Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scores for 47 countries reported by Transparency International were used to ascertain determinants of bribe taking in international business. Two sets of independent variables – economic and cultural – were used in a multiple regression analysis. Results indicate that bribe taking was more likely to be prevalent in countries with low per capita income and lower disparities in income distribution. Cultural factors such as high power distance and high masculinity in a country were also likely to (...) be associated with high level of bribe taking. Both economic and cultural factors were important explanatory factors of bribery. Implications of the findings for combating bribery are discussed. (shrink)

Ethics in research can be broadly divided into two epistemic dimensions. One dimension focuses on bureaucratic procedures (i.e., procedural ethics), while the other focuses on contextually and culturally contested practice of ethics in research (i.e., ethics in practice). Researchers experience both dimensions distinctly in their qualitative research. The review of ethics in prospective research through bureaucratic procedures aims to measure compliance with documented requirements relating to research participants, data management, consent, and ensure researchers can demonstrate their ethical competence before they (...) commence their research. However, researchers often experience unanticipated ethical issues within the context of their research; sometimes ethics-related situations, including language sensitivity, cultural humility, and data processing experienced by researchers can be very different from what was included in bureaucratic procedures. In this study, phenomena related to research ethics in practice, as experienced by social scientists (n = 5) in their qualitative research, are hermeneutically explored and interpreted. The selected phenomena represent the researchers’ lived experiences regarding the practice of participant autonomy, specifically exploring participants’ right to withdraw from research. These phenomena are interpreted from the theoretical perspectives of situational relativism and self-determined autonomy. The interpreted phenomena reveal the current practices in ethical management of data collected from participants before their decision to withdraw from research (i.e., withdrawal data), are predominantly focused on tangible forms of data (i.e., the information that can easily be distinguished from other data), but ethical concerns associated with intangible forms of data are often neglected. The intangible forms of data are experiential knowing and understanding that include, feeling, emotion, courage, respect, celebration, anger, and the sense of being and belonging. The study recommends that researchers and research professionals should exercise ethical sensitivity and humility towards intangible forms of data collected during qualitative research when participants withdraw their consent. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to explore an integrative approach to academic ethics research. Academic ethics is known as professional commitment towards ethical decision-making in education, research, and innovation. It has been practised in multiple forms, including academic integrity and research ethics within a larger educational and research landscape. Despite having several intertwining and overlapping features and principles of practice, higher education institutions all over the world have considered academic integrity and research ethics as two distinct subjects of practice. (...) Although the developmental history, guiding values, and principle-based practices of both academic integrity and research ethics have led us to separate theoretical and methodological understandings, the concurrently emerging threats towards ethical integrity in education, research, and innovation require an integrative approach to academic ethics. In this conceptual paper, I propose an integrative approach to academic ethics research based on the theoretical concepts/constructs and methodological practices of both academic integrity and research ethics in higher education. The integrative approach frames an Integrity Resolution, a positionality framework for academic ethics researchers. It aims to assist researchers and research practitioners of academic ethics to be aware of their own positioning while investigating ethical decision-making practices and misconduct in education and research. (shrink)

Various advocacy groups and primarily domestic-focused firms in developed countries have been pushing governments to include a "social clause" in trade treaties with less developed countries. Such a clause is designed to link trading access to markets in developed countries with improvements in working conditions in poor nations. The implications of such a clause for internationally-focused firms and how managers can effectively deal with human rights issues in their foreign operations are examined. Various constituencies in this debate are identified and (...) an integrated response system on the part of firms is presented. It is suggested that the best policy for firms to adopt would be to acknowledge the relevance of the social clause in today's global economy and work closely with the various advocacy groups to ensure continuing public support while avoiding overly restrictive clauses in international trading agreements. (shrink)

As leadership is a key component in meeting the challenges of educational institutes, this study was designed to examine the challenges faced by the female leaders of the management institutes of Pune City, India. Data was collected using qualitative methods which included in-depth interviews with ten women directors. Analysis of the recorded data proceeded by means of a line by line microanalysis of the interviews, with the following five major themes emerging: (a) choosing teaching as a career, (b) shift towards (...) leadership, (c) impact of internal and external pressures, (d) challenges from the male dominated society, and (e) balancing personal and professional life. The findings of this study point to the need for further research into the challenges with which female leaders are confronted in the educational industry, as well as for comparative studies with men in similar positions, and for the findings of such research to be utilised by educational policy makers to facilitate effective leadership by providing the necessary support structures. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology , September 2008, Volume 8, Edition 2. (shrink)

Over the last several years, regular evaluation of development programs has become essential in measuring and understanding their true impact. Feminist and gender-sensitive evaluations have gradually emerged, drawing attention to existing inequities--gender, caste, class, location, and more--and the cumulative effect of these biases on daily life. Such evaluations are also deeply political; they explicitly acknowledge that gender-based inequalities exist, show how they remain embedded in society, and articulate ways to address them. Based on four years of research, Voices and Values (...) offers critical insight into how gender, class, and nationality inflect and affect sociological research. It examines how feminist evaluations could make an effective contribution to new policy formulations oriented to gender and social equity. The essays here focus centrally on the structural roots of inequity: giving weight to all perspectives; adding value to marginalized groups and people under evaluation; and taking forward the findings of evaluation into advocacy for change. In doing so, each essay advances the understanding of feminist evaluation both conceptually and as practice. (shrink)

This study examines attitudes toward bribery in international business and whether such attitudes differ between men and women. Results of surveys of adults studying for careers in international business indicate ambivalent and nuanced attitudes over bribe giving/taking with significant differences by sex with respect to specific hypothetical situations, suggesting a gender gap on matters of bribery. It is recommended that academic curriculum and management development programs stress ethics and legality and focus on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar antibribery (...) laws so that aspiring managers are properly trained to recognize and manage the challenges prevalent in conducting business internationally. (shrink)

The Valdez Principles have been formulated to guide and evaluate corporate conduct towards the environment. While at first glance the code appears to impose enormous new responsibilities on firms, a closer analysis indicates that existing regulations and business practices already require businesses to meet many of the environmental goals sought by its proponents. Likely corporate response to the code is examined against this background and with reference to the experience with other voluntary codes of conduct. It would appear that compliance (...) with the code will yield minimal benefits and non-compliance will impose minimum costs for the environmentally-responsible firm. (shrink)

Various advocacy groups and primarily domestic-focused firms in developed countries have been pushing governments to include a "social clause" in trade treaties with less developed countries. Such a clause is designed to link trading access to markets in developed countries with improvements in working conditions in poor nations. The implications of such a clause for internationally-focused firms and how managers can effectively deal with human rights issues in their foreign operations are examined. Various constituencies in this debate are identified and (...) an integrated response system on the part of firms is presented. It is suggested that the best policy for firms to adopt would be to acknowledge the relevance of the social clause in today''s global economy and work closely with the various advocacy groups to ensure continuing public support while avoiding overly restrictive clauses in international trading agreements. (shrink)

Image segmentation in land cover regions which are overlapping in satellite imagery, is one crucial challenge. To detect true belonging of one pixel becomes a challenging problem while classifying mixed pixels in overlapping regions. In current work, we propose one new approach for image segmentation using a hybrid algorithm of K-Means and Cellular Automata algorithms. This newly implemented unsupervised model can detect cluster groups using hybrid 2-Dimensional Cellular-Automata model based on K-Means segmentation approach. This approach detects different land use land (...) cover areas in satellite imagery by existing K-Means algorithm. Since it is a discrete dynamical system, cellular automaton realizes uniform interconnecting cells containing states. In the second stage of current model, we experiment with a 2-dimensional cellular automata to rank allocations of pixels among different land-cover regions. The method is experimented on the watershed area of Ajoy river (India) and Salinas (California) data set with true class labels using two internal and four external validity indices. The segmented areas are then compared with existing FCM, DBSCAN and K-Means methods and verified with the ground truth. The statistical analysis results also show the superiority of the new method. (shrink)