Business Perceptions Research Articles

Understanding CSR in the Maldivian context

Purpose– The objective of this study is to examine CSR practices in the Maldives.Design/methodology/approach– The perceptions of business and non-business stakeholders were analysed in order to identify CSR practices that are idiosyncratic to the Maldives and to reflect on the relevance of current mainstream CSR agenda for the Maldives. Surveys and in-depth interviews were used to draw the perceptions of a sample of 52 businesses and 36 non-business stakeholders. The study adopts an interpretive methodology to analyse the perceptions and to reflect on extant CSR theories.Findings– The paper suggests mediocre CSR practices of businesses and lukewarm responses from non-business stakeholders in the Maldives. There is a difference between what businesses consider ought to be CSR practices (the normative) and their actual CSR practices. Businesses prefer to keep their CSR practices discreet as publicity may cause increasing demands from local communities for financial and other assistance. CSR practices in the Maldives are also influenced by the local Islamic culture. The meaning of CSR prevalent in the context of more advanced western economies may prove to be superfluous in the context of the Maldives, a small and developing Islamic country struggling to meet the basic needs of its people.Originality/value– This study represents the first research on CSR activities in the Maldives. It contributes to existing literature by challenging the relevance of mainstream CSR practices to a developing economy.

CREATIVITY ENHANCEMENT IN LITHUANIAN FURNITURE MANUFACTURING BUSINESS ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT / KŪRYBIŠKUMO SKATINIMAS LIETUVOS BALDŲ GAMYBOS PRAMONĖS VERSLE ATSIŽVELGIANT Į TARPTAUTINĮ VERSLO VYSTYMĄSI

This article analyzes Lithuanian furniture manufacturing business perceptions towards creativity, and creativityenhancement behavior according to its international development. Firstly article focuses on international business development,substantiate need of creativity for international business development, outline creativity influencing factors which operateat individual, team and organizational levels and recommendations how to enhance creativity in methodical way. Secondly,article describes a problem of empirical research, methodology of used methods and instruments, and presents results of surveyresearch. Analizuojama, kaip Lietuvos baldų gamybos įmonių tarptautinioverslo plėtotė lemia suvokimą apie specialistų kūrybiškumo skatinimoporeikį ir šio pobūdžio veiklą organizacijoje. Analizuojamatarptautinio verslo vystymasis, pagrindžiamas kūrybiškumobūtinumas tarptautiniam verslui plėtoti. Apibendrinami kūrybiškumąlemiantys veiksniai, veikiantys individualiu, komandiniuir organizaciniu lygiu, pateikiama rekomendacijų, kaip metodologiškaiskatinti kūrybiškumą. Be to, darbe aprašoma empiriniotyrimo problema, pasirinkto empirinio tyrimo metodologija,rezultatai, jais remiantis nustatyta vyraujanti pažiūra į specialistųkūrybiškumo skatinimo poreikį ir veiklą Lietuvos baldų gamybosįmonėse, atsižvelgiant į jų tarptautinę verslo plėtrą.

The Perceptions of Small Businesses in the Implementation of Cash Management Techniques

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the perceptions of small business owners on the implementation of cash management techniques in their businesses. This paper also highlights the importance of managing cash inflow and outflow in the business and examines the impact on business profitability and sustainability. The study focused on small businesses in the Tongaat area, South Africa. This research was quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional in nature. The instrument used to extract the relevant data from respondents was a Likert type questionnaire. The findings of this research identified the perceptions of small business cash management techniques. A short course on cash management could be offered by the Durban University of Technology to small business owners and managers to enhance their basic cash management knowledge in the implementation of cash management techniques.

Using Surveys of Business Perceptions as a Guide to Growth-Enhancing Fiscal Reforms

This paper assesses the merits of using business perceptions of growth constraints as a guide to growth-enhancing fiscal policy reforms. Using endogenous growth models in which the government levies an income tax to provide public inputs to the production of private firms, the paper demonstrates that such perceptions of growth constraints may be misleading from a policy perspective. In particular firms can be expected to systematically overestimate the growth-enhancing effects of lower tax rates relative to public services and public capital, and underestimate the growth-enhancing effects of greater provision of public capital relative to taxation and public services. In addition, we show that firms rank different public services and different types of public capital according to the actual costs they impose on firms. It is then shown that these theoretical predictions regarding how firms rank constraints correspond closely to the observed ranking of constraints by firms in the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys.

The Role and Significance of Rates Relief for Supporting Businesses in Wales

This paper reports on a study which seeks to evaluate the role of small business rates relief as a means of government support for small businesses, in terms of both the financial benefit for recipient businesses and the symbolic significance of rates relief as a form of state support for the small business community in general. In doing so, the paper engages with the theoretical debate regarding the effectiveness and targeting of support to small businesses and how best to achieve this. The paper is based upon a survey of 391 small businesses receiving rates relief in Wales. The study contributes to the literature by filling a gap in our knowledge of business perception of the impact of rates relief and identifying some of the positive and negative aspects of such support mechanisms.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Why It Fails to Deter Bribery as a Global Market Entry Strategy

Recent studies (Cragg and Woof, Bus Soc Rev 107(1):98–144, 2002; Weismann, J Bus Ethics 88:615–66, 2009) revealed that in the first 28 years of its existence, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was not enforced by the federal government. The Weismann study further concluded that the FCPA, designed by Congress as a self-regulatory model of corporate governance, failed to achieve the regulatory goal of deterring global bribery by U.S. companies. The current article addresses the reasons that the FCPA remains an ineffective measure to control bribery as a global market entry strategy despite the highly publicized 2006 Department of Justice initiative to increase prosecutions and tighten enforcement efforts. The failure arises out of both the increased use of informal dispositions of case prosecutions, (including non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements), which has made “getting caught” merely an increased “cost of doing business” and the failure to close the regulatory gaps in the statute that permit violators to slip through the enforcement net. The article updates and compiles the case prosecution data for every reported case prosecuted between 1977 and 2011. That data are then compared to the results of a 2010 integrity risk survey performed by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and Forbes which reveal a widely held global business perception that compliance and integrity risks appear to be rising sharply and that the FCPA is ineffective in deterring bribery and corruption in foreign markets. The article aims to serve as a predictive tool for policy makers and business professionals in assessing risk in the global markets, particularly as commerce intensifies in the BRIC countries, notable for bribery and corruption.

Peace is Better Business, and Business Makes Better Peace: The Role of the Private Sector in Colombian Peace Processes

The involvement of business in peace negotiations and peacebuilding has become a standard concern for countries involved in transitions from armed conflict. This article sheds light on the recent history of the private sector’s role in peace processes in Colombia – a country that has been engulfed by conflict for almost five decades. The present paper illustrates how business perceptions and behavior have evolved throughout various attempts at negotiating peace, revealing that both the perceived costs of conflict and the expected benefits of peace play a part in promoting business pro-peace activism. A focus on business preferences is important for scholarly and public policy purposes. In light of dwindling international cooperation resources, it is likely that the Colombian state and society (mainly wealthy taxpayers and the business community) will bear the brunt of Colombia’s peacebuilding costs. Understanding when, how, and why crucial allies (and potential foes) of peace processes become mobilized is therefore crucial for analyzing the prospects of durable peace in the country.

K Business Perceptions of Sustainability: A Psychological Examination of Theory and Practice

The increasing levels of sustainability rhetoric emanating from the UK government and business organisations appear to indicate that the sustainability paradigm has been embraced by UK Business. The degree of this acceptance is examined through the analysis of the annual Britain’s Most Admired Companies (BMAC) survey conducted by the British Chartered Management Institute (CMI) between the periods 1994-2011 involving on average two hundred and thirty eight companies per survey. The analysis demonstrates that on every occasion the corporate social and environmental category has ranked last amongst corporate managements’ perceptions. These perceptions are evaluated through applying the lens of psychological sustainability and through the education and knowledge of corporate management where traditional financial and management paradigms still dominate. An exception to this status quo is the Co-Op Bank which has dominant sustainability credentials but which has been consistently ranked lower in the overall survey.

THE IMAGE OF MODERN BUSINESS IN THE EYES OF STUDENTS

In this article the author analyzes the image of business in the eyes of students and detects main social factors that can influence it. Business and its image is viewed and analyzed in the context of the social and professional priorities of students based on an opinion survey. Empirical methods of information acquisition were used – experimental observation, questionnaires and expert surveys, document study (statistical data, context analysis of Internet sites), and statistical methods of information processing. As the result of the study we have concluded that the image of business formed in the public consciousness is ambivalent and paradoxical, and can be explained by how business evolved in Russia in the 90's of the 20 th century (shuttle traders, privatization of property and a typical misconception that all big fortunes in Russia were gained by dishonest means, etc.) Present-day condition of small and medium business (the fact that trade and the service sector prevail), mean there are big risks in business activity (financial, administrative and psychological limitations), with mental factors (traditional negative attitude to business in Russia) playing an important role. Nowadays, due to the problems with staffing in business it is necessary to change the negative image of business, which has dominated during the two recent decades. The main reason of this ambivalent perception of business by the students is non-conformity of the competence level of university graduates with the demands presented by businesses. The university education which students get is better suited for employment in large corporations, government bodies, research and educational institutions rather than small or medium business enterprises; few innovative techniques are used in modern education and it does not target ‘business’ skills (ability to work independently and take decisions, etc.) The author detected 2 groups of important factors that influence the students’ vision of business and tells us why it is necessary to create a certain image of business among students who act as its labour reserve. Scope of application : the paper presents a sociological analysis of the image of business in the eyes of students, and its social management function. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-8-38

Small business perceptions in the central business district fringes of four metropolitan areas in South Africa

Much as it has happened in cities across the world, the central business district (CBD) fringes of South African cities have also undergone ‘facelifts’ in a cyclical fashion. Many South African city centres went through a period of decline from the mid- to late 1990s; the cities responded to this decline in similar ways, but at different rates and with different levels of success. This paper will discuss selected results from a broader empirical study done in four metropolitan centres in South Africa: eThekwini, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Tshwane. The focus is on small businesses in the fringes of the inner-city areas, their reasons for locating and remaining there, and general perceptions of their business environment and the wider CBDs. Results reflect diversity in reasons, ranging from lower rentals to business linkages, for small businesses locating in these fringe areas. With regard to whether and where these businesses want to move, trends vary across the CBDs. Adding to this, evidence drawn from the small business perceptions survey reflects interesting results in the context of broader urban dynamics within the four CBDs, some of which support generally accepted views around revitalisation in particular CBDs and fringe areas, whilst others appear to be at odds with these views. It is clear that each CBD reflects its own set of trends and economic dynamics, pointing to the fact that broad-brush statements relating to revitalisation require greater interrogation on an area-by-area basis.

Role of Perceived Fit With Hotels’ Green Practices in the Formation of Customer Loyalty: Impact of Environmental Concerns

With the increasing concern for ecological issues among hotel customers, this study pursues an investigation of customers' perceptions of hotels' core business in association with green practices and the resulting purchase-related loyalty (i.e. intentions to visit, accept price premiums, and recommend). In addition, the study examines the moderating role of environmental concerns in the relationships among perceptions of hotels' green practices and loyalty components. A survey of tourists using hotels showed that customers related hotels' core businesses and green practices positively, which consequently affected customers' purchase intentions toward the hotels. This study is unique in academia in that it investigates the fit theory for the hospitality industry by considering the impact of environmental concerns, while employing environmental practices as an emerging social cause, which is, increasingly, important for the society. This study is beneficial by providing hotel managers with insight into hotel customers' decision-making processes regarding green practices.

Crafting a Sustainable Corporate Performance: The Value of Corporate Conscience

It is common knowledge that an organisation cannot operate in isolation without the critical roles that various stakeholders play in influencing organisational operations and ultimate corporate performance. Thus, stakeholders that are interdependent have to be rewarded based on their respective efforts in promoting and creating organisational wealth in different capacities. This study aimed at ascertaining the extent of corporate conscience phenomenon as on how body corporates in Malawi tackle and distribute wealth to their different stakeholders who are actively involved in the creation of such an organisational wealth. The study findings reveal that most business executives in Malawi recognise that being a body corporate with a conscience is a recipe for success of their current and future operations and the ultimate sustainable corporate performance. It is anticipated that the study results will improve the perception of business executives towards corporate conscience as well as transform the approaches in academic and business research programmes.

Business Perceptions of Access Management Techniques

Transportation agencies have made significant strides to reduce collisions and increase capacity along strategic highway corridors. Efforts have led to the implementation of many different access management techniques along corridors, such as installing medians versus two-way left-turn lanes and closing median openings. Businesses along these corridors have indicated their concern that these new designs will have a negative economic impact on their business because of the lack of direct access to their properties. The objective of this study was to quantify the business perceptions of median treatments on businesses adjacent to multilane highways. Owners of businesses along treatment corridors viewed median installations with a more positive outlook following implementation of the median than they did prior to the installation. The performance of treatment sites in terms of reported impacts on business revenues indicates that there is no direct evidence of negative economic impacts due to median installations.

Regional Investment Climate Assessment Based on Business Perception

The study presents a new approach to the regional investment climate assessment based on the business perception of key investment climate topics including finance, supply and demand conditions, labor market and institutional framework. The offered approach is tested on data of firm-level survey conducted in the Republic of Ingushetia. This region is associated with a high level of investment risk due to some cases of terrorist activity during the 1990's and the 2000's. In real fact, modern Ingushetia has quite stable criminal situation, and the regional investment climate is similar to other Russian regions. Our empirical research prove that the major investment constraint results from the failure of the state to protect businesses. The two other constraints necessary to consider are difficult access to debt financing and unskilled labor force.

Consumer Trust in Information Sources

Trust is essential to understanding public reaction to innovative issues. This research focuses on trust in information sources by explicating the construct of trust and testing a comprehensive model on several information sources about genetically modified foods. Results from a survey of 369 participants reveal the significance of projecting competence and the role of the environment in which a target public receives information. Perceptions of regulatory, social, business, and technical environments affect how likely individuals are to follow advice from institutions like the Food and Drug Administration and the news media. Future research should incorporate knowledge levels and personal relevance as variables likely to influence trusting relationships.

Using Surveys of Business Perceptions as a Guide to Growth-Enhancing Fiscal Reforms

This paper assesses the merits of using surveys of business perceptions of growth constraints as a guide to growth-enhancing fiscal policy reforms. Using endogenous growth models in which the government levies an income tax to provide public inputs to the production of private firms, the paper demonstrates that business perceptions of growth constraints are subject to systematic biases except when fi rms compare different types of public services or different types of public capital. In particular firms can be expected to systematically over-estimate the growth-enhancing effects of lower tax rates, and under-estimate the growth-enhancing effects of greater provision of public capital. It is then shown that these theoretical predictions regarding how firms rank constraints correspond closely to the observed ranking of constraints by fi rms in the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys.

Corrupção nas organizações privadas: análise da percepção moral segundo gênero, idade e grau de instrução

Corruption in organizations is a well-studied systemic phenomenon that may be approached in different ways. One of these is through the perspective adopted in compliance literature, understood as a reflection about the causes and the mitigation of corruption, as well the tools to promote an ethical environment. The basis of compliance is the moral perception of the person when exposed to ethical dilemmas. The purpose of this work is determine the relative relevance of education, age, and gender in the moral perception of businesses. Our statistical analysis is based on secondary data provided by ICTS Global, an international company specializing in the reduction of risks involving human life, business goals, assets, information, and reputation. We carried out an exploratory statistical analysis on data concerning variable indicators of the index of analyses of adherence to enterprise ethics (AAEE) from ICTS Global. Our research was based on a non-probabilistic by convenience sample composed of interviews carried out between 2004 and 2008 with employees and candidates from 74 Brazilian private enterprises. The final number of people interviewed totaled 7,574. The results indicate that the education variable exerts more influence on the moral perception indicators: the lower the level of education, the lower the perception of wrongdoing. On the other hand, more detailed analyses of the indicators of moral perception show interesting differences related to the profile of the professionals as well as the variables analyzed (gender, age, and education).

Doing Business around Transit Corridors

Major transit projects can have profound effects on nearby businesses. Although much research has investigated physical neighborhood changes and neighborhood demographic changes driven by transit projects, little is known about the perceived effects of transit projects in business communities. In a direct response to this knowledge gap, a random-sampled survey of 160 businesses was conducted along four existing and planned transit corridors in the Twin Cities region in Minnesota. With the survey responses, ordered logistic regression models of business perceptions of transit corridor projects were estimated. It was found that responding businesses generally expect positive effects from transit corridors in the future, but the likelihood of positive perceptions differs significantly according to business location, size, and sector, as well as employees’ and customers’ demographics and customers’ travel behavior. These findings provide insights into the types of businesses to target for special outreach efforts as well as strategies for mitigating negative effects and maximizing positive effects perceived by station area businesses.

Percepción del empresario PYME sobre el programa de Administración de Empresas de la UNAD, CEAD Palmira, respecto a su relación con el Estado

La presente investigación estudia la percepción del empresario de la pequeña y mediana empresa (PYME) matriculado en el programa de Administración de Empresas de la UNAD, CEAD Palmira, 2012, en su relación con el Estado. Se explican las percepciones que tienen los empresarios en su relación con el Estado y se cuantifica de modo porcentual relativo y acumulativo. Las percepciones son de carácter tributario, laboral y gerencia, así: grupo 1. percepciones de orden tributario; grupo 2. percepciones de orden laboral y grupo 3. percepciones sobre la actividad empresarial y el apalancamiento financiero. A partir de estas percepciones se realiza el trabajo de campo, se sistematiza la información y se presenta la discusión.

Business perceptions and satisfaction with e-government: Findings from a Canadian survey

This paper examines business perceptions and satisfaction with e-government. Survey data is analyzed from businesses across Canada to determine their use of e-government and their perceived satisfaction with this technology for public service delivery. There are three research questions of this paper: 1) Are there significant differences for businesses that use the internet to contact government compared to those that do not? 2) Is there is a relationship between having a more positive perception overall by business of government and e-government satisfaction? and 3) Is there a relationship between businesses having input into regulatory changes, essentially being inclusive of business in the regulatory process, and e-government satisfaction? The results from the statistical models indicated that all three questions were confirmed. The findings of this study imply that governments should try to understand the business environment. A more positive attitude by business towards government, and being more inclusive of business in regulatory changes, leads to greater e-government satisfaction.