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Purpose: Most football clubs were founded by members of the local community within which they are based. The success of a club is built on the time, effort and resources given by these locals, which is offered due to the benefits that football promises to the community in return. However, the game has increasingly been dominated by a focus on financial (monetary) value, at the expense of such benefits being delivered to the clubs' local communities. This article examines a need for deliberation over what accountability is owed by football clubs to their local communities in the context of questioning what and for whom football is for. Design/methodology/approach: This exploration is undertaken within the context of the English game, where a series of issues has resulted in the UK Government undertaking a "fan led review of football governance". The report produced by this review is analysed to understand whether the contents and recommendations enters the debate over what accountability is owed to local communities. Findings: While the UK Government's fan led review recognises the pivotal role of local communities in the formation of the English game, its focus and resulting recommendations are mostly on the financial sustainability of the clubs. The analysis demonstrates that, due to their focus on financial value, the implementation of the report's recommendations is more likely to exacerbate the underlying issues rather than resolving them. Originality/value: The call for deliberation over whether and what accountability is owed to local communities has been repeated over time. The UK Government's fan led review provided an important opportunity to engage in that deliberation. However, the dominance of financial value within football has all but silenced any call for and action regarding this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to present a bibliometric overview of the academic research on export performance (EP) in the business and management areas. Design/methodology/approach: A bibliometric overview of 1,463 papers from 1968 to 2021, including performance analysis, science mapping analysis and graphical mapping, was conducted using the Scopus database. SciMAT software was used for thematic analysis and conceptual evolution mapping of the EP domain, and VOSviewer software was used for graphical visualization. Findings: This study shows that EP research experienced spectacular growth, especially between 1998 and 2003, and the interest in this field continues to increase. Also, the USA and the UK appear to be the absolute leaders in EP research, with the best indicators of productivity and influence in all dimensions analyzed. The findings from the analysis through SciMAT indicate that "capabilities" and "R&D" are the main Motor themes that have contributed the most to the EP literature, whereas "global value chain" and "start-up" are emerging themes as new areas of interest. Research limitations/implications: This study develops a baseline for representing certain and exhaustive insights in the EP field and specifies trends over a period. Using a single database and excluding book chapters/conference papers are limitations of this study. Originality/value: EP is a research field that has gained wide acceptance in the academic community and international marketing literature. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no bibliometric overview has analyzed the EP literature. This study presents the first systematic quantitative analysis of academic research on EP in the business and management areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper examines the approach of United Kingdom (UK) Trade Unions to the use of institutional power resources (IPR) in the second half of the twentieth century. Design/methodology/approach: Using secondary material, it examines the unions' approach to IPR in three cases; collective bargaining; worker representation and trade union structure. Findings: The paper concludes that unions did not appreciate the importance of, and lacked a strategic approach to, IPR. Although employer and government action were largely responsible for the decline of industrial relations institutions, the failure of the unions to engage with IPR contributed to this process. It explains the failure of the unions to engage with IPR by reference to their lack of strategic capabilities and skills in relation to power resources (PRs) in general and IPR in particular. Research limitations/implications: It would have been interesting to collect primary data via interviews with union actors from the period examined to test the interpretation of secondary data contained in the article. Practical implications: The paper has identified the kind of strategic decision-making which is necessary for unions to engage effectively with IPR. It is has also indicated the key skills which unions need to develop to be able to manage their engagement with IPR. Social implications: The paper has implications for the role of trade unions in society, showing the need for them to develop narratives to convince society of the importance of their role and action and to develop the skills which enable them to connect with other social groups, e.g. intermediation, engagement with coalitional resources. Originality/value: Analysis of the decline of industrial relations institutions in this period has emphasized the role of employers and the state. This paper contributes to a more balanced perspective on this decline by drawing attention to the lack of a union strategy towards IPR and the importance of the detail of the management and employment of power resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to discuss the implications of the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) January 25, 2011 discussion paper, DP11/1 Product Intervention. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the FSA's previous regulatory approach; the limited usefulness of disclosure in consumer protection; the impact of trends toward a direct adviser fee structure and the phasing out of commission-based remuneration; the FSA's perceived need to become more directly involved in the product development process; various ways in which the FSA might intervene including product pre-approval, product banning, and price intervention; and possible limitations on the FSA's power to intervene. Findings – The key issues raised by the FSA discussion paper are a new interventionist stance taken by the FSA and prospectively by its successor the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); the increased focus on the product itself (in addition to disclosure and point of sale); and the possible extension in the scope of the FSA's existing powers. Originality/value – The paper provides practical insight from experienced financial services lawyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper offers a retrospective on the launch and first volumes of this journal. It describes the history of a unique period in our discipline when founding fathers in the US and UK collaborated with industry and each other to create a new field. Design/methodology/approach: The authors interviewed founding editor Professor Martin Christopher and coeditor in Chief Professor Doug Lambert, conducted a bibliometric review of the first volumes of the journal and informed the analysis by approaches taken in other retrospectives published in the journal. The authors also feature historical artifacts from the journal. Findings: The editorial focus during the early days of the journal demonstrate how the roots of the field are in cost modeling and technical work but quickly moved toward customer orientation and managerial focus. The editorial approach during the early days of the journal was on innovative research and publishing, scholarship engaged with industry, a focus on relevance and industry impact as well as leveraging research in education. Originality/value: There have been retrospectives on the journals most recent volumes but what the authors aim to do is to reflect upon the launch and the first volumes of the journal. The authors expand and further detail the timeline of the development of the logistics field. In the process, the authors identify several historical roots for topics of greater focus in logistics and supply chain management in later years. The authors also find that many of the essential approaches and lessons learned in the period leading up to the launch and shortly after the launch of the journal do not only capture the early development of the discipline it also offers an approach and model for scholarship worthy of consideration still today. On top of that, several of the lessons learned in that period hold high relevance still today and they imply part of the path forward for the discipline and the journal, the authors develop questions for future research and research and editorial strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether the acceptability of different types of business- and individual-level non-compliance has different impacts on the likelihood of participation in undeclared work. Design/methodology/approach: To evaluate this, data is reported on the EU27 and the UK from the special Eurobarometer survey no. 498, using a novel statistical methodology that deals with two potential sources of bias: sample selection error (avoidance to answer to the question about participation to undeclared work) and misclassification in the response variable (false statements about engagement in undeclared work). Findings: This reveals the association between tax morale and participation in undeclared work. It shows that citizens find far more unacceptable undeclared work conducted by firms than individuals, but both are significantly associated with participation in undeclared work although the greatest effect is clearly exerted by individual-level tax morale. Originality/value: This paper uses a methodology that accounts for the potential bias related to sample selection error and misclassification in the response variable of participation in undeclared work and sheds light on different components of tax morale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Communication about sustainability in fashion is complex. While fashion businesses have increasingly sought to manage their sustainability practices, their understanding of how to communicate about sustainability persuasively remains limited. The authors argue that a key problem with a firm's efforts in communicating about sustainability is that it is a psychologically distant issue for both businesses and stakeholders. This paper aims to apply construal level theory to explore managers' construal level in shaping communication about sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: The paper used a two-phase qualitative methodology. Phase one involved undertaking interviews with ten managers in fashion firms to address communications about sustainability in the UK. In phase two, 16 consumers interpreted and reflected on the persuasiveness of communications about sustainability encompassing both concrete and abstract forms of messaging. Findings: The authors identify the factors driving different approaches to communication (concrete and abstract) depending on the construal levels of managers, managers' perceptions of the construal level of target stakeholders and the perceived authenticity of the sustainability claim. The paper highlights the conditions under which the (mis)match with the brands' sustainable practices works in crafting communication. The authors also highlight three main communication strategies in responding to the complexity of sustainability in fashion ecosystems: amplification, quiet activist and populist coupling. Research limitations/implications: As an in-depth qualitative study, the authors seek to expose an under-researched phenomenon, yet generalisations both within the fashion industry and beyond are limited by this focus. Practical implications: Fashion managers need to be flexible and evaluate how their communications about sustainability affect stakeholders' evaluations of their brands. As sustainability in fashion brands grows, concrete and specific sustainability messaging may be necessary to improve sustainable behaviours. Originality/value: The prevailing literature encourages symbiosis between sustainability practices and communications; such relationships are rare, and studies outside the consumer perspective are also rare. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this exploratory study is the first to understand how managers' construal level influences decisions around communications about sustainability in fashion and how these messages are perceived by consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Three years on from the Brexit vote, while it remains a central topic for debate in the media, there has been limited discussion about the human resource (HR) implications. The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical evaluation and informed discussion, distilled into four interconnected propositions, on how employee resourcing as a HR practice may be impacted following actual Brexit decisions. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the employee resourcing literature, the paper adopts a discursive approach which examines how the UK's decision to exit the European Union will affect HR practice. The paper draws comparison with the global recession since 2008, a similarly unprecedented development in its discussion of employee resourcing practices and draws parallels which may help to inform the future of HR practices in the UK, because of Brexit. Findings: This paper offers a set of propositions; the flow of talent into the UK may become more restricted and reinvigorate the "war for talent" that followed the effects of the global financial crisis on the UK. To attract and retain workers in relatively lower-skilled roles, employers may be faced with a need to re-skill such roles and adopt more flexible working arrangements. Finally, to meet skilled employment requirements, removal of restrictions to recruit from within the European Economic Area may trigger increased global migration of skilled workers. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the discussions regarding the implications of Brexit for HR practice by offering propositions to shape future research agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Through active learning and experiential learning theoretical perspectives, this paper explores the role of gamification on the student experience and student learning of undergraduate business management students in the UK. Design/methodology/approach: To capture the impact of gamification on student experience and student learning during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, data were collected through online surveys with L6 undergraduate students studying during the academic years 2020–2021, 2021–2022 and 2022–2023. Findings: The analysis of the data revealed three core themes: a) gaining practical experience through gamification b) opportunities for peer engagement and active participation and c) development of soft skills and hard skills. Practical implications: Based on the lessons learnt, the paper proposes actions and guidelines for integrating gamification into business management curricula that prepare future business managers and leaders to respond to unforeseen challenges and changes. Originality/value: This study contributes to a series of design suggestions for fellow tutors and practitioners seeking to advance their pedagogical approach to developing agile and resilient future managers and leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to bring together two separate strands of the literature (politics and industrial relations) on civil service management and reform to enable consideration of the industrial relations implications of these changes. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is conceptual and has no empirical base. The paper is a general review of existing literature on the subject. Findings – The paper identifies the importance of historical legacy in both management and union behaviour in the civil service. By revisiting earlier civil service reforms, the reader is able to gain an understanding of the rationale for much of the current restructuring of the civil service. Additionally, any discussion of trade union behaviour should be located in the context of union tradition and evolution. Research limitations/implications – In being a general review, the paper does not report empirical evidence but instead provides the background for future research into civil service industrial relations and management. Originality/value – This paper is the first to provide a systematic review of management restructuring in the civil service whilst at the same time considering union responses. As such, the paper is of interest to academics and practitioners in the areas of both management and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this review is to understand whether "The Great Resignation" has emerged as a concept within the popular media and academic because it is based on fact or whether it has emerged because it broadly aligns with a dominant neoliberal ideology. Design/methodology/approach: This paper critically reviews United Kingdom (UK) government data to establish evidence for "The Great Resignation". Thus, the purpose is to understand whether there has been an increased propensity for workers to leave or change their jobs due to attitudinal changes emerging from the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings: Based on this review, there is limited evidence that "The Great Resignation" has been occurring within the UK. Nonetheless, there have been extensive commentries in both the popular press and academic outlets that have been attempting to evidence the phenomenon. Some of academic writing is drirven by narratives emerging from the press which should thus warrent consideration of the extent to which academics are losing control over conceptual and theoretical development. Originality/value: The key contribution that is made by this piece is the questioning of concepts that have entered the common vernacular. Concepts such as "The Great Resignation" and "Quiet Quitting" have, for the most part, gained popularity through social media. This paper looks at "The Great Resignation" and warns of the possibility that social media maybe a significant threat to robust academic theorisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to inquire about pre-requisites and benefits of collaboration in the UK and India, testing for significance of country context. Design/methodology/approach: The survey data set includes 118 UK-based and 175 India-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper applies a grounded theory research design, given that to date, no sufficient SME sector-specific, quantitative frameworks have been published. Findings: India-based SMEs are more inclined towards frequent collaboration. Soft variables such as perceived trustworthiness or past commitment, appear to be significant when explaining whether or not SMEs in India enter into a collaboration. Operations-driven motives play the most significant role for them, whereas for UK-based SMEs, product design-related collaboration motives are of more importance. Research limitations/implications: The developed cross-country and country-specific collaboration variables will facilitate SME studies under a consistent and complete framework. Practical implications: Business associations and SME owners in the UK can use the research to gain an Indian perspective and vice versa. This study concludes a stylised framework for SME owners and managers to classify collaboration patterns in a country. Originality/value: While previous research established concepts and practices of SME collaboration, this is the first paper that quantitatively addresses the attitudes and experiences that SME owners hold when initialising inter-firm collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the development of global human resource development (HRD) articles published in journals indexed in the Scopus database since 1960s until present time. Design/methodology/approach: A publication collection of 1,905 articles collected from the Scopus database was downloaded and analyzed by using bibliometric techniques available in the VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software. Findings: Three different development stages of HRD research have been identified: a seeding stage between 1962 and 1989, a growth stage between 1990 and 2007 and a development stage from 2008 onward. The USA and the UK were the biggest contributors who participated to 30.02% and 12.55% of articles in the collection and received 43.82% and 19.54% of the total number of citations, respectively. Scholars with the most publications and citations are mostly from the USA and the UK, and nine over ten most cited articles having first author's affiliation located there. Emerald Group is the most popular publishing house, as five over ten most popular journals belong to this publishing house. Originality/value: After six decades of development, it is necessary to examine the evolution of HRD research, its characteristics and its intellectual framework as this type of analysis is not yet available in the literature. This study helps scholars better understand this research field, as well as better prepare for future work in HRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines how human resources (HR) professionals in the UK have supported employee wellbeing during the coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic. It considers the extent to which HR professionals were prepared for the crisis and their readiness in supporting the wellbeing of their people. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 senior HR professionals working across the public and private sectors in the UK. Using an in-depth interview structure, the research explored how respondents both reacted to and managed the crisis in their respective organisations. Template analysis was used to analyse the data allowing a certain degree of fluidity in the establishment of ordered relationships between the themes. Findings: This study finds that business continuity plans turned out to be useless during the pandemic because they focussed on data, not people. It highlights the tension between home-working and burn-out as online presenteeism increased due to staff changing their behaviour in response to self-surveillance. The paper emphasises the importance of soft skills and authentic leadership and the tensions in respect of equity. Research limitations/implications: The study was conducted with HR professionals in the UK, not internationally. Although the sample did include HR professionals from across the public, private and third sectors, the experience may not be representative of all those working in HR. Originality/value: This research found that those organisations that had engaged in business continuity planning prior to the pandemic focussed on the retrieval and accessibility of data rather than people. This prioritises staff as a resource rather than emphasising people as an organisation's most valuable asset. Furthermore, the study found that staff worked harder and for longer periods of time as a consequence of self-imposed surveillance. Organisational responses were contradictory as despite implementing well-being strategies to promote physical and mental health, there was little evidence of an effective response to this online presenteeism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates consumer engagement, evaluation and beliefs of domestic products and the influence of such associated attributes communicated via domestic COO labelling within the United Kingdom. Design/methodology/approach: A visual ethnographic approach utilising the methods of autophotography and photo elicitation interviews was conducted to explore consumers' interaction with the domestic COO label and provenance advertising. Findings: The results of photo elicitation interviews revealed both positive and negative cognitive, affective and normative implications of domestic provenance labelling of influence emerging within consumers. Research limitations/implications: The findings are applied to the context of the United Kingdom, with contextual limitations acknowledged of doing so. Convenience sampling limitations are also acknowledged. Practical implications: The findings provide UK-based FMCG manufacturers and retailers insight into the associated attributes of domestic brand and products interpreted by consumers, communicated via a COO label, to assist in their purchasing strategies. Originality/value: This paper seeks to contribute towards the understanding of provenance labelling influence on consumers for products within the FMCGs sector, whilst specifically commenting upon attributes of reliance and influence that may assist navigation of changing priorities and national sentiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a broad practitioner’s overview of recent trade union history in the UK, and to investigate organised labour’s prospects in the decades ahead. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a review of relevant literature and trade union documentation from the period 1964 to 2014. Findings – This paper concludes that the past 50 years has been a period of change and turbulence for the movement, and suggests that this is likely to remain the case in the decades to come. Although external political and economic factors will have a significant bearing on unions’ prospects, the paper argues that unions remain powerful agents of change in their own right and that a revival of organised labour is not beyond question. Originality/value – The paper is written with unique practitioner insight from the UK’s trade union centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine the changed nature of public accountability during a supreme emergency and explore how legal and auditing mechanisms have come to the fore, concluding that misappropriation of public monies is not an inevitable outcome. Design/methodology/approach: The paper explores an illustrative example, the UK government's procurement of personal protective equipment during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings: In circumstances of a supreme emergency where parliamentary scrutiny and competitive contract tendering are suspended, other forms of public accountability come to the fore, with civil society actors becoming more evident. Research limitations/implications: The paper relies on illustrative examples based on the Westminster model of government. The study advanced the notion of deferred accountability and identifies areas for further study, potentially in different jurisdictions. Social implications: The paper highlights the need for a variety of active and engaged civil society actors. Originality/value: The paper contributes an empirical case to how an account of government behaviour is established. The paper also contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature and role of legal and government audit accountability mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper explores how deservingness features in how line managers and employees with cancer negotiate post-diagnosis support in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach: It draws on narrative interview data from people with cancer in the UK who were employed when diagnosed and line managers with experience of managing an employee with cancer. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of occupational health and human resources staff and staff from a UK cancer support charity. Findings: It shows that post-diagnosis support for employees with cancer was negotiated in subjective, individualised ways, drawing on pre-diagnosis workplace contribution as well as the perceived deservingness of cancer as an illness. Managerial support for employees with cancer was also influenced by post-diagnosis employee behaviours, particularly those that implied a readiness to return to work. Research limitations/implications: The sample size and methods limit the generalisability of the results. However, sampling choices were instrumental in reaching a rich set of data, which enabled deeper understanding of individual workplace negotiations. Social implications: Pervasive and unhelpful notions of deservingness in the context of ill-health and disability have distinct and worrying implications for ageing workforces, particularly across the Global North. This has been exacerbated by the ongoing uncertainty and insecurity triggered by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As a result insight into the management of ill-health at work has never been more relevant, and can be used to inform policy and practice. Originality/value: This exploratory paper extends debates usually reserved for social welfare and health provision to a new domain by exploring how deservingness features in line manager–employee interactions in the context of an employee diagnosis of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this explorative research is to analyse the resilience of the United Kingdom's (UK) healthcare supply chains from a customer's perspective in the light of the coronavirus pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Using the capabilities of preparedness, robustness, recovery and adaptability as the foundational percept for supply chain resilience, 22 healthcare professionals in 17 of the UK's National Health Scheme (NHS) Trusts were interviewed to explore their personal and organisational approaches adopted relative to the provision of eye protection, gloves, gowns, aprons, masks and respirators. The Dynamic Capabilities View is mapped to the resilience capabilities and used to analyse the data from a transformational supply chain research perspective. Findings: The supply chains were largely unprepared, which was not particularly surprising even though the availability of gloves was significantly better compared to the other personal protective equipment (PPE). Techniques adopted to ensure robustness and recovery revealed the use of unsanctioned methods such as extended use of PPE beyond recommended use, redefinition of guidelines, protocols and procedures by infection control and the use of expired PPE – all of which compromised customer well-being. Research limitations/implications: As the paper views resilience through the lens of customers, it does not provide the perspectives of the supply chain practitioners as to the reasons for the findings and the challenges within these supply chains. Practical implications: The compromise of the well-being of healthcare workers due to the vulnerabilities of healthcare supply chains is highlighted to managers and prescriptions for post-disruption adaptability are made. Originality/value: This paper introduces transformative research to supply chain resilience research by uniquely looking at resilience from the customers' well-being perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the 2012–2013 Starbucks tax crisis in the United Kingdom (UK) as an anatomy of tragedy. The tragedy in relation to Starbucks is the displacement of an opportunity to examine the relationship between financial capital and national capitalisms. The paper illustrates how the crisis displaced opportunities for substantive critique concerning financial capital, national capitalisms, multinationals, taxation and society. Design/methodology/approach: As a critical, discursive intervention, the paper examines how rhetoric was employed in 157 media articles published in six UK newspapers and on two news portals (both in print and online). The paper employs rhetorical redescription to the document archive, presenting the finding and analysis as a play in the style of an Aristotelian tragedy. Findings: Analysis of the Starbucks approach to transfer pricing identifies misunderstandings of accounting, taxation transfer pricing, and "resolution" and how the media's construction of Starbucks as immoral, anti-British, potentially illegal operated to confuse the politics. The effect of these misunderstandings and confusion was to take attention away from a politics concerning financial capital valorisation and national capitalisms (jurisdictions raising tax revenue for government spending and social services). Originality/value: First, the paper explores the politics of displacement to illustrate the metonymic concealment of the primary identity of the political. Second, Aristotelian tragedy is employed to study and present methods of displacement. Third, the empirics are depicted in a dramatic format to illustrate how rhetorical interventions by the media and actors displaced the political focus away from financial capital and national capitalisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aimed to revise and further validate the published e-work life (EWL) scale. The EWL scale was originally developed to assess theoretically relevant aspects of the remote e-working experience related to four main areas: organisational trust, flexibility, work–life interference and productivity. Design/methodology/approach: A number of changes were implemented to the scale (i.e. including new items, rewording of existing items) following a recent qualitative study conducted by the authors. The two studies outlined in this paper, conducted within discrete remote e-working populations, resulted in a validated and adjusted 20-item version of the scale. Findings: Study 1 performs confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on data from a sample of 399 remote e-workers (57.9% female) in UK to check the factor structure of the revised version of the EWL scale and the reliability of the posited dimensions. Results provided support for a 20-item scale, replicating the factorial structure of the original version. Study 2 tests and confirms the factorial structure of the final 20-item EWL scale in an independent sample of 366 remote e-workers (48.6% female) in UK. Study 2 provides further evidence of EWL scale's reliability and validity, with the four factors of the scale being significantly correlated with positive mental health, detachment from work and technostress. Originality/value: The EWL scale is a very timely and important tool which provides an overall framework of the key areas that are affecting remote e-workers' life; whose greater understanding may better prepare organisations to adapt work arrangements and introduce support policies and guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact competency frameworks as standardisation can have on the employee engagement of academic staff within higher education (HE) through their employment as managerial tools. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review is conducted from which the conditions for effective competency frameworks are evaluated and the influence of changes in the HE environment in the form of political agendas and tight resources are explored. Findings: This paper provides insights into the dynamics of public service modernisation and the tensions between the dominant discourse of managerialism and the degree of agency afforded to professional academics. It highlights the relevance of informal peer relationships in setting the climate to generate collegial bonding and professional engagement that underpin successful teacher fellowship accreditations. It further highlights the key role managers play in this process and provides a conceptual framework highlighting the dynamics and combined effect of employee engagement and competency frameworks set within complex HE environment. Practical implications: This paper brings together the prerequisites for effective implementation of competency frameworks to implement successful employee engagement strategies set within the complexities of the HE context, which has not been studied to date. Armed with such insights, Human Resource Development (HRD) departments and universities can implement competency assessments that generate greater staff engagement. Originality/value: The paper provides a critical approach in reviewing the impact of Continued Professional Development and its link to professional status and thus helps British Universities and others to understand how the mechanisms at work affect engagement levels of academic staff. Armed with this depth of understanding of how the change initiative works, with whom and under what circumstances, universities will be better able to meet target UK Professional Standards Framework membership levels required by the higher education academy (HEA) and, subsequently, the HEA to meet their targets for the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The fund management sector plays an important role in society. The sector exists in close proximity to the accounting profession and the concerns of the paper reflect themes discussed by accounting scholars, particularly financialization, inequality and life within elite professional service organizations. Design/methodology/approach: This is an interpretive study of the fund management field based in the UK. It is based on 32 semi-structured interviews with individuals with personal experience of the field, combined with reflections from the researcher's own experience as a practitioner within the field. Findings: The paper describes the backgrounds and motivations of individuals entering the field, the recruitment processes through which they are admitted, and the different strategies used to gain admission to the field. It explores the habitus of successful professionals in the field and the effects of this habitus. Social implications: An important social implication of the paper is the problematization of the fund management industry's dislocation from broader society. Originality/value: By identifying the different strategies employed by applicants from different backgrounds, it highlights the role of reflexive agency and the complicity between agent and field. Recognizing that professional fund management is organized as a game, it suggests that individuals are so committed to the game they know they are playing that they fail to realize that they are also drawn into a different game, namely the absorbing game of being a fund manager. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates the impact of sustainability information disclosure on consumers' choice of order-to-delivery lead-time in relation to consumers' sustainability concern. Design/methodology/approach: Based on two choice experiments with participants from the Netherlands (n = 348) and the United Kingdom (n = 1,387), the impact of sustainability information disclosure was examined in connection with consumers' concerns for environmental and social sustainability. Information on environmental impact (carbon emission) and social impact (warehouse workers and drivers' well-being) was considered and compared. Findings: Disclosing sustainability impact information significantly increased consumers' preference and choice for longer delivery times, with equivalent effects for environmental and social impact information. Consumers' relevant (environmental or social) sustainability concern as personality traits enhanced effects on preferences, as did priming of environmental concern. Research limitations/implications: Future research may consider differences between product categories or e-commerce companies' reputation in sustainability activities. Practical implications: The findings provide opportunities for online retailers to influence consumer choice of delivery time, especially through disclosing environmental and/or social sustainability information. Originality/value: This study fills a gap in the literature on sustainability information disclosure to actively steer consumer choice of delivery time, particularly regarding the effect of social sustainability impact information in comparison to its environmental counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Some studies and reports have recently suggested using blockchain technology to improve transparency and trust in humanitarian supply chains (HSCs). However, evidence-based studies to display the utility and applicability of blockchains in HSCs are missing in the literature. This paper aims to investigate the key drivers and barriers of blockchain application to HSCs and explore whether evidence could support that the application of blockchain improves transparency and trust in HSCs. Design/methodology/approach: This paper puts forward a two-stage approach to explore the blockchain application in HSCs: an initial exploration of humanitarian practitioners and academicians interested in blockchain through focus group discussions; semi-structured interviews with practitioners involved at the UK Department for International Development's Humanitarian Supply Blockchain pilot project. Findings: First, we found that main drivers include accountability, visibility, traceability, trust, collaboration, time efficiency, reducing administrative work and cross-sector partnership. Main barriers, however, are composed of engagement issues, lack of technical skills and training, lack of resources, privacy concerns, regulatory problems, pilot scalability issues and governance challenges. Second, evidence from our case study revealed the blockchain application could have added value to improve visibility and traceability, thus contributing to improve transparency. Concerning trust, evidence supports that blockchain could enhance both commitment and swift trust in the pilot study. Practical implications: Our study contributes to a more understanding of added values and challenges of blockchain application to HSCs and creates a perspective for humanitarian decision-makers. Originality/value: This study provides the first evidence from the actual application of blockchain technology in HSCs. The study discovered that it is still less evident in many humanitarian organizations, including medium- and small-sized nongovernmental organizations, that they engage in a direct deployment of in-house or customized blockchain-based HSC. Instead, these actors are more likely to indirectly use blockchain in HSCs through a private commercial partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper considers the accounting and accountability practices of the UK government's response to COVID-19 for England, focussing on the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a close reading of the news media and official reports from government departments, Parliament select committees and the National Audit Office, among others, this paper frames the UK government's uses of accounting and accountability in its response to COVID-19. This is by using the categories of "apparatuses of security", Foucault's schematic of government for economising on the uses of state power. Findings: The paper shows that an important role for accounting is in the process of enabling the government to gauge the extent of the crisis and produce calculations to underpin its response, what Foucault called "normalisation". This role was unlike statistics and economics. The government relied most on monthly statistical reporting and budgeting flexibilities. By contrast, the multi-year Spending Review and financial reporting were not timely enough. That said, financial reporting fed into financial sustainability projections and enabled audit that could provide potential accountability regarding regularity, probity, value for money and fairness. The authors' findings suggest that, conceptually, accountability should be added to the object–subject element of Foucault's apparatuses of security because of its significance for governments' ability to pursue crisis objectives that require popular assent. Practical implications: In view of the ongoing uncertainty, with the crisis extending over longer budget and financial reporting periods, a Spending Review is becoming ever more necessary for better planning, without limiting, however, the budget flexibilities that have proven so useful for rapid government responses. Moreover, the government should continue its accounting reforms post COVID-19 so that improved accountability and audit can contribute to enhanced future financial resilience. Originality/value: This is the first paper to apply Foucault's notion of apparatuses of security to an analysis of government accounting and accountability practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the necessary mechanisms for coordination in complex industrial networks which are temporary in nature, known as temporary organisations (TOs). Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on two in-depth case studies conducted in the UK construction industry. Findings – The paper outlines the necessary mechanisms for coordination in TOs – referred to as “scaffolding practices” – which ensure consistency (stability in terms of thinking and action), consensus (agreement) and co-constitutiveness (personal pledges and commitments). Research limitations/implications – The study provides practical implications for situations where actors create temporary organisational specific logics. This “logic” helps explain how actors are able to undertake tasks of finite duration where members lack familiarity and have competing loyalties. Originality/value – The paper is novel in that it represents the first extant attempt to examine “temporary industrial organizations” where individuals from different (often competing) organisations collaborate on a task for a defined period and suggests how coordination may be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss significant changes in the concept and practice of employment relations over the last 50 years. It does so from both public policy and management perspectives and highlights the continued failure to align these two perspectives. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on the author’s research as an adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and his previous experience as a civil servant in the Employment Department. A range of published sources are relied on, including quantitative, survey based and qualitative, case-study and other evidence. Findings – The over-riding need to tackle inflation led governments in the 1960s and 1970s to make repeated attempts to build a stronger legal framework around collective bargaining, and to intensifying incomes policies which brought governments into frequent conflict with the trade unions. This was followed by incremental reform of trade union legislation under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, to which there has subsequently been no serious challenge. The question is posed whether the author is nearing the end of the road for trade union voice in the UK, or whether there is scope for a “new deal” under which trade unions can join with other key stakeholders in making a positive contribution towards economic regeneration. Looking forward, the paper discusses shifts in trade union approaches to industrial action and major challenges for employers, including managing individual conflict and employee voice. Originality/value – The paper suggests that the ambiguity of the term “employee relations” means the author needs to ask what are the specific challenges facing employee relations practitioners today. Employee relations managers are undertaking a wide range of jobs. Their current focus on employee relations reflects a shift from the defensive attitudes that characterised the earlier part of the period to a more positive one. The paper concludes by arguing the case for a national forum bringing together employers, trade unions and other key stakeholders to advise government on workplace issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Distinguishing what employers in different areas of Great Britain need to pay to attract and retain labour has been a central component of public-sector resource allocation decisions. This paper examines how changes in the pattern of spatial wage differentials following the global financial crisis have impacted on the formulae which allocate government funding to local government and health providers in the NHS. Design/methodology/approach: Using employer-reported data on earnings, we examine spatial patterns of private-sector wages in Great Britain between 2007 and 2017. The method permits the analysis of finely defined geographical areas and controls for differences in industry and workforce composition to distinguish those differences that are attributable from unmeasured characteristics, such as differences between areas in the cost of living and amenities. These standardised spatial wage differentials (SSWDs) underpin the funding allocation formulae. Findings: The analysis shows that since 2007 private-sector wage dispersion, both within and between regions, has reduced: lower paid areas have experienced a relative increase in wages and higher paid a relative decline. Over the period, there was a significant reduction in the London wage premium. Originality/value: This paper demonstrates the importance of ensuring established policies are applied using contemporary data. The SSWDs used to distribute government funds have not been re-estimated for some time. As a result, the current resource allocation model has overcompensated the London region and undercompensated others during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This is a polemical paper challenging both the principle and practice of journal ranking. In recent years academics and their institutions have become obsessive about the star-ratings of the journals in which they publish. In the UK this is partly attributed to quinquennial reviews of university research performance though preoccupation with journal ratings has become an international phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to examine the arguments for and against these ratings and argue that, on balance, they are having a damaging effect on the development of logistics as an academic discipline. Design/methodology/approach – The arguments advanced in the paper are partly substantiated by references to the literature on the ranking of journals and development of scientific research. A comparison is made of the rating of logistics publications in different journal ranking systems. The views expressed in the paper are also based on informal discussions with numerous academics in logistics and other fields, and long experience as a researcher, reviewer and journal editor. Findings – The ranking of journals gives university management a convenient method of assessing research performance across disciplines, though has several disadvantages. Among other things, it can skew the choice of research methodology, lengthen publication lead times, cause academics to be disloyal to the specialist journals in their field, favour theory over practical relevance and unfairly discriminate against relatively young disciplines such as logistics. Research evidence suggests that journal ratings are not a good proxy for the value and impact of an article. The paper aims to stimulate a debate on the pros and cons of journal rankings and encourage logistics academics to reflect on the impact of these rankings on their personal research plans and the wider development of the field. Research limitations/implications – The review of journal ranking systems is confined to three countries, the UK, Germany and Australia. The analysis of journal ranking was also limited to 11 publications with the word logistics or supply chain management. The results of this review and analysis, however, provide sufficient evidence to support the main arguments advanced in the paper. Practical implications – The paper asserts that the journal ranking system is encouraging a retreat into ivory towers where academics become more interested in impressing each other with their intellectual brilliance than in doing research that is of real value to the outside world. Originality/value – Many logistics academics are concerned about the situation and trends outlined in this paper, but find it very difficult to challenge the prevailing journal ranking orthodoxy. This paper may give them greater confidence to question the value of the journal ranking systems that are increasing dominating academic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the response of Travel & Leisure (T&L) stocks of some advanced economies (the USA and United Kingdom) as well as Europe to uncertainty due to pandemics and epidemics. The motivation for the study is derived from the expectation that pandemics and epidemics which are infectious would limit activities and events that require physical interactions such as those associated with T&L, and therefore, returns on related investments may decline during this period. Design/methodology/approach: The authors formulate a model in line with Westerlund and Narayan (2012, 2015) where uncertainty due to infectious diseases is included as a predictor in the valuation of T&L stocks while also controlling for endogeneity bias (for omitted variables bias), conditional heteroscedasticity effect (typical of high frequency data) and persistence (typical of most financial and economic time series). Findings: The authors' results suggest that contrary to the negative impact of previous cases of pandemics and epidemics on the T&L stocks, the behavior of these stocks during COVID-19 pandemic is modest owing to the positive nexus between equity market volatility due to infectious diseases (EMV-ID) (our proxy for pandemics and epidemics) and the T&L returns during the COVID-19 period. The authors maintain that investors in this market need not panic as the market tends to be resilient to pandemics over time albeit with a lower resilience during daily trading. The results leading to this conclusion are robust to alternative measures of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: The peculiarity of this paper on T&L stocks is premised on the introduction of the new datasets for infectious diseases, and the need to include the COVID-19 pandemic given its peculiarity. Essentially, we utilize the Baker et al. (2020) dataset which captures all the pandemics including COVID-19 and a complementary dataset on the COVID-19 pandemic using an alternative approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate small and medium-sized upstream suppliers' and downstream distributors' understandings of supply chain finance (SCF) arrangements and their decisions to adopt such schemes. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper grounded theory-informed methods are employed, involving 56 in-depth interviews with informants from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), banks and subject experts in the United Kingdom (UK) and Thailand. A category structure for the data is developed. The findings are then examined systematically from both a transaction cost economics (TCE) and non-TCE perspective. Findings: SME members made sense of SCF through a core distinction between dyadic and triadic SCF arrangements. The former maintains independence between physical and financial supply chains, whereas the latter causes them to be closely coupled or even entangled. The SCF adoption decisions of SMEs were based on a consideration of four related aspects: relationality, awareness, control and context. The authors demonstrate the limits of TCE in explaining the findings, leading to a proposed combined theory of the transactional and, importantly, non-transactional influences on how SMEs make decisions about SCF. Practical implications: Focal firms wanting their SME suppliers and distributors to participate in triadic SCF (TSCF), i.e. reverse factoring and distributor finance, need to understand that transitioning to such schemes involves the unwinding of existing financing arrangements, which may be problematic for SMEs. Moreover, it is important to be aware of SMEs' concerns, such as about what accessing TSCF might signal to the focal firm about their financial health and about the potential loss of control that might result from entangling the physical and financial aspects of supply chains. Originality/value: This paper unpack the perspectives of both SME suppliers and distributors of large focal firms in supply chains. These firms appear less concerned with the economic advantages (transaction costs) of SCF and more concerned with the relational consequences or non-transactional costs of participation in a TSCF arrangement. The dyadic-triadic distinction provides a new and meaningful way of categorising SCF mechanisms, which also broadens the service triads' literature from a focus on outsourcing services for a focal firm's customers to outsourcing financing for its suppliers or distributors. The paper also addresses gaps identified by Gelsomino et al. (2016) regarding the need for a general theory of SCF, for empirically-based holistic studies of SCF applications, and a tool for selecting SCF mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the focus and changing nature of measuring academic accounting research quality. The paper addresses contemporary changes in academic publishing, metrics for determining research quality and the possible impacts on accounting scholars. These are considered in relation to the core values of interdisciplinary accounting research ‒ that is, the pursuit of novel, rigorous, significant and authentic research motivated by a passion for scholarship, curiosity and solving wicked problems. The impact of changing journal rankings and research citation metrics on the traditional and highly valued role of the accounting academic is further considered. In this setting, the paper also provides a summary of the journal's activities for 2018, and in the future. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on contemporary data sets, the paper illustrates the increasingly diverse and confusing array of "evidence" brought to bear on the question of the relative quality of accounting research. Commercial products used to rate and rank journals, and judge the academic impact of individual scholars and their papers not only offer insight and visibility, but also have the potential to misinform scholars and their assessors. Findings: In the move from simple journal ranking lists to big data and citations, and increasingly to concerns with impact and engagement, the authors identify several challenges facing academics and administrators alike. The individual academic and his or her contribution to scholarship are increasingly marginalised in the name of discipline, faculty and institutional performance. A growing university performance management culture within, for example, the UK and Australasia, has reached a stage in the past decade where publication and citation metrics are driving allocations of travel grants, research grants, promotions and appointments. With an expanded range of available metrics and products to judge their worth, or have it judged for them, scholars need to be increasingly informed of the nuanced or not-so-nuanced uses to which these measurement systems will be put. Narrow, restricted and opaque peer-based sources such as journal ranking lists are now being challenged by more transparent citation-based sources. Practical implications: The issues addressed in this commentary offer a critical understanding of contemporary metrics and measurement in determining the quality of interdisciplinary accounting research. Scholars are urged to reflect upon the challenges they face in a rapidly moving context. Individuals are increasingly under pressure to seek out preferred publication outlets, developing and curating a personal citation profile. Yet such extrinsic outcomes may come at the cost of the core values that motivate the interdisciplinary scholar and research. Originality/value: This paper provides a forward-looking focus on the critical role of academics in interdisciplinary accounting research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Inaccurate product information on retail websites lead to dissatisfied customers and profit losses. Yet, the effects of product information failures (PIFs) remain under-explored, with the mobile commerce channel commonly overlooked. This paper aims (1) to investigate the negative effects of PIFs on shoppers' attitudes and behaviours in a mobile context. The authors further (2) evaluate the impacts of the cause and duration of a PIF, changes of expectations towards the retailer after a PIF occurred and how previous mobile shopping experience in general decreases the effects of PIFs. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a scenario-based experiment with a one-factorial between-subjects design. The six most common PIFs of an international leading online fashion retailer are operationalized and tested against a control group. The final sample consists out of 758 mobile shoppers from the UK. Findings: The results demonstrate that the perceived severity of PIFs based on showing customers incorrect information is higher when key information is lacking. Further, when the cause of a PIF is attributed to the retailer, it results in higher recovery expectations towards them. The results also reveal that respondents who have shopped mobile before perceive PIFs as less severe than inexperienced ones. Originality/value: This research expands the online service failure literature by examining PIFs and its effects in the specific context of mobile commerce. The authors also provide recommendations for a better management of PIFs like the incorporation of PIFs information into reporting packs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Online shoppers make product purchase decisions based on product information shown on a retailer's website and potentially in comparison to that seen on competitors' websites. Insufficient, poor quality or missing information about a product can lead to reduced retailer sales. Measuring online product information quality (PIQ) is therefore an essential element in helping retailers maximize their potential success. This paper aims (1) to identify directly quantifiable PIQ criteria, (2) to assess the effects of PIQ and (3) to evaluate the moderating effect of product involvement. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a scenario-based experiment within 3,544 do-it-yourself (DIY) online shoppers from the United Kingdom (UK). Within an 8 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design, the authors manipulated the factors PIQ criteria (8), PIQ level (2) and product type (2). Findings: The findings support that poor PIQ has a negative impact on consumers online shopping outcomes. The authors also found that the effects of PIQ differ between the various criteria, the product category and the level of consumer involvement in the selling process. In the context of product depiction, title readability and product attribute comparability with other retailers' websites a high level of PIQ is required. Moreover, high involvement products need a higher level of PIQ than low involvement products. Originality/value: This research expands website quality and service failure literature by introducing PIQ criteria and its effects in the context of online retailing. The authors also establish actionable managerial recommendations to assist retailers to embrace and utilize PIQ to better understand their own potential website and thus business improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to assess the use of social media by Gen Z consumers and the ways they impact on and re-shape their fashion consumption journey. This generational approach uses the lens of uses and gratifications theory (UGT) to explore the customer fashion retail journey from the perspective of the Gen Z consumer. Design/methodology/approach: The research uses an exploratory approach in response to the relative lack of research in to GenZ consumers combined with a need to understand shopping journeys. Mixed methods were used with a first phase of interviews followed by a survey of 102 Gen Z students recruited online in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: The study found that GenZ users of social media for shopping sought gratification from experiences derived from social relationships, entertainment and information. The need for immediate gratification was found in new information and meeting new people to maintain social relationships, learn about products and inform the shopping journey. Further, the research supported the importance of visual images in the affective gratification of shopping needs. Resale sites on social media were favoured for their low prices, information about previously owned fashion items and the opportunity to exercise sustainable fashion choices. Originality/value: The research advances understanding of fashion shopping journeys through social media and online resale sites. It demonstrates that younger consumers, GenZ, shop through the gratification of experiences informed by their social networks and wider contacts. The linear stages of pre to post–purchase shopping are merged and looped as they exchange information about their shopping journey, from information gathering to post–purchase comments. The role of the brand to these knowledgeable consumers conducting their own resale trade is to facilitate access to and information about their products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the ways that sin industry companies attempt to utilise CSR reporting for legitimation. Design/methodology/approach: Conventional and summative content analyses were carried out on annual CSR reports in UK tobacco and gambling companies, juxtaposed against analysis of the actual behaviour of the companies, collectively and individually. Findings: The paper concludes that there is an ongoing tension between the business of sin industry companies and their attempts to establish and maintain any legitimacy, using CSR reporting in particular ways to try to prove their credentials to society and to engage salient stakeholder support. Ultimately, they aim to give themselves the scope for strategic choice to enable survival and financial flourishing. Research limitations/implications: Further research on CSR on other sin industries and in other jurisdictions with different regulatory situations could shed further light on the achievement or denial of different types of legitimacy. Studying different time periods as industries change would be of value. Practical implications: On a practical basis, the study offers guidelines to stakeholders on the use of CSR reports from sin companies, and suggests the establishment of objective external CSR reports, overseen by accounting regulators. Social implications: The paper provides an overview of the role of sin industries in society, and mitigating their harms. Originality/value: This study allowed for a comprehensive, dynamic and inclusive understanding of the interplay of CSR reporting and legitimacy by addressing conflicting interests between sin companies' social effects and inherent activities at the industry level. The methodology of multiple case study design in two sin industries combined content analysis of CSR reports, juxtaposed against analysis of behaviour in context. Previous research included the juxtaposition of actuality in analysis of only single case studies or particular issues. Thus, this research allows for a broader industry understanding. On a practical basis, the study offers guidelines to stakeholders on the use of CSR reports from sin companies, and suggests the establishment of objective external CSR reports, overseen by accounting regulators. At the social level, the paper provides an overview of sin industries in society, and mitigating their harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Contemporary organisational landscapes offer opportunities for hybrids to thrive. Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are one thriving hybrid form incorporating the use of resources and/or structures from both public and private sectors. The study examines the impact of such a hybrid structure on governance and accountability mechanisms in a context of institutional complexity. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses an approach that draws on institutional logics and hybridity to examine governance arrangements in the PPP policy created for the delivery of UK schools. Unusually, it employs a comparative case study of how four local governments implemented the policy. It draws on a framework developed by Polzer et al. (2017) to examine the level of engagement between multiple logics and hybrid structures and applies this to the delivery of governance and accountability for public money. Findings: The Polzer et al. framework enables a study of how the nature of hybrids can vary in terms of their governance, ownership and control relations. The findings show how the relationships between levels of engagement of multiple logics and hybrid structures can impact on governance and accountability for public money. Layering and blending combinations led to increased adoption of private sector accountability structures, whilst a hybrid with parallel co-existence of community and market logics delivered a long-term governance structure. Research limitations/implications: The paper examines the operation of hybrids in a complex education PPP environment in only four local governments and therefore cannot provide representative answers across the population as a whole. However, given the considerable variation found across the four examples, the paper shows there can be significant differentiation in how multiple logics engage at different levels and in varying combinations even in the same hybrid setting. The paper focuses on capital investment implementation and its evaluation, so it is a limitation that the operational stage of PPP projects is not studied. Practical implications: The findings have political relevance because the two local government bodies with more robust combinations of multiple logics were more successful in getting funds and delivering schools in their geographical areas. Originality/value: The study extends Polzer et al.'s (2017) research on hybridity by showing that there can be significant differentiation in how multiple logics engage at different levels and in varying combinations even in what was planned to be the same hybrid setting. It shows how in situations of institutional complexity certain combinations of logics lead to differentiation in governance and accountability, creating fragmented focus on the related public accountability structures. This matters because it becomes harder to hold government to account for public spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to propose an original model of cultural intelligence (CQ), global identity and consumer willingness to buy foreign products. Previous research has discussed the relationships between CQ and global identity but only in the context of multi-cultural management teams. The research presented here proposes a model that is applicable to consumer marketing. Design/methodology/approach: Online surveys are used to collect data from the USA with a snowball sampling technique and from the UK with panel data. A structural equation model (SEM) is estimated in analysis of moment structures 25 and Hayes bootstrap mediation tests are used to test the hypotheses. Findings: The SEM results show that global identity influences motivational CQ, motivational CQ influences cognitive, metacognitive and behavioral CQ and cognitive and behavioral CQ influence consumer willingness to buy foreign products. Results from Hayes Bootstrap mediation tests show that motivational CQ mediates the relationships between global identity and the other three CQ dimensions. Practical implications: The findings imply that firms can gauge and enhance consumer CQ levels by investigating or influencing levels of global identity; managers can influence or gauge consumer metacognitive, cognitive and behavioral CQ through motivational CQ; and managers can target consumers with high cognitive and behavioral CQ levels when marketing foreign products. Originality/value: This paper not only provides a deeper understanding of the relationships between global identity and cultural intelligence but also incorporates CQ in a consumer context. Previous research has only discussed CQ in the context of managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the leading trends for the journal Employee Relations from 1979 to 2018 upon its completion of 40 years of publication. Through conducting a bibliometric analysis, the article presents the journal's publication and citation structure, prominent themes, significant author keywords and leading articles, authors, institutions and countries since its formation. Design/methodology/approach: The article focuses on the journal's evolution and subsequent growth patterns during this period. Using the Scopus database, the leading trends in authorship, institutions, countries as well as cited documents along with the articles citing it were analysed to provide an analytic overview of the journal over the period of 1979–2018. The paper presents a graphical visualization of the bibliographic data with bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis using the visualization tools of similarity viewer software as well. Findings: The results indicate that the journal is on a progressive trend both in terms of productivity as well as the level of influence in the areas for which it is indexed. The journal receives the maximum influence from the UK, including its most productive authors and institutions. The journal has published research on prominent topics in human resource management, employee relations and the field of industrial relations. It has also published 25 special issues on recent trends in the domain of Human Resource (HR). Originality/value: This article offers the first comprehensive evaluation of the intellectual structure and research contributions of the journal over its lifespan. The findings of the article are useful for researchers and HR practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this paper, we concentrate on the use of research assessment (RA) systems in universities in New Zealand (NZ) and the United Kingdom (UK). Primarily we focus on PBRF and REF, and explore differences between these systems on individual and systemic levels. We ask, these days, in what way(s) the systemic differences between PBRF and REF actually make a difference on how the two RA systems are experienced by academic staff. Design/methodology/approach: This research is exploratory and draws on 19 interviews in which accounting researchers from both countries offer reflections on their careers and how RA (systems) have influenced these careers. The stories they tell are classified by regarding RA in universities as a manifestation of the spectacle society, following Debord (1992) and Flyverbom and Reinecke (2017). Findings: Both UK and New Zealand academics concur that their research activities and views on research are very much shaped by journal rankings and citations. Among UK academics, there seems to be a greater critical attitude towards the benefits and drawbacks of REF, which may be related to the history of REF in their country. Relatively speaking, in New Zealand, individualism seems to have grown after the introduction of the PBRF, with little active pushback against the system. Cultural aspects may partially explain this outcome. Academics in both countries lament the lack of focus on practitioner issues that the increased significance of RA seems to have evoked. Research limitations/implications: This research is context-specific and may have limited applicability to other situations, academics or countries. Practical implications: RA and RA systems seem to be here to stay. However, as academics we can, and ought to, take responsibility to try to ensure that these systems reflect the future of accounting (research) we wish to create. It is certainly not mainly or solely up to upper management officials to set this in motion, as has occasionally been claimed in previous literature. Some of the academics who participated in this research actively sought to bring about a different future. Originality/value: This research provides a unique contextual analysis of accounting academics' perspectives and reactions to RA and RA systems and the impact these have had on their careers across two countries. In addition, the paper offers valuable critical reflections on the application of Debord's (1992) notion of the spectacle society in future accounting studies. We find more mixed and nuanced views on RA in academia than many previous studies have shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Considering that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO) are antecedents of firm performance, and that technological turbulence (TT) and competitive intensity (CI) are present in different degrees in the business environment, the purpose of this paper is to address the following question in the context of young ventures: What is the contingent effect of TT and CI on MO–performance and EO–performance relationships? Design/methodology/approach: This paper follows a deductive research approach. First, the literature on strategic orientation, opportunities, and dynamic capabilities (DCs) view are reviewed to formulate hypotheses. Then moderated hierarchical regression analysis is used on data collected from entrepreneurs/top managers of a multi-country (India and the UK) sample of young ventures. Findings: The results of this study provide empirical evidence to the argument that both EO and MO, when looked from the universal approach, positively affect young ventures' performance. The results show that young venture should consider environmental contingencies while choosing a strategic orientation. For resource-starved young ventures, EO is beneficial when the environment is intensely competitive, and MO is advantageous when the environment is technologically turbulent. Originality/value: This study relies on the literature on opportunities and DCs view to arrive at hypotheses specific to young ventures. The paper empirically tests the assertions, finds support for the majority of them and reports unbiased estimates of the coefficients. It also clarifies the contrary observation made by some researchers in their study of orientation–performance relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to theorize that if risk affects costs and benefits of capital structure adjustments, then it should affect the speed at which firms adjust their leverage toward the target. To investigate this hypothesis, the author empirically examines the role of firm-specific and macroeconomic risk on firms’ capital structure adjustments. Design/methodology/approach – The author augments the standard reduced-form partial adjustment model of capital structure by incorporating firm-specific and macroeconomic risk. The two-step robust system-generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator is used to estimate the proposed model for a large panel of UK manufacturing firms. An unbalanced annual panel data set covering the period from 1981 to 2009 is utilized for empirical analysis. Findings – The estimated adjustment speeds indicate that both firm-specific risk and macroeconomic risk significantly affect the speed at which firms adjust their capital structure toward the target. In particular, the author shows that firms adjust their leverage faster toward the target when firm-specific risk is relatively low. This is perhaps because firms face lower costs of adjustment when both firm-specific and macroeconomic risks are low. Overall, the paper provides evidence that different levels and different types of risk exert asymmetric effects on capital structure adjustments. Practical implications – The results presented in this paper suggest that managers have to carefully consider both the overall state of the economy and the solvency of their own business activities when making their financing decisions. The results also help in explaining why firms time equity and debt markets. Originality/value – The paper significantly adds to our understanding of asymmetries in adjustment speed across firms and over times. The paper can also be useful to understand why firms would not aggressively act to offset the effects of changes in the market value of equity or gains and losses in earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore what has happened to the notion and reality of equal pay over the past 50 years, a period in which women have become the majority of trade union members in the UK. It does so in the context of record employment levels based upon women’s increased labour market participation albeit reflecting their continued over-representation in part-time employment, locating the narrowed but persistent overall gender pay gap in the broader picture of pay inequality in the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers voluntary and legal responses to inequality and the move away from voluntary solutions in the changed environment for unions. Following others it discusses the potential for collective bargaining to be harnessed to equality in work, a potential only partially realised by unions in a period in which their capacity to sustain collective bargaining was weakened. It looks at the introduction of a statutory route to collective bargaining in 2000, the National Minimum Wage from 1999 and at the Equality Act 2010 as legislative solutions to inequality and in terms of radical and liberal models of equality. Findings – The paper suggests that fuller employment based upon women’s increased labour market activity have not delivered an upward pressure on wages and has underpinned rather than closed pay gaps and social divisions. Legal measures have been limited in the extent to which they have secured equal pay and wider social equality, whilst state support for collective solutions to equality has waned. Its replacement by a statutory minimum wage initially closed pay gaps, but appears to have run out of steam as employers accommodate minimum hourly rates through the reorganisation of working time. Social implications – The paper suggests that statutory minima or even voluntary campaigns to lift hourly wage rates may cut across and even supersede wider existing collective bargaining agreements and as such they can reinforce the attack on collective bargaining structures, supporting arguments that this can reduce representation over pay, but also over a range of other issues at work (Ewing and Hendy, 2013), including equality. Originality/value – There are then limitations on a liberal model which is confined to promoting equality at an organisational level in a public sector subject to wider market forces. The fragmentation of bargaining and representation that has resulted will continue if the proposed dismantling of public services goes ahead and its impact upon equality is already suggested in the widening of the gender pay gap in the public sector in 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on some of the problems and issues emerging from the changing role of the state in the UK’s industrial relations since 1964 – the year the Labour Party was elected to power under Harold Wilson’s leadership. The paper argues that the UK has seen an uneven set of developments in terms of the role of the state in the industrial relations system. Increasingly progressive interventions on a range of subjects such as equality, health and safety and others have coincided with a greater commercialisation of the state and greater fragmentation. Design/methodology/approach – This is based on a reflective review of various texts and a personal interest in the role of the political in the arena of employee relations. It references a range of texts on the subject of the state in the context of the UK’s employee relations system. Findings – In political terms there has been an uneven and incoherent set of positions which have meant that there is a growing set of tensions and breakdown in the political consensus over worker rights. In addition, the agencies of the state and other state bodies entrusted with the development of a more socially driven view of industrial relations have been increasingly and steadily undermined and weakened by governments especially those on the right. The political context of industrial relations has become fractured and unable to sustain a coherent longer term view. Originality/value – The paper tries to bring out the role of the political context and the way in has shaped the changing terrain of industrial relations and argues that the question of fragmentation is not solely visible in employee relations but in the broader political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the changing strike activity in the UK over the last 50 years. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a wide literature on UK strikes and an extensive trawl of newspaper sources. It is divided into four main sections. The first two summarise, in turn, the changing amount and locus of strike activity between 1964 and 2014. The third discusses the changing relationship and balance between official and unofficial strikes. The last covers the role of the courts and legislation on strikes, highlighting some key moments in this turbulent history. Findings – The period 1964-2014 can be divided into three sub-periods: high-strike activity until 1979; a transition period of “coercive pacification” in the 1980s; and unprecedentedly low-strike activity since the early 1990s. Unions were more combative against the legislative changes of the 1980s than they are normally given credit for. Research limitations/implications – Given its broad scope, this paper cannot claim to be comprehensive. Originality/value – This is a rare study of the changing nature of UK strikes over such a long time period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the management control systems developed by universities and groups within them, to manage research within UK University Business and Management Schools. Specifically, the paper analyses how universities develop their internal management control systems in response to an externally imposed regulatory system. It also provides an agenda for future research. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a middle range approach to consider the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the previous Research Assessment Exercises. It uses the language provided by a number of conceptual frames to analyse insights from the lived experience, and builds on previous literature that has recognised the perverse outcomes of such performance measurement systems. Findings – The study finds that the internal management control systems developed by academics themselves amplify the controls imposed by the REF. These internal control systems are accepted by some academics although they encourage a movement away from previously held academic values. Originality/value – This study contributes to debates about the dysfunctional impacts of the use of performance measures to manage research. Its originality lies in explaining that the management control systems developed to resist the imposition of external performance measurement systems may lead to symbolic violence where participants become involved with their own subjugation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the mutual disruption and support of economic growth and health improvement in the last 500 years in the UK.Design/methodology/approach The paper is a general review and it compares institutional development, public policy, technological advances and scientific discoveries in economic growth with those in health improvement.Findings The paper finds the co-existence of slower economic growth and less increasing life expectancy from 1541 to 1871 and that of faster economic growth and rising life expectancy from 1871 to 2001. It is organized health improvement that effectively propelled economic growth in the time span of 1871-2001.Research limitations/implications The findings may contribute to the literature on mutual enhancement between economic growth and health improvement.Practical implications The findings may also provide implications to the policy makers how important organized health improvement is to economic growth.Social implications The findings show that when UK Government was leading in organized health improvement for the population, economic grown got propelled into a faster lane.Originality/value This paper is among the first to unveil that a socially responsible government has permanent impact on the paths of both economic and social growth. It has value to other researchers attempting to understand the mutual disruption and support of economic growth and health improvement in the historical UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper examines the compatibility of two UK policy priorities – extending working life (EWL) and the promotion of national economic performance through high performance work practices (HPWP). Design/methodology/approach: Empirical analysis has been conducted using data from WERS2011 to test hypotheses on whether age moderates the link between HPWP and employee well-being outcomes. Findings: Development-oriented human resource strategies are found to compromise the wellbeing of older workers relative to younger ones, while some dimensions of HPWP lead to more favourable wellbeing outcomes for older workers relative to their younger counterparts (flexible working, performance-related pay and appraisal systems). Research limitations/implications: At older ages those still in the workforce may be over-represented by happier and psychologically more robust individuals who have settled into jobs they find fulfilling, matching their personal characteristics and abilities. If so, the adverse well-being influence of development-oriented strategies may be understated, while favourable well-being outcomes for older workers may be overstated. Practical implications: HRM strategies may need to be more age sensitive to support the EWL agenda better. Originality/value: While many studies have examined the link between HPWP and a range of individual-level outcomes, less widely researched is whether responses vary by age, which the paper addresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The relationship between interlocking directorates and firm performance has been increasingly debated, with a focus on whether firm's centrality in interlock networks is associated with performance. The purpose of this study is to examine not only how a firm's position in this network is associated with performance but also how the performance of network partners can impact a firm's performance. This study examines how firms effectively utilise the interlock network to achieve the goal of higher market capitalisation – termed market capitalisation rank (MCR). Design/methodology/approach: The premise of the study is the UK FTSE 350 firms from 2014 to 2018. The paper makes use of a temporal network autocorrelation model to examine how firm characteristics, the structural position in the interlock network and the performance of network partners affect MCR over time. Findings: The analysis indicates that firms with ties (via the interlock network) to firms with high market capitalisation are more likely to enhance their own MCR, highlighting network partners have the opportunity to play a critical role in a firm's dominance strategy to optimise firm value. Originality/value: The value of this research is that it does not only look at the impact of a firm's position in the network on performance, but the impact of the performance of network partners on a firm's market performance as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]