bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Respect for Workers in Global Supply Chains: Advancing the Debate Over Sweatshops
Authors: Arnold Denis G. , Bowie Norman E. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:In “Sweatshops and Respect for Persons” we argued on Kantian grounds that managers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have the following duties: to adhere to local labor laws, to refrain from coercion, to meet minimum health and safety standards, and to pay workers a living wage. In their commentary on our paper Sollars and Englander challenge some of our conclusions. We argue here that several of their criticisms are based on an inaccurate reading of our paper, and that none of the remaining criticisms successfully challenge our main arguments. By highlighting the shortcomings of their arguments we hope to advance discussion of the ethical treatment of workers in global supply chains.
Bringing it All Back Home
Authors: Whalley Peter 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:Not so long ago I interviewed a computer engineer in her home. Surrounded with toys and a napping baby—the interview time had been chosen carefully—she talked about how she worked as an independent contractor for a large electronics company. Connected by high-speed broadband, two telephone lines, and a cell phone, she felt fully integrated into the work, exchanging electronic files with her colleagues and having telephone conversations with customers two continents and umpteen time zones away. She told me she often worked late after the baby was in bed and during the baby's afternoon nap before she went to pick her older child up from school. Despite these odd working times, however, she was convinced that none of the company's customers and only some of her work colleagues knew that she worked at home. She was very contented with the arrangement.
Discourse Ethics and Social Accountability: The Ethics of SA 8000
Authors: Gilbert Dirk Ulrich , Rasche Andreas 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:Based on theoretical insights of discourse ethics as developed by Jürgen Habermas, we delineate a proposal to further develop the institutionalization of social accounting in multinational corporations (MNCs) by means of “Social Accountability 8000” (SA 8000). First, we discuss the cornerstones of Habermas's discourse ethics and elucidate how and why this concept can provide a theoretical justification of the moral point of view in MNCs. Second, the basic conception, main purpose, and implementation procedure of SA 8000 are presented. Third, we critically examine SA 8000 from a Habermasian perspective, and discuss advantages and drawbacks of the initiative. Fourth, to address the drawbacks, we introduce a “discourse-ethically” extended version of SA 8000. We show that this approach is theoretically well-founded and able to overcome some of the current deficits of the certification initiative. We demonstrate that the extended version of SA 8000 can be successfully applied on a cross-cultural basis, and that our findings have significant implications for other international ethics initiatives.
The Cringing and the Craven: Freedom of Expression in, Around, and Beyond the Workplace
Authors: Barry Bruce 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:Work is a place where many adults devote significant portions of their waking lives, but it is also a place where civil liberties, including freedom of speech, are significantly constrained. I examine the regulation and control of expressive activity in and around the workplace from legal, managerial, and ethical perspectives. The focus of this article is onworkplace freedom of expression:the ability to engage in acts of expression at or away from the workplace, on subjects related or unrelated to the workplace, free from the threat of discipline or discharge. I present a taxonomy of workplace-relevant acts of expression, describe the present legal status of workplace expression, review and integrate theoretical perspectives on free speech, drawn mainly from legal theory and philosophy, and critically assess the state of freedom of expression in the workplace, arguing that it is excessively and unnecessarily limited in both law and management practice.
Business Ethics and the Brain:Rommel Salvador and Robert G. Folger
Authors: Salvador Rommel , Folger Robert G. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:Neuroethics, the study of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying ethical decision-making, is a growing field of study. In this review, we identify and discuss four themes emerging from neuroethics research. First, ethical decision-making appears to be distinct from other types of decision-making processes. Second, ethical decision-making entails more than just conscious reasoning. Third, emotion plays a critical role in ethical decision-making, at least under certain circumstances. Lastly, normative approaches to morality have distinct, underlying neural mechanisms. On the basis of these themes, we draw implications for research in business ethics and the practice of ethics training.
Organizational Change, Normative Control Deinstitutionalization, and Corruption
Authors: Martin Kelly D. , Johnson Jean L. , Cullen John B. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:Despite widespread attention to corruption and organizational change in the literature, to our knowledge, no research has attempted to understand the linkages between these two powerful organizational phenomena. Accordingly, we draw on major theories in ethics, sociology, and management to develop a theoretical framework for understanding how organizational change can sometimes generate corruption. We extend anomie theory and ethical climate theory to articulate the deinstitutionalization of the normative control system and argue that, through this deinstitutionalization, organizations have the potential to become incubators for corruption. We qualify this process by proposing conditions more ripe for anomie and under which this deinstitutionalization is more likely to occur, propounding moderating relationships that influence organizational reconfiguration. Examples of turbulence in the contemporary business environment that can trigger change highlight our discussion. We conclude with managerial implications, offering means by which the deleterious effects of corruption may be arrested or controlled.
Leaving a Legacy: Intergenerational Allocations of Benefits and Burdens
Authors: Wade-Benzoni Kimberly A. , Sondak Harris , Galinsky Adam D. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractIn six experiments, we investigated the role of resource valence in intergenerational attitudes and allocations. We found that, compared to benefits, allocating burdens intergenerationally increased concern with one’s legacy, heightened ethical concerns, intensified moral emotions (e.g., guilt, shame), and led to feelings of greater responsibility for and affinity with future generations. We argue that, because of greater concern with legacies and the associated moral implications of one’s decisions, allocating burdens leads to greater intergenerational generosity as compared to benefits. Our data provide support for this effect across a range of contexts. Our results also indicate that the differential effect of benefits versus burdens in intergenerational contexts depends on the presence of two important structural characteristics that help enact concerns about legacies, including (1) future impact of decisions, and (2) a self-other tradeoff. Overall, our findings highlight how considering resource valence brings to the fore a number of key psychological characteristics of intergenerational decisions—especially as they relate to legacies and ethics.
How Personality and Moral Identity Relate to Individuals’ Ethical Ideology
Authors: McFerran Brent , Aquino Karl , Duffy Michelle 
Published: July 2012

AbstractTwo studies tested the relationship between three facets of personality—conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience—as well as moral identity, on individuals’ ethical ideology. Study 1 showed that moral personality and the centrality of moral identity to the self were associated with a more principled (versus expedient) ethical ideology in a sample of female speech therapists. Study 2 replicated these findings in a sample of male and female college students, and showed that ideology mediated the relationship between personality, moral identity, and two organizationally relevant outcomes: organizational citizenship behavior and the propensity to morally disengage. Implications for business ethics are discussed.
An Instrumental Account of Deception and Reactions to Deceit in Bargaining
Authors: Koning Lukas , Dijk Eric van , Beest Ilja van , Steinel Wolfgang 
Published: July 2012

AbstractIn the current paper we present an instrumental approach to deception. This approach incorporates the notion that bargainers (a) will use deception as a means to reach their goals in bargaining but (b) will refrain from using deception when they have alternative means to reach their goals. We demonstrate that different goals can lead to differences in the use of deception (Experiment 1). Furthermore, we demonstrate that reactions to deceit can also be understood from an instrumental perspective (Experiment 2).
The Price of Equality: Suboptimal Resource Allocations across Social Categories
Authors: Garcia Stephen M. , Bazerman Max H. , Kopelman Shirli , Tor Avishalom , Miller Dale T. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThis paper explores the influence of social categories on the perceived trade-off between a relatively bad but equal distribution of resources between two parties and a profit maximizing yet unequal one. Studies 1 and 2 showed that people prefer to maximize profits when interacting within their social category, but chose not to maximize individual and joint profits when interacting across social categories. Study 3 demonstrated that outside observers, who were not members of the focal social categories, also were less likely to maximize profits when resources were distributed across social category lines. Study 4 showed that the transaction utility of maximizing profits required greater compensation when resources were distributed across, in contrast to within social categories. We discuss the ethical implications of these decision making biases in the context of organizations.
Recent Work in Ethical Theory and Its Implications for Business Ethics
Authors: Arnold Denis G. , Audi Robert , Zwolinski Matt 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:We review recent developments in ethical pluralism, ethical particularism, Kantian intuitionism, rights theory, and climate change ethics, and show the relevance of these developments in ethical theory to contemporary business ethics. This paper explains why pluralists think that ethical decisions should be guided by multiple standards and why particularists emphasize the crucial role of context in determining sound moral judgments. We explain why Kantian intuitionism emphasizes the discerning power of intuitive reason and seek to integrate that with the comprehensiveness of Kant’s moral framework. And we show how human rights can be grounded in human agency, and explain the connections between human rights and climate change.
Principles and Practices for Corporate Responsibility
Authors: Werhane Patricia H. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:The first issue of Business Ethics Quarterly was launched in 1991. At that time there were few general principles that could serve as guidelines for global business. However, since 1991 a plethora of such principles have been developed to serve as guidelines and evaluative mechanisms for global corporate responsibilities. But operationalizing these principles in practice has been a challenge for most transnational corporations and even for smaller, more local enterprises. This is because, in some cases, the principles ask too much of companies. In other cases, the principles are ambiguous. And in still other cases, the principles, written by and large from a Western, rights-based perspective, cannot be operationalized in some cultural or religious settings. In this paper I will outline a series of dilemmas multinational enterprises face in the global market place, even when they sincerely sign on to one or another set of principles. These problems are not insurmountable, but in the imperfect world of commerce, require that our expectations of corporate responsibilities be satisficing rather than absolutist.
Institutional Logics in the Study of Organizations: The Social Construction of the Relationship between Corporate Social and Financial Performance
Authors: Orlitzky Marc 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:This study examines whether the empirical evidence on the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP) differs depending on the publication outlet in which that evidence appears. This moderator meta-analysis, based on a total sample size of 33,878 observations, suggests that published CSP-CFP findings have been shaped by differences in institutional logics in different subdisciplines of organization studies. In economics, finance, and accounting journals, the average correlations were only about half the magnitude of the findings published in Social Issues in Management, Business Ethics, or Business and Society journals (mean corrected correlation coefficientof .22 vs. .49, respectively). Specifically, economists did not find null or negative CSP-CFP correlations, and average findings published in general management outlets (= .41) were closer to Social Issues in Management, Business Ethics, and Business and Society results than to findings reported in economics, finance, and accounting journals.
Strategic Culture and Environmental Dimensions as Determinants of Anomie in Publicly-Traded and Privately-Held Firms
Authors: Johnson Jean L. , Martin Kelly D. , Saini Amit 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:Anomie is a condition in which normative guidelines for governing conduct are absent. Using survey data from a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms, we explore the impact of internal (cultural) and external (environmental) determinants of organizational anomie. We suggest that four internal organizational factors can generate or suppress organizational anomie, including strategic aggressiveness, long-term orientation, competitor orientation, and strategic flexibility. Similarly, we argue that external contextual factors, including competitive intensity and technological turbulence, can influence organizational anomie. We extend anomie and ethics research by considering the impact of these firm cultural and environmental factors according to whether firms are publicly-traded or privately-held. Findings demonstrate that a number of firm cultural and environmental factors can generate or reduce anomie in firms. Moreover, strategic aggressiveness, long-term orientation, and strategic flexibility influence organizational anomie differently depending on whether the firm is publicly-traded or privately-held. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.
High‐Affinity Choline Uptake (HACU) and Choline Acetyltransferase (ChAT) Activity in Neuronal Cultures for Mechanistic and Drug Discovery Studies
Authors: Ray Balmiki , Bailey Jason A. , Simon Jay R. , Lahiri Debomoy K. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractAcetylcholine (ACh) is the neurotransmitter used by cholinergic neurons at the neuromuscular junction, in parasympathetic peripheral nerve terminals, and in important memory‐related circuits in the brain, and takes part in other critical functions. ACh is synthesized from choline and acetyl coenzyme A by the enzyme choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). The formation of ACh in cholinergic nerve terminals requires the transport of choline into cells from the extracellular space and the activity of ChAT. High‐affinity choline uptake (HACU) represents the majority of choline uptake into the nerve terminal and is the acutely regulated, rate‐limiting step in ACh synthesis. HACU can be differentiated from nonspecific choline uptake by inhibition of the choline transporter with hemicholinium. Several methods have been described previously to measure HACU and ChAT activity simultaneously in synaptosomes, but a well‐documented protocol for cultured cells is lacking. We describe a procedure for simultaneous measurement of HACU and ChAT in cultured cells by simple radionuclide‐based techniques. Using this procedure, we have quantitatively determined HACU and ChAT activity in cholinergically differentiated human neuroblastoma (SK‐N‐SH) cells. These simple methods can be used for neurochemical and drug discovery studies relevant to several disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, myasthenia gravis, and cardiovascular disease. Curr. Protoc. Neurosci. 60:7.23.1‐7.23.16. © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Analysis of Nonsense‐Mediated mRNA Decay in Mammalian Cells
Authors: Nicholson Pamela , Joncourt Raphael , Mühlemann Oliver 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway acts to selectively identify and degrade mRNAs that contain a premature translation termination codon (PTC), and hence reduce the accumulation of potentially toxic truncated proteins. NMD is one of the best studied mRNA quality‐control mechanisms in eukaryotes, and it has become clear during recent years that many physiological mRNAs are also NMD substrates, signifying a role for NMD beyond mRNA quality control as a translation‐dependent post‐transcriptional regulator of gene expression. Despite a great deal of scientific research for over twenty years, the process of NMD is far from being fully understood with regard to its physiological relevance to the cell, the molecular mechanisms that underpin this pathway, all of the factors that are involved, and the exact cellular locations of NMD. This unit details some of the fundamental RNA based approaches taken to examine aspects of NMD, such as creating PTC+ reporter genes, knocking down key NMD factors via RNAi, elucidating the important functions of NMD factors by complementation assays or Tethered Function Assays, and measuring RNA levels by reverse‐transcription quantitative PCR. Curr. Protoc. Cell Biol. 55:27.4.1‐27.4.61. © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Transition Metal Oxide Work Functions: The Influence of Cation Oxidation State and Oxygen Vacancies
Authors: Greiner Mark T. , Chai Lily , Helander Michael G. , Tang Wing‐Man , Lu Zheng‐Hong 
Published: June 2012

AbstractTransition metal oxides are capable of a wide range of work functions. This quality allows them to be used in many applications that involve charge transfer with adsorbed molecules, for example as heterogeneous catalysts, as charge‐injection layers in organic electronics, and as electrodes in fuel cells. Chemical and structural factors can alter transition‐metal oxide work functions, often making their work functions difficult to control. Little is known about the effects of the cation oxidation state and point defects on the oxide work function. It is necessary to understand how such chemical and structural factors affect work functions in order to controllably tune transition metal oxides for desired applications. Here, a correlation between the oxide work function and cation oxidation state is demonstrated. This correlation is attributed to the change in cation electronegativity with oxidation state. A model is presented that relates the work function to the oxygen deficiency for d0 oxides in the limit of dilute oxygen vacancies. It is proposed that the rapid initial decrease in work function, observed for d0 oxides, is caused by an increase in the density of donor‐like defect states. It is also shown that oxides tend to have decreased work functions near a metal/metal‐oxide interface as a consequence of the relationship between defects and work function. These insights provide guidelines for tuning transition metal oxide work functions.
Photocatalytic Composites of Silicone Nanofilaments and TiO2 Nanoparticles
Authors: Meseck Georg R. , Kontic Roman , Patzke Greta R. , Seeger Stefan 
Published: June 2012

AbstractNanoscale TiO2 photocatalysts are key materials for convenient wastewater treatment and other essential cleaning processes. Immobilization of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) is thus indispensable for the facile handling and separation of nanocatalysts as well as for minimizing their potential health and environmental hazards. Silicone nanofilaments are introduced as a new flexible carrier type for titania NPs because they are compatible with a wide range of substrates and they display high chemical stability. TiO2‐NPs are deposited on glass slides covered with thin carpets of silicone nanofilaments in a single reaction step starting from TiF4 and optimized ethanol/water ratios. The resulting composites are characterized using a wide range of electron microscopy and other analytical techniques, and their photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) is superior to immobilized TiO2 references on plain substrates.
Ultrathin Mesoporous NiCo2O4 Nanosheets Supported on Ni Foam as Advanced Electrodes for Supercapacitors
Authors: Yuan Changzhou , Li Jiaoyang , Hou Linrui , Zhang Xiaogang , Shen Laifa , Lou Xiong Wen (David) 
Published: June 2012

AbstractA facile two‐step method is developed for large‐scale growth of ultrathin mesoporous nickel cobaltite (NiCo2O4) nanosheets on conductive nickel foam with robust adhesion as a high‐performance electrode for electrochemical capacitors. The synthesis involves the co‐electrodeposition of a bimetallic (Ni, Co) hydroxide precursor on a Ni foam support and subsequent thermal transformation to spinel mesoporous NiCo2O4. The as‐prepared ultrathin NiCo2O4 nanosheets with the thickness of a few nanometers possess many interparticle mesopores with a size range from 2 to 5 nm. The nickel foam supported ultrathin mesoporous NiCo2O4 nanosheets promise fast electron and ion transport, large electroactive surface area, and excellent structural stability. As a result, superior pseudocapacitive performance is achieved with an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 1450 F g−1, even at a very high current density of 20 A g−1, and excellent cycling performance at high rates, suggesting its promising application as an efficient electrode for electrochemical capacitors.
Facile Synthesis of Manganese‐Oxide‐Containing Mesoporous Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon for Efficient Oxygen Reduction
Authors: Tan Yueming , Xu Chaofa , Chen Guangxu , Fang Xiaoliang , Zheng Nanfeng , Xie Qingji 
Published: June 2012

AbstractDeveloping low‐cost non‐precious metal catalysts for high‐performance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is highly desirable. Here a facile, in situ template synthesis of a MnO‐containing mesoporous nitrogen‐doped carbon (m‐N‐C) nanocomposite and its high electrocatalytic activity for a four‐electron ORR in alkaline solution are reported. The synthesis of the MnO‐m‐N‐C nanocomposite involves one‐pot hydrothermal synthesis of Mn3O4@polyaniline core/shell nanoparticles from a mixture containing aniline, Mn(NO3)2, and KMnO4, followed by heat treatment to produce N‐doped ultrathin graphitic carbon coated MnO hybrids and partial acid leaching of MnO. The as‐prepared MnO‐m‐N‐C composite catalyst exhibits high electrocatalytic activity and dominant four‐electron oxygen reduction pathway in 0.1 M KOH aqueous solution due to the synergetic effect between MnO and m‐N‐C. The pristine MnO shows little electrocatalytic activity and m‐N‐C alone exhibits a dominant two‐electron process for ORR. The MnO‐m‐N‐C composite catalyst also exhibits superior stability and methanol tolerance to a commercial Pt/C catalyst, making the composite a promising cathode catalyst for alkaline methanol fuel cell applications. The synergetic effect between MnO and N‐doped carbon described provides a new route to design advanced catalysts for energy conversion.