Richard J. George

Teaching Business Ethics: Is There a Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality?

In light of the continued erosion of business ethics in America, the ongoing question is what are the nations business schools doing to prepare ethically responsible future leaders of industry and government? This paper reports the findings of a survey mailed to every program accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The curriculum treatment of business ethics is identified at the undergraduate and the graduate levels in public as well as in private colleges and universities. In addition, the paper presents the status (required versus elective), credits, and enrollment patterns associated with institutions offering a special course whose primary focus is the ethical or moral component of business decisions. Depending on ones perspective, the results range from “encouraging” to “disappointing” and suggest that more can and should be done within the curriculum of American post-secondary higher education.

The challenge of preparing ethically responsible managers: Closing the rhetoric-reality gap

This article begins by questioning the commitment of business, government, and education leaders to the goal of ensuring that our public and private sector organizations are directed by ethically responsible individuals. Noting that while there appears to be genuine concern with the most recent outbreak of ethical failings as well as widespread support for the concept of morally and ethically educated current and future managers, there is less agreement on the most efficient and effective means of realizing this goal. For perspective purposes, recent research findings and opinions of leaders in higher education and business on the issue of ethics and the curriculum are highlighted.This paper challenges business, government, and higher education to disengage the “cheap” talk and to engage in a collaborative effort to develop a required, team-taught, interdisciplinary business ethics course based on philosophical inquiry, organizational theory, and actual business situations. Course goals, content, leadership, and benefits to students, managers, and ethicists are identified and discussed.Perhaps the failure of Americas higher education institutions in preparing ethically responsible future leaders of business and government reflects the inability to “teach” ethics under any format. Could the problem be, however, that the approaches, to date, have not sufficiently incorporated the talents and experiences of line managers in conjunction with the theoretical frameworks of moral philosophers? This relatively simple conceptual approach, though admittedly difficult to successfully implement, is offered as a means of closing the business ethics rhetoricreality gap.

Money, mavens, time, and price search: Modelling the joint creation of utilitarian and hedonic value in grocery shopping

Abstract This research deductively develops a model of both in-store price search and store deal proneness drawing on hedonic and utilitarian value creation. Based on a sample of 535 US grocery shoppers, the model reveals that in-store price search and store deal proneness share many of the same drivers, amongst these, the value of time being the most important. The opportunity cost of time engaged in price search is explained in terms of shoppers’ financial pressures and role construction as price mavens. Price mavenism influences store deal proneness directly due to its capacity to yield the price information required to build and maintain a role identity, and indirectly through its effect on the opportunity cost of time engaged in price search. The primary implication of the research is that the relationship between time, search, and price mavenism may be best explored by viewing price knowledge, the basis for identity maintenance, as a flow rather than a stock.

The Future of Telecommunications Shopping: What are Cousumers Waiting for?

Telecommunication shopping is a concept that has technologically been developed to the point where expanded market introduction is now possible. This research focuses on two different modes of telecommunications shopping for two distinct categories of consumer goods. Measures of attribute importance and beliefs are presented and discussed. The results suggest that significant gaps exist between the availability of innovative retailing systems and consumer acceptance of these same systems.

From store brands to store brandscapes: the emergence of a time and money saving heuristic

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the role of store brands as a time- and money-saving heuristic in the context of an omnipresent store brand hierarchy. Drawing on the work of Tversky and Kahneman (1982), it proposes that the store brand hierarchy is characterised by many of the traits of frequently used heuristics employed by grocery shoppers. Design/methodology/approach – Based on Chaiken’s (1980) model of information processing and Stigler’s (1961) perspective on the economics of information search, the study deductively establishes a model of store brand proneness to reveal the role of store brands as time- and money-saving heuristic. The model is tested on a sample of 535 US households using structural equation modelling and subsequent multigroup analysis based on two subsamples of households experiencing high financial pressure but who differ in terms of time pressure. Findings – The findings provide strong support for store brands as a time- and money-saving heuristic and as a substitute for...

Supermarket Promotional Strategies: What's Hot and What's Not

Food retailing is a highly competitive industry characterized by extensive use of a variety of promotional activities designed to realize profit, volume or patronage-related objectives. This research examines consumer perceptions of the relative importance of various promotions which super-marketers have historically employed. The study shows that consumers do discriminate among different promotional techniques, and further that chain executives’ forecasts of the use of promotions may be at variance with the relative importance attached by consumers. The study also indicated the existence of relationships between importance ratings and various consumer descriptors. Results emphasize the importance of considering consumer perceptions in the establishment of promotional objectives, the planning of promotional strategies, and the use of individual promotional vehicles.

Alternative Retailer Couponing Strategies: Consumer Reactions and Marketing Implication

Couponing, traditionally a promotional tool used by manufacturers to generate trial, brand continuity and brand switching, has been seized by supermarket retailers as a vehicle for building store loyalty, patronage, and traffic. This research focuses on the interaction of alternative retailer couponing strategies with selected key variables such as shopper awareness, preference, intention, and behavior. The results suggest that significant gaps exist between the supermarket retailer’s perception of the benefits associated with such strategies and the actual effects observed. In essence, the researchers question the appropriateness of double and triple couponing options by retailers given the primary supermarket objective of building store loyalty.