The role of character in ethical leadership research

The study of character is a legitimate and essential topic for the analysis of leadership in organizations. We undertake three key objectives in this article to stimulate meaningful dialogue. First, a brief historical overview of the extant body of literature on character is provided. Second, working definitions of character and character-based leadership are introduced. Third, new directions for organizational scholars interested in examining the role of character-based leadership in both their research and teaching domains are suggested.     

New balanced sampling plans excluding adjacent units

Hedayat et al. [1988a. Sampling plans excluding contiguous units. J. Statist. Plann. Inference 19, 159–170; 1988b. Designs in survey sampling avoiding contiguous units. In: Krishnaiah, P.R., Rao, C.R. (Eds.). Handbook of Statistics, vol. 6. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 575–583] first introduced balanced sampling designs for the exclusion of contiguous units. Sampling plans that excluded the selection of contiguous units within a given sample, while maintaining a constant second-order inclusion probability for non-contiguous units, were investigated for finite populations of N units arranged in a circular, one-dimensional ordering. There remain many open questions about the existence of such plans and their extension to plans excluding adjacent units. We present new generation techniques and new balanced sampling plans for the exclusion of adjacent units under finite, one-dimensional, circularly and linearly ordered populations.     

Preaching to the converted: conversion language and the constitution of the TV evangelical community

A paradox is noted in the presentation of conversion in TV evangelism; this is that although the necessity of being converted is a common theme it is clear that the evangelists are aware that their audience is already converted. An attempt is made to resolve the paradox by showing how TV evangelists use conversion language as rhetoric to legitimate their role and the rationality of the organisation which they represent. It is further shown how this legitimation is itself made possible through another use of conversion language which creates a sense of moral community embracing evangelists, organisation and audience as copartners in the shared project of conversion. Finally, it is shown how the presentation of TV evangelism as the central ritual of a moral community generates a further conversion rhetoric which depicts the community as both exclusive of and yet open to non-members; a contradiction which is resolved through the establishment of distinctive roles within the community related to the activity of winning converts.     

The Right to Take Risks: Alcohol and Older People

This paper examines policy and practice regarding the purchase of alcohol for older clients of home carers in three local authorities in the Greater London area. Data were gathered from interviews with home carers and their managers, focus group discussions, and a postal survey. None of the local authorities had a written policy or written guidance on alcohol purchase or on appropriate responses to the identification of problematic drinking in older clients. The findings illustrate the problem of balancing "rights" and "risks" within a philosophy of community care which emphasizes client choice and autonomy, and show how policy and practice are "tailored" by local contexts. It is suggested that both home carers and other domiciliary workers, as well as their older clients, could benefit from a clear code of practice regarding responses to alcohol consumption and problematic drinking by older people.     

Same-Gender Sexual Partnering: A Re-Analysis of Trend Data

Numerous studies have been carried out to estimate the prevalence of same-gender sexual behavior. Among studies conducted in recent years, few confirm the commonly quoted figure of 10%. Yet several studies in the early 2000s indicated that the prevalence of same-gender sex may be increasing, especially among women. This article reexamines the trends identified in previous research by using General Social Survey data from 1988 to 2010 and by focusing on multiple measures of same-gender sex over time. Results indicate that for both women and men the likelihood of having had a same-gender sexual partner since age 18 continued to increase through the 2000s, but that the likelihood of having had a same-gender sexual partner in both the past year and in the past five years leveled off for women and reversed for men. Results also indicate that the percentage of people reporting a pattern of predominantly same-gender sexual behavior has neither increased nor decreased over time. A similar result was found among persons who reported being in a same-gender sexual relationship. Overall, results paint a more complex picture than prior studies in characterizing trends in same-gender sexual behavior.     

The Multi-method Comprehensive Review: Synthesis and Analysis when Scholarship is International,Interdisciplinary, and Immense

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This article presents a new strategy for reviewing large, multidisciplinary academic literatures: a multi-method...