Search results

Examines the efficiency of electronic mail and its effectiveness in aiding decision making. Highlights its main functions and typical usage and also its advantages to the executive. Concludes that electronic mail does increase efficiency in the decision‐making process and is not a fad since executives prefer it to other media.

“GIVE a dog a bad name and hang him,” is an aphorism which has been accepted for many years. But, like many other household words, it is not always true. Even if it were, the dog to be operated upon would probably prefer a gala day at his Tyburn Tree to being executed in an obscure back yard.

The study aims to examine the age differences of job satisfaction between Taiwanese and Chinese higher education faculty.

The data on job satisfaction were obtained from 194 Taiwanese faculty and 211 Chinese faculty at college levels in one city.

No statistically significant differences were found for full‐time Taiwanese and Chinese faculty in the overall job satisfaction of age at higher education after educational reforms, but differences exist between countries.

This article applies to strategies on job satisfaction for the current Taiwanese and Chinese faculty at colleges.

Why waste time and money on modern consultants when you can go right to the source? Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, those seers of old, had a lot to say on strategic planning, and much of still holds true.

Globalization creates a turbulent, stressful environment for groups, organizations, and communities (cities, states, nations). With rapid communication, affordable long‐distance transportation and the opening of borders, every institution worldwide feels the strain of adapting to a rapidly changing environment. To survive and prosper, social systems (groups, organizations, communities) need to develop their capacities for rapid, adaptive responses. Analyzing studies of highly effective and stable teams, organizations, and communities through the lense of complexity theory suggests a common, parsimonious set of design principles for sustainable social systems.

This paper aims to report a case history delivered to MBA students that developed their understanding of corruption and also enhanced their ability to be able to contribute to the anti-curriculum agenda. This case history method selected was innovative, as it was constructed from multi-disciplinary archival sources. The case focus was the egregious affinity fraud of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS), with court documents taken from “United States V. Bernard L. Madoff And Related Cases USAO-SDNY”, including court sentencing records, victim impact statements and the defendant’s “Plea Allocution”. The case study aimed to enhance students’ ability and inclination to recognise and oppose corrupt practices. The longer-term ambition of the case was to contribute to developing the students’ moral awareness, character and facility for self-reflection, in terms of responding to corruption. The case study exercise also addressed rising societal expectations for more robust responses to corruption, in terms of illustrating how business school pedagogy can be expanded to emphasise the centrality of ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to economic life. The case history was analysed within Carroll’s CSR pyramid and also with themes derived from the developing area of behavioural ethics, including a deontological, justice for its own sake and focus.

This research used the qualitative case method (Stake, 2000; Yin, 2004, 2010, 2011) to investigate lived experience from the viewpoint of those being studied and to provide the case history “experience”, using an analytical lens developed from Carroll’s CSR pyramid (1991) and from behavioural ethics research. Furthermore, following Chell’s recommendation, the case history of the BLMIS fraud was chosen – “[…] for analytical purposes to produce insight into the phenomena in question” (2008). The case was constructed from archival sources, including court records of the sentencing of Bernie Madoff.

The findings of the research are that students gained knowledge and understanding of the nature and practice of corruption, as well as developing their understanding of the anti-corruption agenda. The case also facilitated students to develop their moral awareness, character and facility for self-reflection with reference to corruption. In sum, the findings are that case histories, using archival sources, in this instance taken from the court records, have the potential to enhance teaching and learning in business ethics and responsible management education.

A limitation of this research is that it is reporting on one instance of a classroom delivery of the case study. In consequence, a recommendation for future research is for CSR and ethics focussed educationalist to conduct similar case study teaching to add to and complement the conclusions reached in this paper.

This paper is original in detailing and reflecting on a case history teaching example of global corruption. This case history teaching method was innovative, as it was constructed from archival sources taken from court records to include victim impact statements and the defendant’s “Plea Allocution”.

Organizations are recognizing that if they want to survive and prosper in the long run they need to strategically manage their intangible assets. New theories of strategic management such as the resource‐based view show that organizations can only gain sustainable competitive advantages if they are focusing on the development of their value drivers. Intangible assets such as know‐how, brands, copyrights, patents and relationships with customers or suppliers, are key value drivers in today’s business world. It is therefore critical for organizations to identify, understand, and manage these organizational value drivers. This article outlines the process of how organizations can identify their key resources – tangible and intangible – as well as their interdependence and causal dynamics to deliver value. An improved understanding of the strategic resource architecture helps to overcome causal ambiguity of how value is created and helps to direct resource allocation and competence acquisition.

Spyware is a controversial software technology that allows the surreptitious collection of personal information from computers linked to the internet. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of spyware in internet shareware and freeware and to investigate the personal information collected.

The methodology was a two‐phase, multi‐case study. The first phase determined that five of the 50 most popular pieces of Windows^®‐based freeware and shareware available to internet users from CNETDownload.com were suspected of containing spyware: these were included as data sources for phase two. The purpose of phase two was to confirm the existence of spyware and to identify the types and frequencies of any personal data transmissions. For this phase, data were collected and analyzed utilizing a passive network monitor program to examine packets of data transmitted from a personal computer to external destinations on the internet.

The findings confirmed the existence and use of spyware in three of five suspected cases. However, the data indicated that there was a low occurrence of spyware and that these programs have the capability to collect numerous types of personal data. The main limitation is that these results are based on a snapshot of data obtained during five days.

The study has practical implications for internet users, who should be aware that spyware exists and understand its potential threat. Spyware developers should provide the user with an effective removal tool. Finally, marketers are cautioned that spyware might alienate customers.

This paper confirms the potential for misuse of these programs.

This is the last part of the book, and it highlights the international perspective of women's empowerment in construction. The chapter also captures women's participation in the context of European, Asian, African and other continents. Essential factors influencing women's empowerment and involvement in the construction industry have also been considered.

The paper focuses on three main issues. First, an attempt is made to define more clearly alternative approaches to the development of integrated distribution systems. There follows a discussion of some of the primary reasons or causes for increased management interest in effective distribution during the 1950s and 1960s.