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This paper provides researchers and practitioners with a personal reflection on the nature of the relationship between politicians and chief executives in UK local government.

The paper sets the political/managerial relationship in context. It analyses the different motivations at play and the nature, similarities and differences of political and managerial leadership. It reflects on how these are interrelated using three key examples: a managerial crisis, a large capital project and longer term partnership working.

The paper concludes that if political/managerial relationships are to be successful two-way insight is required: for political leaders this is insight into the managerial and operational realities that the organisation addresses. For managerial leaders this is insight into the political realities that leading politicians face. This goes beyond what has been traditionally posed as an impermeable barrier between the political and managerial spheres in public service.

The paper presents a personal view which has been triangulated with relevant leading politicians. Its analysis and conclusions are not tested in the light of a wider literature review. Further research is required to explore whether the suggestions of the findings would have validity in other contexts and how that might challenge traditional thinking about the nature of political and managerial leadership.

The paper is original because very little is written about the nature of the relationship between political and managerial leaders. It will have value for academics considering the nature of public leadership, politicians thinking about how they work with managerial leaders and vice versa.

Corporate financial communications concern public and private disclosure (Holland, 2005). This paper aims to explain how banks developed financial communications and how problems emerged in the global financial crisis. It explores policy responses.

Bank cases reveal construction and destruction of the social, knowledge and economic world of financial communications over two periods.

In the 1990s, learning about financial communications by a “dominant coalition” (Cyert, March, 1963) in bank top management was stimulated by gradual change. The management learnt how to accumulate social and cultural capital and developed “habitus” for disclosure (Bourdieu, 1986). From 2000, rapid change and secrecy factors accelerated bank internalisation of shareholder wealth maximising values, turning “habitus” in “market for information” (MFI) (Barker, 1998) into a “psychic prison” (Morgan,1986), creating riskier bank cultures (Schein, 2004) and constraining learning.

The paper introduces sociological concepts to banking research and financial disclosures to increase the understanding about financial information and bank culture and about how regulation can avoid crises. Limitations reflect the small number of banks and range of qualitative data.

Regulators will have to make visible the change processes, new contexts and knowledge and connections to bank risk and performance through improved regulator action and bank public disclosure.

“Masking” and rituals (Andon and Free, 2012) restricted bank disclosure and weakened governance and market pressures on banks. These factors mediated bank failure and survival in 2008, as “psychic prisons” “fell apart”. Bank and MFI agents experienced a “cosmology episode” (Weick, 1988). Financial communications structures failed but were reconstructed by regulators.

The paper shows how citizens require transparency and contested accountability to democratise finance capitalism. Otherwise, problems will recur.

The article highlights one of several recent SEC enforcement developments involving whistleblowers.

The article describes a recent SEC enforcement action based on confidentiality provisions of a company agreement, highlights the provision that the SEC found to be a violation of federal securities laws as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, and summarizes several other related recent federal regulatory developments. The article suggests actions that companies may wish to take in light of the SEC’s enforcement action in this case.

The SEC’s expansive view of the Dodd-Frank Act whistleblower protections may require companies to undertake a broad review of confidentiality provisions in various agreements and policies.

Companies should review all confidentiality provisions in light of the KBR enforcement action to determine which agreements, policies and other documents may require amendment to avoid violating the Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections under the federal securities laws. This potentially includes employment-related agreements, HR materials, various other legal documents, and corporate codes of conduct, among others.

The article presents the reasons and practical suggestions for review of confidentiality provision in company agreements, policies and other documents.

This chapter investigates children’s play and social interactions in a multilingual preschool context where the lingua franca (common language) is English. This investigation follows the experiences of one child for whom English is a second language (L2). The analytic focus explores how the child gains access and participation in play activities in relation to the peer culture of the group.

Drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis approaches, this chapter offers turn-by-turn analysis to show how the children’s interactions unfold and identifies children’s interactional approaches as they enter play and make friends. Particular attention is focused on how one of the children manages his attempts at entry into the peer group’s games using the building blocks.

The close detailed analysis of one extended episode highlighted the co-produced nature of interaction. The findings identify a repertoire of four resources used by one of the L2 children within the peer group, to access play activities in the building space: (1) linguistic resources of requests, such as “Can I play?” “Are you building?”; (2) “tailing” others closely; (3) references to the moral obligations of being a best friend; and (4) using objects as resources for entry. While the analytic focus is on one child’s strategies, analysis considers this child’s individual actions in relation to his peers. What is made apparent is that children’s uptake and participation in peer interaction is dependent on the social agenda and the local aspects of peer culture, not solely on children's language proficiency.

Attention to how children employ strategies to play and understanding the local conditions of peer culture can assist educators to support children’s attempts for participation and friendship in multilingual early years settings.