The article deals with the role of companies in the social market economy. An example of a successful international self-regulatory initiative and its implementation in German chemical industry is discussed.

Disaster response is a highly collaborative and critical process that requires the involvement of multiple emergency responders (ERs), ideally working together under a unified command, to enable a rapid and effective operational response. Following the 9/11 and 11/13 terrorist attacks and the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it is apparent that inadequate communication and a lack of interoperability among the ERs engaged on-site can adversely affect disaster response efforts. Within this context, we present a scenario-based terrorism (...) case study to highlight the challenges of operational disaster command and response. In this article, which is based on the French emergency response doctrine, we outline a semantics-based common operational command system that is designed to guarantee an efficient information flow among ERs. Our focus is on offering to all ERs, a real-time operational picture of the situation in order to enable multilevel coordination among firefighters, police, healthcare units, public authorities, and other stakeholders. Our approach consolidates information to promote timely sharing of data among ERs. The proposed system is based on an ontology that has been developed to represent the different types of knowledge on the part of ERs, providing a shared vocabulary that covers a variety of interoperability concerns. (shrink)

This article identifies a need to develop an operational theology that responds to migrants in a real and constructive way. It discusses Daniel Groody’s image of God prism in migration theology in order to develop an integrated understanding of the image of God. It argues that Groody’s image of God prism in migration theology is assumed rather than explicit and does not proceed to inform migrant ministry design. To ensure an encompassing understanding of the notion of the image of God, (...) an integrated understanding that integrates the various views is adopted. The adopted integrated understanding of the image of God extends beyond Groody’s image of God prism in migration theology that is systematic theological and theoretical to a development of a migration diagnostic and ministry design framework that employs the various dimensions of the image of God. In doing so, the integrated understanding of the image of God is employed in a practical theological conceptualisation and ministry design to promote and encourage dispositional ethics service, care, acceptance and justice. The first section problematises the challenge of theology and Christian response to migration crisis. The second section discusses Groody’s image of God theological prism in migration theology. The third section discusses the various interpretations of the image of God. The fourth section proposes a diagnostic framework and ministry design that utilises the integrated image of God. (shrink)

This paper provides a case study of an unique initiative in corporate (SME) social responsibility which is too often overlooked in the academic study of “socialresponsibility of business in society” This case focuses on three specific points, 1) the role of an SME in social responsibility, 2) the role of a non-business trained entrepreneur and 3) the adaptation of social responsibility to a new and different socio-economic culture. This case presents the hypothesis that “a good socially responsible initiative provides an (...) excellent insurance policy for the health of a business venture in a new culture internationally. (shrink)

This article conducts a normative evaluation of Operation Iraqi Freedom undertaken in 2003 by employing principles of prudence to enquire whether the use of force could be described as an action by a responsible great power. Along with relating the principles of prudence to the concept of great power responsibility, it highlights two pillars of prudent decision-making: circumspection and awareness of one's limits. This normative framework is then utilised to evaluate the invasion of Iraq from the perspective of these specific (...) aspects of prudence. The conclusion shows that on the basis of this normative yardstick, it is not possible to classify Operation Iraqi Freedom as a prudent action by a responsible great power. (shrink)

Although the same environmental regulations apply to all regions in China, legal enforcement can be different due to local economic development priorities. There is still a lack of knowledge about how regional disparities affect the operating performance results of the implementation of corporate environmental management practices, thus providing little information for foreign companies when they invest and develop their production base in China. To fill this research gap, this paper collects data from the Fortune 500 Chinese firms to investigate the (...) moderating role of regional disparities in affecting the performance results of corporate environmental management efforts based on the institutional theory. The disclosed corporate environmental responsibility practices serve as proxy to represent corporate environmental management practices. Content analysis approach was applied to collect and analyze CER practices published in the corporate reports of Chinese manufacturers. The results show that CER has a positive impact on operating income, while regional disparities influence the relationship between CER and corporate operating income. Specifically, CER and operating income are positively related in Eastern China; on the contrary, they are negatively related in Western China. This paper adds to the body of knowledge about environmental discrepancies in the same emerging economy, and provides insights for systematic consideration in terms of the issues of government environmental regulations and corporate environmental strategies. (shrink)

Abstract Companies in the stability operations industry have been subjected to painstaking scrutiny while critics have ignored the value they bring to contingency operations and government clients. Moreover, the scope of the industry is often overlooked by critics who paint a picture of uncontrollable companies making ridiculous profits. In response, this article offers some insight on stability operations, contracting processes, pitfalls, and opportunities. The article then discusses some of the criticisms that surround the industry. These criticisms are often due (...) to sensationalized reporting, and a significant problem is that reports on criminal activity such as fraud and abuse are exaggerated. In contrast, the far larger problem of waste due to poor client planning and oversight is glossed over. Finally, the article discusses industry self-policing efforts that have emerged to support the use of professional and compliant businesses in stability operations. Ultimately it is governmental regulatory enforcement and quality contracting practices that will do the most to marginalize unethical companies, reward better firms, and improve partnerships and success rates in stability operations globally. (shrink)

Weiss examines the moral choices that accompanied the military, humanitarian, and diplomatic dilemmas of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and offers prescriptions for reconciling moral imperatives with political and operational constraints.

The proposed heavy dependence on Pavlovian conditioning to account for social behavior confounds phylogenically and ontogenically selected behavior patterns and ignores the extension of the principle of selection by consequences from biological to learning theory. Instead of acknowledging operant relations, Domjan et al. construct vaguely specified mechanisms based upon anticipatory cost-benefit considerations that are not supported by the Pavlovian conditioning literature.

Soft systems attempt to account for non-linear processes whose complexity derives from shifting interrelationships between elements. The move towards soft systems, whose stability is rooted in dynamism, represents a significant shift across disciplines with important implications for the way we approach architectural environments and materials. This article investigates the effects of physical and operational softness on the experience of architectural space through the lens of a recent installation using mycelium biocomposites, an emergent soft material. This contemporary exploration of architectural softness (...) builds in new and technically sophisticated ways on earlier experiments in architectural softness that explored the promise of creating responsive and flexible architectures. (shrink)

I argue against a general time observable in quantum mechanics except for quantum gravity theory. Then I argue in support of case specific arrival time and dwell time observables with a cautionary note concerning the broad approach to POVM observables because of the wild proliferation available.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the gap between the strategic and operational levels of corporate responsibility. The strategic level of corporateresponsibility refers to the strategic plans concerning corporate responsibility which are examined by looking at the corporate responsibility documents. The operational level stands for the everyday actions of retailers which are analysed through interviews of nine retailers. The gap between the strategic plans and operational actions is described and analysed to understand why and how the gap exists (...) and what could be done to overcome the gap in the future. (shrink)

Because corporate social responsibility (CSR) is potentially beneficial for companies, it is important to understand the factors that improve a company’s CSR practice. Scholars hypothesize that facilitating learning organization characteristics, which are divided in characteristics at the organizational and the operational level, may improve CSR implementation. These characteristics stimulate companies and their members to be critical, learn from the past, and embrace change, but there is limited empirical evidence of this approach. This study addresses this gap by surveying 280 CSR (...) professionals and performing bootstrap mediation analyses to test multiple hypotheses. Learning organization characteristics at the organizational level, play a key role in supporting CSR implementation: leadership for learning, system connection, and group learning show a direct relationship with CSR implementation. It is striking that the role of the learning organization characteristics at the operational level is only indirect; the organizational characteristics mediate their relationship with CSR implementation. (shrink)

To survive and be successful in today's setting of globalisation and complexity, companies are obliged to think in wider strategic terms, developing active and enterprising strategies that include social, political and ecological elements, besides the economic ones. The analysis of the relationship between companies and society is especially interesting when these companies operate in international markets. Countries demand that large corporations contribute to local, regional and national development in such a way that their resources are exchanged for a significant increase (...) in their citizens' quality of life. Faced with that fact, the aim of this work is to establish what actions the subsidiaries will take in order to offer a response to the needs of their stakeholders in the host countries. Secondly, we attempt to identify the factors explaining the different levels of social response of the subsidiaries established in a particular country by different parent companies. The empirical study was carried out on a sample of Spanish subsidiaries in the two manufacturing industries with most foreign investment (the chemical and automobile industries) and the results obtained both confirmed the validity of the tool used to measure social response and permitted us to determine which factors influence the institutionalisation of social responsiveness. (shrink)

Evaluative Conditioning (EC) refers to changes in our liking or disliking of a stimulus due to its pairing with other positive or negative stimuli. In addition to stimulus-based mechanisms, recent research has shown that action-based mechanisms can also lead to EC effects. Research, based on action control theories, has shown that pairing a positive or negative action with a neutral stimulus results in EC effects (Stimulus-Response binding). Similarly, research studies using Operant Conditioning (OC) approaches have also observed EC (...) effects. The aim of the present study is to directly compare EC effects elicited by two different response-based approaches – S-R bindings and OC. To this end, participants were randomly assigned to an S-R binding procedure and an OC procedure. EC effects were measured in conditions and compared. Implications for EC theory are discussed. (shrink)

There seems to be popular consensus that multinational corporations (MNCs) should take responsibility for both the intended and unintended consequences of their operations. However, within the discipline of ethics, reflection on the responsibilities of MNCs continues to be highly controversial. In this article, we reflect on one of the more contentious issues in this debate, namely, the moral responsibility of MNCs for the unintended consequences of their operations. It is argued that at least two questions need to be addressed, namely, (...) whether or not MNCs can be held morally responsible for anything and - should this be the case - what it actually means to hold the MNCs responsible. (shrink)

?German warplanes fired on two hijacked military fuel trucks in the northern province of Kunduz killing an estimated 90 villagers?.? While the debate over what is now known as the Kunduz Air Strike in 2009 has by no means ended, it has ? or so I shall argue ? missed a key point. By allowing the media's witchlike hunt for a scapegoat to dominate the military debate, a critical consideration concerning the ethics of network-enabled operations has been overlooked. As such, (...) I take the tragedy of the Kunduz air strikes as a case study of the failure of network-enabled operations, focusing on the ethical questions that this raises. To do so, I will begin with a description of what happened before, during and after the air strike. Following this, I consider three ethical concerns that arise as a result of network-enabled operations. I end with a proposal to increase the possibility of ethically reflective decision-making in network-enabled operations, which calls for a relational type of thinking and a complementary form of training. (shrink)

Managers seeking to respect local norms when operating in cross-cultural settings may encounter ethical dilemmas when faced with values that potentially conflict with their own. The question of whose ethics or values should be applied or whether a set of universal ethical norms should be developed often confronts managers in their international business dealings. This article explores the findings from a qualitative research study that examines critical ethical dilemmas confronting Australian managers in their international business operations and their responses to (...) those dilemmas. For Australians managers in this study, bribery emerged as the major ethical dilemma confronting them in their international operations. (shrink)

Developments in neurotechnology took a leap forward with the demonstration of the first Brain to Brain Interface (BBI). BBIs enable direct communication between two brains via a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) and bypasses the peripheral nervous system. This discovery promises new possibilities for future battlefield technology. As battlefield technology evolves, it is more likely to place greater demands on future soldiers. Future soldiers are more likely to process large amounts of data derived from an extensive networks of humans and machines. (...) This raises several ethical and philosophical concerns. This paper will look at BBI technology in current stages of research, future BBI applications in the military and how the potential use of BBIs in military operations challenges the way we understand the concept of responsibility. In this paper, I propose that an individual connected to a BBI ought not to be held fully responsible for her actions. The justification for this proposition is based on three key points such as an individual connected to a BBI does not have the ability to act freely, has a diminished sense of self-agency and may not be able to demonstrate authenticity of the thoughts and memories generated when connected to the interface. (shrink)