Choosing a life: (re)incarnating after leadership

Leadership studies today resembles a bewildering diversity of theories, concepts, constructs and approaches, struggling in huge part for meaning, relevance and impact. As Dennis Tourish so eloquently puts it, much of the literature suffers from ‘unrelenting triviality’ and ‘sterile preoccupations’. Seeking to create a clean break from this current state of leadership studies, After Leadership begins with the premise of a post-apocalyptic world where only fragments of ‘leadership science’ now remain, echoing Alisdair McIntyre’s imagining of such a scene as the basis for re-establishing the foundations and focus of moral theory. From these fragments, the authors seek to construct a new leadership studies that challenges much of the established thinking on leadership, exposes its limitations and biases, and, most importantly, seeks to construct the foundations of a more inclusive, participatory, bold, relational and social platform for leadership in the future. After Leadership thus imagines a brave new world where what leadership is and what we seek from it can be developed anew, rather than remaining bound up in the problematic traditions and preoccupations that characterise leadership studies today. Offering both full length chapter explorations that explore new ways of understanding and practicing leadership, as well as shorter essays that aim to provoke further reflection on leadership and what we seek of it, After Leadership offers a uniquely critical and creative collection that will inspire students, scholars and leadership educators to reconsider their understanding and practice of leadership

Numerical modelling of stable minimal surfaces

This thesis examines the numerical representation of stable minimal surfaces. In particular, the work presented concentrates on the formulation of a finite element, suitable for the analysis of systems subjected to large strains and large displacements. In order to obtain an understanding of the physical properties of a minimal surface, and to verify the proposed numerical solution algorithms, the surfaces developed by several soap-film models are given. The mechanisms involved in the formation of a soap-film (minimal) surface is summarised. Several types of minimal surfaces are investigated, including general surfaces between rigid boundaries, single minimal surfaces between two frames, and those with internal and external flexible boundaries. In addition, the question of the stability of minimal surfaces is discussed, in terms of a finite and an infinitesimal perturbation. The numerical modelling of minimal surfaces is presented, based initially on the discretisation of the form using plane linear (line) and triangular elements. The application of the matrix-based element formulations to the vector-based Dynamic Relaxation solution algorithm is described. The formulations of the elements are assessed in the context of large strains and large displacements. Subsequently, the effects of the violations of the assumptions inherent in the derivation of the element stiffness matrices on the accuracy of the numerical solution are demonstrated, and measures proposed to maintain the stability of the solution algorithm. The numerical solutions to several minimal surfaces are provided, based on the linear and triangular element discretisations respectively. An intended improvement on the plane linear and triangular element formulations is proposed by the derivation of a higher order finite element. A 24 degrees-of-freedom finite element is formulated, representing a general curved elastic (or inelastic) geometrically non-linear continuum, and modelling the condition of plane stress. The element equations are derived with special consideration of the simulation of the effects of large strains and large displacements. An appraisal of the quality of the element formulation is made through the application of the Patch test and the Eigenvalue test. The solutions to several minimal surfaces are presented, from which the effects of the assumptions in the element formulation on the accuracy of the proposed numerical solution algorithm are demonstrated

Management education and the ethical mindset: Responsibility to whom and for what?

Paper presented at the European Business Ethics Network (UK) Conference, Ethics in Crisis: a call for alternatives, April 7-9, 2010 at Queen Mary, University of London. Final version published by Springer in Journal of Business Ethics. Original title: Management education and the ethical mindset: Responsibility to whom and for what? Available online at http://www.springer.com/This paper offers an analysis of leadership responsibility associated with differing models of the firm. Following a critique of the classical economic and conventional stakeholder theories of the firm, we proposes an interactive stakeholder theory that better facilitates the kind of ethical responsibility demanded by twenty-first century challenges. Our analysis also leads us to conclude that leadership education and development is in need of urgent reform. The first part of the paper focuses on what it means to lead responsibly, and argues that leading is essentially the practice of responsibility. The second part of the paper challenges standard assumptions about the ‘business of business’, while the third section examines in more depth how leadership education might be configured as a preparation for the enactment of responsible leadership. KEYWORDS: responsible leadership, ethics, leadership education, mindsets, stakeholder theor

Editorial to the Proceedings of the TensiNet - COST Action TU1303 Symposium 2016

The TensiNet Association, in collaboration with the COST Action TU1303 “Novel structural skins: Improving sustainability and efficiency through new structural textile materials and designs” and the Newcastle University organized the TensiNet - COST Action TU1303 Symposium 2016 held in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, from Wednesday 26th to Friday 28th October 2016. This paper presents the 3-day event introducing the topics selected for the sessions, the keynote lectures and speakers and the sponsors which supported the organization of the symposium

Tommy Atkins, War Office Reform and the Social and Cultural Presence of the Late-Victorian Army in Britain, c.1868-1899

This thesis examines the development of the soldier in late-Victorian Britain in light of the movement to rehabilitate the public image of the ordinary ranks initiated by the Cardwell-Childers Reforms. Venerated in popular culture, Tommy Atkins became a symbol of British imperial strength and heroism. Socially, however, attitudes to the rank-and-file were defined by a pragmatic realism purged of such sentiments, the likes of which would characterise the British public’s relationship with their army for over thirty years. Scholars of both imperial culture and the Victorian military have identified this dual persona of Tommy Atkins, however, a dedicated study into the true nature of the soldier’s position has yet to be undertaken. The following research will seek to redress this omission. The soldier is approached through the perspective of three key influences which defined his development. The first influence, the politics of the War Office, exposes a progressive series of schemes which, cultivated for over a decade, sought to redefine the soldier through the popularisation of military service and the professionalisation of the military’s public relations strategy and apparatus. A forgotten component of the Cardwell-Childers Reforms, the schemes have not before been scrutinised. Despite the ingenuity of the schemes devised, the social rehabilitation of the soldier failed, primarily, it will be argued, because the government refused to improve his pay. The public’s response to the Cardwell-Childers Reforms and the British perception of the ordinary soldier in the decades following their introduction form the second perspective. Through surveys of the local and London press and mainstream literature, it is demonstrated the soldier, in part as a result of the reforms, underwent a social transition, precipitated by his entering the public consciousness and encouraged by a resulting fascination in the military life. The final perspective presented in this thesis is from within the rank-and-file itself. Through the examination of specialist newspaper, diary and memoir material the direct experiences of the soldiers themselves are explored. Amid the extensive public and political discussion of their nature and status, the soldier also engaged in the debate. The perspective of the rank-and-file provides direct context for the established perspectives of the British public and the War Office, but also highlights how the soldier both supported and opposed the reforms and was acutely aware of the social status he possessed. This thesis will examine the public and political treatment of the soldier in the late-nineteenth century and question how far the conflicting ideas of soldier-hero and soldier-beggar were reconciled

Social dreaming and ecocentric ethics: Sources of non-rational insight in the face of climate change catastrophe

The article considers the role of dreams as social, rather than individual, phenomena and suggests that as such they may serve as resources for 'future imaginings' with respect to potentially devastating consequences of climate change (and other transgressions of planetary boundaries). Adopting a socio-analytical perspective, it contemplates the possibility of a societal level 'cosmology episode' caused by catastrophic climate change; a critical point of rupture in the meaning-making process which leaves local rationalities in ruin. Drawing on a 'representative anecdote', the article finds allegorical parallels between the cultural collapse of a traditional indigenous culture and the impending threat of ecocrisis currently facing humanity. The possibilities of seeing and imagining offered by collective forms of dreaming are explored alongside development of a non-anthropocentric ethics. Our focus is on ways of sensing, thinking and talking about climate change that are less dependent on a rational conscious subject. The article thus enquires into what cultural means or resources might be available to (post)modern Western societies that, like the shamanic dream-vision of certain traditional cultures, might enable them to draw on non-anthropocentric sensibilities and organize responses to an impending cultural crisis. We conclude by offering Gordon Lawrence's social dreaming matrix as one possible medium through which to imagine and see beyond climate change catastrophe. © The Author(s) 2013

Preliminary Advice on Fruit Handling, Seed Pretreatment and 'Germination' of Embryos of Prumnopitys andina

Prumnopitys andina is a member of the Podocarpaceae native to Chile and Argentina. It is known to be relatively easy to propagate vegetatively, but germination from seeds is poor and can be spread over at least four years. This paper describes the methods that were used to raise 89 seedlings from 262 seeds (=34%) in less than 1 year. The sequence involves i) completely removing the fleshy sarcotesta; ii) thoroughly washing the seed-coat; iii) `pretreating' the imbibed seeds by incubating them in moist peat and sand at a daily alternating 10/15°C for several months (to allow 'maturation' or `after-ripening' / 'dormancy breakage' at present we do not know which); iv) carefully cracking the seed-coat in a vice and extracting the embryo; v) culturing clean, firm, healthy (=-`viable') embryos on moist filter paper at a daily alternating 20/30°C (with lights during the 30°C phase); [vi) where necessary, freeing the cotyledons of all seedlings that become trapped in the female gametophyte]; vii) transplanting seedlings to conventional nursery practice. A further 1008 seeds are continuing 'pretreatment' to investigate whether this will increase the proportion of seedlings per viable embryo or better still lead to a much less labour intensive seedling emergence from intact seeds

Physical topography is associated with human personality.

Regional differences in personality are associated with a range of consequential outcomes. But which factors are responsible for these differences? Frontier settlement theory suggests that physical topography is a crucial factor shaping the psychological landscape of regions. Hence, we investigated whether topography is associated with regional variation in personality across the United States (n = 3,387,014). Consistent with frontier settlement theory, results from multilevel modelling revealed that mountainous areas were lower on agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism and conscientiousness but higher on openness to experience. Conditional random forest algorithms confirmed mountainousness as a meaningful predictor of personality when tested against a conservative set of controls. East-west comparisons highlighted potential differences between ecological (driven by physical features) and sociocultural (driven by social norms) effects of mountainous terrain.N

Geographically varying associations between personality and life satisfaction in the London metropolitan area.

Residential location is thought to influence people's well-being, but different individuals may value residential areas differently. We examined how life satisfaction and personality traits are geographically distributed within the UK London metropolitan area, and how the strength of associations between personality traits and life satisfaction vary by residential location (i.e., personality-neighborhood interactions). Residential area was recorded at the level of postal districts (216 districts, n = 56,019 participants). Results indicated that the strength of associations between personality traits and life satisfaction depended on neighborhood characteristics. Higher openness to experience was more positively associated with life satisfaction in postal districts characterized by higher average openness to experience, population density, and ethnic diversity. Higher agreeableness and conscientiousness were more strongly associated with life satisfaction in postal districts with lower overall levels of life satisfaction. The associations of extraversion and emotional stability were not modified by neighborhood characteristics. These findings suggest that people's life satisfaction depends, in part, on the interaction between individual personality and particular features of the places they live.This study was financially supported by Kone Foundation and the Academy of Finland (grant no. 268388).This is the accepted manuscript of the paper. The final version is available from PNAS at http://www.pnas.org/content/112/3/725