Abstract
Today's economics and business students are expected to be our future business people and potentially the economic leaders and politicians of tomorrow. Thus, their beliefs and practices are liable to affect the definition of acceptable economics and business ethics. The empirical evaluation of the phenomenon of cheating in academia has almost exclusively focused on the US context, and non-US studies usually only cover a narrow range of countries. This paper presents a comprehensive, cross-country study on the magnitude and determinants of cheating among economics and business undergraduates, involving 7,213 students enrolled in 42 universities located in 21 countries from the American (4), European (14), Africa (2) and Oceania (1) Continents. We found that the average magnitude of copying among economics and business undergraduates is quite high (62%) but there was significant cross-country heterogeneity. The probability of cheating is significantly lower in students enrolled in schools located in the Scandinavian, and the US and British Isles blocks when compared with their Southern European counterparts; quite surprisingly this probability is also lower for the African block. On a distinctly different level, however, students enrolled in schools in Western and especially Eastern European countries reveal statistically significant higher propensities towards committing academic fraud.

Abstract
Although there is considerable consensus that Finance, Management and Marketing are 'science', some debate remains with regard to whether these three areas comprise autonomous, organized and settled scientific fields of research. In this paper we aim to explore this issue by analyzing the occurrence of citations in the top-ranked journals in the areas of Finance, Management, and Marketing. We put forward a modified version of the model of science as a network, proposed by Klamer and Van Dalen (J Econ Methodol 9(2):289-315, 2002), and conclude that Finance is a 'Relatively autonomous, organized and settled field of research', whereas Management and (to a larger extent) Marketing are relatively non-autonomous and hybrid fields of research'. Complementary analysis based on sub-discipline rankings using the recursive methodology of Liebowitz and Palmer (J Econ Lit 22:77-88, 1984) confirms the results. In conclusions we briefly discuss the pertinence of Whitley's (The intellectual and social organization of the sciences, 1984) theory for explaining cultural differences across these sub-disciplines based on its dimensions of scholarly practices, 'mutual dependency' and 'task uncertainty'.

Abstract

Abstract
Unified Communications (UC) have the potential to dramatically simplify and improve enterprise communications, reducing costs and improving revenue opportunities. This paper proposes an architecture of three layers for a UC solution based on open source technologies and open standards. The Infrastructure layer is responsible for the physical IP infrastructure network, the Server Hardware and Operating System layer includes the back-end operating system and server services that can be used by the UC platform and the Business Applications layer integrates the UC with other external applications. Finally, the paper presents the major benefits of UC solutions, giving a special emphasis to the benefits derived for the use of a standards-based I P communications.

Abstract

Abstract
Unified communications (UC) have the potential to dramatically simplify and improve enterprise communications, reducing costs and improving revenue opportunities. By integrating various forms of communications, such as voice, video, instant messaging, conferencing, presence and voicemail, individuals and groups can more effectively control and manage their inbound and outbound communications sessions. However, Large Enterprises (LE) and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have a diverse perspective look of UC and different needs. In this paper we will analyze the reasons that motivate the business leaders to introduce unified communications and we will study with detail the large enterprises and SMEs approach for the implementation of a unified communications solution. © 2009 IADIS.