Information systems objectives: Perceptions of information systems developers of different cultures

An increasing number of corporations are developing and implementing information sys tems (IS) applications which cross national boundaries and span diverse cultures. As a result of the cultural differences, IS developers in different countries may have very different perceptions regarding the objectives of an IS. In the current study, developers from three countries - Japan, Taiwan, and the United States - rated the importance of eight objectives of a successful IS. The eight objectives are categorized by hierarchical levels, and also as short-term or long-term goals. The results indicated the IS developers viewed objectives at the system and organizational levels as more important than objectives at the user and strategic levels. Overall, the IS developers rated the short-term objectives as more important than the long-term objectives. There was no significant difference between the countries with respect to the perceived importance of the short-term/direct objectives. However, there were significant differences in the views of IS developers from the three countries regarding the perceived benefits of long-term/ indirect objectives of an IS

Iconic dishes, culture and identity: the Christmas pudding and its hundred years’ journey in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and India

Asserting that recipes are textual evidences reflecting the society that produced them, this article explores the evolution of the recipes of the iconic Christmas pudding in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and India between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Combining a micro-analysis of the recipes and the cookbook that provided them with contemporary testimonies, the article observes the dynamics revealed by the preparation and consumption of the pudding in these different societies. The findings demonstrate the relevance of national iconic dishes to the study of notions of home, migration and colonization, as well as the development of a new society and identity. They reveal how the preservation, transformation and even rejection of a traditional dish can be representative of the complex and sometimes conflicting relationships between colonists, migrants or new citizens and the places they live in

Mu2e Technical Design Report

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for charged lepton flavor violation via the coherent conversion process mu- N --> e- N with a sensitivity approximately four orders of magnitude better than the current world's best limits for this process. The experiment's sensitivity offers discovery potential over a wide array of new physics models and probes mass scales well beyond the reach of the LHC. We describe herein the preliminary design of the proposed Mu2e experiment. This document was created in partial fulfillment of the requirements necessary to obtain DOE CD-2 approval.Comment: compressed file, 888 pages, 621 figures, 126 tables; full resolution available at http://mu2e.fnal.gov; corrected typo in background summary, Table 3.

Enhancing corporate reputation through corporate philanthropy

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine factors affecting the relationship between annual changes in the amount of corporate foundation giving and changes in corporate reputation. The factors investigated included the existing corporate reputation and the economic conditions. Design/methodology/approach: Published data were obtained for 77 US corporations during both an upward and downward economic trend. Data for corporate foundation giving were obtained from IRS tax records while data on corporate reputation were obtained from the Reputation Institute’s RepTrak scores. Findings: Linear mixed model analyses demonstrated that a firm’s prior reputation moderates the relationship between corporate philanthropy and changes in corporate reputation during a downward trend. That is, changes in corporate charitable giving and corporate reputation covaried positively for firms with an existing favorable reputation. However, for firms with an unfavorable reputation, there was an inverse relationship between changes in corporate giving and corporate reputation. The interaction between the variables was prevalent only during an economic downturn. Practical implications: The findings provide firms with relevant information on conditions that affect how changes in charitable giving are likely to impact corporate reputation. Originality/value: This study is the first to look at the effects of annual changes in corporate charitable giving on corporate reputation and adds to the research literature by demonstrating the complexity of the relationship by identifying two key factors that should be taken into considerations when developing annual budgets for charitable giving

Recruitment Strategies for Encouraging Participation in Corporate Volunteer Programs

Perhaps due to the numerous community and company benefits associated with corporate volunteer programs, an increasing number of national and international firms are adopting such programs. A major issue in organizing corporate volunteer programs concerns the strategies that are most effective for recruiting employee participation. The results of this study suggest that the most effective strategies for initiating participation in volunteer programs may not be the same as the strategies that are most effective in terms of maximizing the number of volunteer hours contributed by employees. More importantly, the results suggest that the most effective recruitment strategies depend on the age of the employee. The results were discussed in terms of matching the recruitment strategies with the characteristics of the potential volunteers and the nature of the volunteer project

Computer Ethics: The Influence of Guidelines and Universal Moral Beliefs

Examines the influence of computer guidelines and the belief in universal moral rules on ethical intentions regarding the use of computers in the workplace. The results revealed that the interaction between computer guidelines and belief in universal moral rules was significant. Business professionals with a strong belief in universal moral rules exhibited high ethical intentions, regardless of whether or not their organization had clear guidelines concerning the use of company computers. However, for business professionals with a low belief in universal moral rules, the presence of clear computer guidelines had a positive effect on ethical intentions. This investigation provides evidence that computer guidelines are positively related to ethical intentions only for individuals who do not adhere to a belief in universal moral rules

The Relationship Between Ethical Pressure, Relativistic Moral Beliefs and Organizational Commitment

Questionnaire data from 161 business professionals were analyzed to investigate a proposed interaction between pressure to engage in unethical work activity and relativistic moral beliefs with respect to business professionals\u27 organizational commitment and intentions to leave the organization. The results indicated that organizational commitment was lower and intention to leave was higher for professionals who felt pressured by their employer to engage in unethical work activity. The proposed interaction was also significant for organizational commitment demonstrating that organizational commitment was generally high, except for business professionals who felt pressured to engage in unethical behavior and did not adhere to a belief that ethics are relative