1,720,997 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
Author Under Sail The Imagination of Jack London, 1893-1902
No full textIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Spirit Truth -- 2. From Absorption to Theatricality and Back Again -- 3. "I Will Build a New Present" -- 4. Sons as Authors -- 5. Fathers as Publishers -- 6. The Daughter as Author -- 7. Lovers as Authors -- 8. At Sea with the Family -- 9. Yellow News, Yellow Stories -- 10. The Return Home -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About Jay WilliamsIn Author Under Sail, Jay Williams offers the first complete literary biography of Jack London as a professional writer engaged in the labor of writing. It examines the authorial imagination in London's work, the use of imagination in both his fiction and nonfiction, and the ways he defined imagination in the creative process in his business dealings with his publishers, editors, and agents. In this first volume of a two-volume biography, Williams traverses the years 1893 to 1902, from London's "Story of a Typhoon" to The People of the Abyss. The Jack London who emerges in the pages of Author Under Sail is a writer whose partnership with publishers, most notably his productive alliance with George Brett of Macmillan, was one of the most formative in American literary history. London pioneered many author models during the heyday of realism and naturalism, blurring the boundaries of these popular genres by focusing on absorption and theatricality and the representation of the seen and unseen. London created an impassioned, sincere, and extremely personal realism unlike that of other American writers of the time. Author Under Sail is a literary tour de force that reveals the full range of London as writer, creative citizen, and entrepreneur at the same time it sheds light on the maverick side of machine-age literature.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
Enron ethics: A hermeneutic study seen through a multitheoretical lens
No full textManagers are a major influence on the organization’s culture and, to that end, they govern its values, principles, and beliefs. When managers create an unethical ethos within the organization, it permeates within the culture and it negatively affects employee behavior and decision-making. Sometimes, when misconduct occurs within the organization, a member of the management team might dissent and “blow the whistle” to bring attention to the bad behavior. The Enron Corporation is used in this study as an analytic example that articulates the financial and personal devastation that members of a management group can bring on their organization and their colleagues when decisions are determined by their own individual self-interest. Using evidence-based research in this study, the researcher has synthesized alternative ways in which individual ethical inclinations can affect a decision-making culture of management. Through the study, the researcher offers suggestions that might help minimizEnron Ethics: A Hermeneutic Study Seen Through a Multitheoretical Lens
Leverne Moore Laws
A Thesis
Submitted to the
Graduate Faculty
of
University of Maryland University College
in Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Degree
of
Doctor of Management
Dr. Michael Evanchik
Dr. Dennis Winters
Enron Ethics
ii
Table of Contents
Abstract ...............................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................2
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................3
Research Questions ..................................................................................................4
Background ..............................................................................................................4
The Enron Culture......................................................................................10
Theoretical Base.....................................................................................................11
Cognitive Moral Development ..................................................................11
Groupthink .................................................................................................12
Symbolic Interactionism ............................................................................14
Definition of Terms................................................................................................14
Significance............................................................................................................16
Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................18
Organizational Culture ...........................................................................................18
Managers' Ethical Influence on Employees ...........................................................23
Ethical Behavior and Group Decision Making ......................................................27
Whistleblowing ......................................................................................................32
Factors of an Ethical Decision-Making Culture ....................................................34
Summary of Literature Review ..............................................................................37
Chapter 3: Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................40
Behavioral Factors .................................................................................................42
Moral Development ...................................................................................44
Groupthink .................................................................................................45 Enron Ethics
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Symbolic Interactionism ............................................................................47
Attributes of Managers ..........................................................................................47
Attributes of Employees ........................................................................................50
Elements of an Ethical Decision-Making Culture .................................................51
Proposition 1 ..............................................................................................53
Proposition 2 ..............................................................................................53
Further Elements of an Ethical Decision-Making Culture ....................................53
Chapter 4: Methodology ....................................................................................................55
Evidence-Based Research ......................................................................................55
Steps to Conduct this Systematic Review ..............................................................56
Research Questions ....................................................................................56
Mapping .....................................................................................................57
The Whole Picture .....................................................................................57
Developing the Research Questions ..........................................................57
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria ................................................................58
Search Strategy ..........................................................................................58
The Assessment: Mapping, Extracting, Quality, and Relevance ...............59
Synthesis and Report of the Findings ........................................................65
Expert Panel Influence ...........................................................................................66
Summary of the Methodology ...............................................................................68
Chapter 5: Findings and Analysis ......................................................................................69
Study Findings .......................................................................................................69
Synthesis ................................................................................................................72 Enron Ethics
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Research Question 1: What influence do managers have on ethical employee behavior within the organizational culture? ..............................73
Research Question 2: How do individual ethical inclinations affect a group decision-making culture? .................................................................76
The Expert Panel ....................................................................................................79
Feedback Offered .......................................................................................79
Discussion of Changes Made .....................................................................85
Discussion of Changes Not Made ..............................................................86
Summary of Expert Discussions ................................................................87
Conclusion .............................................................................................................88
Chapter 6: Management Implications ................................................................................89
Study Findings .......................................................................................................89
Implementation Plan and Recommendations .........................................................89
Leading by Example ..................................................................................90
Process and Procedures ..............................................................................91
Code of Ethics ............................................................................................91
Understand the Culture ..............................................................................92
Factors That Help Restructure Cognitive Patterns: Cognitive Disequilibrium ...........................................................................................94
Education ...................................................................................................94
Training ......................................................................................................95
Communication ..........................................................................................95
Rewards and Discipline .............................................................................96
Implications for Management Practices.................................................................96 Enron Ethics
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Study Gaps .............................................................................................................97
References ........................................................................................................................102
Appendix: Expert Evaluation Forms ...............................................................................114
Evaluation Form 1 – Panelist 1 ............................................................................114
Evaluation Form 2 – Panelist 2 ............................................................................117
Evaluation Form 3 – Panelist 3 ............................................................................120
List of Tables
1 Findings Relevant to Research Question 1 ...............................................................71
2 Findings Relevant to Research Question 2 ...............................................................71
3 Summary of the Expert Reviewers’ Findings ...........................................................80
List of Figures
1 An Ethical Group Decision-Making Culture. ...........................................................42
2 Cognitive Moral Development Improvement Model. ..............................................93 Enron Ethics 1
ABSTRACT
Managers are a major influence on the organization’s culture and, to that end, they govern its values, principles, and beliefs. When managers create an unethical ethos within the organization, it permeates within the culture and it negatively affects employee behavior and decision-making. Sometimes, when misconduct occurs within the organization, a member of the management team might dissent and “blow the whistle” to bring attention to the bad behavior. The Enron Corporation is used in this study as an analytic example that articulates the financial and personal devastation that members of a management group can bring on their organization and their colleagues when decisions are determined by their own individual self-interest. Using evidence-based research in this study, the researcher has synthesized alternative ways in which individual ethical inclinations can affect a decision-making culture of management. Through the study, the researcher offers suggestions that might help minimize the risk of unethical behavior within organizations.
KEY WORDS: Ethics, Ethical Decision, Ethical Decision-Making, Ethical Manager, Whistleblowing. Enron Ethics 2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Who has not heard of the legend about George Washington’s ethical behavior in confessing to his father that he chopped down his father’s cherry tree? This often-reported tale sets an example of honesty in leaders, including managers who lead organizations. Hosmer (1994) pointed out that, early in the development of corporate strategy as a field of study, moral obligations of managers and ethical standards were key components in the development of an organization’s strategic plan. A recent model, highlighted as a strong ethical company, is United Technologies Corporation and its senior manager, Louis Chenevert, who were recognized by the Ethics Resource Center (2010), a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C. They were honored with the Stanley C. Pace Leadership in Ethics Award for exhibiting excellence in organizational ethics by incorporating ethical standards in the corporate strategy that filters down to all levels of the organization’s systems, processes, and metrics. Senior managers have found an effective, consistent, clear message to communicate to the company’s global conglomerate of over 200,000 employees, “Don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal” (Stewart, 2005, p. 6).
Despite the good work done by senior managers in organizations (e.g., United Technologies Corporation), reports of unethical issues in companies continue to make media headlines in the 21st century. Corporate improprieties of senior managers in organizations (e.g., Enron, Phar-Mor, Cendant, Tyco, Waste Management, Adelphia, Sunbeam, and WorldCom) have all triggered calls for reform. Congress responded by passing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that created policies that are designed to ensure ethical conduct and guidelines within organizations (Braswell, Foster, & Poe, 2009). This mandatory legislation applied to all organizations, regardless of size. It introduced major Enron Ethics 3
regulatory changes to financial and corporate governance and it established rules that provided more corporate board oversight in the managing of organizations. This regulation fell short; therefore, in July 2010 under the Obama Administration, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act; 2010) was signed, which strengthened financial regulatory reform. Besides tightening financial oversight, it introduced shareholder rights in reference to management pay, and offered incentive opportunities for whistleblowers to report unethical behavior.
Unethical behavior in organizations affects all stakeholders, their families, and the community. The Enron story is a good example of the impact that an unethical culture has on the organization and the greater business and political community. The unethical culture at Enron resulted in the loss of 20,000 Enron jobs that included medical coverage, the collapse of the 1.2 billion in retirement funds (Wagner et al., 2005), and stockholder investment losses (Bryce, 2003). The average employee received a severance of 55 million (Wagner et al., 2005). The related Enron collateral damage reached far—from Wall Street to the White House (Bryce, 2003). Arthur Andersen’s 85,000 employees were affected when the firm shut its doors (Swartz, 2003). At Enron, little to nothing was left for the rank and file, yet the leaders continued to prosper, even after destroying the company. Managers were able to sell off stock, although employees were prohibited from doing the same.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to focus on the influence that managers have on the organizational culture, and the effects that the organizational culture might have on individual ethical inclinations that might affect a group decision-making culture. The Enron Ethics 4
researcher’s goal in this study is to offer suggestions to minimize the risk of unethical behavior within organizations, and to develop a conceptual model, using Jones’ (1991) concept of ethical decision making as the desired outcome and framework of reference. With this framework, the researcher will present decision making as a best practice guide to decision-making activities that are conducted in a moral and legal manner that is acceptable to the greater community that it serves. In this study, the researcher will focus on the following themes: organizational culture, managers’ ethical influence on employees, ethical behavior and group decision making, whistleblowing, and factors of a decision-making culture that is inherently ethical. Thus, through this study, the researcher will highlight those factors of a decision-making culture that are inherently ethical.
Research Questions
Using the Enron narrative as presented in various text resources, the researcher will attempt in this study to answer two research questions:
1. What influence do managers have on employee ethical behavior within the organizational culture?
2. How do individual ethical inclinations affect a group decision-making culture?
Background
Managers lead primarily by example (Meyers, 2004). The organizational culture is directly affected by the ethics of the senior managers who are most likely to influence the ethical choices of most of the people working in a decision-making environment (Ciulla, 2005). Typically, senior managers establish the vision, regulate the corporate climate, and guide the behavior of the employees (Ciulla, 2005). The senior managers at Enron Ethics 5
Enron created an unethical culture leading to business decisions that ultimately destroyed the company (Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004; Swartz, 2003).
Ken Lay, chairman of Enron Corporation, permeated the unethical behavior of the organization very early in his senior manager role in the company (Bryce, 2003; Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004). Lay would not agree with this analogy. In what might have been one of his last interviews after his conviction, and before his death, he expressed surprise over the misconduct discovered in the organization, and felt that he might have relied too heavily on others to keep him informed of such matters (Ferrell & Ferrell, 2010). This seems contrary to the choices he made early in his leadership role when he chose profits over honesty in his handling of the deception at the small oil trading Enron subsidiary located in Valhalla, New York, called Enron Oil (Bryce, 2003; Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004). Following his direction or implied direction, the managers in this office were so unethical that they kept two sets of books (Bryce, 2003; Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004). Lay was advised of the misconduct of these managers, but he refused to believe they were out of line, and continued to condone their behavior (Bryce, 2003). He chose instead to encourage them to keep making money (McLean & Elkind, 2004). When the misconduct problem surfaced among others within the organization, Lay denied that he was aware of the situation, although several employees had brought the matter to his attention earlier. They had expected him to take punitive action when the original disclosure was made to him (Bryce 2003; Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004). Lay would later use the same shield (i.e., that he was unaware of the situation) throughout his defense trial and in a subsequent interview (Ferrell & Ferrell, 2010). Enron Ethics 6
Lay’s failure to take action was the action of a leader; as a leader he demonstrated and affirmed to his team that profits were more important than ethical behavior. Some studies have shown that organizations give profits a higher or even an exclusive priority over ethical behavior—until they are faced with legal action (Hegarty & Sims, 1978). This analogy seems similar to the Enron case because the senior managers placed profits as the highest priority for the organization, and continued to do so until untoward legal implications seemed imminent.
During the early crisis of deception with Enron Oil, when confronted about it, Lay’s reaction was to deny responsibility and knowledge of the problem (Bryce, 2003; Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004). Lay’s reaction reflected an inclination that would follow him during his tenure at Enron and among people around him, which might have been the wellspring of a culture of deception within the organization. Schein (2004), Sims (2000), and Sims and Brinkman (2003) posited that senior managers influence organizational culture by how they react in a crisis.
If not totally confirmed, Enron’s unethical culture was reinforced and was perhaps expanded with the arrival of Jeff Skilling, the chief executive officer (CEO; Bryce 2003; Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004). The predilection towards loose ethics in decision making was made even more consensual within the development of his inner circle. Team members, who were identified in the company as Skilling’s favorites, a group of five known as “the Stars,” took this culture of unethical behavior as a consensual assumption (Swartz, 2003). Skilling eventually sought and received approval to use an accounting practice on limited Enron business understanding called mark to market and the use of off-the-balance sheet entities (Bryce 2003; Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004). This chosen approach to the way the books and profits were handled Enron Ethics 7
made the organizational culture ripe for abuse. This allowed Enron to record immediate earnings on future contracts that would later be adjusted for profits or losses as they occurred (Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004). This accounting method was expanded to many parts of the business causing widespread discrepancies with profit reports and available money to run the company (McLean & Elkind, 2004). Using off-balance-sheet entries created an environment that was ripe for abuse.
The unethical behavior continued to be emphasized into the culture with the arrival of one of Skilling’s favorites, Andy Fastow, the chief financial officer (CFO). Fastow was Skilling’s first recruit into “the Stars” (Swartz, 2003). He is credited with creating many of the off the balance sheet partnerships (special purpose entities) that are designed to be independent entities from the parent company (Bryce 2003; Collins, 2006; McLean & Elkind, 2004; Swartz, 2003). Enron board members sanctioned the unethica
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