Socially responsible business and ethical behaviour of companies have been of interest to academia and practice for decades. But the focus has almost exclusively been on large corporations while small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have not received as much attention. Thus, this paper focuses on socially responsible business practices of SME entrepreneurs or owner–managers in Germany. Based on the assumption that decision-makers in SMEs are the central point where all business activities start, members of a German entrepreneurs association were approached (...) in the course of a qualitative and quantitative survey. They were asked to assess in what way their social responsibility is expressed in specific management practices towards selected stakeholder groups. These practices in turn were assumed to result in perceived positive reactions of the respective stakeholders and subsequently to positively influence the firm's financial performance, i.e. cost reductions and increase in profits. In the paper, a research model is presented that elaborates the relationship between an SME executive's social responsibility and the value creation of a firm, i.e. whether (personal) values create (economic) value. It was found that socially responsible management practices towards employees, customers and to a lesser extent society have a positive impact on the firm and its performance. As such, values can create additional value. (shrink)

Socially responsible business and ethical behaviour of companies have been of interest to academia and practice for decades. But the focus has almost exclusively been on large corporations while small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have not received as much attention. Thus, this paper focuses on socially responsible business practices of SME entrepreneurs or owner–managers in Germany. Based on the assumption that decision-makers in SMEs are the central point where all business activities start, members of a German entrepreneurs association were approached (...) in the course of a qualitative and quantitative survey. They were asked to assess in what way their social responsibility is expressed in specific management practices towards selected stakeholder groups. These practices in turn were assumed to result in perceived positive reactions of the respective stakeholders and subsequently to positively influence the firm's financial performance, i.e. cost reductions and increase in profits. In the paper, a research model is presented that elaborates the relationship between an SME executive's social responsibility and the value creation of a firm, i.e. whether (personal) values create (economic) value. It was found that socially responsible management practices towards employees, customers and to a lesser extent society have a positive impact on the firm and its performance. As such, values can create additional value. (shrink)

Dieser Beitrag geht der Frage nach, ob zwischen den Schriften Plotins und derVita Plotinides Porphyrios im Hinblick auf das Verständnis des Todes und die Annahme der Unsterblichkeit der Seele eine Kohärenz zu erkennen ist. Dafür wird im ersten Teil zunächst anhand derEnneadengezeigt, was Plotin für sterblich erachtet, wie Plotin den konkreten Vorgang des Sterbens versteht, welche Hintergründe Plotin für Ewigkeit und für Sterblichkeit annimmt, welche Konsequenzen die Bindung der Seele an den Körper nach Plotin für die Seele hat und wie (...) sich aus Plotins Sicht die Trennung der Seele vom Körper auf das Leben der Seele auswirkt. Im zweiten Teil wird anhand derVita Plotinigezeigt, dass die Darstellung, die Porphyrios von Plotins Tod und der Existenz von Plotins Seele nach dem Tod bietet, mit Plotins Konzeption im Wesentlichen übereinstimmt. (shrink)

Die Arbeit untersucht die Konzepte von Reinigung und Reinheit in der Kaiserzeit und in der Spätantike anhand des Werks des Arztes Galen von Pergamon, der Texte der neuplatonischen Philosophen Plotin, Porphyrios und Jamblich und der Schriften der christlichen Theologen Nemesios von Emesa und Gregor von Nyssa. Damit ergründet sie zugleich drei Grundformen der Katharsis: eine medizinische, eine platonisch-philosophische und eine christlich-theologische. Auf der Basis von semantischen Analysen zum Begriffsfeld der Katharsis arbeitet sie das spezifische Profil der verschiedenen Konzepte aus, um (...) dann nach den Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen der Medizin, der Philosophie und der Theologie zu fragen. Für den Arzt Galen steht die gesunde Balance des menschlichen Körpers im Vordergrund. Der Neuplatonismus sieht die Rückkehr der Seele zum Geist als Ziel der Katharsis an. Nach der christlichen Theologie endet die Katharsis in dem unbefleckten Verhältnis der menschlichen Seele zu Gott. (shrink)