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1 – 10 of 63Otto Strobel, Jan Lubkoll, Christian Betz and Elke Dietrich
The idea of this paper is to present optical and microwave systems making use of new materials. Materials science as an interdisciplinary field has pushed on the development of…
Abstract
The idea of this paper is to present optical and microwave systems making use of new materials. Materials science as an interdisciplinary field has pushed on the development of revolutionary technologies such as polymer, semiconductors and nanomaterials. A brief introduction to optical and related microwave transmission systems was given; pure-optical, fiber-optic, Radar, WLAN and hybrid transmission systems have been taken into account. Principle operations and first promising experimental results in telecom and automotive applications have been shown. Also using Radar techniques we presented a Matlab/Simulink model of a correlation method for speed measurement allowing a variation of all known parameters.
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This paper is devoted to the question of what motivates man in his pursuit of economic activities. Particular attention is given to the notion that economic activities of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is devoted to the question of what motivates man in his pursuit of economic activities. Particular attention is given to the notion that economic activities of individuals may not be motivated by their self‐interest alone.
Design/methodology/approach
Using literary analysis, the paper first reconsiders the role of self‐interest and non‐selfish motives in the historical schools. Then it is demonstrated that at least some non‐selfish motives were incorporated in the voluntary exchange theory of public economy. Next it is shown that during the evolution of the theory of public goods these non‐selfish motives were lost and that the modern theory of public goods rests entirely on the self‐interest hypothesis. However, over the last two decades results of public goods experiments have cast considerable doubt on the pure self‐interest hypothesis.
Findings
A major finding of this paper is that several non‐selfish motives of man that show up in recent public goods experiments were already discussed by representatives of the historical schools.
Research limitations/implications
An agenda for future research on the topic is sketched in the final section.
Practical implications
Practical implications include that the allocation of many goods, not just public goods, may improve if agents pay more attention to non‐selfish motives of man.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the existing body of related writings by linking developments in the evolution of theory of public goods, in particular recent findings from public goods experiments, to a specific aspect already advocated by representatives of the historical schools, that is, the notion that man in his pursuit of economic activities is not motivated by his self‐interest alone. To this extent, the paper is of interest for researchers working on public goods theory, experimental economics and the history of economic thought.
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The effect of vicarious learning during clinical or medical internships on graduates' adaptive career behaviours has attracted scant attention from healthcare researchers…
Abstract
Purpose
The effect of vicarious learning during clinical or medical internships on graduates' adaptive career behaviours has attracted scant attention from healthcare researchers, particularly, in the developing world context. Drawing upon the social cognitive career theory model of career self-management (SCCT-CSM), the current study examines how vicarious learning influences the clinical graduates' adaptive career behaviours (i.e. career exploration and decision-making) via career exploration and decision-making self-efficacy (CEDSE) and career intention.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 293 nursing graduates undertaking clinical internships in 25 hospitals across Nigeria who willingly participated in this study as they were also assured of confidentiality at two-waves. The proposed hypotheses were tested using a path analysis.
Findings
The findings showed that vicarious learning during clinical internship had a direct effect on career exploration, decision-making and career decision self-efficacy among graduate trainees. Also, the findings revealed that the effects of vicarious learning on the graduates' career exploration and career decision-making were significantly mediated by career decision self-efficacy and career intentions.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have important practical implications for higher education institutions and industries that send and receive clinical graduates for clinical internships to gain more skills. More emphasis should be on encouraging learners to learn vicariously in addition to other forms of learning experiences available during clinical internships.
Originality/value
The study explains that the graduates' higher engagement in clinical career exploration and decision-making was based on a higher level of vicarious learning during internships. The results suggest that higher education institutions and healthcare service providers can derive greater benefits from more emphasis on promoting vicarious learning during clinical internships.
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In this chapter, I examine the populism of the Northern League and Berlusconi. I attempt to provide an institutional explanation as to why Italy, more so than other Western…
Abstract
In this chapter, I examine the populism of the Northern League and Berlusconi. I attempt to provide an institutional explanation as to why Italy, more so than other Western European democracies, has experienced such diverse forms of populism. Stated in full, the thesis advanced is that the rise and persistence populism in Western European democracies, such as Italy, is an indication of an institutional crisis of representation.
Drawing on ethnographic research among far-right youth movements, this chapter discusses the view of a “new Europe” as manifested in young activists' discourses and practices. In…
Abstract
Drawing on ethnographic research among far-right youth movements, this chapter discusses the view of a “new Europe” as manifested in young activists' discourses and practices. In arguing that it is necessary to better understand local contexts of political mobilization, it simultaneously foregrounds the transnational orientation of young far-right militants and the interplay of local and translocal factors in shaping their activism. In so doing, this chapter seeks to shed light on the background and the main rationale for their alternative conceptualizing of Europe and to situate it in a long tradition of thinking about Europe, recognizing similarities with the developments in the early twentieth century.
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Traditional understandings of financial abuse are limited to particular situations and people who have close access to vulnerable adults. This paper aims to add to a debate that…
Abstract
Purpose
Traditional understandings of financial abuse are limited to particular situations and people who have close access to vulnerable adults. This paper aims to add to a debate that intends to push the boundaries of the understanding of financial abuse further. In particular, it seeks to add to the understanding of what financial abuse might look like and who the perpetrators of such abuse can be. In so doing, it seeks to offer greater protection to the vulnerable.
Design/methodology/approach
Focusing on exploring the minutes of Church of England disciplinary tribunals, held to provide accountability for clergy, this paper considers how the church seeks to represent and construct the victims of financial abuse.
Findings
The paper identifies that the victims of financial abuse are whitewashed out of the tribunal minutes and discovers that the disciplinary tribunal is solely concerned with the financial loss afforded by the church. This discovery offers a new context in which it is possible to explore the competing interest in, what has been regarded as, the “legitimate assets” of older parishioners. It provides an example of how organisations and individuals compete for them.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the debate about the everyday nature of financial abuse and when and where it might take place. It provides an opportunity to reconsider potential offenders and the means by which abuse might be reduced. In exploring how the financial abuse of potentially vulnerable people can be reframed so that it is hidden by process and procedure, this paper offers an insight into the means by which it is possible to promote transparency and greater accountability.
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This chapter examines the ethics and business diplomacy of legal tax avoidance by multinational enterprises (MNEs).
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter examines the ethics and business diplomacy of legal tax avoidance by multinational enterprises (MNEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology assembles the relevant literature and examines alternative interpretations of corporate tax strategy. Key topics include business ethics and responsibility, business sustainability, economic patriotism and corporate inversions, tax havens, and possible solutions.
Findings
The debate concerns whether legal tax avoidance is unethical and/or poor business diplomacy. There are three possible strategies for MNEs. One strategy is intentional tax avoidance. Another strategy is business–government negotiation concerning tax liability. Another strategy is business diplomacy aimed at maximizing the social legitimacy of the firm across multiple national tax jurisdictions.
Social implications
The chapter assesses four possible solutions for corporate tax avoidance. One solution is voluntary tax payments beyond legal obligations whether out of a sense of ethics or a strategy of business diplomacy. A second solution is international tax cooperation and tax harmonization in ways that minimize opportunities for tax avoidance. A third solution is increased stakeholder pressure emphasizing business diplomacy and tax cooperation and harmonization. The fourth solution is negotiated tax liabilities between each business and each jurisdiction.
Originality/value
The chapter provides an original systematic survey of the key aspects of corporate international tax avoidance in an approach in which business ethics and business diplomacy are better integrated. The value of the chapter is that it provides information and assembles relevant literature concerning corporate international tax avoidance, and addresses possible solutions for this problem.
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Populism is one of the main symptoms of the contemporary crisis in Europe. How can the rise of populism best be understood? Whereas existing analyses predominantly utilise…
Abstract
Populism is one of the main symptoms of the contemporary crisis in Europe. How can the rise of populism best be understood? Whereas existing analyses predominantly utilise rationalist and behaviouralist approaches and focus on political, economic and cultural interests, this contribution proposes a different approach. The author focusses on affects and emotions. The author shows that where other parties or political movements opt for rational and dispassionate debates on merits of political programmes, populists instead offer, invoke and respond to strong emotions across multiple political settings. Emotions feed and propel populism in its bid for power by forming collective identities through the clustering of love for ‘us’ and hate for the ‘other’.
Ontological Security Theory (OST) is used here as a framework for understanding populist behaviour in the sphere of security perception, identification and community-building. In recent debates, OST has been used because it allows the motives for certain behaviours to be located in the need to maintain or recreate positive identity constructed via biographical narratives. OST suggests that any lack of narrative continuity regarding the shape of the self-images for both individual and collective identities will therefore constitute a source of ontological threat; the lack of a sense of security. In this contribution, the author uses the examples of populist policies and discourses in Hungary and Poland that illustrate this dynamic to analyse the past- and future-oriented collective identifications underpinning the recent rise of populism in Europe.
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Jan G. Langhof and Stefan Gueldenberg
The article aims at examining the ethical limits and risks of servant leadership. During the Second World War, the German army officer Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal…
Abstract
Purpose
The article aims at examining the ethical limits and risks of servant leadership. During the Second World War, the German army officer Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal servant to his nation and homeland. But when he learns about the Nazis’ mass murders and crimes, he begins to have doubts about whom he should serve. Being confronted with numerous moral dilemmas, he finally decides to join a resistance group. Of course, Stauffenberg's situation as colonel and leader was an extreme case. Time and again, however, managers and leaders are faced with similar dilemmas. Indeed, the current COVID-19-crisis shows that even today’s leaders are repeatedly faced with almost insoluble dilemmas. The recent literature about ethics and leadership suggests a philosophy which is almost portrayed as a panacea to any ethical issues: servant leadership (SL). This study, however, questions the commonly held view that SL is always ethical. The purpose of our historical case study is twofold. First, this study explores the ethical challenges Stauffenberg (and other officers) faced and how they dealt with them. Second, this study elaborates on what responses (if any) SL would provide to these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
The applied method is a historical case study, in which the authors draw on a plethora of secondary literature, including books, reports, and articles.
Findings
By analyzing the historical case of “Operation Valkyrie,” this study elaborated and identified risks and limitations of SL and pointed out ways to address these risks. In particular, SL poses risks in the case of a too narrow understanding of the term “service.”
Originality/value
While other leadership styles, e.g. transformational leadership or charismatic leadership, have been extensively studied with regard to ethical risks, in the case of SL possible risks and limitations are still largely unexplored.
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Bruce J. Malina and Thomas O. Nitsch
I. Introduction In their recent pastoral letter, the Catholic bishops of this country have reputedly taken a new approach in rooting their moral imperatives in the Bible. As…
Abstract
I. Introduction In their recent pastoral letter, the Catholic bishops of this country have reputedly taken a new approach in rooting their moral imperatives in the Bible. As opposed to the established, official convention of “proof‐texting”, the US bishops focus on certain biblical themes which presumably “speak to” contemporary issues and problems. Chief among these is the so‐called “preferential option for the poor”, which is attributed to both the Old and New Testaments and early Church (Christianity).