Kelly C. Strong

THE* Rules of Stakeholder Satisfaction (* Timeliness, Honesty, Empathy)

The results of an exploratory study examining the role of trust in stakeholder satisfaction are reported. Customers, stockholders, and employees of financial institutions were surveyed to identify management behaviors that lead to stakeholder satisfaction. The factors critical to satisfaction across stakeholder groups are the timeliness of communication, the honesty and completeness of the information and the empathy and equity of treatment by management.

Living (not learning) ethics

Much has been written recently about both the urgency and efficacy of teaching business ethics. The results of our survey of AACSB member schools confirm prior reports of similar surveys: The teaching of business ethics is indiscriminate, unorganized, and undisciplined in most North American schools of business. If universities are to be taken seriously in their efforts to create more ethical awareness and better moral decision-making skills among their graduates, they must provide a rigorous and well-developed system in which students can “live ethics” instead of merely learn ethics. A system must be devised to allow students to discover and refine their own values rather than simply learning ethical theories from an intellectual point of view.After reviewing the literature on business ethics in undergraduate curricula, we make a series of recommendations to deliver experiential ethical education for business students. The recommendations include student and faculty written codes of ethics, emphasis on ethical theory within the existing required legal environment course, applied ethics in the functional area capstones using alternative learning, a discussion of employee (and employer) rights and responsibilities during the curriculum capstone course, and a public service requirement for graduation. These recommendations may be implemented without substantive additional cost or programming requirements.

An integrative descriptive model of ethical decision making

This paper presents an integrative, descriptive model of ethical decision making, with special attention given to issues of measurement. After building the model, hypotheses are developed from a portion of it. These hypotheses are tested in an exploratory analysis to determine if further research and testing of this model and the measurement instruments it employs are warranted.

Project Complexity Mapping in Five Dimensions for Complex Transportation Projects

Traditional three-dimensional project management theory is based on optimizing the cost-schedule-technical dimensions. Recent studies in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have shown that the current project management body of knowledge may not be adequate to address interrelated and dependent variables encountered on complex projects. This paper reports the findings of an international research team’s detailed study of 18 complex projects, which confirms the findings of the previous research and proposes a framework upon which a complex transportation project’s scope of work can be better conceptualized and a methodology to graphically display a project’s complexity in order to better understand and prioritize the available resources. The result is a “complexity footprint” that helps the complex transportation project manager identify the sources of complexity so that appropriate resources can be allocated to address those factors before they create a crisis. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000163.

The Myth of the Trusting Culture A Global, Empirical Assessment

Recent studies suggest that trust is culturally determined and that differentials in trust exist globally between cultures. The trusting culture may be an artifact given that there is little empirical support for such a notion. The results of an international survey of 122 business leaders failed to reveal significant differences in trust between cultures.

A critique of Western philosophical ethics: Multidisciplinary alternatives for framing ethical dilemmas

American discourse in business ethics is steeped in the traditional ethical theories of Western philosophies, specifically the Greek classics, Kant, and the British Utilitarians. These theories may be largely uninterpretable or unacceptable to non-Western populations owing to different traditions, religious beliefs, or cultural histories. As economic boundaries collapse and markets become more global in scope, traditional Western ethical thought may lead to clashes among Western organizations and companies from differing cultural settings. Such clashes could lead to alienation of foreign customers, firms and governments and resultant competitive disadvantage, or to an abandonment of ethical considerations altogether in the struggle to compete internationally. This paper puts forward two general alternatives to Western ethical philosophies as useful frameworks for the analysis of international ethical dilemmas. The first alternative uses new organizational economics, while the second emphasizes role relationships and organizational citizenship.

Defining Complex Project Management of Large U.S. Transportation Projects: A Comparative Case Study Analysis

The management of complex transportation projects requires a fundamental change in how they are approached. The traditional methodology for managing cost, schedule, and design, on transportation projects is not adequate for complex projects. A five-dimensional model has been developed adding context and finance, which have previously been regarded merely as external risks. The five-dimensional model has been developed from an extensive literature search pertaining to the management of complex transportation projects and provides a framework for mapping the complexity of projects. The main purpose of this research is to present results found on complex transportation projects that illustrate a new type of management approach for project managers. The information gathered from these case studies can be used to examine similarities to infer common sources of complexity, and mapping of each project facilitates resource allocation decisions based on these commonalities.

Analytical Framework for the Choice of Dispute Resolution Methods in International Construction Projects Based on Risk Factors

International construction projects provide opportunities for developing countries to advance in the global economy and for international construction and design firms to increase their profit and market share. Despite the attractive opportunities that international construction offers, international contractors are faced with many challenges and difficulties when moving into international markets. Many risks are associated with international construction, whether external or project-specific risks. Those risks affect how contract clauses are written, including the dispute resolution clause. This paper discusses the different dispute resolution methods employed in international construction contracts and develops an analytical framework (DRM-Risk matrix) suggesting the use of specific dispute resolution methods depending on the risks expected in the project. The matrix may eventually help international contractors in the selection of the appropriate dispute resolution method during contract formation depe...

An Examination of Integrative Social Contracts Theory: Social Hypernorms and Authentic Community Norms in Corporate Drug Testing Programs

This manuscript discusses the utility of Integrative Social Contracts Theory in describing the social conduct of corporations in the area of drug testing. As a hybrid of classical contractarian theory and descriptive organizational theory, Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT) occupies conceptual space at the intersection of normative and empirical approaches to analysis of business phenomena. Therefore, ISCT does not lend itself well to empirical testing in the positivist tradition. However, the expectations derived from ISCT can be examined through empirical testing and observation to determine if ISCT is useful in describing corporate conduct. This study asks not if ISCT is scientifically correct, but rather is it analytically insightful. The results suggest that ISCT provides a valuable framework for identifying areas of disagreement and convergence on important social and moral issues in business and society. However, the principle of implied consent through failure to exit may not be as strong as originally thought.

A multidimensional model of project leadership

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