A Comparison of Worldviews of Business Leaders from Disparate Geographic Cultures

Leadership functions within the context of multiple perspectives. Business leaders naturally possess a worldview that is influenced by today’s global society and economy. Although interacting with business leaders of disparate worldviews can create challenges, the better these various worldviews are understood, the more positive the outcomes of leadership will be. Global business organizations require leadership that recognizes their own foundations, along with those of the leaders with whom they interact -- especially leaders emanating from other cultures and geographic locations. This paper explores the concept of worldview and its underlying core values and present the results of interviews of four business leaders from different countries with distinct philosophical perspectives, identifying, comparing, and contrasting each leader’s understanding of leadership

The Relationship of Servant Leadership Attributes to Sales Performance of Salespersons in the Healthcare Industry in 2011

Problem. Servant leadership scholars have claimed that servant-led business organizations are more financially viable, but these claims are based on anecdotal evidence. This quantitative study examines the relationship of servant leadership to revenue generation in business organizations by analyzing the predictability of servant leadership attributes on sales performance. This was accomplished by studying salespersons in the healthcare industry. Method. One hundred ninety-four study participants completed questionnaires providing quantitative measurements of the seven factors of servant leadership: (a) developing and empowering others, (b) humility, (c) authentic leadership, (d) open participatory leadership, (e) inspiring leadership, (f) visionary leadership, and (g) courageous leadership, utilizing the Servant Leadership Profile—Revised (SLPR). Sales performance was measured by sales ranking within each respective salesperson’s company, and broken down into three categories; (a) Top 20%, (b) 21% - 40% and (c) 41% and below. Results. Discriminant function analysis generated two discriminant functions that were significant. The first discriminant function was labeled Voice and had the strongest relationship with the following factors of servant leadership: developing and empowering others, authentic leadership, and visionary leadership. The first discriminant function was a good predictor of sales performance. The second discriminant function was labeled Human Resource Management and had the strongest relationship with the following factors of servant leadership: open participatory leadership, courageous leadership, and inspiring leadership. The second discriminant function predicted membership in the 21% - 40% sales-ranking group, mediocre sales performance. One factor of servant leadership, humility, was eliminated as a predictor of sales performance. Conclusions. Developing and empowering others, authentic leadership, and visionary leadership are good predictors of sales performance. Open participatory leadership, courageous leadership, and inspiring leadership predict mediocre sales performance. Humility was eliminated as a predictor of sales performance. Business leaders with high mean scores for developing and empowering others, authentic leadership, and visionary leadership are likely to have a positive impact on the financial viability of a business organization

Ion-Exchanged Waveguides in Glass Doped with PbS Quantum Dots

The lowest-loss (≤1 dB/cm) ion-exchanged waveguides in glass doped with PbS quantum dots are presented. Near-field mode profile and refractive index profile using the refracted near-field technique were measured for these waveguides. We demonstrate that the optical properties of this glass unchanged during the ion-exchange process

The human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus can produce the highest known number of meiotic crossovers

Sexual reproduction involving meiosis is essential in most eukaryotes. This produces offspring with novel genotypes, both by segregation of parental chromosomes as well as crossovers between homologous chromosomes. A sexual cycle for the opportunistic human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is known, but the genetic consequences of meiosis have remained unknown. Among other Aspergilli, it is known that A. flavus has a moderately high recombination rate with an average of 4.2 crossovers per chromosome pair, whereas A. nidulans has in contrast a higher rate with 9.3 crossovers per chromosome pair. Here, we show in a cross between A. fumigatus strains that they produce an average of 29.9 crossovers per chromosome pair and large variation in total map length across additional strain crosses. This rate of crossovers per chromosome is more than twice that seen for any known organism, which we discuss in relation to other genetic model systems. We validate this high rate of crossovers through mapping of resistance to the laboratory antifungal acriflavine by using standing variation in an undescribed ABC efflux transporter. We then demonstrate that this rate of crossovers is sufficient to produce one of the common multidrug resistant haplotypes found in the cyp51A gene (TR34/L98H) in crosses among parents harboring either of 2 nearby genetic variants, possibly explaining the early spread of such haplotypes. Our results suggest that genomic studies in this species should reassess common assumptions about linkage between genetic regions. The finding of an unparalleled crossover rate in A. fumigatus provides opportunities to understand why these rates are not generally higher in other eukaryotes

Studies Directed Toward Improving the Spatial Resolution of the Distribution of Plutonium in Bone

Of several methods which have been discussed for the improvement of resolution in fission fragment track detectors for neutron-induced autoradiography, emphasis had been on the use of absorber layers inserted between the sample and the detector. Scanning electron microscopy was shown to be beneficial for viewing only the entrance holes of fission fragment tracks in the detector foil. The primary disadvantage of using thick absorbers lies in the factor of 50 to 100 percent loss in sensitivity over bare detectors. One promising solution to this problem is the use of glass detectors with high critical angles, no absorbers, and short etching times. Such detectors gave the best resolution of any system tested (+-2 $mu$), though they suffered at fluences greater than 10$sup 16$ n/sub th/ cm$sup 2$ from high backgrounds as a result of their natural uranium content. Two samples of bone, each of 1 mg were dissolved in HNO$sub 3$ spiked with $sup 244$Pu, and analyzed for total $sup 239$Pu content in an isotopic abundance mass spectrometer. The $sup 239$Pu concentration was 1 ppm by weight; bones with 10 ppm of $sup 239$Pu are required, therefore, for neutron-induced autoradiography. Bones in suitable form for IMMA required only to be coated with a thin conductive coating of gold. In a fast scan mode, all elements were searched in 200 x 200 areas. Good quality micrographs were obtained showing Na, K, Ca, and P as major constituents with minor elements present, such as Cr and Fe. (CH

Development and psychometric evaluation of the CO-PARTNER tool for collaboration and parent participation in neonatal care

Background Active parent participation in neonatal care and collaboration between parents and professionals during infant hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is beneficial for infants and their parents. A tool is needed to support parents and to study the effects and implementation of parent-partnered models of neonatal care.Methods We developed and psychometrically evaluated a tool measuring active parent participation and collaboration in neonatal care within six domains: Daily Care, Medical Care, Acquiring Information, Parent Advocacy, Time Spent with Infant and Closeness and Comforting the Infant. Items were generated in focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with professionals and parents. The tool was completed at NICU-discharge by 306 parents (174 mothers and 132 fathers) of preterm infants. Subsequently, we studied structural validity with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), construct validity, using the Average Variance Extracted and Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations, and hypothesis testing with correlations and univariate linear regression. For internal consistency we calculated composite reliability (CR). We performed multiple imputations by chained equations for missing data.Results A 31 item tool for parent participation and collaboration in neonatal care was developed. CFA revealed high factor loadings of items within each domain. Internal consistency was 0.558 to 0.938. Convergent validity and discriminant validity were strong. Higher scores correlated with less parent depressive symptoms (r = -0.141, 95%CI -0.240; -0.029, p = 0.0141), less impaired parent-infant bonding (r = -0.196, 95%CI -0.302; -0.056, pConclusion The CO-PARTNER tool explicitly measures parents' participation and collaboration with professionals in neonatal care incorporating their unique roles in care provision, leadership, and connection to their infant. The tool consists of 31 items within six domains with good face, content, construct and structural validity.</p