John A. Ruhe

Perceptions of Country Corruption: Antecedents and Outcomes

Globalization has increased the need for managers (and future managers) to predict the potential for country corruption. This study examines the relationship between Hofstedes cultural dimensions and how country corruption is perceived. Power distance, individualism and masculinity were found to explain a significant portion of the variance in perceived corruption. A significant portion of countrys risk, trade flow with U.S.A., foreign investment, and per capita income was explained by perceived corruption.

Teaching Ethics in International Business Courses: The Impacts of Religions

Implicit in most comparative ethical studies is the assumption that cultural and religious differences between countries are the major reasons behind the variations in ethical beliefs and business practice across nations. This article examines research on the international ethical issues and the common moral concerns that permeate differing religious and philosophical perspectives—not only Judaism and Christianity, but also Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism with emphasis on the Golden Rule. Many commonalities were found. The authors suggest that students (and practitioners) should understand the basic tenets of the major religions and their implications on international business ethics because of the apparent failure of current philosophical approaches.

Reasons Why College-Educated Women Change Employment

This paper examines selected employee turnover issues using data derived from a survey of graduates from a Midwestern womens college over a ten year period. As hypothesized, organizational commitment was positively related to job commitment, and employee commitment, defined as being composed of organizational and job commitment foci, was positively related to job satisfaction, supervisory support, and organizational career support. In general, the results show women were fairly similar to men in terms of why they change employment or in terms of what companies could have done to retain them.

Ethical Mindsets of Christianity and Confucianism: A Comparative Study

This study investigates the application of an organizational mindset instrument to compare the ethical mindsets between Italy and Taiwan. Results suggest that there are not significant differences, but Italian business is perceived to practice some Machiavellianism that puts results ahead of ethical concerns.

Preparing Women for Careers in International Management.

Abstract This article reports the results of a survey of internationalized companies identified by Business Week magazine as the best companies for women. Certain programs, policies, and practices supportive of women in international management are presented in order of preference by respondents. Recommendations for personal development efforts for women in universities who want international management careers are also presented. Implications for employee selection, training, and retention are discussed, as well as implications for corporations, universities, and individual women.

Putting American Pragmatism to Work in the Classroom

The pragmatic inquiry process used in the Corporantes Pathfinder Notebook (CPN) enables students and others to discern their gifts, find purpose and direction in their lives, and seek a FIT between their values and various corporate cultures before making extensive commitments in their field of studies and their employment. Based on Peirces theory of Pragmatism the CPN fosters investigation, interpretation, and action resulting from reflected narratives written in response to a series of questions in the CPN. The CPN was used successfully as a framework in a Business Ethics course for connecting career decisions to their personal lives. Other pedagogic activities were used such as case studies, role playing, service learning, team projects investigating ethical climates of corporations, as well as Socratic questioning and discussions of moral dilemmas to develop ethical sensitivity and understanding of ethical challenges and decisions. The CPN also has been used successfully by senior executives in over fifty applications.

NEWS Ltd.: Simulations for Trust Development.

Abstract This paper addresses various problems faced by global and intercultural teams. It outlines procedures for two simulations which have been effective both for educating and sensitizing participants to situations requiring collaborative and cooperative behavior and for assisting participants in understanding key elements in cross-cultural team management. The first simulation focuses on a virtual global team situation, with special emphasis placed on developing trust; the second, using the same teams at a later date, on intercultural team negotiations. Various other aspects of international, multidivisional, or domestic organizational functioning may also be experienced by participants depending upon the goals of the facilitator and how the simulations are designed.

Character Development in Business Education: A Comparison of Coeducational and Single-Sex Environments.

This study questions the widely held assumption, particularly in the United States, that coeducation is best. Previous research supports the development of single-sex education for both female and male students. This study examines how the learning climate of the coeducation environment seems to affect the character development of female business students. Female business students from 11 single-sex colleges (secular and religious) perceived more reinforcement in 13 of 21 character traits than female (and male) students in 3 coeducational institutions. Several of these character traits are related to ethical behavior, such as honesty, compassion, and independence, and are sorely needed in the workplace. Improved ethics education may enable women to play a larger role in avoiding future ethical crises.

Representation of Women in International Business Case Studies

Abstract This study updates by 10 years an earlier one addressing the availability of female role models in international management training. The present study found 15.2% of 750 international business case studies showing women in significant roles, versus 2.3% of 388 cases before. Overall, the results generally suggest that case writers in current international textbooks and casebooks portray women in roles reflective of comparable managerial, functional, and professional roles in the corporate world. Case and book authors are encouraged to scrutinize the material they incorporate in revised and new books, as well as the styles in which the cases are presented, to assure the presence of appropriate role models for women.