Thomas Maak

Developing Responsible Global Leaders

Abstract Two major trends have shaped the international business field over the past decade: globalization and the quest for responsible leadership. Yet, what are the qualities that predispose business leaders to act responsibly in an increasingly complex, interlinked world, and thus to meet new social, environmental, and political responsibilities? How can organizations develop these qualities in their current and future leaders? In this chapter, we provide tentative answers to both questions by fleshing out some of the qualities global leaders need to succeed in a connected world and by comparing three innovative executive development programs that use international service learning assignments as a way to instill these qualities in their executives. These programs are PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Ulysses Program, Pfizer’s Global Health Fellows Program, and IBM’s Corporate Service Corps.

Neurophysiological Predictors of Team Performance

Objective: To identify benchmark neurophysiological measures that predict performance at a teaming level. Advanced Brain Monitoring has a track record of success in identifying neurophysiological metrics that impact expert behavior. For example, we characterized negative and positive predictors for marksmanship skill; persons with higher HF:LF Norm metrics of Heart rate variability (HRV, an indication of anxiety) during a benchmarking auditory passive vigilance task did not achieve expert marksman performance while those with above average visuospatial processing ability achieved greater levels of expertise. In the current research, we explored the ability of benchmark neurophysiological metrics to predict team performance in two large scale studies. Significance: Identifying neurophysiological metrics of teaming ability and performance as part of a team can provide potential screening mechanisms or developmental data to help build optimal teams and improve team interactions for different types of contexts in which teams may operate.

PROMOTING CSR AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING PROGRAMS

In this article we discuss how HR can support corporate sustainability strategy by designing and implementing leadership development programs incorporating international service learning assignment...

Mindfulness, Reperceiving, and Ethical Decision Making: A Neurological Perspective

Abstract Recent years have brought significant advances in research on behavioral ethics. However, research on ethical decision making is still in a nascent stage. Our objective in this paper is twofold: First, we argue that the practice of mindfulness may have significant positive effects on ethical decision making in organizations. More specifically, we will discuss the benefits of “reperceiving” – a meta-mechanism in the practice of mindfulness for ethical decision making and we provide an overview of mindfulness research pertaining to ethical decision making. Subsequently, we explore areas in which neuroscience research may inform research on ethics in organizations. We conclude that both neuroscience and mindfulness offer considerable promise to the field of ethical decision making.

Integrative Business Ethics — A Critical Approach in St. Gallen

Since our life-world becomes more and more determined by economic purposes, many people are increasingly questioning the impact of economic growth, a constant economic pressure and an accelerating globalization on the social and natural environment. There is a growing awareness of the fundamental meaning of the moral dimension in business and society.