Joseph G. P. Paolillo

Consumer ethics: The role of religiosity

This article presents the results of a study that investigated the role that religiosity plays in determining consumer attitudes/beliefs regarding various questionable consumer practices. Additionally, other personal factors were examined including idealism, relativism, consumer alienation and selected demographics such as income and age. All of these constructs were examined as antecedents of consumer ethical beliefs. The results of a post hoc analysis indicated that religiosity was a significant determinate of both idealism and relativism, and since idealism and relativism determine consumer ethical beliefs, religiosity is a significant indirect determinate of consumer ethical beliefs.

An Empirical Investigation of the Influence of Selected Personal, Organizational and Moral Intensity Factors on Ethical Decision Making

This exploratory study of ethical decision making by individuals in organizations found moral intensity, as defined by Jones (1991), to significantly influence ethical decision making intentions of managers. Moral intensity explained 37% and 53% of the variance in ethical decision making in two decision-making scenarios. In part, the results of this research support our theoretical understanding of ethical/unethical decision-making and serve as a foundation for future research.

Ethical judgments and intentions: a multinational study of marketing professionals

A multinational study of marketing professionals was conducted in the US, England, Spain and Turkey. Respondents from these countries were compared on various ethics-related constructs such as idealism, relativism, moral intensity and corporate ethical values. Analyses of variance indicated that moral intensity had a signi ?cant impact on both ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. However, corporate ethical values, an idealistic ethical perspective and a relativistic ethical perspective only partially impacted ethical judgments and intentions. Country differences showed that the US was highest in terms of corporate ethical values while being the lowest in terms of relativism and signi?cantly lower than Spain and Turkey in terms of idealism. Turkey was the highest in terms of both idealism and relativism yet lowest in terms of corporate ethical values. Country differences in terms of moral intensity tended to be situation-speci?c. One managerial implication, for ?rms in all four countries, is that a clear set of corporate policies concerning ethics can positively in?uence the behavioral intentions of employees. It is important that employees do not misinterpret the desires of top management where ethical issues are involved.

A comparison of two electronic idea generation techniques

Abstract Much research has compared verbal with electronic brainstorming, but very few studies have investigated the effects of different electronic techniques. Most studies of electronic brainstorming have been based upon the individual poolwriting technique. However, gallery writing may be superior to it in some situations. Here, we report on an experiment involving 88 subjects in nine groups of approximately ten people each. The subjects used both electronic techniques to discuss different problems. Results show that the subjects were more satisfied with gallery writing and preferred it. Although more raw comments were generated using poolwriting, the number of quality comments and the number of unique, quality comments were not significantly different.

Monetary Incentives and Mail Questionnaire Response Rates

Abstract An experiment involving 400 randomly selected professionals from the midwestern United States indicated that the response rate to a mail questionnaire was significantly increased by the use of an enclosed one dollar incentive. Promised incentives of two dollars and entry into a lottery with awards of fifty dollars, thirty dollars, and twenty dollars in return for a completed questionnaire did not significantly change the response rate to the mail questionnaire relative to the no incentive (control) group response rate. The two dollar promised incentive group had a higher response rate than the lottery-type promised incentive group with prizes of fifty, thirty, and twenty dollars.

The Acculturation of Immigrants to U.S. Organizations: The Case of Muslim Employees.

Questionnaires from 277 Muslim immigrants revealed that most were more inclined to retain their original national culture for their private and/or social lives than to adopt the U.S. national culture. In contrast, most accepted U.S. organizational cultures. Collectivism, religious beliefs and practices, gender, education, and years lived in the United States related to acculturation to the U.S. national culture; national acculturation, collectivism, and perceived discrepancy in work cultures related to acculturation to U.S. organizational cultures. The practical implications of these findings for managers are discussed along with recommended directions for future research.

Requisite Skills of Business School Graduates: Perceptions of Senior Corporate Executives

Abstract The list of skills required of graduating business students is continually revised to reflect the changing needs of students, academia, and industry. Curriculum changes intended to provide these skills have typically been made by business school faculty and administration in verbal, nonautomated meetings. This article describes an innovative, more effective and efficient method of determining the skills students need and appropriate curriculum changes. Advisory boards at the University of Georgia and the University of Mississippi used group decision support systems to discuss and rank requisite skills of business students. The findings of the two boards provide insights into the changing needs of industry and implications for academic programs.

A group decision support system for multilingual groups

Abstract Communication in multilingual groups is very difficult. Even if all participants in the group know a common language, it may be a first language for some of the group and a second language for others. Communication in such situations is not equal for all group members. A multilingual Group Decision Support System (GDSS) allows all members to communicate in their native languages, eliminating the groups linguistic problems. This paper describes a prototype multilingual GDSS that provides a high degree of translation accuracy while providing other benefits of Group Decision Support Systems, such as anonymity, parallel communication, and automated recording of the discussion.

Group decision support systems and incentive structures

Many studies have compared the advantages and disadvantages of meetings using Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS), but relatively little research has been conducted on the role of incentives in these meetings. An experiment was conducted with 40 eight-person groups to determine the influence of incentive distribution mode (group or individual) and incentive type (positive or negative) on GDSS outcomes. Results indicate that group performance, including task performance, consensus, process satisfaction, and participation, is higher if there are group-based incentives, and that negative incentives or extinction result in more participation and less satisfaction. No interaction effects were found between incentive distribution mode and incentive type.

Role Profiles for Managers in Different Functional Areas

This study systematically assessed the various roles essential to managers in different functional areas of organizations. A sample of 352 production, sales, and staff managers from both large and small organizations in a variety of industries was asked to rate the various roles required by their positions. The analysis of variance results indicates that 6 of the 10 roles are influenced by functional area. A quadratic discriminant analysis was utilized to identify a role profile for managers in the different functional areas. Implications for management development are discussed.