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When seeking to understand corruption in its ongoing temporal context, it is useful to consider business students. Because of their high numbers and the kinds of jobs they enter, they have a key role to play in challenging or sustaining corruption in their societies. This exploratory study focuses on these people in three countries in different regions--the USA, Romania and Lebanon--and asks "How does long-standing corruption in a country shape their attitudes toward bribery?" Using a case-study methodology structured along four theoretical perspectives--universalism, cultural relativism, ethical relativism and consequentialism--the study suggests that, when viewed from a universalist perspective, students in corrupt societies may be more tolerant of corrupt practice than those living in less corrupt countries. Thus, rather depressingly, those who should be part of the solution may actually be part of the problem.

Background: Whether treatment deintensification in Americans with diabetes mellitus varies by glycemic control, health status, and calendar year (before/after February 2008 when safety concerns about intensive glucose control were reported in the ACCORD trial [Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes]) is unclear.Methods and Results: We defined deintensification as discontinuation or dosage decrease of at least 1 glycemic medication without addition of, or uptitration of, another agent in the 120 days after the index glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) measurement. Of 99 694 individuals (mean age 54 years) in this retrospective cohort study being actively treated for new diabetes mellitus (50% 1 drug, 33% 2 drugs, and 17% ≥3 drugs), 12 921 (13.0%) had HbA1C <6% after 1 year, 19 670 (19.7%) had HbA1C 6.0% to 6.4%, 35 012 (35.1%) had HbA1C 6.5% to 7.5%, and 32 091 (32.2%) had HbA1C >7.5%. Glycemic therapy was deintensified in 18.3% of patients (21.2% of frail patients, 19.4% of those with multiple comorbidities, and 17.7% of otherwise healthy patients) with no gradient across glycemia levels (20.6% of those with HbA1C<6%, 17.3% of those with HbA1C 6.0%-6.4%, 17.7% of those with HbA1C 6.5%-7.5%, and 18.6% of those with HbA1C>7.5%). Similar proportions were seen even after exclusion of 26 985 patients being treated with metformin monotherapy: 23.3%, 20.4%, 20.3%, and 20% across the HbA1C strata. Therapy was deintensified in 22.5% of patients with index HbA1C <6.0% before February 2008 compared with 19.5% after (P<0.001).Conclusions: Among frail patients or those with multiple comorbidities, over three quarters with low HbA1C did not have their glycemic therapy deintensified, even after safety concerns were raised in the ACCORD trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization and digitization have increased both the occurrence and the ease of copyrighted property piracy, as well as the difficulty of enforcement. However, compared to instances of outright counterfeiting, the cost of this type of piracy is not clear and the consequences may not be all bad. It is possible that legal markets may arise from "grey" ones. The purpose of this paper is to show when and how grey markets have a positive effect on legitimate markets, by focusing on the development of the Japanese anime and manga market in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares the hiring practices of nine pairs of textile and electrical plants in the southeastern U.S. The authors examine whether the plants require blue-collar hires to have had previous work experience and to have completed high school and whether they hire at the entry level only and hire temporary workers. Electrical plants are more likely to have these requirements than textile plants. Electrical plants seek to hire employees because of their attitudes, whereas textile plants are interested in workers with transferable job skills. Three reasons for this difference are economic sector, technological complexity and the organization of production. In plants where production was organized in whole or in part around groups, managers sought workers with social or interpersonal skills. However, in plants where production was organized around distinct and specialized jobs, managers sought workers who had or could learn specific physical skills. It can be concluded that the organization of production is the most important factor.