The Quest for Responsibility


Book Description

The search for responsibility in complex organisations often seems an impossible undertaking. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach combining law, social science, ethics and organisational design, Mark Bovens analyses the reasons for this, and offers possible solutions. He begins by examining the problem of 'many hands' - because so many people contribute in so many different ways, it is very difficult to determine who is accountable for organisational behaviour. Four possible solutions - corporate, hierarchical, collective and individual accountability - are analysed from normative, empirical and practical perspectives. Bovens argues that individual accountability is the most promising solution, but only if individuals have the chance to behave responsibly. The book then explores the implications of this approach. What does it mean to be a 'responsible' employee or official? When is it legitimate to disobey the orders of superiors? What institutional designs might be most appropriate?










Clinical Trials and the African Person


Book Description

Clinical Trials and the African Person aims to position the African notion of the self/person within the clinical trials context. As opposed to autonomy-based principlism, this other-regarding/communalist perspective is the preferred alternative model. This tactic draws further attention to the inadequacy of the principlist approach particularly in multicultural settings. It also engenders a rethink, stimulates interest, and re-assesses the failed assumptions of universal ethical principles. As a novel attempt that runs against much of the prevailing (Euro-American) intellectual mood, this approach strives to introduce the African viewpoint by making explicit the import of the self in a re-contextualized arena, meaning within the community and a given milieu. Thus, research ethics must go beyond autonomy-based considerations for the individual, to rightly embed him/her within his/her community and the environment.




Responsible Leadership


Book Description

These chapters on ‘Responsible Leadership’ represent the latest thinking on a topic of increasing relevance in a connected world. There are many challenges that still remain when it comes to establishing responsible leadership both in theory and practice. Whilst offering conceptualisations for the improvement of leadership is a first and perhaps easier response, what is more difficult is to facilitate the actual change to happen. These chapters will not only generate interest in the emerging domain of studies on responsible leadership, but also will pave the way for future research in this area in the years to come. Previously Published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 98 Supplement 2, 2011​




Education, Professionalism and the Quest for Accountability


Book Description

Today, workers based in institutions designed to serve the public – teachers, nurses, social workers, community officers, librarians, civil servants, etc – are expected to reorganize their thoughts and practice in accordance with a 'performance' management model of accountability which encourages a rigid bureaucracy, one which translates regulation and monitoring procedures into inflexible and obligatory compliance. This book shows how and why this performance model may be expected, paradoxically, to make practices less accountable – and, in the case of education, less educative.




Quest for Exceptional Leadership


Book Description

Quest for Exceptional Leadership: Mirage to Reality outlines the emergence of a new fifth phase of human enterprise that is redefining the criteria of success as well as re-configuring the routes to success. The author analyses the changing paradigms and provides a down-to-earth, realistic blueprint to acquire the relevant leadership traits. Corporations do not have the option to wait; they have to re-align themselves with the new reality – now. The author makes a compelling case that those who embrace the new realism will achieve sustained profitability for their companies and ‘Triple Top Line’ of joy, peace, and contentment in their personal lives.




The Quest for Professionalism


Book Description

Early pioneers in management thinking, such as Henri Fayol and Peter Drucker, conceived of management as a science-based professional activity that serves the greater good. Today, however, many organizations are managed by people demonstrating anything but professionalism, resulting in mismanagement of risks as well as a one-dimensional focus on short-term results. The key thesis in this book is that The Quest for Professionalism must be revitalized because the societal costs and damage caused by managerial amateurism are huge. The book is about how to address this grand challenge, for example by exploring whether and how a shared professional purpose, and a professional body of knowledge, can be developed. While most work in this area has previously focused on management education, The Quest for Professionalism adopts an inside-out approach, implying management scholarship is the driving force behind any intrinsic transformation of the profession at large. Without management scholars playing an active role in advancing 'science-based professionalism, ' in the mould of engineering and medicine, any attempt to professionalize management practice is doomed to fail. Moreover, Georges Romme demonstrates the professionalization quest has to move away from the idea of management being confined to a few people at the top toward management as a technology for distributing power and leadership throughout the organization




The Quest for Mature Masculinity


Book Description

In the Quest for Mature Masculinity, Taylor Ellwood asks the question, "What does it mean to be a man?" and takes readers on a quest to find the answer. Taylor shares his own ongoing journey to answer this question, while also drawing on spiritual, embodied and primal aspects of the masculine to share how men can move out of the toxic patterns of macho masculinity or nice guy syndrome toward an embodied and present masculinity. Traditional and patriarchal systems of masculinity have taught men to push their emotions down, while putting on a front that everything is fine, but its not fooling anyone, and its leaving men behind and alone. Taylor shares why we need to deconstruct the traditional narratives of masculinity, and in the process step into embodied awareness and leadership and spiritual connection with ourselves and the people around us. In this book you will learn: To define your own relationship with your inner masculine from a conscious and embodied perspective. To explore how ancestral family patterns have contributed to the masculine experience and why these patterns need to be dissolved. How to recognize and undo Toxic masculine patterns of behavior. How to develop a self-love practice that enables you to validate and empower yourself. This book shows men how they can help create a safer, and better world by working on themselves, connecting with other men, and showing up for the important relationships in their lives with a fully present awareness of themselves. The goal of this book is to help men unlock their hearts, be honest about their desires and fears, and in the process find meaningful purpose that contributes to the world.




The Quest for Wisdom, Thoughts on the Bhagawadgita


Book Description

On the philosophy of Bhagavadgita, Hindu classic; English translation of Gitagambhirya and Gitadarpana, two Kannada works.