Purpose – Against the background of current leadership theory, this research paper analyses and compares the leadership approaches of two outstanding leaders: Daniel Vasella, chairman of the leading Swiss pharmaceutical organization Novartis and Ricardo Semler, owner of the Brazilian conglomerate Semco. In contrast to many rather abstract, unpractical and pointlessly theoretical papers on leadership this analysis provides a more applied view of leadership by means of the life history approach delivering insight into both leaders’ development and leader personality. Methodology/approach – First, this paper locates the ideas and practices associated with the term “leadership” as a concept through theories that have developed over time and shows how the practices of leading can be derived and understood through chosen theories. Based on this, the specific characteristics and career paths of both leaders are presented and compared so that a final analysis of their leadership approach can be done. The paper is based on secondary sources such as peer-reviewed business journals and literature on leadership. Information about both leaders and their approach to leadership is gathered mainly from published interviews with them. Additional information on Semler is taken from his autobiography. Conclusions – It is difficult to identify an “essence” of leadership, whether that takes the form of personality characteristics or traits, charisma, the ability to transform people or organizations or a brain function. All presented theories of leadership seem to have their raison d’être. Both Vasella and Semler apply a combination of different attitudes and behaviours that characterize their leadership style containing elements of transformational, charismatic, ethical, servant and authentic leadership.
MULTIFILE
Communicative participation is the most important outcome of speech and language therapy, but there are no measurement instruments for children, adolescents, and young adults. This paper describes the development of MyCommunication-Youth: an item bank to measure self-reported communicative participation in children, adolescents and young adults with various communication disorders.
MULTIFILE
It has become a topic at Dutch educational institutes to feel not only responsible for improvement of theoretical and practical skills, but also of 'competences' in a broader sense. The curriculum of the Electrical and Electronic (E&E) Department has been changed enormously in the past decade. Fewer lessons and many more projects were introduced. We have choosen to let the students work on competences especially in the projects they are in. With the introduction of competences and the aid of a student portfolio we have given the tools to the students to improve their competences in a broader way. At the E &E department we introduced two different ways of working on competences. In the first years of their study students choose different roles in our projects every time. We have described all the roles and the related tasks for each specific role. While working on a role, the students indirectly work on different competences. This way of working inforces a broader educational level (a student shouldn t work on things he already knows or is able to handle) and the hitch hiking behaviour is banned out. Students now do take responsibility while contributing to the project teams. Inquiries amongst the students confirm these results. The second way is working on the specific competences in their traineeship and thesis work in the last part of their study. This will be introduced in autumn 2004 in the E&E department. In this paper we will show you how we are implementing the integration of competences, like the E&E department did, for IPD projects as well. This implementation is planned to start in autumn 2004.
DOCUMENT
Epoxy thermosets are extensively used as coatings, adhesives and in structural applications as they typically impart outstanding mechanical and electrical properties as well as chemical resistance. The currently used epoxy thermosets are produced from fossil-based non-recyclable materials. To be able to meet the circularity and sustainability goals set by the EU, this needs to change. Biobased epoxy thermosets from residual streams are considered a promising and urgently needed alternative to regular epoxy thermosets. The Cashew Nut industry could play a significant role in the development of these biobased epoxy thermosets. Global cashew nut production is about 4 million tons/year. The cashew nutshell is currently discarded as waste or used as an inefficient fuel, creating environmental issues. The cashew nutshell contains Cashew Nutshell Liquid (CNSL), which consists of the valuable chemical component cardanol. Cardanol can be used to produce biobased epoxy thermosets with balanced rigid-flexible performance. However, systematic studies about the production, properties, recyclability and commercial opportunities of the cardanol based epoxy thermosets are lacking. In this project consortium partners Avans, RUAS, Maastricht University, TU/e, Nuts2, Charcotec, NPSP, SABA, and Prokol jointly aim to answer the question: How can we develop sustainable and economically viable biobased epoxy thermosets and composites from cashew nutshell residue? First the pyrolysis process will be optimized for the effective production of CNSL. Next, the cardanol in the CNSL will be purified and modified to make the recyclable biobased epoxy thermoset. Finally, by adding biocarbon (which is also produced during the pyrolysis of cashew nutshell) to the biobased epoxy thermoset, a composite with enhanced mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties is expected to be obtained. The success of this project serves as a catalyst for the development of sustainable solutions in the thermoset industry and contribute to a sustainable application of cashew nut residue.
