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1 – 10 of 524Verl Anderson, Ken Kalala Ndalamba and Cam Caldwell
Social responsibility (SR) in accepting the obligation to resolve the many troubling problems facing tomorrow’s generations is essential if those problems are to be effectively…
Abstract
Purpose
Social responsibility (SR) in accepting the obligation to resolve the many troubling problems facing tomorrow’s generations is essential if those problems are to be effectively addressed. The purpose of this paper is to identify the nature of SR for business, academic institutions, government, religious institutions, and individuals.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a conceptual paper which relies heavily on the current literature about social obligations for five major organizations: business, academic institutions, government, religious institutions, and individuals.
Findings
The paper provides the standard of the virtuous continuum and the Hosmer decision-making model to explain why leaders, organizations, and individuals must be more responsible to be perceived as virtuous leaders, complete with 50 examples of action to be taken.
Research limitations/implications
As this paper is not an empirical study, it does not present research information.
Practical implications
This paper suggests that organizations can be more effective if they come to understand the responsibilities and stewardship of social responsibilities entrusted to them.
Originality/value
The paper expands on Hosmer’s research and incorporates a virtuous continuum in examining the responsibilities of leaders, organizations, and individuals. More importantly, this paper is among the first to identify specific steps organizations and individuals can take in addressing the challenges and problems facing the world of in key aspects of society.
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Sarah Sanders Smith, Samuel L. Rohr and Richard N. Panton
Human resource professionals (HRPs) remain challenged by ethical conundrums in the workplace. Business leaders are asked to respond to demands for efficiency in an environment of…
Abstract
Purpose
Human resource professionals (HRPs) remain challenged by ethical conundrums in the workplace. Business leaders are asked to respond to demands for efficiency in an environment of distrust or skepticism amongst employees and customers. HRPs who understand ethical decision-making as well as ethical perspectives and implications of actions within the organization can create value within their organizations. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the five ethical content issues of Hosmer’s (1987) model related to the twenty-first century human resource management (HRM) themes.
Design/methodology/approach
As a result of a syntheses of leadership and HRM philosophies over several decades, six propositions associated with the content issues are suggested.
Findings
HRPs are well-positioned to encourage ethical and moral decision-making within their organizations when they are able to contribute to creation of a culture that honors duties to stakeholders and supports organizational success.
Originality/value
The existence of synthesized analysis regarding organizational leaders, human resource managers, ethics and culture to build organizational success is limited. Thus, this paper highlights a need for organizations and for HRPs to dedicate policies and implement practices which can support ethical sustenance in today’s organizations.
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Mahdi Moardi, Mahdi Salehi and Zakiyeh Marandi
This paper aims to investigate the role of affect and tolerance of ambiguity on ethical decision-making of management and accounting students.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of affect and tolerance of ambiguity on ethical decision-making of management and accounting students.
Design/methodology/approach
Weisbrod’s (2009) questionnaire on ethical decision-making in individual and organizational situations, McDonald’s (1970)16-factor questionnaire on tolerance of ambiguity and Watson et al.’s (1988) Positive and Negative Affect Schedule were used to study the students’ views toward research hypotheses. The population used in this study includes graduate and PhD students of accounting and management during the academic year 2014-2015. The number of samples is 398 and sample members selected using simple random sampling method. Hypotheses test using structural equation modeling in the AMOS software version 18.
Findings
Results of hypotheses shows that individual characteristics of positive and negative affect and tolerance of ambiguity have no effect on accounting students’ ethical decision-making, but there is a significant positive relationship between management students’ negative affect and ethical decision-making, and a significant negative relationship between management students’ increased level of tolerance of ambiguity and ethical decision-making. The findings also show that affect (positive and negative) and tolerance of ambiguity have no interactive effect on accounting students’ ethical decision-making, whereas among students of management, there is a significant relationship between interactive effect of negative affect and tolerance of ambiguity on ethical decision-making. The results show that there is a significant difference between students of management and accounting based on negative effects and tolerance of ambiguity on ethical decision-making.
Originality/value
The current paper is almost the first paper which was conducted in developing countries.
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E. Frank Harrison and Monique A. Pelletier
The purpose of this article is to extend and reinforce previous research intended to demonstrate that a process model of decision making is conducive to strategic decision…
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to extend and reinforce previous research intended to demonstrate that a process model of decision making is conducive to strategic decision success. Using a strategic decision matrix with a two‐dimensional focus, 16 high‐visibility strategic decisions from different corporations in the 1990s are evaluated and classified to support the hypothesis that a formal decision‐making process is conducive to successful strategic decision outcomes. The results of this evaluation clearly indicate that, in the absence of a managerial decision‐making process, successful outcomes are unlikely to materialize. Conversely, although a process‐oriented approach to strategic choice affords no guarantee of a successful outcome, the likelihood of this occurrence tends to increase with this approach. This revisiting of strategic decision success confirms earlier research in this critical area. Hopefully, it will elicit subsequent research of a similar nature.
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This paper aims to offer a solution to the dilemma of board members using their personal values to drive decision-making and strategy. Board members are asked to discuss the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer a solution to the dilemma of board members using their personal values to drive decision-making and strategy. Board members are asked to discuss the collective values at the onset of strategy planning.
Design/methodology/approach
Six questions, developed over a 15-year period of working in the area of strategy and governance, unite research on values in organizations, and provide a guide for arriving at a set of agreed-upon values for decision-making.
Findings
Two examples from practice showcase how agreeing on values before beginning the strategy process has assisted boards with better decision-making.
Research limitations/implications
The questions and process are meant to be a reflective tool for board members to consider when discussing values and decision-making rather than predicting behaviour or explaining outcomes. The process is most effective for boards whose culture supports a desire for improvement and therefore a willingness to experiment with new processes. The process can be enhanced by using an external facilitator having the ability to extrapolate meaning as the discussion unfolds.
Practical implications
This work empowers board members to be more effective in assessing strategic options and in communicating the inner logic and meaning of the strategy throughout the organization and to the external stakeholders.
Originality/value
Advocating that boards engage in focused discussion around values at the beginning of the strategic process improves decision-making and provides a litmus test for evaluating the strategic options. Agreeing on a set of values also makes board members more aware of the implications of each option in the long term.
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Overconfidence bias is considered to be a very influential decision-making bias in the business environment. This paper aims to identify the susceptibility of management…
Abstract
Purpose
Overconfidence bias is considered to be a very influential decision-making bias in the business environment. This paper aims to identify the susceptibility of management accountants to overconfidence-related overplacement bias and to determine its pervasiveness among these professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
Two international samples of management accountants were surveyed using overplacement bias elicitation questions. The hypothesis that bias susceptibility varies between management accountants in different hierarchical employment positions was tested employing binary logistic regression.
Findings
Management accountants are found to be susceptible to overplacement bias, yet its pervasiveness among the samples is similar to other sample populations in comparable studies. Management accountants in the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) were found to be more susceptible to overplacement bias than their colleagues in other management accountant and business management positions.
Research limitations/implications
The use of convenience sampling represents a limitation of the research.
Practical implications
The findings confirm that there is a need for syllabi and continual professional development projects to educate management accountants on this bias. CFOs are especially at risk of being overconfident, which may not be in the best interest of the business.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to assess overplacement bias in management accountants as a group of decision-makers, especially within the context of their increasing involvement in business decision-making.
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Yuka Fujimoto, Charmine E.J. Härtel and Fara Azmat
Contemporary organizations are increasingly paying attention to incorporate diversity management practices into their systems in order to promote socially responsible actions and…
Abstract
Purpose
Contemporary organizations are increasingly paying attention to incorporate diversity management practices into their systems in order to promote socially responsible actions and equitable employment outcomes for minority groups. The aim of this paper is to seek to address a major oversight in diversity management literature, the integration of organizational justice principles.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon the existing literature on workforce diversity and organizational justice, the authors develop a model based on normative principles of organizational justice for justice‐based diversity management processes and outcomes.
Findings
The paper proposes that effective diversity management results from a decision‐making process that meets the normative principles of organizational justice (i.e. interactional, procedural and distributive justice). The diversity justice management model introduced in this article provides important theoretical and practical implications for establishing more moral and just workplaces.
Research limitations/implications
The authors have not tested the conceptual framework of the diversity justice management model, and recommend future research to take up the challenge. The payoff for doing so is to enable the establishment of socially responsible workplaces where individuals, regardless of their background, are given an equal opportunity to flourish in their assigned jobs.
Practical implications
The diversity justice management model introduced in this paper provides organizational justice (OJ)‐based guidelines for managers to ensure that OJ can be objectively benchmarked and discussed amongst diversity stakeholders to continuously improve actual and perceived OJ outcomes.
Social implications
The social implication of this conceptual paper is reduction of workforce marginalization and establishment of socially responsible organizations whereby those marginalized (e.g. people with disabilities) can effectively work in their organizations.
Originality/value
This is the first attempt to establish a diveristy justice management model, which incorporates normative principles of organizational justice into diversity management processes and outcomes.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors affecting male fashion leadership behaviour. The study examined the effect of fashion consciousness, fashion knowledge, mood…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors affecting male fashion leadership behaviour. The study examined the effect of fashion consciousness, fashion knowledge, mood enhancement, decision-making confidence and brand switching as the psychological factors. It also included the influence of behavioural factors such as the information sources, attributes of purchasing fashion clothing and type of retailers on male fashion leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed in the main shopping districts of Beirut, Lebanon, during March 2012.
Findings
The study uncovered that fashion consciousness, fashion knowledge, confidence in decision making and mood enhancement are to be the most important psychological factors influencing male fashion leadership behaviour. The study also found that frequency of reading fashion magazines is negatively and significantly affecting fashion leadership. Male fashion leaders use colleagues and friends as the main information sources for fashion. The effect of attractiveness, brand name, store image and quality of clothing is positive and significant whilst value for money negatively and significantly influences male fashion leadership. Male fashion leaders mainly shop from specialty shops, chain stores, department stores and the internet.
Originality/value
Although there are a handful of studies which examined female fashion leadership, the male fashion leadership concept has not been extensively addressed in the literature. In an attempt to at least partially address this, the study attempts to identify the factors affecting male fashion leadership behaviour in Lebanon.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify what ethical framework(s) small business managers use in making decisions, and whether they differ from those drawn on by the wider…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify what ethical framework(s) small business managers use in making decisions, and whether they differ from those drawn on by the wider community?
Design/methodology/approach
A scale for managerial ethical decision‐making has been used, targeting small business people and academics and students in Australia. This scale was piloted in a geographical test community in Queensland Australia. Targeted respondents were asked to fill in the self‐assessment survey (MEP). A quantitative evaluation of the results was carried out by measuring variance between eight ethical variables by ANOVA (analysis of variance).
Findings
This study found statistically significant differences in the ethical decision‐making profile of business and non‐business decision makers. Contrary to expectations, small business people do not hold economical return as the most important factor in making managerial decisions to the exclusion of other more ethical criteria. There are, however, significant differences between small business people and academics and students in relation to which ethical principles are the most important when making a decision.
Originality/value
A new scale has been developed and validated to profile the ethical style of managers. From this tools can be further developed for self‐assessment or by organizations wanting to profile the ethical styles of their managers.
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Richard C. Morey, Beverley A. Sparks and Hugh C. Wilkins
The consumption of wine has over recent years increased in many countries with wine now often being a preferred social beverage. As consumption has increased consumers have become…
Abstract
The consumption of wine has over recent years increased in many countries with wine now often being a preferred social beverage. As consumption has increased consumers have become more familiar with the range of wines available and are now more sophisticated in their selection of wines. The wine selection process is likely to be highly complex and may involve trading off a range of product attributes when making a purchase. This article presents the results of a research project investigating consumer decision making when selecting wines. It focuses on five key wine attributes (grape variety, price brand recognition the region of production and whether it has won any awards), and situates the decision process within possible buying contexts. Price, type of wine, the presence of a national award and the purchase context were significant predictors of the decision to purchase a wine. This study is an example of an analytical approach applied to an issue that has largely defied the use of quantitative tools.
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