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Author(s):  
Sonja K. Ötting ◽  
Lisa Masjutin ◽  
Günter W. Maier

AbstractThis paper in the Journal Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. (GIO) addresses changes in leadership through digitalization and their consequences for leaders. For years, digitalization has been heralding changes such as increasing leadership at a distance or use of digital communication media. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) now face the task of coping with these changes and have to contend with major uncertainties: What are major determining trends for leaders in SMEs? Which changes will shape leadership and how will they change leadership tasks and success-critical behavior? In semi-structured interviews with seven experts from SMEs we have explored these questions. Trends expected by the experts describe changes in the organizational structures and in work within the company. Structurally, companies will become more agile and diverse, hierarchies will play a less strong role and companies will cooperate more closely with each other. Work will become more location-independent, more influenced by Big Data and many tasks will be made easier or taken over by technology. In relation to established models of leadership tasks and behavior, the experts see a clear shift in tasks in favor of managing human resources, including the development of employees through coaching and the transfer of responsibility. In addition to previous tasks, the experts see managing change as a new task area. This area consists of accompanying change, acting flexibly and agilely, communicating openly and transparently and allowing failure. With regard to changes in success-critical behavior, leaders have to show more strategy orientation, communicate clearly and be open to new ideas and further development.


LOGOS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-19
Author(s):  
John B. Thompson

Abstract This article provides a brief account of the rise of audiobooks, from the early uses of audiobooks to make books available to the visually impaired, to the rise of Audible and the recent surge in audiobooks. It shows how the strong growth of audiobook output and sales since 2011 has been linked to a clear shift in formats: whereas CDs had been the dominant medium for audiobooks between 2003 and 2010, digital downloads became increasingly important from 2011 onwards. By 2017, digital downloads accounted for nearly 90 per cent of audiobook sales.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Oliver Pol

<p>This thesis examines the presentation of management theories in textbooks, focusing on groupthink as an indicative case. The groupthink theory warns that positive consensus leads to the exclusion of other ideas, with potentially disastrous results. It is credited to the psychologist Irving Janis, but William H. Whyte Jr. used the phrase groupthink in 1952, nineteen years before Janis’ first usage. I ask how this happened - why do most textbooks credit Janis if he did not create the term? To answer this, the study takes a critical view of management’s dissemination of knowledge. A critical study acknowledges that all knowledge is subjective, and no interpretation can precisely represent the past. The primary method was the collection historical data primarily composed of textbooks, academic studies, and journal articles. This data represents the primary work of Whyte and Janis regarding groupthink, and their representation elsewhere. This allows for the construction of a ‘counter-history’ to the accepted version of history where Janis is groupthink’s creator. My findings demonstrate a clear shift within management history, discovering early evidence of Whyte’s groupthink being embraced by prominent writers, followed by a gradual marginalisation of Whyte’s contribution. This was due in part to Janis’ sudden popularity but it is evident that management studies deliberately moved away from questions of conformity asked by Whyte and peers in the 1950s. I also found that Whyte himself moved away from the groupthink terminology, rebadging the same concept as ‘the organization man’. These findings contribute a new case study to the field of management literature calling for the importance of directly embracing history. It also makes a case for textbooks as a study’s primary form of data. Future research can further explore the extent of the continued relevance of William H. Whyte’s ideas in a modern context.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Oliver Pol

<p>This thesis examines the presentation of management theories in textbooks, focusing on groupthink as an indicative case. The groupthink theory warns that positive consensus leads to the exclusion of other ideas, with potentially disastrous results. It is credited to the psychologist Irving Janis, but William H. Whyte Jr. used the phrase groupthink in 1952, nineteen years before Janis’ first usage. I ask how this happened - why do most textbooks credit Janis if he did not create the term? To answer this, the study takes a critical view of management’s dissemination of knowledge. A critical study acknowledges that all knowledge is subjective, and no interpretation can precisely represent the past. The primary method was the collection historical data primarily composed of textbooks, academic studies, and journal articles. This data represents the primary work of Whyte and Janis regarding groupthink, and their representation elsewhere. This allows for the construction of a ‘counter-history’ to the accepted version of history where Janis is groupthink’s creator. My findings demonstrate a clear shift within management history, discovering early evidence of Whyte’s groupthink being embraced by prominent writers, followed by a gradual marginalisation of Whyte’s contribution. This was due in part to Janis’ sudden popularity but it is evident that management studies deliberately moved away from questions of conformity asked by Whyte and peers in the 1950s. I also found that Whyte himself moved away from the groupthink terminology, rebadging the same concept as ‘the organization man’. These findings contribute a new case study to the field of management literature calling for the importance of directly embracing history. It also makes a case for textbooks as a study’s primary form of data. Future research can further explore the extent of the continued relevance of William H. Whyte’s ideas in a modern context.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. e011-e011
Author(s):  
Said Slimani ◽  

Aim of study: A March-June precipitation has been reconstructed for the period 1830-2015 using Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica Manetti) tree-ring records. Area of study: Atlas cedar forest of Mount Takoucht (Béjaïa, northern Algeria). Material and methods: Seasonal correlations were computed in order to identify the best period of the year for the climate reconstruction. The temporal stability of the tree-ring signal for precipitation was checked using the split-sample calibration-verification procedure. The reconstruction was performed using the transfer function method. Main results: The reconstructed data revealed high interannual to decadal variation in late winter to early summer precipitation. Wet conditions dominated during the 1830s and 1840s and were followed by sustained dry conditions during the mid-19th century, which registered two of the most severe droughts (1858 and 1869) over the period of reconstruction. Relatively moderate climate conditions marked the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A gradual return towards drier conditions was observed from the 1920s and reached high frequencies of drought around mid-20th century. After an exceptional prolonged wet period of 24 years (1966-1989), the reconstruction registered its highest frequency in extreme dry/wet events: the decade 1993-2002 recorded the highest drought frequency of the reconstruction, with the third most severe dry event (1999), while the last years were marked by a clear shift toward wet conditions. Research highlights: These findings provide relevant records on past climate variability in one of the rainiest areas in Algeria and constitute valuable knowledge for specific drought and wet periods monitoring in the region.


Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110519
Author(s):  
Robert Musil ◽  
Florian Brand ◽  
Hannes Huemer ◽  
Maximilian Wonaschütz

This article intends to contribute to the debate on the quantification of gentrification, which is constrained by two main obstacles: firstly, the operationalisation of displacement of socially weak households, which appears as an elusive phenomenon. Secondly, the consideration of the specific urban context, in particular the regulation of the housing market. Based on a case study for Vienna, this paper introduces a new empirical approach, which does not focus on households, but on the tenement conversion of the historic housing stock. Here, the transformation as legal conversion and demolition of historic tenement houses (German: Zinshäuser) serve as an alternative indicator for the operationalisation and quantification of displacement processes. The empirical analysis of Zinshaus transformations observed for 2007-2019 for the first time provides an estimation of gentrification dynamics in Vienna. Results point to a pronounced cyclicality in transformation dynamics. Hence, spatial cluster and hotspot analyses reveal a strong concentration of Zinshaus transformations and a clear shift from central bourgeois to peripheral working-class neighbourhoods. Further, a multilinear regression model confirms the impact of Zinshaus transformations on the social dynamics in these neighbourhoods. However, data do not indicate a social shift triggered by upper-class households, but by new migrant groups and well-educated middle-class households. Beyond the case of Vienna, this analysis underlines the relevance of quantitative gentrification approaches based on housing-market segments and their conversion. It proposes applying the Zinshaus as an indicator to make the variety of the urban context visible.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Chen ◽  
K. N. Houk ◽  
Roberto Cammi

Quantum chemical calculations are reported for the thermal dimerizations of 1,3-cyclohexadiene at 1 atm and high pressures up to 6 GPa. Previous experiments [Klärner et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1986, 25, 108], based on measured activation energies and activation volumes, suggested concerted mechanisms for the formation of the endo [4+2] cycloadduct and a [6+4]-ene adduct, and stepwise mechanisms for the formation of the exo [4+2] cycloadduct and two [2+2] cycloadducts. Computed activation enthalpies (ωB97XD, CCSD(T) and SC-NEVPT2) of plausible dimerization pathways at 1 atm agree well with the experiment activation energies and the values from previous calculations [Ess et al. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 7586]. High-pressure reaction profiles, computed by the recently-developed extreme pressure-polarizable continuum model (XP-PCM), show that the reduction of reaction barrier is more profound in concerted reactions than in stepwise reactions, which is rationalized on the basis of the volume profiles of different mechanisms. A clear shift of the transition state towards the reactant by high pressure is revealed for the [6+4]-ene reaction by the calculations. The computed activation volumes by XP-PCM agree excellently with the experimental values, confirming the existence of competing mechanisms in the thermal dimerizations of 1,3-cyclohexadiene.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lorange

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore how corporate strategies have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachA wide array of literature has been surveyed. Also, several senior executives have been interviewed. And two senior management counterparts have provided inputs. The approach taken is thus exploratory and pre-paradigmatic. This sets the stage for potential empirical investigations.FindingsThere seems to be a clear shift towards more web-based inputs regarding the way corporations are executing their strategies. Surprisingly shorter-term strategy implementation seems to be rather effective. More fundamental shifts in strategies, however, seem to depend a lot on executives' abilities to travel, and this have been severely curtailed.Research limitations/implicationsThe propositions that are stated in the paper have not been tested empirically. This sets clear limitations regarding generalizability.Practical implicationsIt seems important to strengthen firms' capabilities regarding distance-driven strategic execution, as well as strengthened cash flow management.Social implicationsThere seems to be a clear shift towards more nationalization, and a slowing-down of globalization.Originality/valueWhile many of the findings might be seen as rather self-evident, there is nevertheless originality in the way that COVID-19's impact on firms' strategies has been analysed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Dennis Edmund Alan Lidbury ◽  
Sebastien Raguideau ◽  
Senlin Lui ◽  
Andrew Murphy ◽  
Richard Stark ◽  
...  

The advance of DNA sequencing technologies has drastically changed our perception of the complexity and structure of the plant microbiome and its role in augmenting plant health. By comparison, our ability to accurately identify the metabolically active fraction of soil microbiota and their specific functional role is relatively limited. Here, we combined our recently developed protein extraction method and an iterative bioinformatics pipeline to enable the capture and identification of extracellular proteins (meta-exoproteomics) expressed in the rhizosphere of Brassica spp. First, we validated our method in the laboratory by successfully identifying proteins related to the host plant (Brassica rapa) and a bacterial inoculant, Pseudomonas putida BIRD-1, revealing the latter expressed numerous rhizosphere specific proteins linked to the acquisition of plant-derived nutrients. Next, we analysed natural field-soil microbial communities associated with Brassica napus L (Oil Seed rape). By combining deep-sequencing metagenomics with meta-exoproteomics, a total of 1882 proteins were identified in bulk and rhizosphere samples. Importantly, meta-exoproteomics identified a clear shift (p<0.001) in the metabolically active fraction of the soil microbiota responding to the presence of B. napus roots that was not apparent in the composition of the total microbial community (metagenome). This metabolic shift was associated with the stimulation of rhizosphere-specialised bacteria, such as Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria and Flavobacteriia and the upregulation of plant beneficial functions related to phosphorus and nitrogen mineralisation. By providing the first meta-proteomic level assessment of the active plant microbiome at the field-scale, this study demonstrates the importance of moving past a genomic assessment of the plant microbiome in order to determine ecologically important plant: microbe interactions driving plant growth.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengzhi Zhao ◽  
Daniel J. Fallu ◽  
Sara Cucchiaro ◽  
Paolo Tarolli ◽  
Clive Waddington ◽  
...  

Abstract. Being the most common and widest spread man-made landform, terrace construction has resulted in an extensive perturbation of the land surface. Our mechanistic understanding of soil organic carbon (SOC) (de-) stabilization mechanisms and of the persistence of SOC stored in terraced soils, however, is far from complete. Here we explored the factors controlling SOC stability and temperature sensitivity (Q10) of abandoned prehistoric agricultural terrace soils in NE England, using soil fractionation and temperature sensitive incubation in combination with measurements of terrace soil burial age. Results showed that although buried terrace soils contained 1.7 times more unprotected SOC (i.e., coarse particulate organic carbon) than non-terraced soils at comparable soil depths, a significantly lower potential soil respiration was observed, relative to a control (non-terraced) profile. This suggests that burial of former topsoil due to terracing provided a mechanism for enhanced C stabilization. Furthermore, we observed a shift in SOC fraction composition from particulate organic C towards mineral protected C with increasing burial age. This clear shift to more processed recalcitrant SOC with soil burial age also contributes to SOC stability in terraced soils. Temperature sensitivity incubations revealed that the dominant controls on Q10 depend on the terrace soil burial age. At relatively younger ages of soil burial, the reduction of substrate availability due to SOC mineral protection with ageing attenuates the intrinsic Q10 of SOC decomposition. However, as terrace soil becomes older, SOC stocks in deep buried horizons are characterized by a higher temperature sensitivity, potentially resulting from the poor SOC quality (i.e., soil C : N ratio). In conclusion, terracing in our study site has stabilized SOC as a result of soil burial during terrace construction. The depth-age patterns of Q10 and SOC fraction composition of terraced soils observed in our study site differ from those seen in non-terraced soils and this has implications when assessing the effects of climate warming or terrace abandonment on the terrestrial C cycle.


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