Peter Franck and Stefan Sundgren
The purpose of this paper is to assess whether ownership concentration, leverage and demand for equity financing is associated with internal corporate governance quality. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess whether ownership concentration, leverage and demand for equity financing is associated with internal corporate governance quality. The paper focuses on dimensions of governance quality that are related to financial reporting quality.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors measure internal governance quality by an indicator variable that takes on higher values depending on whether a company has an audit committee, has a sufficient number of audit committee meetings during the year, has financial expertise on the audit committee, has an internal auditing function, a risk management function, a code of conduct and whistle blower provisions in the code of conduct. The sample consists of 91 Swedish listed companies of which 39 companies had to follow the Swedish Corporate Governance Code. The development of hypotheses is based on agency theory. Ordered logistic regressions are used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The paper finds a strong negative association between leverage and the internal governance quality score for companies that do not have to follow the Corporate Governance Code. The paper also finds a positive association between the governance quality score and dispersed ownership among companies that have to follow the code.
Research limitations/implications
The negative association between leverage and governance quality is opposite to the typical agency theory prediction. A number of other studies have also documented negative or insignificant associations with leverage in related settings. The research suggests there is a demand to develop theories related to leverage and the implementation of governance characteristics beyond the typical agency theory based predictions.
Practical implications
The results raise the question whether lenders more actively directly or indirectly should influence the governance quality of borrowers.
Originality/value
Based on the conjecture that governance quality increases with the number of governance elements, the paper studies a governance score that is built up by several elements of good corporate governance. Furthermore, the authors study a setting dominated by voluntary choices of governance quality, which makes it possible to study supply effects.
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Doron Goldbarsht and Hannah Harris
This paper aims to explore the case of counter-terrorist financing (CTF) within the transnational regulatory network (TRN) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The paper…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the case of counter-terrorist financing (CTF) within the transnational regulatory network (TRN) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The paper demonstrates how the structure and operation of the FATF reflect those of a TRN and shows how the FATF has been successful in securing formal compliance with CTF policies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper stresses that formal compliance does not guarantee actual compliance or effective enforcement. It is argued that the FATF and the CTF regime must balance concerns for legitimacy with those of flexibility and efficiency. Traditionally, TRNs have focused on flexibility, efficiency and informal cooperation over legitimacy. This paper demonstrates that legitimacy concerns cannot be ignored.
Findings
A lack of legitimacy may ultimately result in non-compliance and ineffectiveness. On this basis, current efforts to build legitimacy through the FATF are noted but deemed insufficient. If this balance is not struck, the FATF may be doomed to failure through an overreliance on coercive methods. Particularly in the case of CTF, coercion is insufficient for meaningful compliance. Global enforcement by diverse states is a necessary condition for the success of the regime.
Originality/value
This paper will fill the gaps existing in the literature by examining CTF, as well as the FATF as an example of TRN. This approach differs from other literature in the field, which deals solely with the effectiveness of the FATF and the global CTF without considering the effect of legitimacy on compliance.
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Nina Geuens, Erik Franck, Peter Vlerick and Peter Van Bogaert
Preventing burnout and promoting psychological well-being in nurses are of great importance. In this study the effect of an online, stand-alone individualized preventive program…
Abstract
Purpose
Preventing burnout and promoting psychological well-being in nurses are of great importance. In this study the effect of an online, stand-alone individualized preventive program for nurse burnout based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is described and explained.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed method study with an explanatory sequential design was applied. Quantitative data were collected from September 2015 to March 2016 during an intervention study with a pretest-posttest wait-list control group design within a population of hospital nurses in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. Consecutively, 13 nurses from the intervention group who fully completed the program were interviewed.
Findings
All interviewed participants experienced some sort of effect due to working with the program. Emotional exhaustion remained stable in the intervention group and increased in the control group. However, this difference was not significant. Personal accomplishment decreased significantly within the intervention group when compared to the control group. This might be explained by the self-awareness that was created through the program, which confronted participants with their weaknesses and problems.
Originality/value
This study adds to the understanding of online individual burnout prevention. The results suggest the feasibility of an online program to prevent nurse burnout. This could be optimized by complementing it with organizational interventions, introducing refresher courses, reminders and follow-up. Furthermore, additional attention should be devoted to preparing the implementation in order to minimize attrition rates.
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The purpose of this paper is to focus on links between former “Heilbronn Symposia” on social, economic and political changes, and evolutionary concepts of the nineteenth and early…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on links between former “Heilbronn Symposia” on social, economic and political changes, and evolutionary concepts of the nineteenth and early twentieth century to solve the “Social Question” (“S. Qu.”) in Germany.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is based on references to authors of German historical schools, social policy, labor economics and liberal economic policy. The paper supplies a literature review in the area of social policy. It starts from different earlier definitions of the S. Qu. An overview is provided of selected studies of formerly leading German authors, who basically investigated economic and social policies conditioned by the existing economic system. The contents demonstrate different perspectives of the considered authors: Wilhelm Roscher's long‐term, even “modern” view of the development of property and wealth; Gustav Schmoller's broad view of economic and social development, demanding a strong state, efficient organizations of entrepreneurs and trade unions; Lujo Brentano's demand of basic institutional changes concerning labor markets and social security by trade unions; authors of different social‐economic studies written at the twentieth century, like Leopold von Wiese, Walter Eucken, Gerhard Weisser and Hans Peter Widmaier.
Findings
The findings point out: not all of the considered authors applied the same long‐term view; all of the authors demonstrated negative social effects of industrialization; authors of the twentieth century pointed out a broader concern of S. Qu. and social policy than former authors.
Research limitations/implications
Areas of future research include: a broadening perspective of long‐term studies, and an increasing demand for analyses of social disturbances and of effects of social policy on the distribution of life conditions.
Originality/value
The comparison of selected authors focusing on their views of the S. Qu. in Germany during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries allows for special conclusions related to the causes, performance and measures to solve or at least reduce the burden of the S. Qu. in the considered economy.
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Given the dramatic changes taking place in society, the economy, and technology, 21st-century organizations need to engage in new, more spontaneous, and more innovative ways of…
Abstract
Given the dramatic changes taking place in society, the economy, and technology, 21st-century organizations need to engage in new, more spontaneous, and more innovative ways of managing. I investigate why an increasing number of companies are including artists and artistic processes in their approaches to strategic and day-to-day management and leadership.
Mark E. Mendenhall, Ming Li and Joyce S. Osland
We review academic journal articles, scholarly book chapters, and dissertations in global leadership published in the last five years to map trends in the field in terms of…
Abstract
We review academic journal articles, scholarly book chapters, and dissertations in global leadership published in the last five years to map trends in the field in terms of multiple authorship, nature of overall methodologies used, linkage of global leadership to other constructs, and the degree to which theories outside of the field are used to study global leadership. We conclude with a discussion of potentially fruitful ways in which the field can move forward more rapidly and more productively through the integration of efforts by scholars from various camps within the wider management domain.
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The rhythmic patterns of urban mobilities, and their fluctuations and modifications across the day, give the streets their perceived and experienced atmosphere and character. This…
Abstract
The rhythmic patterns of urban mobilities, and their fluctuations and modifications across the day, give the streets their perceived and experienced atmosphere and character. This paper examines such street atmospheres and focusses on the role of embodied mobility rhythms in the (re)making of the atmospheres throughout the day. Utilising a rhythmanalytical framework and research data comprising videoed site observations and on-site fieldnotes, the study analyses ‘crepuscular’ (behaviour taking place during the twilight hours of the day, at dawn and dusk) mobility rhythms that reveal internal tensions and modalities of urban sites across a 24-hour period. The analysis highlights the connections between fluctuating pressures of motor traffic and mobile embodied appropriations of the space in the making of the streetscape and its changing atmospheres between the ‘day-time city’ and the ‘night-time city’. The chapter demonstrates that an analytical focus on such ‘in-between’ temporalities of the twilight can help to map the complex and multifaceted urban polyrhythmia, which, in turn, might provide new insight for rhythm-based perspectives towards urban atmospheres and street spaces as sites of urban social life.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the main contract principles which govern the international arbitration contract with special emphasis to examine contract principle found…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the main contract principles which govern the international arbitration contract with special emphasis to examine contract principle found of the Middle East, how international principles of contract are perceived in the region, and whether there are any dominant contract principles.
Design/methodology/approach
A general exploratory research procedure used to give a better grasp of various aspects of socio‐legal approaches. The paper seeks to create knowledge that can be used to retrieve some pressing social and organisational understanding in the said region. The first part of the paper examines the role of ethics and tradition in understanding Middle Eastern contract principles. The second part examines the impact of Islamic Law on commercial contract principles. The third section analyses the regional perception of international contract principles. Finally, the paper addresses some contemporary issues of international contracts in the Middle East.
Findings
The paper showed that the legal perceptions of international contract principles reflect regional legal thinking which has been influenced by a mixed understanding of regional traditions, Islamic contract law principles as well as Western contract principles when these principles match regional legal culture. Overall, it showed that still under such mixed understanding, there are strong regional legal traditions and these are found in Islamic contract principles and affects commercial contract experiences. In general, a significant difference still exists between modern international contract principles and those in the Middle East.
Practical implications
The paper generates a knowledge that mixed understanding in regard to international contract arbitration principles due historical and cultural reasoning. Arab States does not share common understanding of international contract principles. Thus, it is very superfluous to propose the argument that there is sole Middle Eastern regional perception which dominates every Arab State. Therefore, special understandings and considerations should be given to every international arbitration contract from certain Arab State entity to another.
Originality/value
The paper provides a clear understanding of the guidelines for international commercial arbitration contract in the Middle East. Legal culture should be taken into consideration if a successful contract implementation has to be achieved.