The Proper Work of the Intellect

There is a familiar teleological picture of epistemic normativity on which it is grounded in the goal or good of belief, which is taken in turn to be the acquisition of truth and the avoidance of error. This traditional picture has faced numerous challenges, but one of the most interesting of these is an argument that rests on the nearly universally accepted view that this truth goal, as it is known, is at heart two distinct goals that are in tension with one another. This paper will look more closely at the standard way of understanding the truth goal, drawing out both its explicit and implicit features. My aim will be to show that this conception of the truth goal is deeply mistaken, to propose and defend an alternative model, and to show how this alternative model restores the unity of the goal and its potential to ground and explain the normative dimensions of belief

Dialogue on Diversity

This report is sponsored jointly by CED and the Fund for Corporate Initiatives, with the generous financial support of the Ford Foundation. The goal behind this joint project was to move the issue of corporate diversity beyond the theoretical -- and occasionally ideological -- context into one where the focus was on practical results in the workforce and the marketplace. More specifically, the aim was to have an open, frank discussion between CEOs and senior minority and women executives about the barriers to their corporate advancement

Using Ownership as an Incentive: Does the Too Many Chiefs Rule Apply in Entrepreneurial Firms?

Agency theory is used to develop hypotheses regarding the effects of ownership proliferation on firm performance. We examine the effects of CEO ownership, executive team ownership, and all employee ownership, in addition to the moderating effect of risk, on firm survival and stock price. Firms with low CEO ownership outperform those with high levels of CEO ownership across all levels of risk, but the effect is most pronounced for low risk firms. Executive team ownership is negatively related to firm performance, while ownership for all employees is positively associated with firm performance particularly for higher risk firms

Gainsharing and Mutual Monitoring: A Combined Agency-Procedural Justice Interpretation

This study examines the behavioral consequences of gainsharing using a combined theoretical framework that includes elements of agency and procedural justice theory. The hypothesis tested is that gainsharing as a collective form of incentive alignment results in increased mutual monitoring among agents (employees) when the plan is perceived to be procedurally fair. The hypothesis was supported in two separate firms using a quasi-experimental field study. The implications of the study for future extensions of agency theory to examine intraorganizational phenomena are discussed

Foundation Chief Executives as Artful Jugglers

Hundreds of thousands of books have been written about business leadership, with new titles coming out each year. There is a growing literature about what it takes to build and lead high-performing nonprofit organizations, and a trove of research and writing exists on military and political leadership. Precious little has been written, however, about what it takes to successfully lead a philanthropic organization. While a number of good books about philanthropy have been published lately, each touches only lightly on the subject of leadership, and none focus much attention on the role of the CEO. A recent National Center for Family Philanthropy report about the role of the CEO in a family foundation context makes an important descriptive contribution to the field, but there is room for more research and insight into what it takes to be a successful foundation CEO. In the past two decades, the number of foundations in the United States alone has more than tripled, rising from about 32,000 foundations in 1990 to approximately 115,000 today. Given the proliferation of foundations, and the hundreds of billions of dollars in assets that foundations control, it is essential to ask: What makes foundation CEOs successful? What makes them fail

Digital Piracy of MP3s: Consumer and Ethical Predispositions

Purpose – Illegal downloading of music has become an inexorable and rampant activity particularly among college students who have been little deterred by industry legal actions. The purpose of this research is to examine the present state of downloading and how ethical orientation and attitudes towards MP3 piracy impact such activities. The paper also aims to use ethical scenarios as a way of understanding the ethical reasoning in illegal downloading. Design/methodology/approach – Key research questions are proposed that are related to illegal downloading. A sample of 364 university students was used to examine each research question. Statistical results are reported. Findings – The results clearly show that downloading continues at a high rate today driven by a strong belief that it is not ethically wrong. Ethical orientation was found to be positively associated with awareness of the social cost of downloading, consequences of downloading, and ethical belief in downloading. Ethical scenarios show that ethical orientation is also associated with downloading activities and with stealing. Other results indicate that respondents believe that their peers are more prone to stealing music and downloading MP3s illegally. Fear of consequences does seem to have an impact on the propensity to download illegally. Practical implications – The paper contributes to inform industry representatives that appeals to ethics or guilt are not likely to deter illegal downloading measurably. The use of punishment for downloaders may have a short-term effect but other (more positive) measures are required. Originality/value – No research has examined downloading of MP3s in the manner developed in this paper. The paper contributes to a better understanding of consumer behavior among those who download. The results provide insight into a serious problem in the recording industry that is likely to persist in the distant future unless sound measures are developed

The Restructuring of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool: Overconfidence and Agency

This paper examines how agency problems combined with overconfidence and hubris by coop management lead to financial failure in the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. As a consequence of both of these problems, the Pool made poor investment decisions and ended up in severe financial difficulties. These problems were exacerbated by three additional factors: (1) ownership and control were separated via an A-B share structure, leading to a situation where neither farmer members nor investors had an incentive to monitor management activities; (2) the sheer volume of investment activity undertaken made it virtually impossible for the board to stay on top of what was happening; and (3) as a result of the change financial structure, senior management had available a large amount of debt capital that it could spend.Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries,

Sizing Up: Strategies for Staffing Emerging Community Foundations

It is rare that a community foundation believes it has sufficient resources to create the positive impact it envisions for its community. For small community foundations, this frustration is often amplified. These organizations face important needs and potential opportunities with few staff members to do the work. From 2005 to 2011, The James Irvine Foundation invested $12 million to support the growth of a set of emerging community foundations in rural and under-resourced regions of California through our Community Foundations Initiative II. We found that one of the most delicate challenges these community foundations face is how best to structure their staff to achieve their ambitions while simultaneously controlling their operating budgets for financial stability. This group of young and rapidly growing organizations explored a variety of ways to both serve and grow when constrained by limited resources. We believe their insights, ideas and stories can serve as examples for how emerging community foundations across California and beyond might tackle the seeming conundrum of how to have community impact with just a few staff members

Pathways to Grow Impact: Philanthropy's Role in the Journey

Since 2010, through the "Scaling What Works" initiative, GEO has fostered a conversation about scale that considers a variety of ways nonprofits are creating more value for communities and how funders are supporting their work. GEO's newest publication, "Pathways to Grow Impact", shares new learning about the role grantmakers should play. The publication is the result of a collaborative project with Ashoka, Social Impact Exchange, Taproot Foundation and TCC Group that sought to answer the question: How can grantmakers best support high-performing nonprofits in their efforts to grow their impact? "Pathways to Grow Impact" is for any grantmaker who wants his or her grant dollars to have a greater effect. The publication offers a framework for understanding different approaches to scaling impact, stories from nonprofit leaders who have successfully grown their organizations' impact, and practical recommendations for grantmakers seeking more effective ways to achieve better results