The For-Profit Prison as Social Enterprise: Problems with Classification and Ethical Assessment

This article explores the problems presented to taxonomies and definitions of social enterprise by a specific kind of organization, for-profit prisons. While these organizations are often and rightly criticized for their performance, they are fundamentally social enterprises by many of the definitions and taxonomies offered in the literature. This analysis uses a naïve matrix for classifying social enterprise to outline the problems created by these ethically and socially challenged organizations

A triadic view of truck driver satisfaction

In this research, the authors surveyed three groups concerning job satisfaction: experienced drivers, new drivers, and managers. Statistical tests were conducted using a sample of 196 new drivers, 145 experienced drivers, and 59 managers from a large TL firm based in the U.S. The results suggest that many discrepancies exist on driver satisfaction among the three perspectives. In particular, new drivers provide managers with opportunities and challenges for satisfaction. Given the current state of the trucking industry, managers will likely benefit from approaching this segment of drivers differently to meet their expectations and keep them from leaving their firms

Applying Choice Architecture and Marketing Pre-Suasion to the Motorcycle Industry

In this analysis, we examine the motorcycle industry in terms of Cialdini’s concept of Pre- Suasion. We use the chapter titles from the book to explore how these concepts could or should help the motorcycle industry adapt to shifts in its markets, shifts that are both demographic and cultural. In the process, we also explore ideas like product gentrification and choice architecture, ideas at the heart of the motorcycle marketing problem. We conclude that motorcycle promotions and messaging lack traction with younger buyers. We close with an extensive list of questions calling for further research

The Transformation of the Supply Chain Manager

This research examines the transformation of the job of supply chain manager. This involves an analysis of the activities of this position, the competencies needed, what the job requires, and the training that is needed. Suggestions on how to develop and provide training are discussed. This research was funded by CSCMP

SCM?

Supply chain management remains a young field, one that has struggled to define itself in the most literal sense. This research looks at some of the most available definitions of supply chain management, analyzes their content, and explains the essence of the definitional problem. It does not attempt to define supply chain management--that would be a bit like driving onto a crowded road while complaining about the traffic--but it does attempt to lay out the path or paths that need to be followed to arrive at a consensus definition

Your community gets a B-: analysis of the specific and curious realm of airport bond rating

Commercial airports are publicly-owned transportation infrastructure, usually funded with bonds. The bond rating decision for these entities thus has important ramifications for bond investors, issuers, airport managers, and even the communities the airports serve, but the rating decision process is not well understood. This paper discusses a simulation of the rating process in two decision environments, including a downgrade. The effect of information framing in an environment of incomplete data is examined using amateur evaluators. Amateur evaluators were utilized to understand how people with limited financial analysis skills would respond when presented with incomplete information and a primed scenario. The results indicate that amateur evaluators were more likely to downgrade a bond grade than a ratings agency, but this effect was moderated for amateur evaluators with more work experience. Implications for airport and supply chain infrastructure are discussed

Is Marketing Science Really Scientific?

Thirty-five years ago, there was a special issue of the Journal of Marketing in Fall, 1983 concerning whether marketing is a science and what role theory plays in a marketing science. In that issue the following articles concerned with the definition of Marketing and its role in business appeared: Shelby Hunt asked the question of whether a general theory of marketing is even possible and what such a theory would be like if such a theory existed. Robert Bartels noted that marketing has been defined as having theory and practice, specialization and generalization, as well as established interests and global expectations over the years. In other words are we primarily practitioners or are we primarily scholars. John Howard notes that marketing provides a guide for strategic and operational planning by focusing on the customer which maximizes shareholder wealth. George D. and Robin Wensley emphasized marketing’s role in creating competitive advantage and associated strategic issues to create a new paradigm for marketing. Other articles were more directly related to the issue of marketing and science: Rohit Deshpande was concerned with marketing scientists being preoccupied with hypothesis testing rather than theory building and recommends using qualitative methods to build theories followed by using quantitative methods to test the validity of those theories. Paul Anderson wondered if marketing should be more scientific by being committed to theory-driven paradigms producing programmatic research to solve significant problems. Finally, Paul Peter and Jerry Olson answer the question ‘Is Science marketing?’ by claiming that science is a special case of marketing. They note that marketing scientists create theories which are like products with channels of distribution, promotion, and prices. Marketing scientists who create these theories have objectives for doing so that fall into three types: noble, curiosity and self-serving. The question here is: Is marketing a science and if so what makes it scientific? In the end of all discussions asking ‘Is marketing a science?’ we must recognize there is no set of criteria for recognizing science from nonscience (Laudan, 1982). However if marketing scientists create useful knowledge, they have answered the question in the marriage of marketing theory and practice. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Autumn) 1983 Laudan, Larry (1965), On the Impossibility of Crucial Falsifying Experiment: Gruntaum on The Cuhemian Argument\u27, Philosophy of Science. 32 (July), 295-9

The Evolving Role and Responsibilities of IS Managers in Logistics

This article provides a description of the evolving role of IS managers, their competencies, job requirements, and training needs. Key findings for developing effective training options and their implications are discussed. The data comes from an original research project funded by the Council of Logistics Management

Factor Market Rivalry, Factor Market Myopia, and Strategic Blind Spots: The Case Of The Truck Driver Labor Market

This article explores the relationships among factor market rivalry, factor market myopia, and strategic blind spots in the context of the labor market for truck drivers. Levitt (1960) developed the concept of market myopia to explain how managers often overlooked key competitors in product markets. Trucking managers might do the same thing in looking at competition for truck drivers. Factor market myopia and strategic blind spots help to explain how this happens, and how it becomes more severe in the context of factor market rivalry. In the trucking industry, factor market myopia and strategic blind spots may mean that managers overlook competition for workers who not only can drive trucks, but can also do many other jobs. We find that the labor market for truck drivers offers important lessons on the practical and theoretical ways in which these ideas interact