Responsibility and Integrated Thinking

Integrated thinking is essentially focused in dialogue and communication. This is partly because relationships and related purpose focus on action, which itself acts as a means of integration, and partly because critical dialogue enables better, more responsive, integrated thinking and action

Islam, Responsibility and Business in the Thought of Fethullah Gulen

This article examines the contribution of one Islamic scholar, Fetullah Gülen to the debate about the meaning and practice of responsibility. It analyses Gülen’s thinking in terms of three inter-connected modes of responsibility: relational accountability (the framework for responsibility), moral agency (teleological, virtue focused and action centred) and liability. This view of responsibility is contrasted with major western philosophers such as Levinas, Buber and Jonas, Islamic tradition and the major views about corporate responsibility, including stakeholder theory. The role of dialogue in embodying the three modes of responsibility is then analysed. The social responsibility practice of business leaders who are part of Gülen’s Hizmet Movement is briefly surveyed to illustrate the embodiment of responsibility. This focuses on the contribution of business to education and peace building, and includes the example of Zaman Daily

Integrity and Dialogue

This paper explores the relationship of dialogue to integrity. It sets out a traditional philosophical view of integrity, noting that these are predominantly assertive, holding certain principles or values against others, and therefore they do not involve dialogue. Based on more recent views on integrity, which stress agency, the paper then develops a view of integrity based on a three- fold view of responsibility. This view is based on dialogue, and with that a greater engagement with plural values and a complex social environment. The paper looks at the nature of that dialogue, and then goes on to examine implications for the practice and theory of dialogue itself. The paper uses illustrations from the Mid Staffs Hospital Trust case and from fiction, with the example of Shakespeare’s Henry V

Primary and submovement control of aiming in C6 tetraplegics following posterior deltoid transfer

Background: Upper limb motor control in fast, goal-directed aiming is altered in tetraplegics following posterior-deltoid musculotendinous transfer. Specifically, movements have similar end-point accuracy but longer duration and lower peak velocity than those of age-matched, neurotypical controls. Here, we examine in detail the interplay between primary movement and submovement phases in five C6 tetraplegic and five control participants. Methods: Aiming movements were performed in two directions (20 cm away or toward), with or without vision. Trials that contained a submovement phase (i.e., discontinuity in velocity, acceleration or jerk) were identified. Discrete kinematic variables were then extracted on the primary and submovements phases. Results: The presence of submovements did not differ between the tetraplegic (68%) and control (57%) groups, and almost all submovements resulted from acceleration and jerk discontinuities. Tetraplegics tended to make a smaller amplitude primary movement, which had lower peak velocity and greater spatial variability at peak velocity. This was followed by a larger amplitude and longer duration secondary submovement. Peak velocity of primary movement was not related to submovement incidence. Together, the primary and submovement phases of both groups were equally effective in reducing end-point error. Conclusions: C6 tetraplegic participants exhibit some subtle differences in measures of motor behaviour compared to control participants, but importantly feedforward and feedback processes work effectively in combination to achieve accurate goal-directed aiming. Keywords: Tetraplegia, Aiming, Submovement, Upper-limb control, Muscle transfe

"Integrity and the corruption debate in sport: where is the integrity?

Research question: The paper is based on the contention that ‘integrity’ is a significantly under-theorised and under-conceptualised value within sports particularly in its use by a range of organisations fighting corruption in sport, which constitute what can be termed the ‘sports integrity industry’. The ‘sports integrity industry’ reveals: different narratives about integrity amongst the different groups; a lack of integration between the different views of integrity in sport; and the danger of imposing a corporate model of (behavioural-based) integrity. Research methods: The approach adopted in the research is two-fold. Initially, a brief examination will be made of the use of the term integrity by a range of bodies within Europe and wider internationally as part of the sports integrity industry. This identifies different level of depth and sophistication of the meanings given to the term. The second part of the paper clears the conceptual ground, examining the different philosophical and psychological views of integrity. Results and findings: This analysis will distinguish moral and behavioural integrity and examine the theoretical basis for the different understandings of integrity that have been developed in literature around business and public sector activities. The paper concludes that as far as effective engagement with corruption, sport needs to look beyond its own experience and be conscious of the wider debate concerning integrity. Implications: There is an urgent need for the development of the concept and practice of integrity and effective governance in sport that recognises the inherent integrity of sport itself; personal integrity; organisational integrity and procedural integrity in sports events