Search results

This paper aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the corporate governance practices in the UK. The authors adopt a case study approach and use content analysis, using internal and external media releases as well as annual reports to analyse the impact of the pandemic on governance practices.

The research design is qualitative in nature and adopts a case study approach. HSBC, an international bank, is used as the case study and a content analysis of internal and external information released after the COVID-19 outbreak is used. Themes arising from the analysis are discussed and recommendations are made.

Results from the thematic analysis show that firms must be resilient in difficult times, follow sustainable practices and are attentive to the well-being of their employees. Firms must address the adequacy of IT Infrastructure and assess the IT related risks during these times.

The pandemic crisis triggered unprecedented changes in the manner the firms are governed and managed. The recommendations made by the study have practical implications for firms who can adopt them to be make the business resilient and sustainable.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the impact of the pandemic and analyse firms’ responses to the crisis in the corporate governance context. This study contributes to the corporate governance literature by providing insights of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aims to explore the relationship between board governance structure and firm risk. In particular, this study develops a “governance index” based on four aspects of the board: board composition, board leadership structure, board member characteristics and board processes, and it examines how the overall index relates to firm risk.

The study is conducted using a sample of 268 UK firms from the FTSE 350 index over the period from 2005 to 2010. An index is constructed to capture the overall governance structure of the firm. Regressions of the index on three risk measures are examined.

This study finds that the governance index that aggregates the four sets of board attributes is significantly and negatively related to firm risk. Robustness tests confirm this result.

A large number of studies have explored the relationship between the attributes of corporate boards and firm performance with mixed results. A much smaller number of studies have looked at board attributes and firm risk, but these have either focused on financial sector firms alone or have included only a single or a limited number of attributes. This study, using a broad agency framework, seeks to extend the work on firm risk and board attributes by both expanding industry sectors examined and using a comprehensive set of board attributes.

The findings have policy and practical implications for investors, regulators and chairmen of boards of governors to the extent that they inform these constituencies about the set of board attributes that are associated with firm risk. This study is the first to use a comprehensive measure of governance and relate it to firm risk.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the board attributes that significantly increase firm risk. The study aims to find whether board size, percentage of non-executive directors, women on the board, a powerful chief executive officer, equity ownership amongst executive board directors and institutional investor ownership are associated with firm risk. This is the first study that examines which board attributes increase firm risk using a UK-based sample.

This empirical study collected secondary data from Bloomberg and Morningstar databases. The data sample is an unbalanced panel of 260 companies’ secondary data on FTSE 350 index in the UK, from 2005 to 2010. The data were statistically analysed using STATA.

The study establishes the board attributes that were significantly related to firm risk. The results show that a board which can increase firm risk is one that is small in size, has high equity ownership amongst executive board directors and has high institutional investor ownership.

The governance culture and regulatory system in the UK is different from other countries. As the data are a UK-based sample, the results can lack generalisability.

The results are useful for investors who invest in large firms, to have the knowledge about the board attributes that can increase firm risk. Regulators can also use the results to strengthen regulatory guidelines.

This study fills the gap in knowledge in UK governance literature on the board attributes that can increase firm risk.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of corporate governance. Organizations boasting a board of directors that provides strong, proactive leadership and continually engages with all stakeholders can strengthen the agility and resilience needed to survive a major crisis.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This study aims to explore perceived barriers to participating in regular physical activity (PA) among middle-aged adults in Una, Himachal Pradesh, India.

This study used qualitative methodology. The authors conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews among adults between 40 and 60 years of age. Eleven interviews were conducted in participants’ vernacular language and were audio-recorded. The recordings were transcribed, and emergent findings were evaluated and interpreted using an open-ended method.

PA was mostly related to household chores by female participants. Male participants considered their daily tasks synonymous with PA. The main barriers identified were lack of enthusiasm/time, advancing age and declining health status, misperceptions of being physically active, lack of skill/knowledge, family responsibilities, lack of social support, lack of open spaces, parks and other facilities, and social restrictions due to the pandemic.

The findings of this study will aid in designing better interventions targeted at promoting PA. Identification of the existing modifiable barriers can be a target source for most public health programs.

The barriers existing among the community must be addressed to achieve the recommended level of PA. The promotional strategies should focus on individual factors, such as increasing self-efficiency and knowledge about recommended levels of PA. The social barriers must also be addressed through peer support and group-based activities. Health policies should emphasize making societies more active by ensuring more open spaces and parks.

Barriers to PA may differ among the socioeconomic strata and geographical locations. The present study explored barriers among working adults in an urban Indian setting.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the bodying agents (erythritol, sorbitol, xylitol and polydextrose) and their mixtures on the preparation of mixed Brazilian Cerrado fruit preserves (marolo, soursop and sweet passion fruit).

The simplex mixture design was used for product optimization and the preserves evaluated by physical, physicochemical and sensory properties. The research data were analyzed using regression equations on SAS University and exploratory analysis by principal component analysis and parallel factors techniques on Sensomaker software.

The results show that erythritol and polydextrose bodying agents should not be used as pure components because they provoked changes in the properties of the final product and negatively influenced the sensory attributes. While the high concentrations of xylitol and sorbitol provided better sensorial acceptance, being considered, therefore, good substitutes for sucrose.

This research has shown it is feasible to use bodying agents in the preparation of mixed Brazilian Cerrado fruit preserves without added sugar.

The development of mixed preserves could increase population access to the Brazilian Cerrado fruits. In addition, sugar-free preserves are a viable alternative for adding value to the product and satisfy all the consumers.

The combination of properties of two or more fruits and use of bodying agents can improve sensory, physical and physicochemical characteristics of the final product. However, there are technological challenges to evaluate in the preparation of mixed Brazilian Cerrado fruit preserves without added sugar.

The purpose of this paper is to develop eco‐friendly coatings based on low‐cost epoxide resins prepared by using a natural phenolic material such as cardanol (non‐toxic), in place of ordinary phenol (toxic), which can be self‐curable at an optimum temperature.

Cardanol‐formaldehyde novolac resins (CNs) were prepared by reacting cardanol with formaldehyde in different molar ratios varying from 1:0.6 to 1:0.9. Prepared CNs were epoxidised by reacting with epichlorohydrin to produce epoxide resins, which would be called as epoxidised CNs (ECNs). Further, ECNs were modified by reacting with diethanolamine (DEtOA), a secondary amine to introduce tertiary amino group(s) into the molecules, required for self‐curability of ECNs. These modified ECNs are referred to as MECNs. The molar ratio of ECNs to DEtOA was taken in accordance with epoxy functionality of epoxide resins (ECNs) which ranged from 0.5 to 2.9. Nine numbers of MECNs (MECN₁ to MECN₉) were prepared by using four epoxide resins. These resins viz. CNs, ECNs and MECNs were characterized by ¹H NMR and FTIR spectroscopic methods for their structure elucidatation, and by gel permeation chromatography for determining their molecular weights.

The most suitable molar ratio of ECN:DEtOA for the preparation of MECNs was found to be 1:1. The CN prepared by using cardanol and formaldehyde in the molar ratio of 1:0.7 was used for the preparation of ECN₂ and MECN₂. Applied films of epoxide resins, designated as MECN₂, had reasonably good physical and chemical resistance properties. With a wide cure window, the films of MECN₂ were found to be self‐curable at an optimum cure schedule of 160°C/30 min. Owing to self‐curability of the developed epoxide resins, the coatings based on them did not require any additional/external crosslinker to be incorporated in the coating composition.

The prepared epoxide resins (MECNs) had good physical and chemical resistance properties, but demonstrated low stability and low resistance to xylene, in particular.

The paper shows how the epoxide resins were prepared by using a low‐cost phenolic material (cardanol) which is obtained from natural renewable resources, instead of petroleum, and is non‐toxic. These developed coatings can be applied as primer coat and top coat on metallic substrates. True self‐curability of the coating films has been achieved via anionic polymerization.

Dietary diversity (DD) is a proxy indicator of nutrient adequacy and has been propagated as a health beneficial component of dietary behavior. This study aims to understand DD and its association with lipid indices among Indian Kho-Kho players.

In all, 50 Indian Kho-Kho players aged between 16 years and 31 years belonging to different regions of India were recruited. Dietary diversity score (DDS; food groups/day) and food variety score (FVS; number of food items/day) were considered to assess the DD. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization food frequency questionnaire was used as a tool. Serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), LDL, VLDL and HDL were measured.

The DDS and FVS showed that athletes were consuming approximately 7 of 9 food groups (Mean ± SD: 6.5 ± 1.3) and 27 varieties of foods (Mean ± SD:27.0 ± 8.6) from 9 food groups per day. This study could not find significant differences for DDS and FVS among athletes belonging to different regions. FVSs of organ meat, eggs and spices and condiments were significantly positively associated with TG (p < 0.036, p < 0.020 and p < 0.001) and VLDL (p < 0.054, p < 0.021 and p < 0.001). LDL was inversely significantly associated with FVS of cereals, white root and tubers (p < 0.032).

DDS and FVS were not associated with lipid indices among Kho-Kho players. However, individual FVS of organ meat, eggs and spices and condiments may increase TG and VLDL. Optimum consumption of cereals and root tubers may help to maintain LDL levels among Kho-Kho players.

It was found that daily consumption of organ meat and eggs may increase TG and VLDL, and optimum consumption of cereals and white roots and tubers may help to maintain LDL. High energy and fat foods may act as mediators along with spices and condiments in increasing TG and VLDL.

This paper aims to analyze the nature, magnitude and determinants of access to food among rural households in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study is based on the World Bank’s Rural Impact Survey, which has documented the shocks of COVID-19 among 2,787 rural households across six states in India. The chi-square test and binary logistics regression have been used to analyze the data.

About 49.7 % of rural households have reported the incidence of food inaccessibility and shortage, and the majority of them reported a reduction in food intake during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the magnitude of food accessibility varied across the states and the sociodemographic characteristics of the households. Furthermore, regression analysis indicates that family size, social category and occupation as sociodemographic variables and membership in self-help groups, wage employment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Cash transfer under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana as institutional support factors have a significant effect on access to food among rural households.

The findings of the study have far-reaching policy implications for developing an effective food distribution system in crisis situations like the COVID-19 outbreak. The study also provides directions for extending the research on determinants of access to food during crisis.

The study is based on a large survey data from the rural households in India and provides empirical evidence on access to food faced by rural communities during the COVID-19 lockdown.