Transformational Leadership and Moral Discourse in the Workplace and Civil Society

This study was grounded in the theory and practice of transformational leadership, where leaders function as moral agents of change as they facilitate values talk (moral discourse) among their constituents. The study took its cue from Rost\u27s call for a new paradigm for leadership ethics that calls for methods of group moral decision making to assess organizational and social ends. The inquiry sought to better understand how leaders engage others in moral conversation and how such processes influence organizational culture and democratic civil society. The methodology was qualitative and phenomenological as it was centered on leaders\u27 perceptions of their experiences in diverse organizational settings across public, private, and social sectors. Data was collected through focus groups and individual interviews and analyzed through the constant comparative method. Data was also interpreted within the socio-political context of a communitarian worldview that postures moral discourse as a means to identify shared values that build social capital and sustain the common good. Other theoretical contexts draw from discourse ethics, adult critical pedagogy, and moral development. The findings of the study put forth a typology of moral discourse framed in categories that include: conversational venues, individual and social impediments to the conversation, communicative dynamics that stimulate the conversation, speech actions, speech styles, functions of moral discourse, and specific leader practices that advance the conversation. Implications for practice in the workplace are framed in areas of organizational development and business ethics. Other implications are considered for the practice of democratic deliberation

Controlling the obesity pandemic:Geoffrey Rose revisited

The ongoing obesity pandemic threatens the health of hundreds of millions globally. However, to date, no country has had much success in limiting its growth, let alone reversing it. This commentary demonstrates the relevance to the obesity pandemic of the public health conceptual framework of epidemiologist Geoffrey Rose, first published as “Sick Individuals and Sick Populations” in 1985. That framework provides a useful way to analyze the pandemic’s prevention and control options, based on the notions of primordial, primary, secondary and tertiary prevention—the full spectrum of “more upstream and more downstream” approaches, each with its pros and cons. Based on an analysis of key studies to date, this commentary argues strongly that only the primordial prevention approach is likely to be successful against the obesity pandemic—but its onerous requirements for society-wide behavioural and cultural change may make that public health struggle a long one

A series of tests on the condensation of zinc vapor to metallic zinc

The purpose of this Thesis is to try to show the effect which certain variables, which are always present in practice, have upon the condensation of Zinc Vapors to Metallic Zinc. That these variables can and do play an important part in the Zinc Smelting Industry can be shown from the fact that all of the zinc obtained at the present time is won from ores by reducing the oxide of zinc to metallic zinc by means of carbon. This operation necessarily takes place at a temperature above the boiling point of zinc. This means that the zinc immediately on being reduced forms a vapor and must be condensed from this gaseous condition in order to be recovered. this condensation would be governed by the same laws which control the condensation of other gases to their liquid form --Purpose, page 2

Evaluation of Four Advanced Nozzle Concepts for Short Takeoff and Landing Performance

Four advanced nozzle concepts were tested on a canard-wing fighter in the Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. The four vectoring-nozzle concepts were as follows: (1) an axisymmetric nozzle (AXI); (2) an asymmetric, load balanced exhaust nozzle (ALBEN); (3) a low aspect ratio, single expansion ramp nozzle (LASERN); and (4) a high aspect ratio, single expansion ramp nozzle (HASERN). The investigation was conducted to determine the most suitable nozzle concept for short takeoff and landing (STOL) performance. The criterion for the best STOL performance was a takeoff ground roll of less than 1000 ft. At approach, the criteria were high lift and sufficient drag to maintain a glide slope of -3 to -6 deg with enough pitching-moment control from the canards. The test was performed at a dynamic pressure of 45 lb/sq ft and an angle-of-attack range of 0 to 20 deg. The nozzle pressure ratio was varied from 1.0 to 4.3 at both dry power and after burning nozzle configurations with nozzle vectoring to 60 deg. In addition, the model was tested in and out of ground effects. The ALBEN concept was the best of the four nozzle concepts tested for STOL performance

BRYNTRN: A baryon transport computer code, computation procedures and data base

The development is described of an interaction data base and a numerical solution to the transport of baryons through the arbitrary shield material based on a straight ahead approximation of the Boltzmann equation. The code is most accurate for continuous energy boundary values but gives reasonable results for discrete spectra at the boundary with even a relatively coarse energy grid (30 points) and large spatial increments (1 cm in H2O)

The Legalization of the Workplace

This study uses longitudinal data on nearly 300 American employers over the period 1955-85 to analyze the adoption of disciplinary hearings and grievance procedures for nonunion salaried and hourly employees. Hypotheses are developed from an institutional perspective that focuses, first, on uncertainty arising from government mandates concerning equal employment opportunity and affirmative action and, second, on the role of the human relations professions in constructing employment-relations law and prescribing models of compliance. Event-history techniques are used to test these hypotheses against competing arguments concerning the internal structure and labor market position of employing organizations. Results on all outcomes strongly support the institutionalist model.Sociolog

Equal Opportunity Law and the Construction of Internal Labor Markets

Internal labor markets have been explained with efficiency and control arguments; however, retrospective event-history data from 279 organizations suggest that federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) law was the force behind the spread of formal promotion mechanisms after 1964. The findings highlight the way in which American public policy, with its broad outcome-oriented guidelines for organizations, stimulates managers to experiment with compliance mechanisms with an eye to judicial sanction. In response to EEO legislation and case law, personnel managers devised and diffused employment practices that treat all classes of workers as ambitious and achievement oriented in the process of formalizing and rationalizing promotion decisions.Sociolog

Space station structures and dynamics test program

The design, construction, and operation of a low-Earth orbit space station poses challenges for development and implementation of technology. One specific challenge is the development of a dynamics test program for defining the space station design requirements, and identifying and characterizing phenomena affecting the space station's design and development. The test proposal, as outlined, is a comprehensive structural dynamics program to be launched in support of the space station (SS). Development of a parametric data base and verification of the mathematical models and analytical analysis tools necessary for engineering support of the station's design, construction, and operation provide the impetus for the dynamics test program. The four test phases planned are discussed: testing of SS applicable structural concepts; testing of SS prototypes; testing of actual SS structural hardware; and on-orbit testing of SS construction