Alliances and other forms of cooperation between firms often promise great benefits, for example, by the exchange of knowledge or co-specialization of resources. At the same time, the necessary actions to realize these benefits can augment vulnerability to opportunistic behaviour of partners. In addition to formal contracts to mitigate the resulting behavioural uncertainties, often, mechanisms, such as reputation or ethical values, are suggested as important supplements. However, when it comes to assessment of a specific cooperation opportunity, it is difficult to (...) account systematically for the economic consequences of these 'softer factors'. Therefore, this paper aims to surpass mere financial analysis of chance and risk and to integrate systematically both reputation and ethical values into an economic assessment of cooperative relationships. For this purpose, we develop a theoretical framework that is based on a simple-decision model to account for reputation and ethical values of potential partners as drivers of behavioural uncertainty reduction. We also discuss how this framework can be used to assess cooperative relationships and illustrate these ideas with reference to the inter-organizational accounting practices of a large drugstore chain and its suppliers. (shrink)

Alliances and other forms of cooperation between firms often promise great benefits, for example, by the exchange of knowledge or co‐specialization of resources. At the same time, the necessary actions to realize these benefits can augment vulnerability to opportunistic behaviour of partners. In addition to formal contracts to mitigate the resulting behavioural uncertainties, often, mechanisms, such as reputation or ethical values, are suggested as important supplements. However, when it comes to assessment of a specific cooperation opportunity, it is difficult to (...) account systematically for the economic consequences of these ‘softer factors’. Therefore, this paper aims to surpass mere financial analysis of chance and risk and to integrate systematically both reputation and ethical values into an economic assessment of cooperative relationships. For this purpose, we develop a theoretical framework that is based on a simple‐decision model to account for reputation and ethical values of potential partners as drivers of behavioural uncertainty reduction. We also discuss how this framework can be used to assess cooperative relationships and illustrate these ideas with reference to the inter‐organizational accounting practices of a large drugstore chain and its suppliers. (shrink)

In the leadership literature of the past 100 years or so, rhetoric has been a topic for a long time and ethics was introduced some 30 years ago. However, the three topics, leadership, rhetoric, and ethics, have not been connected. This is astonishing because when ethical leadership made its comeback, scholars acknowledged the debt that ethical leadership owes to Aristotelian ideas. For Aristotle, leadership, ethics, and rhetoric were inseparable: without ethics, there could neither be good leadership nor rhetoric, and rhetoric (...) was the bridge from leader to follower and back. Aristotle is known as the practical philosopher and we argue that closing this major lacuna in leadership theory, would be beneficial for practice too and would help prevent Theranos-like scandals. The lacuna lies in what some call a Machiavellian view of leadership and rhetoric: both are regarded as amoral tools to achieve given ends. Aristotle would bristle at that idea. Both, leadership and rhetoric, to be good, must aim at the noble. The noble is not dictated by a heroic despot nor by a selfless saint but is understood by a leader because s/he is a socially embedded individual. We argue that leadership should be understood as personal development, that organisational rules must not inhibit virtue, that leadership is more about listening than talking, that synthesising that which is heard is central, and finally, that the common, not the collective, good is the goal of leadership. (shrink)

Formal control systems are a common instrument to align employees’ interests with those of managers and companies. However, research shows that employees perceive formal controls as a sign of distrust and restraint, which can lead to costs of control in the form of lower employee cooperation and effort. We propose that charitable giving reduces these costs of control. We draw on the halo effect and propose that corporate charitable giving alters employees’ perception of and reaction to formal controls. In a (...) laboratory experiment, we find that charitable giving by a company creates a higher level of employee trust in a manager who decides to implement a control and a more positive assessment of formal control. These positive effects of charitable giving lead to lower costs of control compared to the absence of charitable giving. We thereby provide an example of how charitable giving as a corporate social responsibility activity yields positive benefits by altering the behavior of internal company stakeholders. (shrink)

Die Verantwortung fur das Leben und die Hochachtung vor dem Mitmenschen lebt Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schleissheimer in seinem Philosophieren. Aus der Begegnung mit ihm versuchen Freunde, Kollegen und Schuler diesen Anspruch fur ihr Fachgebiet aufzugreifen.".

The generation of route descriptions is a fundamental task of navigation systems. A particular problem in this context is to identify routes that can easily be described and processed by users. In this work, we present a framework for representing route networks with the qualitative information necessary to evaluate and optimize route descriptions with regard to ambiguities in them. We identify different agent models that differ in how agents are assumed to process route descriptions while navigating through route networks and (...) discuss which agent models can be translated into PDL programs. Further, we analyze the computational complexity of matching route descriptions and paths in route networks in dependency of the agent model. Finally, we empirically evaluate the influence of the agent model on the optimization and the processing of route instructions. (shrink)

Timothy Williamson has argued that the safety condition on knowledge places certain limits on iterations of knowledge. But at the same time, Williamson claims that interpersonal iterations of knowledge aren’t so restricted as to rule out ordinary cases. The present authors show that Williamson’s discussion misconstrues the challenge to iterated interpersonal knowledge. The proper argument against interpersonal iterations is rather what the authors call a third-person argument that does not share the major weaknesses of the argument Williamson considers. The challenge (...) that the safety condition poses to interpersonal iterations of knowledge therefore seems robust, even in ordinary cases. But the authors also identify an underlying assumption that their argument relies on, and they show that Williamson’s original argument as well as his argument against intrapersonal iterations of knowledge rely on analogous assumptions. In assessing the extent of the clash between safety and iterated knowledge, the focus must be on the viability of these assumptions. (shrink)

Germany is considered to be a pioneer of social security systems; nonetheless, globalization and demographic changes have put enormous pressure on them. A solution is not yet in sight as the debate on the future of the German social security systems still lacks consensus. We argue that ideas matter and that the debate can benefit from a deeper reflection on the concept of social security. This objective is pursued along two lines. First, we take a historical perspective and reconstruct the (...) development of Germany's social security systems. Second, we scrutinize from a theoretical perspective how social security is conceptualized in public and theoretical debates. Behind the various positions, we identify four basic ideal types. We then analyze how these ideal types account for the benefits of social security systems and what role they assign to corporations in providing social security. While two ultimately reinforce potential conflicts between different groups in society, the other two ideal types reveal possible benefits for all. The last ideal type actually conceptualizes social security systems as insurance that fosters risky but overall productive investments in human and other forms of capital. Therefore, it can be shown that social security systems are not necessarily threatened by globalization and that incentives exist for corporations to invest in the provision of social security. (shrink)

Kritisiert wird gegenwärtig viel - und auch Kritik wird kritisiert. In dieser Situation sucht dieser Sammelband auszuweisen, wie in einer christlichen Sozialethik Kritik betrieben wird: Sie zielt auf die Kritik der Unvernunft der die Menschen bestimmenden, zugleich von Menschen geschaffenen Ordnungen der Gesellschaft- und dies im Interesse an vernünftigeren Ordnungen ihres Zusammenlebens. Gesellschaftskritik als Vollzug praktischer Rationalität gibt es freilich nicht ohne Herrschaftskritik und nicht ohne Kritik von Ausschluss und Subalternität. Ausdrücklich wird in diesem Band der neutrale Vollzug »der Vernunft« (...) ausgeschlossen; stattdessen wird die in der eigenen Gesellschaftskritik vollzogene praktische Rationalität normativ grundiert.Mit Beiträgen vonMichelle Becka, Bernhard Emunds, Johannes Eurich, Gisela Kubon-Gilke, Torsten Meireis, Matthias Möhring-Hesse. (shrink)

In this volume specialists of medieval music and philosophy put the medieval 'musica' into the context of ideas and institutions in which it existed. The significance of 'musica' cannot be understood from a modern point of view since 'music' does not match the medieval 'musica'.

This book updates and adds to the classic Social Movements of the Sixties and Seventies, showing how social movement theory has grown and changed.

The primary purpose of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to evaluate the efficacy of an unguided, two-week internet-based training program to overcome procrastination, called ON.TOP. Because adherence is a typical problem among individuals who tend to procrastinate, especially with internet-based interventions, the secondary purpose of the present study was to investigate whether adding SMS support increases subjects’ frequency of engagement in training. In a three-armed RCT (N = 161), the effects of the intervention alone and intervention with daily SMS-support (...) were compared to a waiting list control condition in a sample of students. The primary outcome of interest was procrastination. The secondary outcome of interest was the extent of training behavior. Baseline (T0), immediate post-treatment (T1) and 8-week post-treatment (T2) assessments were conducted. Results indicated that procrastination decreased significantly only with intervention group with daily SMS support, relative to control. Moreover, incorporating SMS support also may enhance extent of training behavior. (shrink)

Abstract Two distinguishing marks of voluntaristic conceptions of human action can be found already in the 12th century, not only in the work of Bonaventura's successors: 1. the will is free to act against reasons's dictates; 2. moral responsibility depends on this conception of the will's freedom. A number of theologians from the 1130s to the 1170s accepted those claims, which have been originally formulated by Bernard of Clairvaux. Robert of Melun elaborated them in a systematical way and coined the (...) terminological distinctions which were controversely discussed in the following centuries. The paper edits and interprets some of his texts about voluntary action. Furthermore, it shows that Bernard's and Robert's ideas have been transported by their intellectualist critics in the 13th century. (shrink)

Die Luftschlage von Kundus am 4. September 2009, durch die etwa 100 Menschen ums Leben kamen und etliche weitere schwer verletzt wurden, zeigten einmal mehr das enorme Skandalisierungspotenzial von zivilen Opfern militarischer Gewaltanwendung nicht nur in Deutschland. In diesem Band gehen Offiziere, Vertreter von (N)GOs und Wissenschaftler der Frage nach, ob die indirekte Totung von Unschuldigen in Ausnahmefallen erlaubt sei. Es werden gewaltbelastete Situationen, in denen Unbeteiligte Opfer soldatischen Handelns wurden, aus verschiedenen Perspektiven untersucht, die volkerrechtlichen Regelungen von Kollateralopfern in (...) Bezug auf bewaffnete Konflikte analysiert und die moralischen Probleme einer "verhaltnismaaigen" Totung von Zivilpersonen herausgearbeitet. Auaerdem wird nach den psychischen Folgen fur die Betroffenen gefragt, wird die gegenwartige humanitare Begleitung der Soldaten in Deutschland auf den Prufstand gestellt, und es werden rechtliche Entschadigungsmoglichkeiten erortert. Mit Beitragen von: Anna Gebhardt, Matthias Gillner, Sebastian Grumer, Gerd Hankel, Michael Haspel, Adrian Klocke, Bernhard Koch, Arjan Kozica, Maria Scharlau, Hartwig von Schubert, Volker Stumke, Jorn Thieaen, Bjorn Werres, Mike Zimmermann und Peter Zimmermann. (shrink)

The volume brings together a collection of original papers on some of the main tenets of Joseph Raz's legal and political philosophy: Legal positivism and the nature of law, practical reason, authority, the value of equality, incommensurability, harm, group rights, and multiculturalism. James Griffin and Yael Tamir raise questions concerning Raz's notion of group rights and its application to claims of cultural and political autonomy, while Will Kymlicka and Bernhard Peters examine Raz's theory of multicultural society. Lukas Meyer (...) investigates the applicability of the notion of harm in the intergenerational context. Other papers are devoted to fundamental theoretical tenets of Raz's work. Hillel Steiner and Andrei Marmor examine Raz's account of value pluralism and incommensurability in light of what these authors consider to be goods whose equal distribution must be valued for its own sake. Robert Alexy and Timothy Endicott discuss traditional issues of jurisprudence and legal philosphy with special attention to Raz's contribution. Rüdiger Bittner, Bruno Celano, and J. E. Penner discuss and criticize aspects of Raz's theory of practical reason. Jeremy Waldron presents a critique of Raz's interpretation of authority.This volume concludes with a chapter by Joseph Raz in which he responds to arguments in the foregoing essays. (shrink)

Welche Problemlagen fordern Christen heute heraus, sich politisch zu engagieren? In welchen Formen reagieren sie darauf? Wie soll sich Christliche Sozialethik auf solche "Politik aus dem Glauben" beziehen und wie kann sie diese orientierend unterstutzen? Das Buch ist dem Theorie-Praxis-Verhaltnis der Christlichen Sozialethik gewidmet, das fur das Denken von Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Hengsbach SJ zentral ist. Aus Anlass seines 80. Geburtstags setzen sich 22 namhafte Autorinnen und Autoren mit dieser Fragestellung auseinander. Neben Beitragen zum Wandel der politischen Praxis von Christen (...) und Grundlagenreflexionen zum Status der Sozialethik als praktischer Wissenschaft enthalt der Band Untersuchungen zu politischen Antworten auf Digitalisierung, europaische Krise und Rechtspopulismus sowie Artikel, in denen exemplarisch aufgezeigt wird, wie Sozialethik zur Orientierung sozialpolitischen oder wirtschaftlichen Handelns beitragen kann. Das Buch endet mit einer Antwort Friedhelm Hengsbachs. Mit Beitragen von Anika Christina Albert, Michelle Becka, Rainer Bucher, Bernhard Emunds, Johannes Eurich, Karl Gabriel, Stephan Goertz, Friedhelm Hengsbach SJ, Hans-Joachim Hohn, Traugott Jahnichen, Judith Konemann, Bernhard Laux, Walter Lesch, Andreas Lob-Hudepohl, Torsten Meireis, Dietmar Mieth, Matthias Mohring-Hesse, Martin Schneider, Michael Schramm, Christian Spiess, Johannes Ulrich, Markus Vogt, Gunter Wilhelm und Katja Winkler. (shrink)

Die Soncino-Gesellschaft war ein bibliophiler Verein, der sich 1924 in Berlin gründete und bis zu seiner Auflösung 1937 über hundert Publikationen aus vielen Gebieten der jüdischen Geschichte und Kultur herausgegeben hat. Sie versammelte Mitglieder aus allen Strömungen des Judentums unter ihrem Dach und entwickelte sich mit ihrem Anspruch, ästhetische Vorbilder für das jüdische Buch zu geben, zu einem jüdischen Integrationsprojekt. Der Beitrag geht den kulturzionistischen Bruchlinien nach, die sich in der zionistischen Rezeption, dem Streit um die hebräische Bibelausgabe und der (...) Positionierung einiger prominenter Protagonisten der Soncino-Gesellschaft zeigen. Diese Bruchlinien blieben jedoch so marginal, dass sie den bibliophilen Konsens nicht gefährdeten. Im historischen Rückblick kann das Programm der Soncino-Gesellschaft vielmehr als Kanon der deutsch-jüdischen Integration in der Diaspora gelesen werden. (shrink)

Visualization in 19th-century German geography: Robert Schlagintweit and Hans Meyer as examples. – Visual representations of nature formed an essential part of 19th-century earth sciences. In particular, colonial photography – as a visual source, and as an instrument of the construction of national identities – serves essential research interests of current history and social sciences. The present paper is a case study on the role and function of photography in German geography of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It (...) focuses on the work of the Munich geographer Robert Schlagintweit and the Leipzig colonial geographer Hans Meyer ; the early history of photography in India and the function of images in the geographical exploration of overseas territories are discussed. Although there is nearly half a century between the work of R. Schlagintweit and H. Meyer, their photography shows remarkable parallels. The ideas of both on the practice of visualization are rooted in pedagogic and didactic concepts as well as in popular science. For both geographers photography was essentially a technical help, which often needed graphic revisions. And they both preferred photography to depict people and buildings . Concerning the more comprehensive question of how far their photography transmitted a specific German ‘image of abroad’, it is indicated that such a specific image should have its essential roots in a peculiar visual culture of German earth sciences in the first half of the 19th century. Thus the paper offers a starting point for further studies discussing the change from a ‘Biedermeier image’ of foreign cultures to a more ‘colonial’ one in 19th-century German geography. (shrink)

Abstract The specter of the ?group mind? or ?collective subject? plays a crucial and fateful role in the current debate on collective intentionality. Fear of the group mind is one important reason why philosophers of collective intentionality resort to individualism. It is argued here that this measure taken against the group mind is as unnecessary as it is detrimental to our understanding of what it means to share an intention. A non-individualistic concept of shared intentionality does not necessarily have to (...) get stuck with some collectivist super-agent. Rather, the specter of the group mind arises from a deep-seated ?Cartesian? preconception concerning intentionality, which we should try to overcome. *I am greatly indebted to Raimo Tuomela for his comments. Also, I wish to thank Michael Bratman, Fabienne Peter, Richard Raatzsch and Katrin Meyer. (shrink)

Levinas' erstes Hauptwerk, Totalitat und Unendlichkeit, markiert den tiefsten Einschnitt in die Geschichte der Philosophie, der nach dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs zu verzeichnen war. Wie kein anderes steht es ganz unter dem Eindruck radikalster Gewalt, die den europaischen Kontinent verwustet hat. Dieser Gewalt setzt Levinas die unaufhebbare Alteritat des Anderen entgegen, mit der er einen unverfugbaren, zur Verantwortung fur den Anderen bestimmenden ethischen Anspruch verbindet. So entfaltet Levinas die Grundfrage aller Sozialphilosophie, die Frage nach dem Anderen, so, dass das (...) Ausgeliefertsein an eine eminent gewaltsame Geschichte nicht "das letzte Wort" hat. Dafur hat ethisches Denken einzustehen, das Levinas als sozialphilosophisches zur vorrangigen Aufgabe einer Ersten Philosophie erklart. In einem kooperativen Kommentar wird in die grundlegende Bedeutung dieses Ansatzes auf dem aktuellen internationalen Diskussionsstand eingefuhrt. Mit Beitragen von Hans-Christoph Askani, Gabriella Baptist, Alain David, Pascal Delhom, Matthias Flatscher, Alfred Hirsch, Antje Kapust, Alwin Letzkus, Burkhard Liebsch, Sophie Loidolt, Dieter Mersch, Christian Rossner, Hans-Martin Schonherr-Mann, Christina Schues, Sergej Seitz, Werner Stegmaier und Bernhard Taureck. (shrink)

This chapter covers the traditional role of responsibility, and the possible connections between response and responsibility. These connections are explored through the advance of trust and the surplus of the extraordinary in relation to the Third Party. The idea of responsibility comes from the sphere of juridical law, and has a theological touch. The classical conception presented suffers from a permanent erosion that is reinforced by systemic constraints. Trust is a natural element of every community that is together applied by (...) common aims in life. The phenomenon of trust refers to the bond, the nexus, which holds together the members of a community, creating the requisite solidarity. The term ‘trust’ or ‘confidence’ should not primarily read as a substantive, but as a verb or as the derivative of a verb. Furthermore, it is noted that the responsive ethics proposed could function as a permanent corrective. (shrink)