Toxic Leadership: The Most Menacing Form of Leadership

Recent misuses of power in politics, corporate and religious arena have invigorated interest in dark side of leadership. This chapter sheds light on a menacing type of dark leadership—toxic leadership. Owing to the dearth of a comprehensive delineation of “toxic” leadership from its related phenomena, this chapter addresses the paucities and clarifies the nature, process, reasons and consequences of “toxic” leadership. It reviews, summarizes and integrates the existing literature on toxic leadership to draw nomological distinctions amongst different constructs of dark leadership and eventually presents stimulators and behavioral symptoms of toxic leadership. Few contemporary myths and detoxification measures are discussed to combat toxicity in a leader for a sustainable organization. The goal of the chapter is to reach our readers’ curiosity, enhance their frame of reference and bring new insights to educate them by providing guidelines and awareness about toxic leadership

Artificial Intelligence in Precision Medicine: A Perspective in Biomarker and Drug Discovery

Clinical care is gradually transiting from the standard approach of “signs and symptoms” toward a more targeted approach that considerably trusts biomedical data and the gained knowledge. The uniqueness of this concept is implied by “precision medicine,” which amalgamates contemporary computational methodologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics for achieving an informed decision, considering variability in patient’s clinical, omics, lifestyle, and environmental data. In precision medicine, artificial intelligence is being comprehensively used to design and enhance diagnosis pathway(s), therapeutic intervention(s), and prognosis. This has led to a rational achievement for the identification of risk factors for complex diseases such as cancer, by gauging variability in genes and their function in an environment. It is as well being used for the discovery of biomarkers, that can be applied for patient stratification based on probable disease risk, prognosis, and/or response to treatment. The advanced computational expertise using artificial intelligence for biological data analysis is also being used to speed up the drug discovery process of precision medicine. In this chapter, we discuss the role and challenges of artificial intelligence in the advancement of precision medicine, accompanied by case studies in biomarker and drug discovery processes

Innovative work behavior driving Indian startups go global – the role of authentic leadership and readiness for change

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of authentic leadership on innovative work behavior among employees in the context of Indian startups that have gone global in the past one decade. The study also aimed to investigate the mediating effect of one organizational-level variable, i.e. organizational climate and one individual-level variable, i.e. readiness for change on the direct relationship between authentic leadership and innovative work behavior. Design/methodology/approach: The study used survey method with a sample of 261 employees working in Indian startups that have gone global in the past one decade. Authentic leadership, organizational climate, readiness for change and innovative work behavior were measured using standardized questionnaires. Findings: Structural equation modeling revealed that authentic leadership had significant direct effect on innovative work behavior and this effect was mediated by readiness for change. However, organizational climate had no significant effect. Practical implications: The findings of the study have important implications for startups that employ millennials as employees and have plans to go global. Millennials have very different characteristics in the workplace and they regard authenticity in the leader very highly. Since they are assertive and they question everything, it becomes imperative for founder-leaders to exhibit authenticity in their actions, words and thoughts. Originality/value: This is the first study in the context of Indian startups that have gone global by taking important variables of authentic leadership, readiness for change and innovative work behavior

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18-49, 50-69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population.The aim of this study was to inform vaccination prioritization by modelling the impact of vaccination on elective inpatient surgery. The study found that patients aged at least 70 years needing elective surgery should be prioritized alongside other high-risk groups during early vaccination programmes. Once vaccines are rolled out to younger populations, prioritizing surgical patients is advantageous