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This paper aims to explore the potential utility of Identity Structure Analysis (ISA) in single-case and group-level outcome and process evaluations.

A study was conducted to evaluate mentalization-based therapy by using ISA and its linked framework software, Ipseus. Ten patients with borderline personality disorder and substance use disorder were involved in the study. ISA/Ipseus was administered prior to and at the completion of the treatment. Five-year follow-up data, comprising behavioural indicators, were also collected and compared to ISA/Ipseus results.

Improvements occurred in the evaluation of stressful, demanding and emotionally burdening situations. Evaluations on concerned others also improved, together with progress in self-reflection. Changes in the evaluation of recovery-related themes were less salient. On a case level, changes in the self-states and role models were consistent with the results of the five-year-follow up data. An initial crisis state seems suggestive of progress, while initial defensive positions with high positive self-regard, of stagnation.

ISA/Ipseus, integrating the benefits of qualitative and quantitative approaches in evaluation, is a potential method to explore the complexity of identity changes during therapy.

Motivated by rapidly increasing CEO age in the USA, the purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of CEO age on financial reporting quality and consider the moderating role of clawback provisions.

This study uses a data set of 18,492 US firm-year observations from 2003 to 2019. Financial reporting quality is proxied with accruals-based and real activities earnings management measures, and with financial statement irregularities, measured by applying Benford’s law to financial statement line items. A number of sensitivity tests are conducted including the use of an instrumental variable.

The results provide evidence that financial statement irregularities are more prevalent when CEOs are older, and they suggest a complex relation between CEO age and real activities earnings management. The results also suggest that the effect of CEO age on financial reporting quality is moderated by the presence of clawback provisions which became mandatory for US-listed firms in October 2022.

This study is the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to consider the effect of CEO age on financial statement irregularities and earnings management. This study has important implications for stakeholders evaluating the determinants of financial reporting quality, for boards of directors considering CEO age limitations and for policymakers considering mandating clawback provisions, which recently occurred in the USA.

The purpose of this study is to advance the application of pulverised cow bone ash (PCBA) as a partial replacement of cement in soil stabilisation for the production of bricks. The study investigated the impact of PCBA substitution on the characteristic strength of clay bricks under variant curing media.

Dried cow bones were pulverised, and an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence test was conducted on PCBA samples to determine the chemical constituents and ascertain the pozzolanic characteristics. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and PCBA were blended at 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% and 0% of cement substitution by mass to stabilise lateritic clay at 10% total binder content for the production of bricks. The binder-to-lateritic clay matrixes were used to produce clay bricks and cylinders for compressive and splitting tensile strength tests, respectively.

The study found that PCBA and OPC have similar chemical compositions. The strength of the clay bricks increased with curing age, and the thermal curing of clay bricks positively impacted the strength development. The study established that PCBA is a suitable substitute for cement, up to 25% for stabilisation in clay brick production.

Construction stakeholders can successfully use a PCBA-OPC binder blend of 1:3 to stabilise clay at 10% total binder content for the production of bricks. The stabilised clay bricks should be cured at an elevated temperature of approximately 90°C for 48 h to achieve satisfactory performance.

The PCBA-OPC binder blend provides adequate soil stabilisation for the production of clay bricks and curing the clay bricks at elevated temperature. This aspect of the biomass/OPC binder blend has not been explored for brick production, and this is important for the reduction of the environmental impacts of cement production and waste from abattoirs.

The purpose of this study is to understand the leadership humour style and the mechanism through which leadership humour style transforms into follower’s workplace positive and negative outcomes such as thriving at work and burnout. It uses comprehensive elaboration theory and relational process theory to explore self-disclosure and perceived similarity as two new constructs to assess their relation to intrapsychic (self-enhancing and self-defeating) and interpersonal (affiliative and aggressive) leader’s humour style, respectively.

An exploratory qualitative study through semi-structured interviews was conducted with 10 leaders to understand the different aspects of leadership humour and their outcomes. Based on these dimensions, a questionnaire was created and sent to 200 respondents, and 158 responses were received. The empirical analysis of data was done by building structural equation modeling using smart partial least square.

The empirical study has shown that self-enhancing leadership humour is related to self-disclosure, and both affiliative and aggressive leadership humour styles are related to perceived similarity. When looking at the two critical outcomes of leadership humour, both perceived similarity and self-disclosure were related to social intimacy and thriving at work. The mediation effect showed that self-enhancing humour leads to self-disclosure which increases social intimacy leading to improving thriving at work and aggressive humour leads to norm violation which further leads to burnout.

The study has used the mixed methodology to understand leadership humour and its outcomes by conducting in-depth interviews with leaders and also provides empirical evidence related to leadership humour style by using the survey to collect data from the followers capturing their perceptions. And very critically, it has explored self-disclosure and perceived similarity as two new constructs to see their relation to leadership humour style and positive and negative outcomes at the workplace.

Decision-makers often struggle to combine advice with their own intuition. This study examines how advice-giver traits and decision-makers’ intuition influence advice uptake. We present a novel typology based on decision-makers’ trust in advice-givers and their perceived expertise.

This qualitative study uses a sample of publicly available interview data with 51 elite performers. Using inductive and content analysis, we explore the mediation between decision-makers’ intuitive competence (ability to effectively deploy intuition in interface with advice) and their autonomy (self-endorsement from past performance).

We identify four sources of advice: mentor advice, specialist advice, confidant advice and commentator advice. Drawing on instances of different sources of advice along varying degrees of trust and expertise, we propose a framework for interaction between intuitional competence and advice characteristics.

We offer a novel way of contextualising nuanced forms of advice and provide a structured typology of sources, characterised by trust and expertise. This typology and our findings help reconcile contradictions in decision-making research. Finally, we offer practical guidance for the uptake of advice.