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The purpose of this case study is to provide information on the practical aspects of British companies establishing and developing business in Poland.

The case study is based on the author's experience, assisting and working with British companies to establish businesses that have developed successfully in Poland.

Investing in Poland has been a success story for Beck & Pollitzer Engineering Ltd. The move to Poland has been in line with the European market expansion strategy of the company and has benefited from developing business operations in a market with high growth potential. The access to qualified and comparatively cheap labour force in Poland has reduced the overall cost of the investment. Moreover, the market access to the Russian buyers via the Polish company has provided an additional value‐added to the British company.

The single case study and related managerial experience give company specific information that is difficult to be generalised.

Shows that a medium‐sized British company can succeed in a volatile foreign market.

The case study provides a manager's perspective of a company's expansion into the dynamic Polish market.

Selecting which processes to improve plays a critical role in the first phase of the business process management lifecycle, but it is a step with known pitfalls. Decision-makers rely on subjective criteria and their knowledge of the alternative processes put forward for selection is often inconsistent. This leads to poor quality decision-making and wastes resources. The purpose of this paper is to examine the proposition that decision-makers armed with context-enriched criteria make more logical, better-quality decisions. The context in question is qualitative, sensitive to decision-making bias and politically charged.

We applied a design-science approach, engaging 70 industry decision-makers through a combination of research methods to assess how different contextual configurations, in a hypothetical scenario adapted from the Australian banking industry, influenced and ultimately improved the quality of the process selection step.

The study highlights the impact of framing effects on context, and the need to adapt framing to decision-maker behavior and provides five guidelines to improve process selection effectiveness.

Process selection research to date has largely focused on quantitative evaluation techniques, with little attention paid to the role of context and the behavioral interplay of decision-making styles in practice.

This study proposes a novel method utilising a speech-word pair bipartite network to examine the correlation structure between members of parliament (MPs) in the context of the UK- China relationship.

We construct MP-word pair bipartite networks based on the co-occurrence relationship between MPs and words in their speech content. These networks are then mapped into monopartite MPs correlation networks. Additionally, the study calculates correlation network indicators and identifies MP communities and factions to determine the characteristics of MPs and their interrelation in the UK-China relationship. This includes insights into the distribution of key MPs, their correlation structure and the evolution and development trends of MP factions.

Analysis of the parliamentary speeches on China-related affairs in the British Parliament from 2011 to 2020 reveals that the distribution and interrelationship of MPs engaged in UK-China affairs are centralised and discrete, with a few core MPs playing an integral role in the UK-China relationship. Among them, MPs such as Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, David Cameron, Lord Hunt of Chesterton and Lord Howell of Guildford formed factions with significant differences; however, the continuity of their evolution exhibits unstableness. The core MP factions, such as those led by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and David Cameron, have achieved a level of maturity and exert significant influence.

The research has several limitations that warrant acknowledgement. First, we mapped the MP-word pair bipartite network into the MP correlation network for analysis without directly analysing the structure of MPs based on the bipartite network. In future studies, we aim to explore various types of analysis based on the proposed bipartite networks to provide more comprehensive and accurate references for studying UK-China relations. In addition, we seek to incorporate semantic-level analyses, such as sentiment analysis of MPs, into the MP-word -pair bipartite networks for in-depth analysis. Second, the interpretations of MP structures in the UK-China relationship in this study are limited. Consequently, expertise in UK-China relations should be incorporated to enhance the study and provide more practical recommendations.

Firstly, the findings can contribute to an objective understanding of the characteristics and connotations of UK-China relations, thereby informing adjustments of focus accordingly. The identification of the main factions in the UK-China relationship emphasises the imperative for governments to pay greater attention to these MPs’ speeches and social relationships. Secondly, examining the evolution and development of MP factions aids in identifying a country’s diplomatic focus during different periods. This can assist governments in responding promptly to relevant issues and contribute to the formulation of effective foreign policies.

First, this study expands the research methodology of parliamentary debates analysis in previous studies. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study the UK-China relationship through the MP-word-pair bipartite network. This outcome inspires future researchers to apply various knowledge networks in the LIS field to elucidate deeper characteristics and connotations of UK-China relations. Second, this study provides a novel perspective for UK-China relationship analysis, which deepens the research object from keywords to MPs. This finding may offer important implications for researchers to further study the role of MPs in the UK-China relationship.

This study proposes a novel scheme for analysing the correlation structure between MPs based on bipartite networks. This approach offers insights into the development and evolving dynamics of MPs.

This paper addresses some of the future challenges that the vote to leave the European Union (EU) may have on the UK’s constitutional framework. The potential abolition of the Human Rights Act 1998 and its replacement with a Bill of Rights is examined in relation to the interpretation of freedom of expression. More specifically, this is analysed in relation to the often conflicting freedoms to express homophobic views and to freely express one’s sexual identity. With EU law protecting many of the recently won rights favouring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality, the purpose of this paper is to underline the potential dangers should this layer of international scrutiny be lost and highlight where more improvements for equality are still needed.

This paper offers a critical reflection on the recent political and judicial rhetoric which has accompanied the issues of LGBT social and legal equality. Recent judgements from domestic and European courts are analysed to identify how any potential re-interpretation of freedom of expression may affect the LGBT community.

While the UK has made welcome strides in improving the legal equality of the LGBT community, it is argued that the potential loss of judicial scrutiny from the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice may have negative consequences. An examination of recent judicial and political discourse demonstrates that homophobic expression – or at least tacit acceptance of it – still permeates throughout these institutional spheres.

The paper highlights how the subtleties of constitutional changes following Brexit may threaten the current progression of LGBT rights in the UK and proposes that a commitment to freedom of expression must give greater recognition to the right to express sexual identity.

This research explores the purchasing behavioural drivers of young Chinese consumers purchasing foreign clothing brands. The aim is to include a range of drivers identified by different investigations into a single approach, to determine direct and indirect channels by which these drivers influence purchasing behaviour, and their relative importance in quantitative terms.

The methodology is based on an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour that considers hypotheses based on a number of studies revised in the literature review. This theoretical framework was used as the basis for a questionnaire applied to a sample of 362 young Chinese consumers. A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling approach was used to analyse the collected data.

The results revealed three main channels influencing purchasing behaviour which were shown to share the same root, corresponding to the influences of the social network young consumers belong to. This result suggests that social norms have a key role in explaining young consumers' purchasing behaviour through its impact on their needs for status and social recognition, their attitudes towards foreign cultures and foreign brands, and their beliefs regarding the attributes of foreign clothing.

The work therefore provides companies operating in the foreign clothing market the confidence to devise business strategies that focus on the channel demonstrating the highest influencing power. A strategy likely to have the highest influencing power is one that uses celebrities to promote the reputation of products and reinforce the messages associated with status and social recognition. Reinforcement of these strategies could include secondary strategies linked to the other channels such as the one related to the adoption of foreign cultural symbolism.

In contrast to the majority of related studies, this investigation also explores indirect channels or paths by which a behavioural driver affects the behaviour of young Chinese consumers. In fact, this investigation not only simultaneously identified the different paths influencing young Chinese consumers purchasing behaviour but also quantitatively identified their relative importance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how sharing stories of being a mental health professional and academic, based more broadly on serendipity and searching in life, can serve as means for bridging and developing cross-cultural understandings and collaborative work.

This paper is a relational autoethnography based on face-to-face and written conversational dialogue between five mental health academics from the UK and Norway.

The very practice of writing this paper displays and serves the purpose of bridging people, cultures and understandings, at several levels, in the facilitation of new research and writing projects. Troubling traditional boundaries between “us” and “them, and the “knower” and the “known,” the writing is theoretically underpinned by Friendship as Method, situated in a New Materialist context.

Through its conversational descriptions and explorations the paper shows how doing relational autoethnography can be purposeful in developing cross-cultural understandings and work at both professional and personal levels. It also demonstrates how autoethnography as relational practice can be useful in the sharing of this methodology between people who are more and less familiar with it.

This case was developed from secondary sources such as industry reports, articles, news reports and social media sites.

This study offers a fresh perspective on leadership by exploring the nontraditional journey from human resources (HRs) positions to the esteemed chief executive officer (CEO) role. It highlights the transformation of HR from an administrative function to a strategic one. The study emphasizes the pivotal role of chief human resources officers (CHROs) in shaping company culture and ensuring employee satisfaction. It also delves into HR professionals’ unique skills and attributes to the CEO position, drawing examples from successful transitions such as Mary Barra at General Motors, Leena Nair at Chanel and Nigel Travis at Dunkin Donuts. The study addresses the growing trend in contemporary business discussions: the potential reshaping of the traditional CEO role by HR directors. It offers valuable insights for organizations looking to adapt to a rapidly evolving economic landscape by highlighting the synergy between CEO responsibilities and HR expertise.

This case is designed for undergraduates in various courses such as fundamentals of HR management, human capital management, strategic management, leadership development and career planning and management. It is appropriate for sections of the course focusing on managerial decisions and the changing role of HR managers. The case discussion is suitable for classes of 12–40 students and can be easily adapted for online courses using interactive discussion tools. Students are expected to read the case before participating in the discussion.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.