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The purpose of this paper is to examine the type of governance dominant within employee-owned companies established as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOPs) and to ascertain if governance follows the agency or stewardship theory of governance.

A sequential mixed method (Quantitative/Qualitative) research design was used with a convenience sample of employee-owned companies who were members of The ESOP Association (TEA). The Stewardship Climate Scale (SCS) was used as the quantitative instrument and structured interviews were used as the qualitative instrument.

A majority (96%) of ESOPs participating in the study self-identified as stewardship governance, only 6 of the 154 companies (4%) self-identified as having agency governance.

There is a potential of self-report bias based on the use of convenience sampling which should be minimized based on the large number of participants. The study was not able to examine the relationship between stewardship and productivity.

This is the first large scale research study examining governance within employee-owned companies.

After a period of accelerated workplace change, this chapter takes an interpretivist-constructionist approach to explore the experiences of, and perceptions around, flexible and hybrid working among a sample of women owners/directors in the UK small and medium size enterprise (SME) public relations (PR) agency community. Their views, both in terms of running teams and their own engagement with flexible and hybrid working, are discussed through both a personal and a sociocultural lens, with particular reference to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the gendered experience. Specifically, we consider whether global events have alleviated or heightened concerns around teamwork, collaboration, creativity and culture. This chapter adds to a growing body of research into flexible and hybrid working relating to the PR profession and focuses on gendered experience which has often seen women caregivers and those in unstable relationships at a disadvantage with career progression. We explore whether recent events have ‘improved’ the situation for women in PR. We consider how the life stage and personal experience of the individual owner/director impacts their learned and dynamic attitude development and assess whether flexibility for family is viewed differently to other needs. Themes include authentic leadership and responding to ‘the crucible’, reputation and ‘doing the right thing’ and discretionary effort and ‘work ‘til it hurts culture’.

Commonwealth Technical Training Week will soon be upon us; it will provide a much‐needed occasion for a wide variety of organisations and people to come together solely for the purpose of considering the training of the young worker. It will focus attention on what is rapidly becoming a serious national issue: apprentice training and its possible reorganisation. Apprentice training is not about little boys in short trousers: it is about the way an industrial society restores and builds up its stock of craft workers. This article has been prepared to serve two functions: it sets out a review of apprentice procedures in several countries in the hope that the information may be used as background material for the public discussions, and it offers some views on the nature of the changes which are urgently required

To provide a list of non‐fictional books, as published, for the use of Librarians and Book‐buyers generally, arranged so as to serve as a continuous catalogue of new books ; an aid to exact classification and annotation ; and a select list of new books proposed to be purchased. Novels, school books, ordinary reprints and strictly official publications will not be included in the meantime.

Heat also facilitates the transmission of water through the cell walls, thereby assisting its passage from the interior to the surface of the material; it increases the vapour pressure of water, thus increasing its tendency to evaporate; and it increases the water‐vapour‐carrying capacity of the air. In the United States the unit of heat customarily used is the British thermal unit (B.t.u.), which for practical purposes is defined as the heat required to raise the temperature of a pound of water 1° F. Heat is commonly produced through the combustion of oil, coal, wood, or gas. Heating by electricity is seldom practicable because of its greater cost; but where cheap rates prevail it is one of the safest and most efficient, convenient and easily regulated methods. Direct heat, direct radiation and indirect radiation are the types of heat generally employed. Direct‐heating systems have the highest fuel or thermal efficiency. The mixture of fuel gases and air in the combustion chamber passes directly into the air used for drying. This method requires the use of special burners and a fuel, such as distillate or gas, which burns rapidly and completely, without producing soot or noxious fumes. The heater consists simply of a bare, open firebox, equipped with one or more burners, an emergency flue to discharge the smoke incidental to lighting, and a main flue, through which the gases of combustion are discharged into the air duct leading to the drying chamber. Direct‐radiation systems also are relatively simple and inexpensive and have a fairly high thermal efficiency. A typical installation consists of a brick combustion chamber with multiple flues, which carry the hot gases of combustion back and forth across the air‐heating chamber and out to a stack. The air is circulated over these flues and heated by radiation from them. The flues are made of light cast iron or sheet iron. The air‐heating chamber should be constructed of fireproof materials. The efficiency of the installation depends upon proper provision for radiation. This is attained by using flues of such length and diameter that the stack temperatures will be as low as is consistent with adequate draught. Heating the air by boiler and steam coils or radiators is an indirect‐radiation system, as the heat is transferred from the fuel to the air through the intermediate agency of steam. Such a system costs more to install and has a lower thermal efficiency than either of the other two systems. It is principally adapted to large plants operating over a comparatively long season on a variety of materials where the steam is needed to run auxiliary machinery or to process vegetables. Large volumes of air are required to carry to the products the heat needed for evaporation and to carry away the evaporated moisture. Insufficient air circulation is one of the main causes of failure in many dehydrators, and a lack of uniformity in the air flow results in uneven and inefficient drying. The fan may be installed to draw the air from the heaters and blow it through the drying chamber, or it may be placed in the return air duct to exhaust the air from the chamber. An advantage of the first installation is that the air from the heaters is thoroughly mixed before it enters the drying chamber. It has been claimed that exhausting the air from the chamber increases the rate of drying by reducing the pressure, but the difference is imperceptible in practice. Either location for the fan is satisfactory, and the chief consideration in any installation should be convenience. Close contact between the air and the heaters and between the air and the material is necessary for efficient transfer of heat to the air and from the air to the material, and to carry away the moisture. The increased pressure or resistance against which the fan must operate because of such contact is unavoidable and must be provided for, but at other points in the system every effort should be made to reduce friction. To this end air passages should be large, free from constrictions, and as short and straight as possible. Turns in direction should be on curves of such diameter as will allow the air to be diverted with the least friction. The general rule in handling air is that a curved duct should have an inside radius equal to three times its diameter. The water vapour present in air at ordinary pressures is most conveniently expressed in terms of percentage of relative humidity. Relative humidity is the ratio of the weight of water vapour actually present in a space to the weight the same space at the same temperature would hold if it were saturated. Since the weight of water vapour present at saturation for all temperatures here used is known, the actual weight present under different degrees of partial saturation is readily calculated from the relative humidity. Relative humidity is determined by means of two thermometers, one having its bulb dry and the other having its bulb closely covered by a silk or muslin gauze kept moist by distilled water. Tap water should not be used because the mineral deposits from it clog the wick, retard evaporation, and produce inaccurate readings. The wick must be kept clean and free from dirt and impurities. The two thermometers are either whirled rapidly in a sling or used as a hygrometer mounted on a panel with the wick dipping in a tube of water and the bulbs exposed to a rapid and direct current of air. The relative humidities corresponding to different wet‐ and dry‐bulb temperatures are ascertained from charts furnished by the instrument makers, or published in engineers' handbooks. As a general rule, the more rapidly the products have been dried the better their quality, provided that the drying temperatures used have not injured them. Some fruits and vegetables are more susceptible to heat injury than others, but all are injured by even short exposures to high temperatures. The duration of the exposure at any temperature is important, since injury can be caused by prolonged exposure at comparatively moderate temperatures. The rate of evaporation from a free water surface increases with the temperature and decreases with the increase of relative humidity of the air.

Lean construction (LC) consists of very effective techniques; however, its implementation varies considerably from one industry to another. Although numerous lean initiatives do exist in the construction industry, the research topic related to LC implementation is still unexplored due to the scarcity of validated assessment frameworks. This study aims to provide the first attempt in developing a structural model for successful LC implementation.

This study developed a Lean construction model (LCM) by critically reviewing seven previous LC frameworks from different countries, defining 18 subprinciples grouped into 6 major principles and formulating testable hypotheses. The questionnaire was pre-tested with 12 construction management experts and revised by 4 specialized academics. A pilot study with 20 construction units enhanced content reliability. Data from 307 Moroccan construction companies were collected to develop a measurement model. SPSS V. 26 was used for Exploratory Factor Analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS version 23. Finally, a structural equation model statistically assessed each construct's contribution to the success of LC implementation.

This work led to the development of an original LCM based on valid and reliable LC constructs, consisting of 18 measurement items grouped into 6 LC principles: Process Transparency, People involvement, Waste elimination, Planning and Continuous improvement, Client Focus and Material/information flow and pull. According to the structural model, LC implementation success is positively influenced by Planning and Scheduling/continuous improvement (β = 0.930), followed by Elimination of waste (β = 0.896). Process transparency ranks third (β = 0.858). The study demonstrates that all these factors are mutually complementary, highlighting a positive relationship between LC implementation success and the holistic application of all LC principles.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to develop a statistically proven model of LC based on structural equation modelling analysis, which is promising for stimulating construction practitioners and researchers for more empirical studies in different countries to obtain a more accurate reflection of LC implementation. Moreover, the paper proposes recommendations to help policymakers, academics and practitioners anticipate the key success drivers for more successful LC implementation.

We know a great deal today about the impact of transformational leaders, their actions, typical behaviors and their ways of influencing others (Bass, 1985, 1999a, b; Bass & Avolio, 1990). However, we know relatively little about the psychological substructure, the internal world of these leaders, namely who they are and how they developed this way. These aspects were raised earlier in Bass’s early work (Bass, 1985) but have received little attention so far (Bass, 1998; Judge & Bono, 2000). We argue that the internal world of a transformational leader is characterized by a motivation to lead, leadership self-efficacy, motivation and capacity to relate to others in a pro-social way, optimism and openness to new experiences and viewpoints of others. We further argue that the origins of the ability and motivation to be a transformational leader lie in childhood experiences, and that the development of this ability and motivation can be understood and conceptualized by means of major developmental theories such as attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1988). On the basis of these theories, we suggest a researchable conceptual framework for characterization of the internal world and the development of transformational leaders.

The relevance of affective factors in the charismatic leadership process has been widely acknowledged in leadership research. Building on this notion, the present study empirically investigated the role of leaders’ positive mood and emotional intelligence in the development of charismatic leadership behaviors. We developed hypotheses linking these constructs and tested them in a sample of 34 leaders and their 165 direct followers from a multinational corporation. Results showed that both leaders’ positive mood and leaders’ emotional intelligence were positively related to their charismatic leadership behaviors, as rated by followers. Further, we found leaders’ emotional intelligence to moderate the relationship between leaders’ positive mood and their charismatic leadership behaviors. Emotionally intelligent leaders exhibited charismatic leadership behaviors to a high extent, largely irrespective of their degree of positive mood. In contrast, leaders low on emotional intelligence were more likely to exhibit charismatic behaviors when their positive mood was high, while they were less likely to exhibit such behaviors when their positive mood was low. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for leadership theory, research, and practice.