Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Uncritical faith in intense competition assumes the status of an unquestioned paradigm in America today. But this Competition Paradigm fails in the face of data, logic, and good sense. This presentation goes beyond the hype, to exam the evidence, carefully, systematically, comprehensively, and across disciplines. Analysis begins at the biological level and works through, step by step, to the international level of global competition. Examining competition at a broader, interdisciplinary level makes it easier to discover patterns and trends across levels. Something new is discovered about the nature of competition itself, that in its most destructive forms it generates a negative self-reinforcing spiral effect that is a worrisome liability in the long term.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Limited commercial integration between India and Pakistan, or within much of the Middle East, suggests that conflicting political interests between countries can have a detrimental effect on their economic relations. Indeed, a number of empirical studies have shown that tension or conflict between countries tends to be associated with lower levels of commerce. Yet rapidly growing economic ties between Mainland China and Taiwan shows that commerce can also flourish even in the presence of severe political tension and a potential for military conflict. In this paper, I develop an argument that accounts for variation in the relationship between conflict and commerce. Defining conflict as the level of underlying preference dissimilarity between countries, I argue that conflict’s effects on trade are contingent on the types of governing coalitions and political institutions within the states enmeshed in a conflictual relationship. Specifically, if free-trade interests are relatively strong politically, the independent effects of conflict on trade are less severe; conflict’s effects on trade are also less severe when conflict involves at least one democracy. I test my argument quantitatively on a large sample over the years 1960-1992, and find robust support for my hypotheses.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This study uses a communication rules perspective to assess how compliance with communication rules affects consumer perceptions of corporate-consumer relationships, corporate credibility, corporate goodwill and identification with the organization. It also addresses whether salience of the communication rule and relational orientation toward the Web site (information vs. e-commerce) affects consumer perceptions.
Findings from a 2 x 2 x 3 (salience x relational orientation x rule compliance) mixed experimental design (N=90) revealed no significant differences for salience, but both rule compliance and relational orientations affected the evaluations of corporate-consumer relationships, credibility, goodwill and identification. For the practitioner, implications are that, generally, companies need to do more than meet communication rules—they need to surpass expectations for compliance with rules to increase levels of positive evaluation.
Findings are limited to the sample demographic of young (M = 21 years), predominantly female, educated students. The non-significant results for salience may suggest that this variable may require stronger implementation or that obligatory rules are generally salient.