Hammad Ul Haq, Jiyoung Shin, Hyo Eun Cho and Sophie Junge
The purpose of this study is to examine the question of whether the repatriation adjustment process varies with different combinations of duration and purpose of international…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the question of whether the repatriation adjustment process varies with different combinations of duration and purpose of international assignments.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple-case study within one company was conducted based on in-depth interview data.
Findings
The authors find that learning-driven international assignments are more beneficial for career growth and receive better organizational support, as assignees are able to maintain regular communication (visibility) with the home unit. On the other hand, those on demand-driven, long-duration international assignments need to have a closer connection (integration) with employees in the host unit and find it challenging to maintain high visibility in the home unit simultaneously.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to existing research by highlighting that demand-driven assignees on longer assignments face greater challenges upon returning home. In addition, expatriates on short-term assignments face drastically fewer challenges than expatriates on longer assignments.
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This article critically reconstructs how Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer outlined the new scientific discipline of sociology in the nineteenth century. It aims to demonstrate…
Abstract
This article critically reconstructs how Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer outlined the new scientific discipline of sociology in the nineteenth century. It aims to demonstrate how their ideas for founding sociology creatively responded to the challenges of creating a new science from scratch. Finally, a different view of the so-called “founding fathers” will enable a new self-conception of sociology today. Analyzing classical sociological works usually entails focusing on authors' ideas and concepts. This paper, on the other hand, takes into account the self-descriptions of these authors and examines how they present themselves as founders of sociology. It conducts a close reading of the sociological concepts and autobiographical texts written by both Comte and Spencer. This allows us to highlight the conceptual tension between the sociological subject matter, society as an ordered object, and the self-descriptions of the authors as exceptional scientists. It also demonstrates how important the figurative elements are in this analysis. This new approach contributes to the history of ideas in general and the history of sociology in particular by offering an exploration of narrative and figurative elements in the sociological “classics.” It thus creates a deeper understanding and clearer image of the foundations of what later became sociology. Founding a new discipline is a creative act that not only consists in theoretical conceptualizations but also implies figurative aspects. These can be found primarily in the way the authors describe themselves. Furthermore, their textual and diagrammatical articulations can be understood as “founding figures” on which the idea of a figurative sociology is based.
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Jan G. Langhof and Stefan Gueldenberg
The article aims at examining the ethical limits and risks of servant leadership. During the Second World War, the German army officer Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal…
Abstract
Purpose
The article aims at examining the ethical limits and risks of servant leadership. During the Second World War, the German army officer Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal servant to his nation and homeland. But when he learns about the Nazis’ mass murders and crimes, he begins to have doubts about whom he should serve. Being confronted with numerous moral dilemmas, he finally decides to join a resistance group. Of course, Stauffenberg's situation as colonel and leader was an extreme case. Time and again, however, managers and leaders are faced with similar dilemmas. Indeed, the current COVID-19-crisis shows that even today’s leaders are repeatedly faced with almost insoluble dilemmas. The recent literature about ethics and leadership suggests a philosophy which is almost portrayed as a panacea to any ethical issues: servant leadership (SL). This study, however, questions the commonly held view that SL is always ethical. The purpose of our historical case study is twofold. First, this study explores the ethical challenges Stauffenberg (and other officers) faced and how they dealt with them. Second, this study elaborates on what responses (if any) SL would provide to these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
The applied method is a historical case study, in which the authors draw on a plethora of secondary literature, including books, reports, and articles.
Findings
By analyzing the historical case of “Operation Valkyrie,” this study elaborated and identified risks and limitations of SL and pointed out ways to address these risks. In particular, SL poses risks in the case of a too narrow understanding of the term “service.”
Originality/value
While other leadership styles, e.g. transformational leadership or charismatic leadership, have been extensively studied with regard to ethical risks, in the case of SL possible risks and limitations are still largely unexplored.