In search of organizational virtue in business: agents, goods, practices, institutions and environments

In this paper we argue that MacIntyre’s virtues-goods-practice-institution schema (MacIntyre 1985) provides a conceptual framework within which organizational virtue in general, and virtue in business in particular, can be explored. A heuristic device involving levels of individual agency, mode of institutionalization and environment is used to discuss why some businesses protect practices, develop virtues and encourage the exercise of moral agency in their decision making, while others struggle or fail to do so. In relation to conventional shareholder-owned capitalist business, both the mode of institutionalization and the environment are shown to be largely antithetical to the development of practices. Other businesses may meet the necessary internal conditions for the sustenance of practice-like features but remain dependent upon features within their environments. To illustrate this, we use participant observation to show how one particular organization—Traidcraft plc—meets the relevant conditions

Corporate Philanthropy as a Context for Moral Agency, a MacIntyrean Enquiry

It has been claimed that ‘virtuous structures’ can foster moral agency in organisations. We investigate this in the context of employee involvement in corporate philanthropy, an activity whose moral status has been disputed. Employing Alasdair MacIntyre’s account of moral agency, we analyse the results of eight focus groups with employees engaged in corporate philanthropy in an employee-owned retailer, the John Lewis Partnership. Within this organisational context, Employee-Partners’ moral agency was evidenced in narrative accounts of their engagement in philanthropic activities and in their disputes about the moral status of corporate philanthropy

Generalized curve fit and plotting (GECAP) program

Program generates graphs on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper and is designed to be used by engineers and scientists who are not necessarily professional programers. It provides fast and efficient method for display of plotted data without having to generate any additional FORTRAN instructions

Proceedings of the 39th Annual Meeting, Southern Soybean Disease Workers (March 7-8, 2012, Pensacola Beach, Florida)

Contents Symposium: Soybean Nematodes: Their Status, Impact and Management The Current Status of Nematodes of Soybean in Louisiana and Arkansas. Charles Overstreet, Edward C McGawley, Melea Martin, and Terry Kirkpatrick A Molecular Analysis of Resistance of Soybean to the Soybean Cyst Nematode. Vincent Klink Racism in Nematology. Terry Niblack SCN-resistant Soybeans, HG types, Yield, and SCN Reproduction: How It All Comes Together in the Field in Iowa. Gregory Tylka Soybean Lines Evaluated for Resistance to Reniform Nematode. Sally Stetina Graduate student presentations (Boyd Padgett, moderator) Fungicide Resistance in Cercospora kikuchii, a Major Pathogen of Louisiana Soybean. Trey Price Variation in the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) Region within Phakopsora pachyrhizi and Implications for the Currently Used Molecular Diagnostic Assays. Tomas Rush Theoretical Disease and Decision Model for Fungicide Applications for Soybean Rust. Heather Marie Young Relationship Between Stink Bug Damaged Soybean Seed and Incidence of Phomopsis longicolla in the Mississippi Soybean Production System. Joshua Jones, Angus Catchot, Fred Musser, Tom Allen, Maria Tomaso-Peterson, and Jeff Gore, lV Spatial Assessment of Rhizoctonia solani In Fields Undergoing Rice/Soybean Rotations. TN Spurlock, CS Rothrock, and WS Monfort Thursday, March 8th session (Danise Beadle, moderator) Sustaining the Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education with Support from Industry (I-PIPE). Scott Isard Screening Germplasm for Resistance to Phomopsis Seed Decay: Joint Effort from USDA and University Scientists. Shuxian Li, Gabe Sciumbato, Pengyin Chen, John Rupe, Allen Wrather, James R Smith and Randall L Nelson Effect of Storage on Soybean Seed Quality and Emergence. John Rupe Foliar Fungicides to Prevent Yield Loss Attributed to Aerial Web Blight in Mississippi, 2010 and 2011. Tom Allen, Alan Blaine, Bernie White, and Billy Moore Mycovirus-induced Hypovirulence as an Alternative Means to Control Fungal Diseases of Soybean. Said A Ghabrial and Jiatao Xie Managing Cercospora Blight in Louisiana: Facing New Challenges. Boyd Padgett, Trey Price, Brooks Blanche, Ray Schneider, Clayton Hollier, and Myra Purvis Seasonal Progress of Charcoal Rot and Its Impact on Soybean Productivity. Alemu Mengistu Discussion session: Soybean Disease Resistance (Clayton Hollier, moderator) Fungicide Resistance in Cercospora sojina: Chapter 2. Carl A Bradley and Guirong R Zhang Fungicide Efficacy on Strobilurin Resistant Cercospora sojina (Frogeye Leaf Spot) in Soybean. Melvin Newman Strobilurin Resistance in Rhizoctonia solani in Soybeans in Louisiana. Clayton A. Hollier Southern United States Soybean Disease Loss Estimate for 2011. Compiled by Stephen R. Koennin

Inhibition of adenovirus serotype 14 infection by octadecyloxyethyl esters of (S)-[(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonomethoxy)propyl]- nucleosides in vitro.

On September 22, 2008, a physician on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, notified the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (ADHSS) of an unusually high number of adult patients with recently diagnosed pneumonia (n = 10), including three persons who required hospitalization and one who died. ADHSS and CDC conducted an investigation to determine the cause and distribution of the outbreak, identify risk factors for hospitalization, and implement control measures. This report summarizes the results of that investigation, which found that the outbreak was caused by adenovirus 14 (Ad14), an emerging adenovirus serotype in the United States that is associated with a higher rate of severe illness compared with other adenoviruses. Among the 46 cases identified in the outbreak from September 1 through October 27, 2008, the most frequently observed characteristics included the following: male (70%), Alaska Native (61%), underlying pulmonary disease (44%), aged > or = 65 years (26%), and current smoker (48%). Patients aged > or = 65 years had a fivefold increased risk for hospitalization. The most commonly reported symptoms were cough (100%), shortness of breath (87%), and fever (74%). Of the 11 hospitalized patients, three required intensive care, and one required mechanical ventilation. One death was reported. Ad14 isolates obtained during the outbreak were identical genetically to those in recent community-acquired outbreaks in the United States which suggests the emergence of a new, and possibly more virulent Ad14 variant. Clinicians should consider Ad14 infection in the differential diagnosis for patients with community-acquired pneumonia, particularly when unexplained clusters of severe respiratory infections are detected

Outcomes and costs of skilled support for people with severe or profound intellectual disability and complex needs

Background With increasing reductions in funding for social care across many countries, the need to ensure that resources are used to best effect is becoming increasingly important, in particular for those with severe and complex needs. Methods In order to explore the outcomes and costs of skilled support for this group of people, quality of life was assessed for 110 people in 35 services in England. Information on costs was also collected. Results People who received consistently good active support experienced better outcomes in terms of several quality of life domains. Good support did not require significantly more staff time, and there was no evidence of higher total costs for those receiving good support. Conclusions The inclusion of active support in government guidance and local commissioning practices related to people with severe intellectual disabilities is likely to improve user outcomes. Observation should be an important element in measuring service quality

Managerial Work in a Practice-Embodying Institution - The role of calling, the virtue of constancy

What can be learned from a small scale study of managerial work in a highly marginal and under-researched working community? This paper uses the ‘goods-virtues-practices-institutions’ framework to examine the managerial work of owner-directors of traditional circuses. Inspired by MacIntyre’s arguments for the necessity of a narrative understanding of the virtues, interviews explored how British and Irish circus directors accounted for their working lives. A purposive sample was used to select subjects who had owned and managed traditional touring circuses for at least 15 years, a period in which the economic and reputational fortunes of traditional circuses have suffered badly. This sample enabled the research to examine the self-understanding of people who had, at least on the face of it, exhibited the virtue of constancy. The research contributes to our understanding of the role of the virtues in organizations by presenting evidence of an intimate relationship between the virtue of constancy and a ‘calling’ work orientation. This enhances our understanding of the virtues that are required if management is exercised as a domain-related practice

Quadratic Coupling of the Axion to Photons

We show that the QCD axion couples to the electromagnetic kinetic term at one loop. The result is that if axions make up dark matter, they induce temporal variation of the fine structure constant $\alpha$, which is severely constrained. We recast these constraints on the QCD axion parameter space. We also discuss how to generalise our finding to axion-like particles, and the resulting constraints.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 6 page appendi