Germany's New Top Managers? The Corporate Elite in Flux, 1960-2005

Against the background of an observed strategic realignment of corporations in Germany towards the financial markets and the interests of shareholders, attention is also increasingly drawn to the top managers. Yet recent studies on the recruitment and career patterns of the German corporate elite present ambiguous results. While some studies suggest that career paths remain stable, others find evidence that patterns are changing. Drawing on these different results, scholars either highlight or reject a linkage between the career patterns of top managers and the realignment of corporate strategies. Against the background of these contradictory findings, this paper investigates the changing composition of the German corporate elite. It is based upon a unique dataset capturing the career paths of the CEOs of the fifty largest industrial companies in Germany for every five years between 1960 and 2005. For the first time the development of the career paths of German top managers can be analyzed over a period of 45 years. The analysis focuses on four career patterns which are commonly associated with German managers. Although these patterns appear stable at first sight, closer examination reveals substantial changes. Building on insights from the sociological management literature and economic sociology, the results of this study indicate a link between career patterns and the observed change in corporate strategies. Therefore it is argued that the changing composition of the German corporate elite may be relevant to the discussion on the unwinding of Deutschland AG, the specific corporate governance system of postwar Germany.Im Zusammenhang mit einer stärkeren strategischen Ausrichtung deutscher Unternehmen an den Finanzmärkten sowie den Interessen der Anteilseigner geraten Topmanager zunehmend ins Zentrum des Interesses. Bei der Analyse der Rekrutierungsmuster und Zusammensetzung der deutschen Wirtschaftselite kommen jüngste Studien zu keinem eindeutigen Ergebnis. Es ist zum einen umstritten, ob sich die Rekrutierungsmuster des Topmanagements verändert haben. Zum anderen gibt es widersprüchliche Analysen zum Zusammenhang zwischen den Rekrutierungsmustern und der strategischen Neuausrichtung von Unternehmen. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser unterschiedlichen Beurteilungen untersucht das Papier Veränderungen in der Zusammensetzung und den Rekrutierungsmustern der deutschen Wirtschaftselite. Die Grundlage dafür bildet eine Datenbank, in der die Karriereverläufe von Vorstandsvorsitzenden der deutschen Industrie zu zehn Zeitpunkten zwischen 1960 und 2005 erfasst sind. Erstmals können die Karrieremuster der Topmanager in Deutschland über einen Zeitraum von 45 Jahren analysiert werden. Untersucht werden einige Karrieremerkmale, die im internationalen Vergleich als typisch für deutsche Manager gelten. Auf den ersten Blick scheinen sich die Karriereverläufe der Manager durch hohe Kontinuität auszuzeichnen. In einer differenzierteren Analyse werden hingegen substanzielle Veränderungen sichtbar. Auf Erkenntnisse der soziologischen Managementliteratur und der Wirtschaftssoziologie aufbauend deuten die Ergebnisse der Studie auf eine Verbindung zwischen den Karrieremerkmalen der Manager und dem beobachteten Strategiewandel in der Wirtschaft hin. Vor diesem Hintergrund sollte die veränderte Zusammensetzung der deutschen Wirtschaftselite auch für die Literatur zur Auflösung der Deutschland AG von Interesse sein.Introduction 2 German managers in German capitalism Theoretical and empirical precursors The managers of Deutschland AG: The reference point Recent studies, ambiguous results 3 Germany’s new top managers? Data and method Professional qualification In-house career Age on appointment, tenure 4 Conclusion Reference

Superconductivity on the threshold of magnetism in CePd2Si2 and CeIn3

The magnetic ordering temperature of some rare earth based heavy fermion compounds is strongly pressure-dependent and can be completely suppressed at a critical pressure, p$_c$, making way for novel correlated electron states close to this quantum critical point. We have studied the clean heavy fermion antiferromagnets CePd$_2$Si$_2$ and CeIn$_3$ in a series of resistivity measurements at high pressures up to 3.2 GPa and down to temperatures in the mK region. In both materials, superconductivity appears in a small window of a few tenths of a GPa on either side of p$_c$. We present detailed measurements of the superconducting and magnetic temperature-pressure phase diagram, which indicate that superconductivity in these materials is enhanced, rather than suppressed, by the closeness to magnetic order.Comment: 11 pages, including 9 figure

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Drug abuse robs individuals of their jobs, their families, and their free will as they succumb to addiction; but may cost even more: a life of disability or even life lost due to stroke. Many illicit drugs have been linked to major cardiovascular events and other comorbidities, including cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy, heroin, phencyclidine, lysergic acid diethylamide, and marijuana. This review focuses on available epidemiological data, mechanisms of action, particularly those leading to cerebrovascular events, and it is based on papers published in English in PubMed during 1950 through February 2011. Each drug's unique interactions with the brain and vasculature predispose even young, healthy people to ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. Cocaine and amphetamines have the strongest association with stroke. However, the level of evidence firmly linking other drugs to stroke pathogenesis is weak. Large epidemiological studies and systematic evaluation of each drug's action on the brain and cardiovascular system are needed to reveal the full impact of drug use on the population

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Hyaluronidase of Bloodsucking Insects and Its Enhancing Effect on Leishmania Infection in Mice

Hyaluronidases are enzymes degrading the extracellular matrix of vertebrates. Bloodsucking insects use them to cleave the skin of the host, enlarge the feeding lesion and acquire the blood meal. In addition, resulting fragments of extracellular matrix modulate local immune response of the host, which may positively affect transmission of vector-borne diseases, including leishmaniasis. Leishmaniases are diseases with a wide spectrum of clinical forms, from a relatively mild cutaneous affection to life-threatening visceral disease. Their causative agents, protozoans of the genus Leishmania, are transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies. Sand fly saliva was described to enhance Leishmania infection, but the information about molecules responsible for this exacerbating effect is still very limited. In the present work we demonstrated hyaluronidase activity in salivary glands of various Diptera and in fleas. In addition, we showed that hyaluronidase exacerbates Leishmania lesions in mice and propose that salivary hyaluronidase may facilitate the spread of other vector-borne microorganisms