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The purpose of this paper is to implement a micromechanical hybrid finite element approach in order to investigate the stress transfer behavior of composites reinforced with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanosheets.

For the analysis of the problem, a three-dimensional representative volume element, consisting of three phases, has been used. The reinforcement is modeled discretely using spring elements of specific stiffness while the matrix material is modeled as a continuum medium using solid finite elements. The third phase, the intermediate one, known as the interface, has been simulated by appropriate stiffness variations which define a heterogeneous region affecting the stress transfer characteristics of the nanocomposite.

The results show a good agreement with corresponding ones from the literature and also the effect of a number of factors is indicated in stress transfer efficiency.

This is the first time that such a modeling is employed in the stress transfer examination of h-BN nanocomposites.

The paper aims to explore the mechanisms linking the impact of financial development on economic growth and focuses on the long-term post-global financial crisis.

The study employs panel data for twenty-five European Union countries over the period 1995–2017. Principal Component Analysis is employed to produce two aggregate indices, namely financial banking sector development and stock market sector development. The empirical analysis is based on estimates through the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method.

The results suggest that the outbreak of the crisis has led to a disruption of the positive finance-growth relationship, and the banking sector dominates in this adverse effect. The foreknowledge of the current study is that the linking mechanisms of the negative impact of financial development on economic growth, ten years after the global financial crisis, are household debt, private debt, and non-performing loans for the banking sector, while for the equity market this is the case through savings. Interestingly, the results reveal that unemployment increase excessively the borrowers' debt level and then the non-performing loans.

An implication is that the increase of credit supply and any monetary expansion along with lack of regulatory control and monitoring can lead banks to a higher risk exposure through household and private debt as well as non-performing loans. Besides, the higher levels of unemployment rates call attention for the trade-off between prudential regulation on the supply of loans and economic activity, since higher unemployment affect the non-performing loans and, as a consequence discourage the demand, increase precautionary savings, and cancel or postpone investment decisions, thus, affecting the equity market.

The paper provides useful insights to economists and policymakers who are interested in understanding the weakness of banking and stock market sectors to promote economic growth for a long time after the global financial crisis.

This paper aims to present a general analysis and overview of forest biodiversity, emphasising the three main components (structure, composition, function) related to biodiversity. Following this theoretical consideration of forest biodiversity the current proposal of the European Environment Agency for biodiversity indicators is presented as a table with the application to forests identified and the direct/indirect nature of the indicator also indicated.

The biodiversity of forests is determined by a number of overall large‐scale factors that intimately affect the individual components of biodiversity. A more specific and direct measurement of forest biodiversity is presented with data assessed by the Fungib programme to provide a set of biodiversity indices that can be used to: create biodiversity baselines; compare sites; and follow biodiversity changes through time, all with the possibility of determining significance of change statistically. An example of data derived from a macrofungal survey is presented as an example of how this methodology can be adapted to many groups of organisms. Finally, a further example of using biodiversity quality data to understand changes in biodiversity is presented comparing butterfly biodiversity quality with nitrogen deposition.

This paper shows how an example of function (nitrogen deposition) has affected an element of composition (butterfly biodiversity). This has been made possible by the use of a rational sampling methodology (TRIM) used over a number of years. This metadata analysis of butterfly survey data shows clearly that changes in the butterfly biodiversity quality would have been missed if the normal approach of equating biodiversity with species richness had been adopted. In this example nitrogen‐sensitive species loss was compensated by nitrophilic species gain.

Such a methodology, therefore, has much to recommend it and it has been shown to be applicable to a wide range of organisms from bryophytes to beetles. For forest biodiversity monitoring the adoption of this kind of rationale will hopefully yield far greater information to the scientific community and policy makers for little extra effort.

The purpose of this paper is to give a general description and analysis of the key factors important for forest biodiversity, and to show the development of a strategy for choosing an indicator methodology for assessment of forest biodiversity. Different biodiversity indicator schemes (methodologies) have been developed recently and all should be capable of being adapted to the specific objectives of biodiversity assessment and to the forest types concerned.

A forest ecosystem comprises three main components: structure (e.g. physical characteristics); composition (e.g. number and population of species); and function (e.g. evapo‐transpiration) and it is upon these characteristics that forest biodiversity is based and determined. Forest ecosystems can therefore be characterised by key factors (parameters) which are important for the development of indicators and evaluation of biodiversity.

The key factors can be grouped or classified according to major ecosystem components and also according to spatial scale (national, regional, landscape and stand level). Selected indicators are the tools that can be used to assess the size/or level and quality of forest biodiversity.

Biodiversity key factors and indicators are crucial for studying and monitoring forest biodiversity.

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of managerial perceptions regarding the competitive environment and organizational capabilities on the way firms respond to their rivals' competitive actions.

The authors draw on competitive dynamics theory to develop a model that is empirically tested in 174 firms from 22 manufacturing, trade and service sectors in Greece.

The results show an association between managerial perceptions on the one hand and the innovativeness and breadth of competitive responses on the other. More specifically, perceptions of competition intensity, substitution threats and increased buyer powers are associated with broader and more innovative competitive reactions. Similarly, perceptions of strong internal, mediating (managerial) and external (market sensing) capabilities also affect the breadth and innovativeness of competitive responses.

Further to advancing theory in competitive dynamics, the authors contribute to a deeper understanding of the drivers of competitive retaliation that managers can use to anticipate their rivals' retaliation schemes when initiating competitive actions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate fraud victimisation of Greek companies during the financial crisis years. Moreover, the paper seeks to encourage the implementation of proactive and reactive measures in an effort to minimize fraud victimisation.

Drawing on an extensive literature review and utilising a questionnaire administered by Krambia-Kapardis and Zopiatis (2010), auditors and management of companies who had fallen victim to fraud provided information on the typology of fraud and on proactive and reactive measures taken after a fraud incident had been reported to them. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze the collected data and address the postulated research questions.

The survey has found that no industry or size of company is immune from fraud, with bigger companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) falling victim to industrial espionage and theft of cash and counterfeit, respectively. The banking and insurance sector appeared to be affected mainly by money laundering. Management fraud was mainly in the form of window dressing, whilst employee fraud involved predominately theft of cash and assets. Loss of reputation emerged as the main concern for the victim, and it had a determining impact on deciding not to report cases to the police.

Because of the sensitive topic being investigated and despite having assured the respondents that their anonymity would be guaranteed, the respondents were hesitant in responding. Thus, the response rate was 16.4 per cent, slightly lower than a similar study carried out in Cyprus (Krambia-Kapardis and Zopiatis 2010). The findings, however, are considered to be reliable, given the fact that the respondents were individuals well versed with the topic under investigation and in a position to know if their company had fallen victim to fraud.

The findings have practical relevance to both industry stakeholders and academics who wish to further explore fraud victimization in the Greek business environment. Given that the financial crisis in Greece is continuing, fraud risk assessment ought to concentrate in the area of cash, and preventative measures need to be considered by the regulators and the victims.

Whilst fraud victimisation studies are becoming popular by the Big 4 accounting firms, there is no fraud victimisation study concentrating on the typology of fraud in Greece. With this survey, it will be possible to draw conclusions and make suggestions to the accounting profession on how to combat fraud, at a time, when the economic crisis is persisting and fraud is expected to escalate.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of managerial perceptions of the competitive environment on shaping the way firms respond to their rivals in terms of speed, intensity, innovativeness and breadth of competitive responses.

The paper develops a research model based on current literature of competitive dynamics and then test this model in 174 firms selected from 22 manufacturing, trade and service sectors in Greece.

The results indicate that managerial perceptions regarding the competitive environment affect the competitive response behaviour of companies in terms of specific characteristics and thus can be used as predictors of responses to competitive actions. This is in line with recent research in competitive dynamics, arguing that managers decode cues of their competitive environment in terms of threats and opportunities and respond to them accordingly.

This study could benefit from a larger sample and replication in more countries. Moreover, more perceptional influences on competitive response characteristics should be examined in depth in future research with a view to enhancing awareness of competitive interactions.

Managers will develop a better understanding of factors influencing competitive response characteristics and will be able to better predict rivals' retaliation schemes when initiating competitive actions and foresee forthcoming industry changes.

Previous research in competitive dynamics is associated with measuring the impact of various measurable situational and environmental characteristics, such as industry growth and organizational age, in competitive response characteristics. It instead focus on the role of managerial interpretations of the competitive environment and how they affect the way they respond to a firm's competitors.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a critical component of leadership that reflects the ability of leaders to understand how their emotions and actions affect the people around them in the organization. This paper aims to deliver state-of-the-art insights on EI and leadership.

This paper leverages on bibliometric analysis to unpack 25 years of EI and leadership research.

This paper reveals the bibliometric profile (e.g. trends in publication activity and top articles, authors, countries and journals) and intellectual structure (e.g. themes and topics) of EI and leadership research, shedding light on EI manifestation in leadership, EI and leadership congruence, EI role in leadership and EI and leadership for human resource management.

This paper offers several noteworthy implications. First, EI is a leadership competency that can be cultivated and leveraged to improve leadership effectiveness. Second, the need for EI and leadership congruence indicates that leadership effectiveness is vital to human resource management (HRM). Taken collectively, these theoretical implications, and by extension, practical implications, suggest that increased investment in EI and leadership effectiveness is critical for organizations and their HRM.

This paper sheds light on current trends and ways forward for leading by feeling, showcasing the role and manifestation of EI in leadership, its value for HRM and the importance of its congruence for effective leadership in shaping the future of work.