A Chinese style of HRM : exploring the ancient texts

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevant sayings and stories of the ancient Chinese sages in relation to the style of Chinese human resource management (HRM).

Design/methodology/approach – Related texts generated from the quotations and stories from four Chinese sages, Guanzi, Hanfeizi, Xunzi and Yanzi, were translated and analyzed and their thinking regarding ruling the state and managing the people was discussed in line with the thoughts from the mainstream and modern Western management gurus such as Warren Bennis, Peter Drucker, Mary Parker Follett, Douglas McGregor, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Elton Mayo and Jeffrey Pfeffer.

Findings – It was found that there were striking similarities in thoughts and call for actions to address key issues in HRM by both old and contemporary, east and west thinkers across 2,500 years. The main concerns are to select the right leaders and managers and recruit the right people; create attractive organisational culture and environments that promote a participative management approach to encourage, empower and engage employees to achieve desirable outcomes; uphold the people-centred management principles; and focus on designing reward schemes that emphasise service and contribution instead of position and profits.

Originality/value – There is much to be learned from the past to address the present people management issues among modern organisations both inside China and perhaps from other parts of the world. It was as difficult to take seriously the principles-based ruling and management approaches in ancient times as it is today. However, if these principles had been put into practice, the world would have had fewer of the corporate corruption scandals and less of the mischievous behaviour in the state that are manifested in today's society, but more productive population, effective organisations, ethical governments and harmonious environment; hence less global human suffering.

Evolution of lactation : ancient origin and extreme adaptations of the lactation system

Lactation, an important characteristic of mammalian reproduction, has evolved by exploiting a diversity of strategies across mammals. Comparative genomics and transcriptomics experiments have now allowed a more in-depth analysis of the molecular evolution of lactation. Milk cell and mammary gland genomic studies have started to reveal conserved milk proteins and other components of the lactation system of monotreme, marsupial, and eutherian lineages. These analyses confirm the ancient origin of the lactation system and provide useful insight into the function of specific milk proteins in the control of lactation. These studies also illuminate the role of milk in the regulation of growth and development of the young beyond simple nutritive aspects.

A modern audience for the ancient mysteries of the occult : the evolution of Rudolf Steiner's esoteric architecture

In today’s secular society, occult conceptions of architecture may seem somewhat anachronistic, but at the turn of the twentieth century the bourgeoisie, alongside society’s artistic and intellectual elite, were enthusiastically embracing a myriad of esoteric doctrines and mystical impulses. One of the most prominent and enduring examples of this cultural phenomenon is to be found in Rudolf Steiner’s quasi-philosophical system of Anthroposophy. As a path of spiritual development based on ancient mysteries of the occult, Anthroposophy offered people the belief that there existed a way out of the chaos and meaninglessness of modern industrialised society. Steiner used the medium of architecture as a way of repackaging the occult’s venerable secrets into a tangible, material form that made their hidden message more readily accessible to his contemporary audience. While he was striving towards creating a totally new architectural language appropriate to the modern age, he perceived architectural style as an evolutionary process that revealed its spiritual content in a particular way in every epoch. As such, Steiner made free use of historical and mythological precedents as archetypal references in his work, thus giving his architecture a genealogy that has, until now, remained largely undefined. By investigating Steiner’s indebtedness to ancient temples and the architecture of the baroque, a greater understanding of his architectural heritage is made possible, which not only helps to locate him within the cultural milieu of his day, but also within the broader context of architectural history. A spiritual thread runs through this history that demonstrates that Steiner’s architecture is not as idiosyncratic as it may initially seem, though whether his work represents an original step forward in the development of modern architecture, or is merely a hangover of nineteenth century eclecticism, must also be considered in order to determine the architectural value of Steiner’s esoteric ideas.

Transmissable Dog Cancer Genome Reveals the Origin and History of an Ancient Cell Lineage

Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is the oldest known somatic cell lineage. It is a transmissible cancer that propagates naturally in dogs. We sequenced the genomes of two CTVT tumors and found that CTVT has acquired 1.9 million somatic substitution mutations and bears evidence of exposure to ultraviolet light. CTVT is remarkably stable and lacks subclonal heterogeneity despite thousands of rearrangements, copy-number changes, and retrotransposon insertions. More than 10,000 genes carry nonsynonymous variants, and 646 genes have been lost. CTVT first arose in a dog with low genomic heterozygosity that may have lived about 11,000 years ago. The cancer spawned by this individual dispersed across continents about 500 years ago. Our results provide a genetic identikit of an ancient dog and demonstrate the robustness of mammalian somatic cells to survive for millennia despite a massive mutation burden.

Seismic vulnerability of the ancient albergotti's manor in Arezzo, Italy

The thesis moves from the need of understanding how a historical building would behave in case of earthquake and this purpose is strongly linked to the fact that the majority of Italian structures are old ones placed in seismic sites. Primarily an architectural and chronological research is provided in order to figure out how the building has developed in time; then, after the reconstruction of the skeleton of the analyzed element (“Villa i Bossi” in Gragnone, AR), a virtual model is created such that the main walls and sections are tested according to the magnitude of expected seismic events within the reference area. This approach is basically aimed at verifying the structure’s reliability as composed by single units; the latter are treated individually in order to find out all the main critical points where rehabilitation might be needed. Finally the most harmful sections are studied in detail and proper strengthening is advised according to the current know-how.

The ancient Hebrew law of homicide

by Mayer Sulzberger

History of the ancient synagogue of the Spanish and Portuguese jews : the Cathedral Synagogue of the jews in England situate in Bevis Marks ; a memorial vol. wirtten spec. to celebrate the 200. anniversary of its inaug., 1701 - 1901

by Moses Gaster

Types of Jewish-Palestinian piety : from 70 B.C.E. to 70 C.E. ; the ancient pious men

by Adolph Büchler

The ancient melodies of the liturgy of the Spanish and Portuguese jews

harmonized by Emanuel Aguilar

Synagogue service for Friday evening in Eb major : based upon the ancient pentateuchal mode, utilizing the mode of Mogen Ovos

by Abraham Zevi Idelsohn

The historical poetry of the ancient Hebrews

transl. and critically examined by Michael Heilprin