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The purpose of this study is to discuss the advantages and challenges of using virtuous language in business.

This paper is a theoretical exploration based on a literature review and philosophical analysis that uses a quantitative study from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as its starting point.

This study argues that neo-Aristotelian leadership and positive leadership explain why companies whose financial filings use value-laden language that stresses the higher purpose of the organisation to outperform companies whose reports use the language of profit maximisation. While neo-Aristotelian leadership is based on Aristotle’s Rhetoric, positive leadership is primarily influenced by research results from Positive Psychology and Positive Organizational Scholarship. The two approaches to leadership highlight something that conventional business research largely ignores, namely, the role of values as drivers of human behavior and the importance of character in leadership. Both research streams indicate that it is possible for organisations to do well and do good because they are seen as groups of value-driven individuals. Thus, using virtuous/positive communication is a possible means to do well financially and to (re-)humanize the business world of tomorrow.

The BHI study investigates the outcomes of written language only; thus, it does not consider oral communication. Moreover, there is no “perfect level” of virtuous language in corporate environments. We should not expect the same precision in ethics as in mathematics.

By way of explaining how to best use virtuous language in a business context, this study helps business practitioners to do good and well.

This study offers a pathway to (re-)humanize tomorrow’s world of business, which is once again subjugating humanity to imagined technological imperatives.

By deliberating the benefits and possible downsides of using virtuous language in a business environment, this paper advances a topic that has recently gained considerable attention but is still in need for more research.

el propósito de este estudio es discutir las ventajas y desafíos de usar el lenguaje de la virtud en los negocios.

este artículo es una exploración teórica basada en una revisión de la literatura y análisis filosófico que utiliza un estudio cuantitativo del Boston Consulting Group (BCG) como su punto de partida.

este estudio sostiene que el liderazgo neo-aristotélico y el liderazgo positivo explican por qué las empresas cuyas declaraciones financieras utilizan un lenguaje cargado de valor que enfatiza el propósito superior de la organización superan a las empresas cuyos informes utilizan el lenguaje de la maximización de beneficios. Mientras el liderazgo neo-aristotélico se basa en la retórica de Aristóteles. El liderazgo positivo es principalmente influenciado por los descubrimientos de la Psicología Positiva y la Teoria Organizacional Positiva. Los dos enfoques del liderazgo destacan algo que la investigación empresarial convencional ignora, a saber, el papel de los valores como impulsores del comportamiento humano y la importancia del carácter en liderazgo. Ambas corrientes de investigación indican que es posible que las organizaciones hagan el bien y que les vaya bien al mismo tiempo, justo porque son vistos como grupos de individuos impulsados por valores. Por lo tanto, usar la comunicación virtuosa / positiva es un medio que permite hacer el bien financieramente hablando y para (re) humanizar el mundo empresarial de mañana.

el estudio BHI investiga los resultados del lenguaje escrito solamente; por tanto, no considera la comunicación oral. Además, no existe un "nivel perfecto" de lenguaje virtuoso en entornos corporativos. No deberíamos esperar la misma precisión en ética que en matemáticas.

a modo de explicación de cómo utilizar mejor el lenguaje virtuoso en un contexto empresarial, este estudio ayuda a los empresarios a entender mejor la relación entre hacer el bien y que les vaya bien a sus organizaciones.

este estudio ofrece un camino para (re)humanizar el mundo empresarial del mañana, que una vez más está sometiendo a la humanidad a imperativos tecnológicos imaginados.

deliberando sobre los beneficios y las posibles desventajas de usar un lenguaje virtuoso en un entorno empresarial, este documento presenta un tema que recientemente ha recibido considerable atención pero que necesita de más investigación.

o objetivo deste estudo é discutir as vantagens e os desafios do uso da linguagem virtuosa nos negócios.

Este artigo é uma exploração teórica baseada em uma revisão da literatura e análise filosófica que usa um estudo quantitativo do Boston Consulting Group (BCG) como ponto de partida.

Este estudo argumenta que a liderança neo-aristotélica e a liderança positiva explicam por que as empresas cujas demonstrações financeiras usam uma linguagem carregada de valor que enfatiza o propósito superior da organização de superar as empresas cujos relatórios usam a linguagem da maximização de benefícios. Enquanto a liderança neo-aristotélica é baseada na retórica de Aristóteles. A liderança positiva é influenciada principalmente pelos resultados da pesquisa da Psicologia Positiva e do Estudo Organizacional Positivo. Ambas as abordagens da liderança destacam algo que a pesquisa convencional de negócios ignora, a saber, o papel dos valores como motores do comportamento humano e a importância do caráter na liderança. Ambos os fluxos de pesquisa indicam que é possível que as organizações façam bem e que façam bem porque são vistas como grupos de indivíduos movidos por valores. Portanto, usar a comunicação virtuosa / positiva é um meio de fazer o bem financeiramente e (re) humanizar o mundo dos negócios do amanhã.

O estudo BHI investiga apenas resultados de linguagem escrita; portanto, não considera a comunicação oral. Além disso, não existe um "nível perfeito" de linguagem virtuosa em ambientes corporativos. Não devemos esperar a mesma precisão na ética que na matemática.

Por meio da explicação de como usar da melhor forma a linguagem virtuosa em um contexto de negócios, este estudo ajuda os empreendedores a fazer o bem e melhor.

Este estudo oferece um caminho para (re) humanizar o mundo empresarial do amanhã, que mais uma vez está submetendo a humanidade a imperativos tecnológicos imaginários.

deliberando sobre os benefícios e as desvantagens potenciais do uso de linguagem virtuosa em um ambiente de negócios, este artigo apresenta um tópico que recentemente recebeu atenção considerável, mas precisa de mais pesquisas.

The present study aims to further examine the persuasive effect of pictures in a print ad according to the recipient’s ability to process the information and to observe to what extent the presence of a picture could negatively influence recipients’ attitude toward the ad’s verbal claim.

Two studies were designed to manipulate the presence vs absence of an attractive/unattractive picture, the kind of verbal claims (affectively based vs rationally based) and the recipient’s ability to process the ad (cognitive load vs no cognitive load).

Main findings showed that the presence of an attractive picture elicited an unfavorable attitude toward the functional verbal claim when recipients were not cognitively charged. Furthermore, it proved to be a mediator of the influence of pictures on attitude toward the ad. The positive influence of an attractive picture on product evaluation and purchase intention was greater under a cognitive load but showed contrasting results for price perceptions. For the unattractive picture, cognitive load was found to be a moderator only when recipients had to infer the product price.

The present research emphasized the negative influence of attractive pictures on functional verbal claims and the moderating role of cognitive load on pictorial stimuli either acting as peripheral or central cues in the persuasive process.

Practitioners may want to consider that an attractive picture in advertising is not always the best route for persuasion, especially when the verbal ad content emphasizes the product’s properties.

The present study provides new insights regarding the role of pictures in advertising persuasive effectiveness. Until now, no research had addressed the extent to which the presence of a picture could affect processing of an ad’s verbal claims. Additionally, the present study expands research on persuasive communication and affirms the necessity of more intensively investigating the role of pictures in advertising under the rubric of information processing level.

This study aims to investigate whether the effect of exposure to video communication displaying physical activity (PA) would affect viewers’ snacking behavior depending on the type of message. Specifically, it is expected that food intake would be significantly higher when the message is labeled as a “commercial message” rather than a “health message”.

Two experimental studies are conducted that manipulate the type of message (commercial message vs health message). In Study 1, the participants’ level of involvement (low vs high) is also manipulated. In Study 2, the intensity of the PA displayed in the videos (low vs high) is manipulated, and a control group is included. The main dependent variable is the number of sweets eaten while watching the ad.

Results from both studies show that the influence of a PA exposure on food intake is influenced by the nature of the communication. Participants exposed to the commercial message eat more sweets than those exposed to the health message (ηp² = 0.06). Being exposed to a health message elicits self-regulated eating behaviors with no more sweets eaten than in the control group. In addition, the effect of the type of message is moderated by the intensity of the PA displayed. The difference of sweets consumed depending on the type of message is significant only when the physical intensity displayed is low.

The present research emphasizes the moderating role of the type of communication on food intake when recipients are exposed to a PA message. Further research must be conducted to enlarge the understanding of the phenomenon considering other critical variables such as inter-individual differences (e.g. body mass index and self-regulation skills), types of food (e.g. healthy vs unhealthy) and other contexts (e.g. watching sports events on television).

The present findings have implications for marketers, health practitioners, policymakers and consumers. They stress the significance of how the implicit goals of the messages are taken into account within consumers’ information processing and how this can affect subsequent consumption behaviors. PA displayed through a commercial message has the most negative impact on food intake, especially when the intensity of PA is low. PA displayed through a health message shows no impact on food intake, whatever the intensity of the PA. It emphasizes the importance of combining exposure to PA through advertising or sporting events to a message promoting healthy and balanced eating behaviors.

The value of the present research lies in an additional understanding of the complex effect of passive exposure to a PA message on subsequent food consumption. Furthermore, the present study expands research on persuasive communication and has critical implications for public health issues.

This paper argues that the search for a theory of public budgeting has proceeded mainly on assumptions of the rationalist paradigm. This approach yielded mostly technical explanations for budgeting phenomena. These explanations fail to capture the complexities of public budgeting and yield incomplete theories. Without attempting to break new ground, the authors argue that budgeting theory should be guided by heuristic concepts borrowed from open systems theory. This offers greater potential for reconciling the rational and non-rational aspects of budgeting and permits constructive synthesis of insights from extant theories of budgeting without rejecting the rationalist paradigm. This approach views budgeting as only one of the complex functions governments perform to cope with their environment and to maintain stability.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether Chief Executive Officers’ (CEOs) discrepant leadership styles are reflected on CEO succession outcomes, operationalised as changes to employee views of the organisation following the succession.

Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 230 employees who completed an online survey at four time points over a three-year period. Linear mixed models analyses tested for significant changes to alignment, participation, learning culture, organisational commitment and engagement perceptions over time. Qualitative data were content-analysed to ascertain the CEOs’ leadership styles and explore employee views of the organisation.

While alignment and participation scores did not significantly increase following the CEO succession, learning culture, organisational commitment and engagement increased significantly.

This study adds to the limited research on CEO succession. It suggests that what renders a succession adaptive or disruptive may be contingent on the leadership styles of outgoing and incoming CEOs.

The transition from a transactional to a transformational CEO may have a stronger impact on motivational and attitudinal outcomes (e.g. engagement) than on operational outcomes (e.g. alignment).

This study is the first to longitudinally examine a range employee outcomes of CEO succession considering the incoming and outgoing CEOs’ discrepant leadership styles. It extends the leadership literature by empirically showing that, despite the disruption underlying a succession event, employee views of the organisation improve significantly following the transition from a transactional to a transformational leader.

This work analyzes a pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC) in terms of supply chain visibility (SCV). The current good distribution practice (GDP) guideline demands increased visibility from firms. The purpose of this paper is to propose a solution for SCV enhancements based on automatic identification (Auto-ID) technologies.

The authors qualitatively analyze data from ten case studies of actors in a PSC. A review of Auto-ID technologies supports the derivation of solutions to enhance SCV.

This work shows that the functionalities of Auto-ID technologies offered by current practical monitoring solutions and challenges created by the GDP guideline necessitate further SCV enhancements. To enhance SCV, the authors propose three solutions: securPharm with passive radio frequency identification tags, transport containers with sensor nodes, and an SCV dashboard.

This study is limited to a PSC in Germany and is therefore not intended to be exhaustive. Thus, the results serve as a foundation for further analyses.

This study provides an overview of the functionality of Auto-ID technologies. In juxtaposition with the influence of the GDP guideline, the use of our Auto-ID-based solutions can help to enhance SCV.

This work analyzes a PSC in Germany, with consideration given to the influence of current legislation. Based on a multiple-case-study design, the authors derive three Auto-ID-based solutions for enhancing SCV.

Prior research does not provide a clear picture of how managers can effectively manage customer in-role and extra-role behaviours in a retail setting. This study aims to test the differential impact of the two main customer relationship predictor paths – identity-based and satisfaction-based paths – on customer in-role and extra-role behaviours.

A random sample of 500 customers from the flagship store of an up-market, international department store chain participated in a written survey. Purchase spending data for each customer was obtained from the retailer’s loyalty card database.

The two studied predictor paths possess a differential impact on customer extra-role behaviours. Civic virtue and co-creation behaviours are exclusively driven by the identity-based path, whereas sportsmanship is driven solely by the satisfaction-based path. Moreover, the identity-based path impacts purchase behaviour only when symbolic purchase motivation is high. Overall satisfaction has no impact on purchase behaviour.

In some retailing contexts, extra-role behaviours such as co-creation or civic virtue might simply be irrelevant (e.g. discount chains).

Managers, who have the intention to stimulate customers to give constructive feedback on products or services, or to involve them in co-creation activities, are well advised to also invest in identity-based path activities.

This study is the first to empirically test the effects of customer identification and overall customer satisfaction on the various dimensions of customer in-role and extra-role behaviours. Customer extra-role behaviours should not be conceptualised as one global construct but should comprise distinct dimensions of discretionary behaviours that have different antecedents.

The purpose of this study is to add to the existing literature on the impact of organizational changes on psychological contracts by examining the exchange between employer and employee obligations and organizational commitment and intention to turnover in a causal model.

Psychological contracts of 450 health care workers were assessed in a three‐wave longitudinal design, covering a one‐year period. The Tilburg Psychological Contract Questionnaire measures perceived obligations with respect to Job Content, Career Development, Social Atmosphere, Organizational Policies and Rewards (perceived organizational obligations) and In‐role and Extra‐role Obligations (perceived employee obligations). Linear structural equation modeling was used to test the changes in psychological contracts and outcome variables over time, and also to investigate the changes in the relationships between the dependent and independent variables over time.

The results show that organizational changes negatively affect the fulfilment and violation of perceived organizational obligations. However, perceived employee obligations are not affected. The perceived fulfilment of Organizational Policies and violations of the psychological contract in general are most strongly affected.

Empirical longitudinal field research on the effects of organizational changes on psychological contracts is virtually non‐existent. This study is a valuable contribution to psychological contract research, because of the longitudinal nature of the study and the linear structural equation models that are used.

This paper shows how the perceptions of people regarding five dimensions of workplace spirituality (team’s sense of community, alignment with organizational values, sense of contribution to society, enjoyment at work, and opportunities for inner life) predict affective, normative, and continuance commitment, as well as self‐reported individual performance. One sample in Portugal and another in Brazil were collected. The findings show that employees’ perceptions of workplace spirituality predict significant variance of commitment and individual performance in both samples. The empirical evidence suggests that workplace spirituality is a pertinent construct for researchers and an important concern to be taken into account by managers.

Existing research on product design has found that a design’s complexity is an important antecedent of consumers’ aesthetic and behavioural responses. This paper aims to shed new light on the relationship between design complexity and perceptions of design quality by taking the effects of consumers’ naïve theories into account.

The hypotheses of this paper are tested in a series of three experiments.

The findings from three studies show that the extent to which consumers prefer more complex product designs to simpler ones depends on the extent to which they believe that the complexity of a design is indicative of the effort or of the talent of the designers involved in the design process. These competing naïve theories, in turn, are triggered by contextual information that consumers have at their disposal, such as the professional background of a designer or the brand that is associated with a particular design.

This research was limited to a design's complexity as the central design element and to the effects of two naïve theories. Future research may also take other design factors and consumer heuristics into account.

This research reveals that the extent to which managers may successfully introduce both complex and simple designs may depend on the reputation of a company’s designers and the prestige of a brand.

This research examines design complexity from a novel theoretical perspective and shows that the effect of design complexity on perceptions of design quality is contingent on two specific naïve theories of consumers.