Spero C. Peppas

College Courses in Ethics: Do They Really Make a Difference?.

Ethics in business is an issue that has long received considerable attention. As a result of accreditation requirements, many universities have attempted to address this issue by making a course in ethics a part of business programs. This paper examines the values of current college students studying business with regard to professional and business ethics. Attitudes of students who have taken a course in ethics are compared with those who have not.

An examination of media richness theory in product Web site design: an empirical study

Internet2 research will lead to new technologies that will launch the Internet into another wave of unprecedented growth with enhanced interactivity and greater amounts of information delivered via richer communication. As a result, Web‐based retailers must begin to rethink the design of their sites, the amount of information to provide, and the degree of media richness to deliver. Based on a large sample of managers, this study examines media richness theory in the context of simple and complex products. The findings suggest that, overall, Internet users have more positive attitudes and higher levels of satisfaction with regard to rich sites than to lean sites, although the results for simple product sites were inconclusive. The study discusses the impact of the results for both simple and complex products and details the development of a new experimental instrument to measure user attitudes and satisfaction.

Attitudes Towards Product Website Design: A Study of the Effects of Gender

The research of the Internet2 project has resulted in the introduction of new technologies and has set the stage for another round of Internet growth. These technologies will enhance interactivity and allow for the delivery of greater amounts of information through richer communication. With these new options, World Wide Web‐based retailers must now rethink the design of their sites, the amount of information to deliver and the degree of media richness to provide. This article sets forth an overview of the evolution of the Internet, presents relevant media richness theory, gives a review of the literature with regard to gender and the Internet and presents an empirical illustration of the effects of gender on attitudes towards website design. The results suggest that, overall, males have more positive attitudes than females with regard to both rich and lean websites. The study details the development of an experimental instrument for measuring user attitudes and discusses the impact of the results.

Subcultural similarities and differences: an examination of US core values

States that the end of the last century brought dramatic changes in the composition of the workforce and heightened awareness of cultural diversity in the USA. Highlights the need to identify and understand similarities and differences as we move from the “melting pot” concept to ward off the notion of a multicultural society where subcultures exist and function using specific values. Compares attitudes of African Americans and Euro Americans with respect to ten cultural value statements. Discovers significant differences between the two groups.

Business ethics in the European Union: a study of Greek attitudes

Globalization and economic integration have focused attention on the topic of ethics in international management. At a time when the European Union is attempting to harmonize standards in many areas, the issue of ethics within the EU deserves special attention. Given the diversity of the historical and cultural backgrounds of EU citizens, one might expect to find different ethical orientations in different EU countries. In an effort to gain an understanding about ethics in an EU country where little previous research has been conducted, this article is directed toward the attitudes of future Greek professionals. A sample of the current college‐student population in Greece was surveyed regarding professional and business ethics to understand how we might expect individuals from Greece to behave once they have to make the difficult decisions that are necessary in business circumstances.

Crisis management in Belgium: the case of Coca‐Cola

Belgium was still reeling from fears over mad cow disease and from the news that the carcinogen, dioxin, had been introduced inadvertently into animal feed, when yet another health crisis rocked it. This new crisis was precipitated by consumer complaints about an irregular taste and smell in bottled soft drinks and by reports that more than 100 consumers had become ill after noticing an odour on the outside of canned soft drinks. As a result, The Coca‐Cola Company, under instructions from the Belgian Health Ministry, withdrew its trade‐marked products from the Belgian market. The effects of this crisis were felt not only within Europe, but also in countries as far away as Japan and India. Subsequently, the company identified specific production and distribution problems which could have contributed to the health crisis. Pursuant to the Ministry’s order, the company took immediate steps to remedy those problems, and the Ministry’s ban was lifted. In addition, an aggressive marketing campaign was launched in an effort to regain consumer trust, confidence, and market share. Nevertheless, this incident resulted in substantial financial costs to The Coca‐Cola Company and in considerable damage to its global image and reputation.

Attitudes towards business ethics: where East doesn’t meet West

In culturally homogeneous groups there is a greater likelihood that values, including ethics values, of individual group members will coincide. Due to globalisation, changing demographics, and a desire for increased diversity, corporate cultures are becoming less homogeneous, thus increasing the likelihood that individuals working side by side to maximise shareholder value will not see eye to eye when it comes to business ethics. Given that many international students who earn US graduate business degrees find employment with US companies either in the US or abroad, the objective of this study was to examine whether international graduate business students, in particular Asian nationals, an d their US counterparts share similar attitudes with regard to business codes of ethics and ethics values. It was hypothesised that there would be significant differences in the attitudes of US and Asian students. It was believed that if similarities and differences with regard to ethics could be identified, universities and businesses would be better equipped to address ethics in their operations.

Attitudes toward codes of ethics: the effects of corporate misconduct

Recent news of corporate misconduct at Arthur Andersen, Enron, WorldCom, etc., has focused attention on ethics in business. Government, business, educational institutions, as well as professional organisations have had to rethink ways of addressing this issue. This article presents the findings of a study of attitudes toward business codes of ethics. The attitudes of Master’s‐level US business students at two different points in time, before and after recent reports of corporate misconduct, are compared to see what changes had occurred, to see whether these changes were linked to the disclosures of unethical corporate conduct, and to examine whether taking a course in ethics had an effect on attitudes.

Ethical perspectives: are future marketers any different?

The notion of ethics in business continues to receive considerable attention. Many universities and professional organizations have attempted to address the issue of ethics by adding ethics courses to the curriculum and by creating codes of ethics for individuals working in that field. A study of students in Australia has shown that students majoring in marketing are more prone to less-than-ethical behavior than are other students. In an attempt to better understand the attitudes of future marketers in the US, we examine the attitudes of marketing majors interms of an ethical practices code and with respect toa set of ethical value statements. The ethical perspectives of marketing majors are compared to thoseof other business majors. In addition, the effect of taking a course in ethics is examined.

Choosing the right employee: Chinese vs US preferences

Explicit or implicit sets of selection criteria are always used when hiring decisions are made. When employers and job applicants come from similar cultural backgrounds, applicants may better understand what job‐related attributes employers think are important and can develop and stress those qualities. Many studies have attempted to identify important job attributes, but despite recent globalization trends, there is little information comparing the importance of different criteria to individuals from different cultures. For this exploratory study, Chinese and US individuals were surveyed to ascertain their ratings of the importance of 26 job selection attributes. Given the cultural distance between the USA and China, it was hypothesized that significant differences would be found. As China emerges as an important global player with increasing interaction between US and Chinese organizations, the results of this study should help each culture better understand the other and lead to better business relationships between the two countries.