusing particularly on studies attempting to correlate social with financial performance. Results show first that most studies correlate measures of business performance that as yet have no theoretical relationship (for example, the level of corporate charitable giving with return on investment). To make sense of this body of research, CSP studies must be integrated with stakeholder theory. Multiple stakeholders (a) set expectations for corporate performance, (b) experience the effects of corporate behavior, and (c) evaluate the outcomes of corporate behavior. However, we find that the empirical CSP literature mismatches variables in terms of which stakeholders are relevant to which kind of measure. Second, only the studies using market‐based variables and theory show a consistent relationship between social and financial performance, particularly those showing a negative abnormal return to the stock price of companies experiencing product recalls. Although this paper shows that the CSP construct is not yet well‐specified enough to produce stronger results, recent research suggests that much progress is being made both empirically and theoretically in developing valid and reliable measures of corporate social performance.

In this chapter, we update stakeholder salience research using the new lens of stakeholder work: the purposive processes of organization aimed at being aware of, identifying, understanding, prioritizing, and engaging stakeholders. Specifically, we focus on stakeholder prioritization work — primarily as represented by the stakeholder salience model — and discuss contributions, shortcomings, and possibilities for this literature. We suggest that future research focus on stakeholder inclusivity, the complexity of prioritization work within intra-corporate markets, the integration of stakeholder prioritization with other forms of stakeholder work, and the development of managerial tools for multiobjective decision making within the strategic management context.

This paper discusses the impact of a social desirability (SD) bias in cross‐cultural ethics research. An SD bias may mask a relationship between key variables, provide a false correlation between them, moderate their relationship, or influence the response rate to the survey instrument. When survey researchers present hypothetical ethical dilemmas to respondents and ask them what they would do, the respondents' answers will not only be influenced by their actual values and desires, but also by what those individuals perceive to be desirable within their society. We argue that key value differences between countries, as noted by Hofstede, will exert an independent influence on responses to self‐report questionnaires. Four propositions are set forth detailing how this SD bias may differentially affect responses to ethics surveys across cultures. A longitudinal research design is proposed to help disentangle the impact of culture values, personal values, and an SD bias. Several measures to prevent and to control the bias in cross‐cultural ethics research are discussed The use of pretests, pilot tests, and SD scales imbedded within research instruments is recommended.

Donna L. Van Raaphorst provides a detailed statistical analysis of a large sample of Alcatraz Prison inmates using the Social Science Statistical Package. The data, drawn directly from the inmate files, is compared whenever possible with similar data provided by the Bureau of Prisons in order to determine if Alcatraz, often regarded as America's Devil's Island, really incarcerated the so-called “Worst of the Worst” in its time. The results would seem to indicate that Alcatraz inmates were, in fact, not remarkably different from those in any other Federal prison in the system.

A relatively recent advance in analyzing longitudinal data, structural equation modeling with structured means, for examining the impact of organizational change and development interventions, is presented. Some of the limitations of current approaches to analyzing data collected from “experimental” and “control” groups are discussed, along with why structural modeling is particularly useful for real‐world experiments and quasi‐experiments. An illustration is then given, applying this approach to data collected from a team‐building intervention which involved 2,331 employees in 16 plants of a large garment manufacturer. Implications of the research are briefly considered.

What is it about academia anyway? We profess to hate it, spend endless amounts of time complaining about it, and yet we in academia will do practically anything to stay. The pay may be low, job security elusive, and in the end, it's not the glamorous work we envisioned it would be. Yet, it still holds fascination and interest for us. This is an article about American academic fiction. By academic fiction, I mean novels whosemain characters are professors, college students, and those individuals associated with academia. These works reveal many truths about the higher education experience not readily available elsewhere. We learn about ourselves and the university community in which we work.

In services marketing, the employee plays a central role in attracting, building and maintaining relationships with customers. The recognition of the central role of employees in service marketing has given rise to “internal marketing” programs strongly oriented to employee development. This paper explores the linkage between internal marketing activities (directed at employee recruitment, training, motivation, communication, and retention) and the more traditional external marketing activities (e.g., pricing, advertising, and personal selling). An examination of the relationship between the key elements of the services marketing management model (internal and external marketing, employee attitudes and behavior, and customer attitudes and behavior) demonstrates how service managers can enhance customer loyalty, satisfaction and perception of quality.