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The purpose of this study is twofold: to evidence the disclosure practices of Spanish companies in relation to a voluntary typology of strategic information; and to determine the factors that explain these practices. Among the factors considered, the study seeks to focus on the role of the Board of Directors in depth. According to Agency Theory, strategic information has positive consequences on external funds costs. On the other hand, Proprietary Costs theory limits these practices, given that they can lead to competitive disadvantages.

First, online strategic information disclosure practices are analysed by examining non‐financial quoted Spanish firms. A disclosure index is created, and subsequently, certain factors related to corporate governance – Activity, Size and Board Independence – as well as other factors traditionally analysed, are used to explain the volume of strategic information disclosed on the internet.

The results indicate that Spanish companies, on average, give out little strategic information, mainly related to objectives, their mission, and the company's philosophy. “Company annual planning” and “Information on risks” are scarcely disclosed. The findings also emphasise that companies where the Chairperson of the Board is the same person as the CEO and, moreover, in which there is a lower frequency of meetings, disclose a greater amount of strategic information on their web sites.

The findings suggest that the disclosure of strategic information is a decision taken by executives with the aim of satisfying the demands of creditors and investors. The Board of Directors represents the shareholders' interests, but it does not participate in strategic decision‐making disclosure, maybe due to the fact that the proprietary costs lack influence.

The link between corporate governance and strategic information disclosed online has scarcely been analysed in previous literature. This study provides interesting insights into how several Board characteristics can affect the disclosure of strategic information on the internet.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the contents of ethics codes from Spanish manufacturing companies disclosed on their corporate web sites. The analysis of these contents will reflect the main ethical concerns faced by Spanish organizations in the current business context.

A sample of companies listed on the Madrid Stock Market was used. The initial sample was made up of all the quoted companies. Firms belonging to the finance and insurance sectors were removed, leaving a final population made up of 117 corporations from different sectors. The Pearson's correlations were analysed to detect the sign of the relationships and some non‐parametric tests of mean differences – Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon W – were run to validate the statistical significance of the relationship.

The findings stress that the drawing up of codes in Spain is relatively recent and highlight that Spanish codes have received a dual influence. On one hand, they set out responsibilities and principles towards stakeholders and many of them reflect corporate social responsibility, as do many other European codes. On the other hand, their nature is mainly prescriptive and they set out desirable conduct for employees, as many US codes do.

From the analysis, it can be deduced that the main ethical concerns in Spanish corporations have to do with the adherence to law, protection of inside information, search for product quality and good relationships with customers and suppliers, conflicts of interests, the workplace and environmental issues.

This paper is the first study that examines the codes of ethics in Spanish corporations.

The purpose of this study is to analyse whether CSR practices performed by European companies (both those CSR practices related to marketing‐based strategies and those that are not) create value. That value creation will be gauged through two variables: reputation and shareholder value creation.

To carry out this research, the 120 biggest European companies whose CSR practices have been analysed by Deloitte and Kinchhoff in The Good Company Ranking were taken. European firms have adopted an active stance on CSR and their organisational aspects and responsibilities related to sustainability are better‐founded compared with other companies. Financial data and reputation were obtained from the Forbes and Fortune websites, respectively.

The findings obtained show that all CSR practices, especially those linked to enhancing a company's image, have a positive effect on shareholder value creation, given that investors are able to detect the level of corporate commitment to sustainable development. On the other hand, none of the typologies of CSR practices undertaken have a relevant influence on corporate reputation.

The results of this study advise managers to design their CSR strategies with an orientation to increasing corporate reputation through large investments in CSR which prevent them from being imitated by direct rivals.

This work aims to check the validity of the hypotheses of the agency, signalling, political costs and proprietary costs theories in the disclosure of information online. More specifically, to determine the prevalence of the purposes alleged by those theories, we analyse the effect of industry concentration and other factors on an index of items of information disclosed on corporate web sites, in its entirety as well as its breakdown into information whose elaboration and disclosure is compulsory and information whose elaboration and disclosure is voluntary.

First, a content analysis of the quoted non‐financial Spanish companies' web sites was carried out. To do this, three disclosure indexes were created and applied. Then three causal models were estimated by applying a linear regression, taking several factors into consideration.

The findings emphasise the relevance of the hypotheses of political costs theory as the main explanatory factor for voluntary disclosure of information on the internet by quoted Spanish firms. In particular, the hypothesis that the greater the firm's monopolistic power, the more visible the company is and the more political costs it faces. To reduce these costs, such companies have an interest in disclosing greater amounts of information.

The researchers have analysed only one year of data from one country, but this analysis is significant because the motives which lead a firm to disclose information can be very different depending on its geographic location, especially if the factors which determine disclosure practices are associated with the political costs that the companies face.

This is the first study to examine the effect of industrial concentration on the disclosure of information online.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how several variables, such as universities' profitability, growth‐reduction of student numbers, age/tradition, type of university and internationality, among others, influence the transparency practices of Spanish universities as well as the technology, interactivity, structure and navigability of their webpages.

First a content analysis of the Spanish universities' websites is carried out. To do this a disclosure index is created and applied. This index is more complex than those in previous papers, focusing on several issues, such as financial information, corporate governance, social responsibility, research, teaching activities, strategic information, timeliness, contact information, technology, interactivity with users, navigability and web structure. Then an empirical model is estimated by applying a linear regression, taking several factors into consideration.

Three of the independent variables proposed to test the hypotheses – complexity, internationality and profitability – were statistically significant. Moreover, our findings emphasise prioritising use of the internet as a way to disclose teaching and research activities, as well as to monitor university bodies.

The most valuable output from this paper has to do with the content of the information disclosed online by Spanish universities and with the analysis of the factors that explain the disclosure of information through Spanish universities' websites.

The purpose of this study is to analyse different factors behind the disclosure of corporate information on issues related to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change world‐wide.

The empirical analysis carried out was performed in two stages: analysis of the data obtained through content analysis and analysis of the factors that influence the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change using a dependency model, a multiple linear regression. Several variables were introduced to represent the size of the companies, leverage, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Market‐to‐Book ratio. Also, other dummy variables have been incorporated: Kyoto Protocol, activity sector in which the company operates and inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

The results obtained show a direct relationship between corporate size, its market capitalization and the disclosure of information in addition to proposed Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicators on greenhouse gas emissions. Conversely, an inverse relationship between ROE and disclosure is detected.

The findings emphasize that the main quoted companies operating in industries related to greenhouse gas emissions typically reveal information on almost all the GRI core indicators as well as the additional items specifically proposed for this issue. Moreover, the results suggest a trend for companies to utilize information on greenhouse gas emissions as a mechanism that enables them to legitimise themselves with those groups that can be of benefit to them.

The paper has analysed the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and other information of importance to climate change in companies from different countries, some of which have ratified, approved, adhered to or accepted the Kyoto Protocol, and some of which have still not accepted it.

The purpose of this study is to analyse CSR practices implemented by Spanish companies and the relationship between such practices and corporate financial performance.

The empirical analysis carried out was performed in two phases or stages: analysis of the data obtained through content analysis; and analysis of the motivations behind CSR practices using a dependency model, multiple linear regression, enabling their effect on corporate performance to be explained. Several control variables were introduced to represent the size of the companies, expressed in terms of total assets, and the industry in which the firm operates.

The paper underpins the fact that in Spain there has been a significant increase in practices favouring the reduction of environmental impact, as well as the creation of comfortable workplaces, especially promoting workers' rights. Several of these corporate practices associated with social responsibility in Spanish firms show a positive and significant impact on the rate of sales growth but there is a lack of impact on productivity or market value. Moreover, other responsible practices are not related to short‐run improvements in companies' performance.

The findings allow the authors to conclude that CSR practices in Spanish firms are geared towards social welfare, and that they are mainly associated with differentiation with regard to competitors and improving the company image, which lead to performance‐linked economic advantages (such as sales increases).

The paper has analysed corporate practices in a specific country separately (Spain) and has determined the relationship between CSR and firm performance.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the important role of training (specifically, training relevance and training transfer) in enhancing franchisor-franchisee relationship satisfaction, and its influence upon customer performance (e.g., customer satisfaction, quality service), all driven by an internal marketing (IM) culture.

An empirical study consisting of a questionnaire was conducted on a final sample of 157 individuals who are members of the franchise system. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results reveal that IM culture has a direct influence on training relevance; likewise, training relevance provides a positive and significant effect on training transfer, which does directly affect franchisor-franchisee relationship satisfaction and at least also impacts indirectly on customer performance.

In order to ensure the success of the franchise system and customer satisfaction, all franchise parties should take a proactive role in the configuration of the training programmes. This proactive role should be conformed based on an IM culture developed properly by the franchise to strengthen a successful long-term relationship.

This paper provides an innovative approach to strengthen the franchisor-franchisee relationship through training based on the IM culture. This exploratory study integrates different theoretical frameworks that, to our knowledge, have not been linked, such as IM culture and franchise literature, considering the franchisee as an internal customer who has an influence on external customer satisfaction, with training and training transfer as essential key factors.

The purpose of this work is to present a methodology that harnesses the computational power of multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) and hides the complexities of tuning GPU parameters from the users.

A methodology for auto-tuning OpenCL configuration parameters has been developed.

This described process helps simplify coding and generates a significant gain in time for each method execution.

Most authors develop their GPU applications for specific hardware configurations. In this work, a solution is offered to make the developed code portable to any GPU hardware.

The purpose of this research is present an experimental and numerical study of the mechanical properties of the acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) in the additive manufacturing (AM) by fused filament fabrication (FFF). The characterization and mechanical models obtained are used to predict the elastic behavior of a prosthetic foot and the failure of a prosthetic knee manufactured with FFF.

Tension tests were carried out and the elastic modulus, yield stress and tensile strength were evaluated for different material directions. The material elastic constants were determined and the influence of infill density in the mechanical strength was evaluated. Yield surfaces and failure criteria were generated from the tests. Failures over prosthetic elements in tridimensional stresses were analyzed; the cases were evaluated via finite element method.

The experimental results show that the material is transversely isotropic. The elasticity modulus, yield stress and ultimate tensile strength vary linearly with the infill density. The stresses and the failure criteria were computed and compared with the experimental tests with good agreement.

This research can be applied to predict failures and improve reliability in FFF or fused deposition modeling (FDM) products for applications in high-performance industries such as aerospace, automotive and medical.

This research aims to promote its widespread adoption in the industrial and medical sectors by increasing reliability in products manufactured with AM based on the failure criterion.

Most of the models studied apply to plane stress situations and standardized specimens of printed material. However, the models applied in this study can be used for functional parts and three-dimensional stress, with accuracy in the range of that obtained by other researchers. The researchers also proposed a method for the mechanical study of fragile materials fabricated by processes of FFF and FDM.