Bad Business Research Articles

Bad business practices in the language services industry

Abstract The language services industry has enjoyed consistent economic growth over the past 15 years, yet not all participants have reaped its benefits. Individual language professionals have faced persistently low rates of pay, a lack of social benefits, and reduced job security. This predicament has been exacerbated by disruptions brought by technologies such as machine translation and artificial intelligence, and the questionable business practices of language services providers. Existing research primarily focuses on economic and technological aspects, overlooking the experiences of linguists. This article seeks to broaden this area of study by compiling a comprehensive list of the bad business practices that individual practitioners experience. A survey of 682 freelance translators provides the foundation, yielding a catalogue of 17 detrimental practices along with their prevalence rates. The article also outlines proposals for addressing these issues and identifies potential avenues for future research in this domain.

Contributory Fault in International Investment Arbitration

As a general rule, if a state commits a wrongful act, it is under an obligation to make full reparation for the injury caused. Yet, arbitral tribunals have used the doctrine of contributory fault to reduce the amount of damages awarded to the investor for the state’s breach of an investment treaty. This article analyses fifteen arbitration cases in which the respondent argued that the claimant contributed to its injury, either as a result of the investor’s bad business judgment or because the investor’s behaviour provoked the state’s wrongful conduct. The analysis shows that arbitral tribunals supported their decisions to reduce the amount of compensation by as much as 50% with strikingly brief reasoning and instead relied on their wide margin of discretion. The article discusses possible avenues to remedy deficiencies in arbitral practice dealing with contributory fault, both through the reform of investor-state dispute settlement and practical solutions that may be adopted by arbitral tribunals when considering allegations of contributory fault.

Bad Religion and Bad Business: The History of the Canadian Witchcraft Provision

AbstractWitchcraft is a fascinating subject on which many volumes continue to be published. But not in Canada. This article stands in contrast to earlier Canadian pieces on witchcraft whose primary goals were to prove that the witchcraft provision marginalized women and to encourage legislators to repeal it. Parliament finally repealed the Canadian witchcraft prohibition in 2018. The moment is thus ripe to ask how—and why—this legislative oddity migrated from England into Canada. The first section of the paper considers the religious origins of the witchcraft prohibition in England and how it made its way into the Canadian Criminal Code. The second section explores how the prohibition evolved from one against unwanted spiritual practices to one against unwanted economic practices. The last section of the paper considers how witchcraft morphed into a viable Charter defence based on freedom of religion and why the prohibition against it was eventually repealed. In conclusion, the article reflects on the peculiar trajectory of witchcraft in Canada and what it might suggest not only about Canadian criminal law, but also about broader Canadian society.

Book Review: Our Least Important Asset: Why the Relentless Focus on Finance and Accounting Is Bad for Business and Employees. By Peter Cappelli

Book Review: <i>Our Least Important Asset: Why the Relentless Focus on Finance and Accounting Is Bad for Business and Employees</i>. By Peter Cappelli

Opinion pieces: On data and models: Is more always better?

With regards to data and model sophistication, the new mantra for financial services and FinTech seems to be ‘the more the better’, supported by attractive business cases in risk underwriting, fraud detection, customer lifetime value management, conditional investment risk/return optimisation and improving customer journeys, to name a few. However, more data and more sophisticated models are not always a universal panacea and may lead to bad business outcomes if not managed appropriately in the context of the desired business outcome. This paper summarises the evolving business cases for increasing data and models in the risk management domain and their associated risks. Making the associated risks transparent naturally leads to the conclusion that a timeless risk mitigation approach — common sense — is critically necessary to complement the more structured model risk management (MRM) framework that is evolving.

Halal Tourism in Islamic Business Ethics Perspective

Halal tourism is a process of integrating Islamic values into all aspects of tourism activities. It is part of a business entity, that good or bad business behavior must be based on Islamic norms and ethics. If it follows norms or ethics, it shows the good action. On the other hand, if it does not follow norms or ethics, of course it show the bad action. This study aims to examine halal tourism from the perspective of Islamic business ethics. This research used a qualitative descriptive approach. The data source was in the form of references related to the topic of study. Data analysis was carried out qualitatively including data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results show that the main task of Islamic business ethics in halal tourism is focused on finding ways to align tourism interests with ethical guidance.

Determinasi Pembiayaan Bermasalah Menggunakan Maqosid Syariah Index (Studi Terhadap BMT Di Kota Tasikmalaya)

Baitul Mall Wa Tamwil (BMT) is a micro-level financial institution that operates as an intermediary for Muslim communities in particular and society in general for business sustainability and welfare. The purpose of this research is to analyze the factors that cause problematic financing at BMT in Tasikmalaya City using the Maqodid Syariah Index (MSI) method. The method used is qualitative with a descriptive concept where researchers go to the field by making observations, interviews involving seven BMT leaders in Tasikmalaya City. The approach method used is the Maqosid Syariah Index (MSI) which measures in terms of Tahzib Al Fardi, Iqamah Al Adalah, Jalb Al Maslahah. The results of this study indicate that BMT has difficulty in meeting its liquidity. There are two factors that cause problematic financing, namely internal factors including negligence of the financing examiner, the existence of a fraud attitude of employees, misappropriation of funds by the management, not using collateral, weaknesses in inspection and others. Meanwhile, external factors are customer defaults, lack of guidance and customer assistance, unwillingness to pay, bad business, fictitious domicile, the covid-19 epidemic which causes congestion in business. Even so, the BMT still considers the need for maqosid Sharia in running its business.

근로기준법상 이른바 임금체불죄의 문제점과 개선방안

For workers, wages are a major source of income for households and an essential element in solving food, clothing, and shelter for future labor. Therefore, if wages are overdue, it directly threatens the livelihood of workers, so eradicating overdue wages is a very urgent task. Under the Labor Standards Act, if an employer delays wage payment, fails to pay full wages, or fails to pay wages within 14 days from the date of death or retirement of a worker, he or she shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won. However, unlike the victim's explicit intention, a prosecution cannot be filed (Anti-intentional punishment clause). It is an abuse of the state's right to punish wages, which is only a civil problem, through criminal sanctions. In addition, criticism is raised that there is a risk of making the criminal law only formal and worthless. However, if wages are overdue, the lives of workers and their dependents who have not been paid will be ruined. In addition, since wage bonds are not only property rights but also survival rights and social rights rights, criminal punishment for overdue wages is necessary in that the state's obligation to protect basic rights is strongly required. However, in the case of non-punishment against will, problems of abuse and side effects are pointed out, and problems are raised that the possibility of low punishment for non-payment of wages and lack of risk due to the level of punishment. First, if thorough judicial processing and appropriate sentencing are guaranteed, the anti-disciplinary system can act as a mechanism to encourage employers to liquidate and consequently contribute to protecting workers' basic rights. Therefore, it is necessary to find a way to exclude the application of bad and habitual delinquent business owners or at least limit the time limit of expressing the intention of non-punishment to before prosecution. Second, since the strengthening of sanctions is not directly related to the resolution of wage arrears and the risk of punishment laws depends on the possibility of punishment and the expected level of punishment, it is necessary to strengthen the level of punishment. However, since the crime of arrears of wages is contrary to the principle of proportionality by punishing even non-malicious arrears of wages, economic sanctions need to be strengthened through fines or fines if they are not malicious or habitual arrears of wages.

ДІЛОВА РЕПУТАЦІЯ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ ЯК ОБОВ’ЯЗКОВА СКЛАДОВА УСПІХУ В ГРАНТОВОМУ КОНКУРСІ

The study states that there is no single standardized definition of business reputation in Ukrainian legislation, but approaches to its interpretation from some laws of Ukraine and the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine are given. The article examines the main requirements of grantees for the business reputation of business representatives in order to receive funding for the development of entrepreneurship, using the example of two grantees: the USAID program "Competitive Economy of Ukraine" in the direction of supporting processing enterprises and the "eRobota" Program in the direction of opening or developing one's own business. The main reasons for the rejection of project proposals during expert selection, which relate to the applicants' business reputation, are demonstrated. It is emphasized that the eligibility criteria for applicants differ in these two programs, but there are also common requirements for business reputation, such as: no tax and credit debt, no ties to the Russian Federation, etc. It is emphasized that it is important for grant-givers to support only those organizations that are not classified as legal entities or individuals, to which special economic and other sanctions are applied, for which bankruptcy proceedings have not been initiated and/or which have not been recognized as bankrupt, and/or which are not at the stage of liquidation; in respect of which there is no court decision, which has entered into force, on bringing to criminal responsibility for a corruption offense. It was emphasized that one of the most common reasons for refusal of grant applicants is a negative business reputation. Generalization and systematization of the eligibility criteria applied to potential applicants in the "eRobota" grant program in the direction of "Own business" has been carried out. Tactical methods of minimizing barriers related to business reputation are proposed, which are divided into 2 groups: preventive and those that should be applied after the applicant receives a refusal of grant funding with the wording "due to bad business reputation". It was concluded that the presence of requirements for the business reputation of applicant organizations in grant programs minimizes the use of grant resources by unscrupulous business representatives.

Emerging trends: Unfair, biased, addictive, dangerous, deadly, and insanely profitable

AbstractThere has been considerable work recently in the natural language community and elsewhere on Responsible AI. Much of this work focuses on fairness and biases (henceforth Risks 1.0), following the 2016 best seller: Weapons of Math Destruction. Two books published in 2022, The Chaos Machine and Like, Comment, Subscribe, raise additional risks to public health/safety/security such as genocide, insurrection, polarized politics, vaccinations (henceforth, Risks 2.0). These books suggest that the use of machine learning to maximize engagement in social media has created a Frankenstein Monster that is exploiting human weaknesses with persuasive technology, the illusory truth effect, Pavlovian conditioning, and Skinner’s intermittent variable reinforcement. Just as we cannot expect tobacco companies to sell fewer cigarettes and prioritize public health ahead of profits, so too, it may be asking too much of companies (and countries) to stop trafficking in misinformation given that it is so effective and so insanely profitable (at least in the short term). Eventually, we believe the current chaos will end, like the lawlessness in Wild West, because chaos is bad for business. As computer scientists, this paper will summarize criticisms from other fields and focus on implications for computer science; we will not attempt to contribute to those other fields. There is quite a bit of work in computer science on these risks, especially on Risks 1.0 (bias and fairness), but more work is needed, especially on Risks 2.0 (addictive, dangerous, and deadly).

There's No Place Like Home(land) in American and Soviet Fantasy Cinema of 1939: The Wizard of Oz and Vasilisa the Beautiful

There's No Place Like Home(land) in American and Soviet Fantasy Cinema of 1939: <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> and <i>Vasilisa the Beautiful</i>

Sources of SMEs Financing and Their Impact on Economic Growth across the European Union: Insights from a Panel Data Study Spanning Sixteen Years

Getting access to sufficient funding is the keystone for the development of any business, but especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These economic entities are crucial players in the global economy since they include almost 90% of companies, provide jobs for nearly 50% of the global workforce, and enhance long-term economic growth. In this context, our study explores important sources concerning the financing of small and medium enterprises and their impact on economic growth during the period 2005–2020 with data from SMEs covering the 28 countries belonging to the European Union. The set of predictors included Strength of legal rights index, Days sales outstanding, Bad debt loss, Interest rate, Bank support, Business angels, Private lenders, and Public support. The set of dependent variables included Cost of loans, Equity fund, GDP growth rate, and Value added growth rate. Our methodological approach was complex, it considered a panel data analysis with a first-difference generalized method of moments estimator and a multiplex time series analysis. The novelty of the study resides in combining the two methods in order to investigate significant drivers of economic growth across the EU. Empirical results showed that economic growth was mainly triggered by predictors such as Interest rate, Business angels, Bank support, and Public support. Moreover, the valuable mathematical insights elicited by the multiplex time series analysis suggested that European economies cooperated intensively through SME activities. Based on our empirical results, national and regional authorities should enact adequate policies to support business endeavors of small and medium enterprises.

ROL DEL ASESOR PARA MEJORAR LA EFICIENCIA REPRODUCTIVA Y EL FLUJO DE CAJA EN LOS SISTEMAS INTENSIVOS DE PRODUCCIÓN LECHERA

The objective of this work was to carry out a review of how reproductive efficiency can be improved in dairies. Dairying in the world is demanding changes to which we have to constantly adapt if we want to remain in the system. The constant variation in the price of a liter of milk paid to the producer and in the cost of inputs that are affected by the demand and the economic policies of each country, have installed in the dairy producer the idea that milk production is a bad business due to the low profitability of the sector with respect to other less demanding agricultural activities such as agriculture. However, when analyzing production costs, there is a very wide variation between farms depending on the efficiency and effectiveness with which each establishment performs. The dairy chain has historically presented a dynamic conditioned by demand (internal and external) that ends up setting prices for the primary producer, thus conditioning the productive and technological path of the sector, giving rise to recurring conflicts of interest between producers and industrialists. The subsidy policies that are applied many times end up solving the specific situation of the producer, complicating the situation of the markets of other countries. The countries with the largest surpluses of milk, such as New Zealand, the United States of America, Germany, France, Australia and Ireland, have to sell a large part of their production to other markets, often complicating the producers of the importing countries, for which they must become increasingly efficient in order to compete with countries that subsidize primary production.

Bad for business: the construction of modern slavery and the reconfiguration of sovereignty

Abstract Although the UN calls on governments to end modern slavery, Walk Free, a private foundation connected to the faith-based abolitionist movement, leads the private-public network to eliminate slavery from transnational supply chains. Examining the network’s governance techniques reveals how scale and governance are reconfiguring sovereignty beyond the territory of the nation state and aligning it with neoliberal governmentality.

The Shoemaker and the Gibson Girl

The Shoemaker and the Gibson Girl

AIRTIGHT MANAGEMENT FOR REAL ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS

AbstractThe author contends that the seemingly well‐meaning phrase ’Fake it till you make it’ can often do more harm than good in the world of organizational leadership, and “is simply bad business advice.” She writes from the unique perspective of someone who is “founder and CEO of my own company and as a strategic public relations advisor to over a thousand executives, venture capitalists, and influencers in the tech industry.” She describes what she terms “airtight management,” in which “you squeeze the daylight out of the places where your values and vision come into contact with strategy, and where your strategies end and their tactical execution begins.” She outlines such areas as Planning, Strategy + Tactics = Execution, The Hocus Pocus of Focus, What’s Missing From This Picture? and The Make It Happen Box. Within planning, she advises to ask questions like “Why are We Doing This?” and “What Does Success Look Like?” For the Make it Happen box, she notes that in searching for a sense of order from our plans, “we tend to equate order with a linear progression and chronology—a beginning, middle, and end. Plans are flat. But a flat plan will only guide a CEO so far.”

Dampak Pandemi Covid 19 Terhadap Sektor UMKM di Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a very significant impact on the domestic economy of nation-states and the existence of SME’s. This research aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the SME’s sector in Indonesia as well as the efforts made by the government in helping SME’S survive in the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The research method used in qualitative descriptive research, data collection techniques using documentation techniques, namely collecting data from various reference source. The results of the research are that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the performance of SME’s in Indonesia, this can be seen from the conditions before Covid-19, the percentage of good/very good business conditions of 92.7 percent and poor/very bad business conditions 1, 0 percent, after covid the bad/very bad business conditions increased by 56.8 percent compared to the original 1.0 percent. So it can be concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a decline in the performance of SME’s

An Interview With Gabrielle Palmer, Campaigner Author and Nutritionist, Who Learned From Women Around the World.

Gabrielle Palmer has written, taught, and campaigned about infant nutrition issues, particularly the unethical marketing of baby foods, since the 1970s. Her seminal book, The Politics of Breastfeeding: When Breasts are Bad for Business, has guided many breastfeeding advocates for over 40 years through three editions and multiple printings. As a breastfeeding counsellor during the 1970s, she helped establish the United Kingdom's advocacy pressure group Baby Milk Action. She worked as a volunteer in Mozambique during the 1980s. During the 1990s she co-directed the International Breastfeeding Practice and Policy course at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, until she went to live for 2 years in China. Over the years, she has worked for various health and development agencies, including serving as HIV and Infant Feeding Officer for the United Nations Children's Fund, New York, and also taught at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She is a mother and a grandmother. (This is a verbatim interview that has been edited for readability: MA = Maryse Arendt; GP = Gabrielle Palmer).

Banks in Midst of Fintech and Neobanks

In the year of 2021more and more challenging. The banking industry facing the urgency of the fundamental reinforecement. No one can predict that the affect of COVID-19 pandemic has already 1 year and the waves affected financial and economy in the country. &#x0D; The banking industry are suffering so much, and the intermediary system is quite slow, especially in the credit granting to banking-customer. The business is practically slowing down and even more, they are on the critical situations, therefore the credit-demand is also slowing down. At the same time, credit quality is becoming worse scenario, due to so many creditor facing bad business situation, and therefore they can not pay the credit installment.&#x0D; On this 2021 situation, the banking industry can not wait preparing the future financial-technology (Fintech), such as developing the infrastructure as well as the products to gain more customer and giving more benefits on digital payment system.

Toward a more complete theory of sustainable supply chain management: the role of media attention

PurposeTo contribute to the development of a more complete theory of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), this study aims to focus on media attention as an under-researched antecedent. Media transmit information about (good or bad) business practices and information recipients often adjust their behavior accordingly. Although media often uncover scandals in supply chains, no systematic understanding explicates how they shape lead firms’ reactions to scandals. This empirical study investigates how media attention to a major supply chain scandal influences buying companies’ SSCM.Design/methodology/approachThe research setting is the fashion industry, five years after the Rana Plaza building collapse. Matched SSCM data from 73 fashion lead firms and news articles collected from major outlets were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression analyzes.FindingsThis study generates nuanced insights into the role of the media in triggering SSCM. Certain facets of media attention (direct media exposure and negative framing) result in higher levels of SSCM, others have no significant effect (media visibility) and some result in less SSCM (positive framing).Research limitations/implicationsThe varying effects of different facets of media attention on SSCM have not been established previously. Both media and supply chain researchers should address these unique effects in their continued assessments.Social implicationsExternal stakeholders can use these findings to devise more effective ways to influence lead firms and improve social and environmental conditions in supply chains.Originality/valueThis study is the first empirical investigation of the effects of various facets of media attention on SSCM.