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Prior research suggests a chief executive officer’s (CEO) background is highly predictive of the strategic predisposition. This paper aims to focus on the need for accuracy in the categorization of CEO background and the impact that modest, nuanced changes in coding definitions yield.

This study evaluates the use of biographic and demographic information of CEOs to provide a more nuanced and expansive approach to understanding the influence of legal education and experience on business strategy. Propositions as to more nuanced coding definitions are developed. Building upon Fligstein (1987), a proof-of-concept example is developed using CEO information available for 2010. That data is then reexamined using an altered method (Modified Fligstein) to discern changes in the number of CEOs contained within the background categories.

The two categorizations performed reveal that substantial differences in the number of CEOs coded into a category can come from relatively small changes in categorical definitions. In comparing the first categorization to the second, each of the vocational categories experienced a change, ranging from a decrease of 11.1% to an increase of 142.9%.

This study informs both theory and practice by increasing the efficacy of the use of biographic and demographic information to assess the strategic orientation of executives. It postulates and demonstrates that simple changes in the categorical definition produce significant changes and can skew empirical results that reduce the utility of prior studies.

This chapter discusses the challenges of safeguarding academic freedom during leadership transitions and organizational change in universities. Examples from a large public university illustrate current challenges and provide perspective for proactive measures to protect academic freedom. While the context and details are unique to the institution featured in the chapter, the lessons gleaned from each vignette offer valuable insight to faculty and university leaders who are motivated to better understand and uphold the principles of academic freedom and, more broadly, protected speech with higher education. To support academic leaders in achieving these goals, a conceptual framework for shared leadership through shared governance to support academic freedom is presented. The chapter concludes with recommendations for leveraging shared leadership to foster a university culture that supports of academic freedom.

The purpose of this research is to explore connections between the presence of a library at two schools in rural Uganda and certain student academic engagement indicators, such as scholastic performance, reading habits, study habits, and library use patterns. The study is not intended to demonstrate strong correlations between these items, rather, it is a limited exploration of certain questions meant to inform further enquiry in the area. Five specific questions guided the research: Do students with a school library read more? Do students make good use of the library? Do students recognize the importance of having the library? Do students use the library materials for other than class‐related work? Are there any noticeable differences between the grades of students with the library at their school, and those without?

Researchers gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from two different schools in the Masaka District, one school with a library, the Kitengesa Comprehensive Secondary School, and one without, Masaka High School. Researchers also gathered important library‐use information from a third school, Sseke Secondary School, to supplement the quantitative data gathered from the other two schools. Grade and class rank information was collected for 85 students, 6 focus groups were conducted, 85 questionnaires were distributed and collected from students, 5 school administrators and 3 library staff were interviewed, and approximately 10 hours of observation was done.

Findings indicate that there are several areas where the presence of a school library has an impact, including students' reading habits, use of materials for non‐school‐related activities, and academic performance. The school libraries visited are both successful examples of how important the rural school library can be to the development of a reading culture. Implications of the findings are discussed in detail.

Future research efforts might include a multi‐school, longitudinal study on the impact of rural libraries specifically on student achievement. Many studies have been conducted on this topic in the West, but no significant studies so far in Sub‐Saharan Africa, where hard evidence is needed in order to demonstrate the importance of the rural school library to student learning.

The study itself is unique in that the data hail from a two‐year study conducted at local schools/libraries in rural Uganda, using a broad methodology which included reviewing qualitative and quantitative data. It will provide information that can be used by others to support the need for the establishment of rural school libraries in underdeveloped regions, and provision of reading materials, which are otherwise scarce, for students and teachers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the prominence and positioning of ethics in the four editions of the King Report on corporate governance for South Africa that were published since 1994. It tells a tale of how certain ethics aspects remained fairly constant over the four editions of the King Report on corporate governance for South Africa (King I in 1994; King II in 2002; King III in 2009; King IV in 2016), whilst other ethics aspects evolved quite substantially over the four editions.

In this paper, a conceptual distinction between “Ethics of Governance” and “Governance of Ethics” will be introduced, which will then be used to analyse the ethics dimensions of the four King reports.

It will be demonstrated that there is continuity across the four editions of the King Report as far as the Ethics of Governance is concerned.

With regards to the Governance of Ethics, there has been a quite drastic evolution in both the prominence and positioning of ethics since the publication of the first King Report in 1994.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the national education standard (curriculum, NC) supports the development of enterprising behaviour and the constructivist approach to learning at the general education level?

New methodology was designed based on the assessment of the evidence and frequency of the incidence of the indicators supporting enterprising behaviour in the text of the NC. A content analysis method is used to systematically code and categorize the target indicators from the text of the NC. According to the frequency of indicators that support enterprising behaviour the extent of support is assessed in different parts of the NC.

The findings of this study show that, while the general part of the NC fully reflects the development of attitudes and skills related to enterprising behaviour, in the competences and learning outcomes of the other parts of the NC, some indicators of enterprising behaviour have only moderate support. This shows that entrepreneurial attitudes are not fully recognized as an educational aim in general education, and for the purposes of moving from a behaviourist to a constructivist educational approach, rethinking and reformulating the learning outcomes in the NC is necessary.

The critical aspects are: first, NC formats may differ between countries, and hence, the suggested analysis may suffer from limited replicability; second, the most critical aspect is that the present work analyses only the learning outcomes of the written NC, which is the basis for real action in the classroom.

The contribution of the current study may be summed up in three main issues: first, methodology for evaluating the extent to which the NC supports the development of enterprising behaviour; second, the need to rethink and reformulate the learning outcomes in the NC (e.g. for natural sciences); and third, evidence of the conflict between the expectations of society and the aims of education. The research results are providing objective feedback to educational experts, policymakers and practitioners to help schools innovate and support the education of enterprising people in general education.

The research is an initiative supported by society and directed to support the learning of entrepreneurial behaviour of pupils at the schools of general education and use of constructivist learning approach.

The current study is contributing to the methodology of analysing the written national curricula at the general education level for identification the evidence and frequency of the indicators of enterprising behaviour in different parts of curriculum. The methodology elaborated and the results of this study may be considered applicable for the analysis of NC in other countries. In the future, the NC in connection with real teaching practice should be studied, focusing on finding new solutions to support the education of enterprising people in schools.

This research shows that entrepreneurship is currently at the focus of much theoretical, practical and political interest. In Europe, agriculture has faced increasing pressures for restructuring: facilitation of marketing and entrepreneurial skills of farmers and a stronger entrepreneurial orientation have been suggested as a possible solution for the emerging problems. The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of entrepreneurial capability of farmers to diversify. The central focus of this article is on the entrepreneurial identity of portfolio farmers in Finland and the extent to which the differences between portfolio farmers, other farmers, and non‐farm rural businesses can be explained.

The subjects of the study were rural small‐business owner‐managers and farmers in Finland. The authors carried out a survey of random samples from three populations, each representing a broad cross‐section of relevant industries, including a sample of non‐farm rural entrepreneurs (n=590) and portfolio farmers (n=2,200).

It emerges that portfolio farmers have a stronger entrepreneurial identity than conventional farmers. Compared to conventional farmers, the portfolio farmers in the sample perceive themselves as growth‐oriented, risk‐takers, innovative, optimistic and having more personal control upon their business activities.

This research suggests that a major challenge for the agricultural sector is to enable farmers to develop their entrepreneurial and marketing skills. This might require increased economic support and greater emphasis on vocational education and training.

The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is one of the means that can be employed in the pursuit of effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to consider various managerial approaches hitherto adopted to address “workplace romance” and to determine a realistic and constructive approach to explain and manage this least known organisational phenomenon.

Consideration of the “taboo” nature of the subject and related ethical issues led to the development of three case studies, based on the qualitative data collected for analysis. The evaluation of the above cases led to the emergence of the third approach, namely, “considerate” which reflects the merits of strategic management of human resource management in the context of business strategy of the organisations.

It is concluded that the “considerate” is the most appropriate approach to manage workplace romance because it is perceived by employees as fair and well‐justified. It accounts for potential risks and rewards, thus recognising the need for a realistic policy which takes into account the organisation, its environment and its strategic business objective.

Whilst reliability of the present study is based on the analysis of multiple real‐life case studies, future studies ought to adopt “realism” as a means to bridge perception and business context in which these acts are considered.

The adoption of the proposed “considerate” approach may help HR practitioners to develop a strategy for managing workplace romance that is the most suitable for their organisation and its business strategy.

This first‐time study explores managing workplace romance in the context of strategic HR. Moreover, the developed conceptual framework enables practitioners to manage romance at work.