Complexity sciences and business ethics : a different perspective

This paper strives to shed some light on organizations\u27 behaviours and practices of business ethics in the marketplace and the surrounding society by the aid of complexity sciences. For this purpose, a conceptual discussion will be based upon the causal frameworks of teleology introduced by Stacey, Griffin and Shaw (2000).<br /

The relevance to international mergers of the ethical perspectives of participants

International mergers are becoming more widespread among medium-sized companies that for decades have held a prime position in their home country market, but who now feel threatened that they may not be of a significant size to continue to be viable in the international marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the merger of one Australian company and one of its former competitors in the international marketplace from the perspective of the congruence between their espoused ethical cultures in business prior to the merger. A questionnaire comprising 46 questions was sent to the public relations manager of each organization prior to the merger. These managers were asked to fill in the questionnaire and to provide a copy of their code of ethics. The research found that organizations need to not only have a code of ethics, but also need to focus especially on the area of code augmentation to ensure that they communicate the ethos of their code to their employees.<br /

The Labour Relations Act and changes to the structure of bargaining

This article discusses the impact of inflationary expectations and outcomes on the 1987-88 wage round, the first under the Labour Relations Act 1987. It argues that any trade-off between moderate wage settlements and the retention of the Mtional award system for at least another year has worked to the advantage of unions because of the sharp fall in inflation since September 1987. Since real wages have in general at least been mainlained under negotiations which basically took place within the national award system, the pressures for major structural changes to the bargaining system are correspondingly less than if real wages had, as expected, declined

Stalking in Alaska

Originally published in the Alaska Justice Forum 24(1): 1, 7–12 (Spring 2007).This study examined 267 cases with a stalking charge reported to Alaska State Troopers from 1994 to 2005, and excluded any cases reported to local or municipal departments. We also examined the legal resolutions for cases that were reported from 1999-2004. * Over 50% of reports occurred in B detachment (Southcentral Alaska) and D detachment (Interior Alaska). Three units (Fairbanks AST Enforcement, Palmer AST Enforcement, and Soldotna AST Enforcement) handled 49% of reports. Thirty-five percent of the charges were for stalking in the first degree and 65% were for stalking in the second degree. * Most suspects (91%) were male and most victims (89%) were female. Most suspects (78%) were White and most victims (86%) were also White. On average, suspects were 36 years old while victims were 33 years old. Twenty percent of suspects had used alcohol, but only 2% of victims had used alcohol. Fifty-four percent of suspects were, or had been, in a romantic relationship with the victim. An additional 35% of suspects were friends or acquaintances of the victim. * The most common forms of stalking included standing outside or visiting the victim's home (in 54% of charges), making unsolicited phone calls to victims (in 51% of charges), following the victim (in 39% of charges), threatening to physically assault the victim (in 36% of charges), harassing the victim's family and friends (in 28% of charges), trying to communicate with the victim in other ways (in 27% of charges), standing outside or visiting the victim's work (in 20% of charges), physically assaulting the victim (in 19% of charges), sending the victim unsolicited mail (in 15% of charges), and vandalizing the victim's home (in 13% of charges). Forty-five percent of behaviors occurred primarily at the victim's home, while 27% occurred primarily in cyberspace. * Seventy-five percent of the cases reported between 1999-2004 were referred for prosecution, 55% were accepted for prosecution, and 40% resulted in a conviction on at least one charge. Cases with suspects who violated protective orders were 20% more likely to be referred for prosecution, were 19% more likely to be accepted, and were 41% more likely to result in a conviction

Descriptive Analysis of Stalking Incidents Reported to Alaska State Troopers: 1994-2005

This project examined the characteristics of stalking incidents reported to the Alaska State Troopers from 1994 to 2005. It included information from 210 reports, 222 charges, 211 suspects, 216 victims, and 246 witnesses. For those stalking incidents reported from 1999 to 2004, the charges, suspects, victims, witnesses, and legal resolutions are documented.National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Grant No. 2005-WG-BX-0011Index of Tables and Figures / Acknowledgments / Executive Summary / Descriptive Analysis of Stalking Incidents / Brief Overview of Stalking / Stalking Legislation in Alaska / Purpose of this Study / Methodology / Report Characteristics / Charge Characteristics / Suspect Characteristics / Victim Characteristics / Witness Characteristics / Legal Resolutions / Stalking Prevalence and Reporting / Appendix A – Data Collection Instrumen

Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assault Incidents Reported to Alaska State Troopers: 2003-2004

This study examines the characteristics of sexual assault and sexual abuse of minor incidents reported to the Alaska State Troopers (AST), providing the first statewide overview of such cases. The sample utilized for the analysis included all sexual assault and sexual abuse of minor incidents reported from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2004 and includes information from 989 reports, 1,903 charges, 1,050 suspects, 1,082 victims, and 771 witnesses. The descriptive analysis documents the characteristics of these reports, suspects, victims, incidents, and witnesses, and examines three legal resolutions: whether cases were referred for prosecution, whether cases were accepted for prosecution, and whether cases resulted in a conviction.National Institute of Justice Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice. Grant No. 2005-WG-BX-0011 Alaska Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Grant No. 2003-WR-BX-0210 and 2004-WF-AX-003Index of Tables and Figures / Acknowledgements / Executive Summary / Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assault Incidents / Brief Overview of the State of Alaska / Brief Overview of Alaska State Troopers / Brief Overview of Sexual Assault / Sexual Assault Legislation in Alaska / PUrpose of this Study / Methodology / Report Characteristics / Suspect Characteristics / Victim Characteristics / Victim-Suspect Characteristics / Incident Characteristics / Witness Characteristics / Legal Resolutions / Appendix A - Additional Tables / Appendix B - Data Collection Instruments / Appendix C - 2004 Alaska Sexual Assault Law

The use of codes of ethics in the marketplace in corporate Australia : a longitudinal study

The stock market crash of 1987 was a defining moment in Australian corporate life. As a nation, we became acutely aware of the &lsquo;moral bankruptcy&rsquo; that had come to permeate our corporate world. The focus on business ethics or the lack of it, in corporate Australia in the late 1980s, prompted this research.The research for this paper that was first conducted in 1995 and replicated in 2001 focussed on the top 500 companies in Australia. These companies were surveyed on a raft of issues, one of which was their use of their codes of ethics in the marketplace. This paper examines the data sets from 1995 and 2001 and concludes that many of Australia&rsquo;s largest enterprises have recognised the need for business ethics. As perceived by them, they can and do use their codes of ethics in a positive manner in the marketplace and attribute benefits to this interaction.<br /

Proactive versus reactive business ethics performance: a conceptual framework of profile analysis and case illustrations

The topic of this paper focuses on proactive versus reactive business ethics performance in the marketplace. The internal perception of a corporation and the external perception of the same corporation are used as generic determinants of business ethics performance. In turn, they are underpinned by evolutionary and contextual issues in the marketplace. The authors provide a generic conceptual framework of proactive and reactive business ethics performance. Case illustrations underpin the positives and negatives of proactive and reactive business ethics in the marketplace. A profile analysis process of proactive and reactive business ethics performance is also outlined. The gap between the internal and external perceptions of a corporation&rsquo;s actions becomes crucial to achieve successful business ethics performance in the marketplace. Therefore, a corporation&rsquo;s current business ethics performance should always be regarded as an on-the-spot-account that is either proactive or reactive. An important insight of this research is that business ethics performance requires the ongoing re-connection with reality by corporations.<br /

Corporate ethics and trust in intra-corporate relationships, an in-depth and longitudinal case description

Theoretically, a contribution of this article is the pinpointed connection between corporate ethics and trust in intra-corporate relationships. Furthermore, it contributes to a conceptual framework that distinguishes between the constructs of business ethics and corporate ethics. The authors also provide a grounded conceptual framework of corporate ethics and trust. The principal dyadic determinants of corporate ethics in intra-corporate relationships are interpreted to be management behaviour versus employee perception of that behaviour. Empirically, the contribution is an in-depth and longitudinal case description that underpins the topic and the discussion provided in the article.<br /

A model of organizational ethics education

Purpose &ndash; This paper aims to propose a model of ethics education for corporate organizations framed as an holistic approach to the problem of how to teach ethics.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; As a conceptual/viewpoint piece, this paper recognizes that for ethics education to be successful, individuals and corporations must have an appreciation of their role in the society at large. In addition, there needs to be preparedness on the part of the corporation to engage in an ethical manner with the marketplace with which it interacts.Findings &ndash; Ethics education should not exist in a vacuum, that is just within the organization, but it should reflect the values of the organization as they impact upon and are impacted upon by society in general.Research/limitations/implications &ndash; This model is predicated on a belief that organizations must craft their ethics education program with as much care and enthusiasm as they craft their strategic plan. The employees are the organization\u27s representatives and they need to be made as clear as one can make them as to the ethical philosophy of the company and what is expected of them. Adults have a capacity for greater reasoning and reflection on their life experiences than children and thus the concept of &ldquo;andragogy&rdquo; provides a more satisfactory method to fashion education programs for adults than some more traditional methods that focus on training and not education.Practical implications &ndash; When considering the ethics education of its employees, corporations need to place that education in context as it relates to the organization and the wider society as a whole. It is suggested that an ethics education program needs to provide a framework for understanding the concepts of ethics and moral development. Using this framework as the basis for the education offered, the education program is then expanded into an examination of a range of ethical issues presented in a variety of ways.Originality/value &ndash; This paper proposes an integrated way to approach ethics education that ensures that the antecedents of the program are considered in the context of the ethics of individuals, the society and in turn the organization, hence the holistic approach.<br /