Responsible Leadership in a Stakeholder Society - A Relational Perspective

We understand responsible leadership as a social-relational and ethical phenomenon, which occurs in social processes of interaction. While the prevailing leadership literature has for the most part focussed on the relationship between leaders and followers in the organization and defined followers as subordinates, we show in this article that leadership takes place in interaction with a multitude of followers as stakeholders inside and outside the corporation. Using an ethical lens, we discuss leadership responsibilities in a stakeholder society, thereby following Bass and Steidelmeier's suggestion to discuss "leadership in the context of contemporary stakeholder theory” (1999: 200). Moreover, from a relational and stakeholder perspective we approach the questions: What is responsible leadership? What makes a responsible leader? What qualities are needed? Finally, we propose a so-called "roles model” of responsible leadership, which gives a gestalt to a responsible leader and describes the different roles he or she takes in leading stakeholders and business in societ

Responsible Leadership: Verantwortliche Führung im Kontext einer globalen Stakeholder-Gesellschaft

"Under the umbrella term ‘Responsible Leadership’ a new research domain has emerged in recent years. It takes on the normative challenges of leading responsibly in a complex and connected global stakeholder society. We introduce ‘Responsible Leadership’ as a timely research domain by discussing, firstly, some of the key challenges leaders face in an environment of contested values. We show, secondly, why traditional leadership research is unable to meet these challenges and thus to provide orienting knowledge on how to lead responsibly. Against this background we introduce, thirdly, some of the key sources on research in ‘Responsible Leadership’ and conclude our article by sketching out perspectives for research in leadership ethics, addressing emerging research needs and vistas." (author's abstract

Quasiperiodic spin-orbit motion and spin tunes in storage rings

We present an in-depth analysis of the concept of spin precession frequency for integrable orbital motion in storage rings. Spin motion on the periodic closed orbit of a storage ring can be analyzed in terms of the Floquet theorem for equations of motion with periodic parameters and a spin precession frequency emerges in a Floquet exponent as an additional frequency of the system. To define a spin precession frequency on nonperiodic synchro-betatron orbits we exploit the important concept of quasiperiodicity. This allows a generalization of the Floquet theorem so that a spin precession frequency can be defined in this case too. This frequency appears in a Floquet-like exponent as an additional frequency in the system in analogy with the case of motion on the closed orbit. These circumstances lead naturally to the definition of the uniform precession rate and a definition of spin tune. A spin tune is a uniform precession rate obtained when certain conditions are fulfilled. Having defined spin tune we define spin-orbit resonance on synchro--betatron orbits and examine its consequences. We give conditions for the existence of uniform precession rates and spin tunes (e.g. where small divisors are controlled by applying a Diophantine condition) and illustrate the various aspects of our description with several examples. The formalism also suggests the use of spectral analysis to ``measure'' spin tune during computer simulations of spin motion on synchro-betatron orbits.Comment: 62 pages, 1 figure. A slight extension of the published versio

Could hyponatremia be a marker of anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery? A single center analysis of 1,106 patients over 5years

Purpose: The aim of this study is to define the significance of hyponatremia as a marker of anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery. Methods: All anastomoses in colorectal surgery performed at a single institution between July 2007 and July 2012 (n = 1,106) were retrospectively identified. Serum sodium levels and leukocyte values measured when an anastomotic leak was diagnosed by CT scan and/or surgical reintervention (n = 81) were compared to the values preferably on postoperative day 5 in the absence of an anastomotic leak (n = 1,025). Results: The leak rate in anastomoses of the rectum was 9.0%, while the leak rate of the other anastomoses was 5.4%. Mean serum sodium level was 138.8mmol/l in the group with an anastomotic leak and 140.5mmol/l in the group without. Hyponatremia (<136mmol/l) was present in 23% of patients in the group with an anastomotic leak and in 15% in the group without (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, leukocytes and serum sodium level remained as significant markers of an anastomotic leak. As a marker of an anastomotic leak, hyponatremia had a specificity of 93% and a sensitivity of 23%, while the presence of either leukocytosis or hyponatremia had a sensitivity of 68%, a specificity of 75%, a positive predictive value of 18%, and a negative predictive value of 97%. Conclusions: Hyponatremia could be a specific and relevant marker of anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery. If hyponatremia and leukocytosis are present after colorectal surgery, anastomotic leakage should be suspected and a CT scan with rectal contrast dye is recommended

Geodiversity assessment of Paraná state (Brazil): an innovative approach

Geodiversity is considered as the natural range of geological, geomorphological, and soil features, including their assemblages, relationships, properties, interpretations, and systems. A method developed for the quantitative assessment of geodiversity was applied to Parana ́ , a Brazilian state with an area of about 200,000 km2. The method is based on the overlay of a grid over different maps at scales ranging from 1/500,000 to 1/650,000, with the final Geodiversity Index the sum of five partial indexes calculated on a 25 9 25 km grid. The partial indexes represent the main components of geodi- versity, including geology (stratigraphy and lithology), geomorphology, paleontology, and soils. The fifth partial index covers mineral occurrences of geodiversity, such precious stones and metals, energy and industrial minerals, mineral waters, and springs. The Geodiversity Index takes the form of an isoline map that can be used as a tool in land-use planning, particularly in identifying priority areas for conservation, management, and use of natural resources at the state level.The Portuguese authors express their gratitude for the financial support given by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia to the Centro de Geologia da Universidade do Porto, which partially supports this research. The Brazilian author expresses his gratitude for the financial support given by the CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico) (Process Number 200074/2011-3)

Towards a Model of Corporate and Social Stakeholder Engagement: Analyzing the Relations Between a French Mutual Bank and Its Members

International audienceThe aim of this article is to develop a new classification of stakeholders based on the concept of corporate and social engagement. Engagement is analyzed as an organizational learning process between the managers of an organization and its stakeholders. It is a necessary condition to improve the organization's impact on its economic, social, and natural environment. Applied to the membership of a French mutual bank in order to identify the members' varying levels of engagement, this new mapping technique may help managers to adapt their practices to the degree of engagement of each identified group of members, and to modify their financial products and communications to foster engagement among as many of these groups as possible