The importance of sustainable leadership among company directors in the audio-visual sector in Spain: a cultural, ethical, and legal perspective

Business sectors are generally evolving towards the adoption of models of sustainable practice, but is this also true in the specific audio-visual sector? This question leads us to examine whether sustainable practices are carried out in the image and sound sector, using sector business leadership as a starting point. Adopting a long-term perspective has helped companies survive difficult times, such as seemingly ever more frequent economic crises and recessions, as well as to overcome the current COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Together with review of appropriate literature, the study aims to analyse the perception of managers in the audio-visual sector regarding styles of leadership in their organizations, through the Bee and Locust Sustainable Leadership framework that Avery and Bergsteiner developed in 2011. A quantitative study was carried out based on the analysis of the responses given by fifty middle and senior managers from the audio-visual sector in Spain who answered a 54-poit questionnaire. The findings yielded interesting results. Organizations within the audio-visual sector were found to display elements of both bee and locust leadership styles. The results showed that idea contribution and teamwork were valued by the managers interviewed. Furthermore, considerable importance was attached to the need to implement continuous training and the development of corresponding professional careers in companies. Overall, the results showed that there was a clear need for companies in the audio-visual sector to put greater effort into promoting and successfully achieving sustainable practices at the operational level.Los sectores empresariales están evolucionando hacia modelos de sostenibilidad, pero ¿lo es también para el sector audiovisual? Esta pregunta nos lleva a preguntarnos si en el sector de la imagen y el sonido se llevan a cabo prácticas sostenibles, tomando como punto de partida el liderazgo. Adoptar una perspectiva a largo plazo ha ayudado a las empresas a sobrevivir en tiempos difíciles, como crisis económicas y recesiones, así como en el contexto actual de pandemia de COVID-19. Junto con la revisión bibliográfica, el estudio pretende analizar la percepción de los directivos del sector audiovisual respecto al liderazgo en su organización, a través del marco de Liderazgo Sostenible de Abeja y Langosta que Avery y Bergsteiner desarrollaron en 2011. Se realizó un estudio cualitativo basado en la análisis de las respuestas de cincuenta mandos medios y altos del sector audiovisual en España que respondieron a un cuestionario de 54 preguntas. Los hallazgos arrojaron resultados interesantes. Se encontró que las organizaciones dentro del sector audiovisual muestran elementos de los estilos de liderazgo de ambos abejas y langostas. Los resultados mostraron que la aportación de ideas y el trabajo en equipo son valorados por los directivos entrevistados. Además, se dio mucha importancia a la necesidad de implementar la formación continua y el desarrollo de los profesionales en las empresas. En general, los resultados mostraron que existía una clara necesidad de que las empresas del sector audiovisual dedicaran un mayor esfuerzo para lograr prácticas sostenibles a nivel empresarial

Neutrality and the Response of Rare Species to Environmental Variance

Neutral models and differential responses of species to environmental heterogeneity offer complementary explanations of species abundance distribution and dynamics. Under what circumstances one model prevails over the other is still a matter of debate. We show that the decay of similarity over time in rocky seashore assemblages of algae and invertebrates sampled over a period of 16 years was consistent with the predictions of a stochastic model of ecological drift at time scales larger than 2 years, but not at time scales between 3 and 24 months when similarity was quantified with an index that reflected changes in abundance of rare species. A field experiment was performed to examine whether assemblages responded neutrally or non-neutrally to changes in temporal variance of disturbance. The experimental results did not reject neutrality, but identified a positive effect of intermediate levels of environmental heterogeneity on the abundance of rare species. This effect translated into a marked decrease in the characteristic time scale of species turnover, highlighting the role of rare species in driving assemblage dynamics in fluctuating environments

Revitalizing the Global Alliances for Sustainable Development: Analyzing the Viability of Sustainable Development Goal 17—A Multi-Actor Governance Approach

The seventeenth Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations, Partnerships for the Goals, aims to strengthen the means of the implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. The successful implantation of the UN’s seventeenth Sustainable Development Goal will aid the execution and achievement of the other sixteen goals. This article explores the importance and viability of Sustainable Development Goal 17, using a case study based in Valencia, Spain. The study presents an illustrative stakeholder situation, where we see that there are conflicting interests among conservationists, fishermen, municipality representatives, and others. Data collection was done using desk-based research and semi-structured interviews. The interview process was performed between October 2018 and October 2019. In total, 21 different stakeholders were interviewed. For the data analyses, a stakeholder register, Power–Interest Matrices, and a stakeholder map were used, and, to complement the latter, narratives were developed. The different analyses showed that most project stakeholders supported the project, while there was really only one stakeholder, the fishermen themselves, who were reticent about participating. However, it was shown over time that, by developing a common vision with them, the fishermen came on board the project and collaborated with the scientists. Stakeholder engagement analyses are especially useful in the application of Sustainable Development Goals at the project level. Although this case study is specifically applicable to a marine conservation context, it may be extrapolated and applied to any other Sustainable Development Goals’ context

Tackling Climate Change through Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships: Promoting SDG 17 to Combat Climate Change

The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to address environmental, social, global, and economic challenges. The SDGs were a continuation of the Millennium Development Goals and assumed a common vision for the year 2030. Efforts to achieve the SDGs must be carried out in an integrated manner, respecting the three pillars of sustainable development, which are economic, social, and environmental. This review analyses the viability of Sustainable Development Goal 17 (SDG 17), which aims to build global partnerships for development. It makes specific reference to multi-stakeholder collaboration between all sectors of society. While the first sixteen SDGs are dedicated to concrete actions, SDG 17 Partnerships for Development coordinates and facilitates the implementation of the other goals. SDG 17 promotes the “right way” of collaboration between different actors through the formation of multi-stakeholder partnerships, which are essential to foster sustainable development. Although SDG 17 has its multiple advantages, it also does have its limitations, such as the present absence of a lessons-learned repository to share and understand how multi-stakeholder partnerships can prove more effective in promoting the successful implementation of the rest of the SDGs, as well as that SDG 17 seems to be regarded as more appropriate to the achievement of the economic pillar of sustainability at the moment, rather than being applied more widely. In this review, we analyze two case studies located in the south-western part of France, from which one can observe the great number of stakeholders, some non-human, even inanimate, present even in relatively minor projects and how due consideration of the interests of all of them in a manner following due process (albeit lengthy) enables decisions to be reached correctly and approved projects implemented soundly. One of the projects was rejected and did not proceed, while the other was approved and is going ahead

The Importance of Sustainable Leadership amongst Female Managers in the Spanish Logistics Industry: A Cultural, Ethical and Legal Perspective

At present, the logistics industry in Spain is one that is mostly male-dominated, and women middle and top managers make up less than 10% of the workforce at these management levels. There is therefore an obvious lack of parity in this sector. Spanish regulation at present supports and promotes gender parity in different sectors including the logistics industry. Our article uses as a basis the fifth Sustainable Development Goal, “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. Twenty-four female middle and top managers of the logistics sector were interviewed via a questionnaire of 52 questions. The research for this study was based on Avery and Bergsteiner’s 2011 Honeybee and Locust Sustainable Leadership Model and strived to determine how female middle and top managers in the logistics sector in Spain perceived leadership in their workplace and whether these perceptions were aligned with Avery and Bergsteiner’s sustainability leadership model. Findings showed interesting results, indicating that the Spanish logistics industry seemed to be a mixture of bee- and locust-type leadership. Respondents agreed that organizations were not very open to knowledge sharing and indicated that there is still a considerable need for improvement with regard to leadership practices in the logistics sector. Finally, our study is innovative in the sense that sustainable leadership and gender equality are two elements that have not been researched together

The Benefits of Promoting SDG 17 to Combat Climate Change

193 members of the United Nations approved the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015. According to the 2030 Agenda, the SDGs contemplated the ending of poverty, the protection of the Earth and the promotion of prosperity for all. Sustainable Development Goal 17 (SDG 17) deals specifically with the creation of global alliances for development. The underlying assumption respecting this point is that these stakeholder partnerships encourage the interchange of knowledge, experience, technology, and other resources to administer efficiently the other sixteen SDGs. Although SDG 17 is very well established in theory, in practice there are still appreciable downfalls as to how to successfully make this theory become a reality. This short review will analyse the potential viability of SDG 17 “partnerships for the goals” with respect to SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), and thereupon SDG 13 (associated with climate action) utilising two south-western France two wind farm initiatives

Parent-absent begging: evidence for sibling honesty and cooperation in the spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor)

Begging in avian nestlings is a highly conspicuous behavior with important implications for the study of parent--offspring conflict. In some species, nestlings also call for long bouts in the absence of parents, and it has been proposed that this behavior is used by nestlings as a means of negotiating access to food. We studied this phenomenon in the spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor). We found that parent-absent calls were acoustically distinct from parent-present calls. Observations showed that the probability of parent-absent begging increased with nestling age and brood size, whereas it decreased with increasing body condition. This result was confirmed by an experiment that showed that nestlings produced higher parent-absent begging rates when food deprived than when satiated. Finally, we carried out a playback experiment to test the reaction of nestlings to parent-absent begging by fellow nestlings. Principle components analyses yielded 2 independent components of begging: 1) a general begging component and 2) a second factor that measures the relative contribution of communicative begging over competitive begging. Nestlings exposed to playback decreased their general begging levels and simultaneously increased the relative contribution of communicative over competitive begging. This behavior may favor needy nestlings to obtain impending feedings while keeping high levels of food solicitation from parents and is consistent with a cooperative strategy among nestlings. Future research should consider the actual response of parents to these signals. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

The importance of sustainable leadership among company directors in the audio-visual sector in Spain: a cultural, ethical, and legal perspective

Business sectors are generally evolving towards the adoption of models of sustainable practice, but is this also true in the specific audio-visual sector? This question leads us to examine whether sustainable practices are carried out in the image and sound sector, using sector business leadership as a starting point. Adopting a long-term perspective has helped companies survive difficult times, such as seemingly ever more frequent economic crises and recessions, as well as to overcome the current COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Together with review of appropriate literature, the study aims to analyse the perception of managers in the audio-visual sector regarding styles of leadership in their organizations, through the Bee and Locust Sustainable Leadership framework that Avery and Bergsteiner developed in 2011. A quantitative study was carried out based on the analysis of the responses given by fifty middle and senior managers from the audio-visual sector in Spain who answered a 54-poit questionnaire. The findings yielded interesting results. Organizations within the audio-visual sector were found to display elements of both bee and locust leadership styles. The results showed that idea contribution and teamwork were valued by the managers interviewed. Furthermore, considerable importance was attached to the need to implement continuous training and the development of corresponding professional careers in companies. Overall, the results showed that there was a clear need for companies in the audio-visual sector to put greater effort into promoting and successfully achieving sustainable practices at the operational level.Los sectores empresariales están evolucionando hacia modelos de sostenibilidad, pero ¿lo es también para el sector audiovisual? Esta pregunta nos lleva a preguntarnos si en el sector de la imagen y el sonido se llevan a cabo prácticas sostenibles, tomando como punto de partida el liderazgo. Adoptar una perspectiva a largo plazo ha ayudado a las empresas a sobrevivir en tiempos difíciles, como crisis económicas y recesiones, así como en el contexto actual de pandemia de COVID-19. Junto con la revisión bibliográfica, el estudio pretende analizar la percepción de los directivos del sector audiovisual respecto al liderazgo en su organización, a través del marco de Liderazgo Sostenible de Abeja y Langosta que Avery y Bergsteiner desarrollaron en 2011. Se realizó un estudio cualitativo basado en la análisis de las respuestas de cincuenta mandos medios y altos del sector audiovisual en España que respondieron a un cuestionario de 54 preguntas. Los hallazgos arrojaron resultados interesantes. Se encontró que las organizaciones dentro del sector audiovisual muestran elementos de los estilos de liderazgo de ambos abejas y langostas. Los resultados mostraron que la aportación de ideas y el trabajo en equipo son valorados por los directivos entrevistados. Además, se dio mucha importancia a la necesidad de implementar la formación continua y el desarrollo de los profesionales en las empresas. En general, los resultados mostraron que existía una clara necesidad de que las empresas del sector audiovisual dedicaran un mayor esfuerzo para lograr prácticas sostenibles a nivel empresarial