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The existing literature, generally based on US data, provides little evidence that supports whether managerial ability directly links to corporate risk-taking. Hence, this study aims to expand the limited extent by investigating the impact of managerial ability on risk-taking across Saudi firms.

This study mainly uses a panel fixed-effects model, including firm-year and firm-industry, to analyse a sample of Saudi non-financial firms from the period 2008 – 2018. In the empirical analysis, the managerial ability is lagged by one year to mitigate endogeneity concerns that may arise from reverse causality. To avoid omitted variables bias, this study includes several firm-level control variables.

The empirical results show that the relationships between managerial ability and firm risk-taking measures are negative and statistically significant with the standard deviation of return on assets (sROA) and leverage; positive and statistically significant with the Z-score. These results indicate that firms managed by high-ability executives have the propensities to take less risk. The main results remain robust to additional sensitivity analyses including an alternative measure for managerial ability, an alternative proxy for risk-taking using logistic regression analysis, using financial crises as dummy variables, and using a cross-lagged panel model with fixed effects for endogeneity concerns.

When evaluating firms, all market and society participants including researchers, regulators, supervisors, policymakers, and boards ought to pay close attention to managerial ability as one of the main factors affecting risk-taking.

Previously, closely related studies, focussing on the US market, mainly find that managers with high ability are receptive to risk-taking. This paper offers further international insight into the relevant literature by providing evidence that capable managers are inclined to take low risks.

The paper aims to provide comparative empirical evidence on young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET-youth) under the influence of the digital divide, education and sectoral growth across the EU regions, with a focus on the transition patterns followed over time by EU regions in bridging the digital divide and their specific implications on school-to-work transition (STWT).

Firstly, five variables on Internet usage activities are aggregated into an index of E-skills. Secondly, linear dynamic panel data regression models are used to explain the influence of various factors on regional rates of NEET-youth, with or without grouping regions upon the digital divide in relative terms.

Advanced digital literary skills are found to have a stronger effect on the STWT than the basic ones. The growth of employment in specific economic activities like “Information and Communication” enhances STWT, but only when considering regional differences in the digital divide and E-skills as well. However, the negative effect of deprivation and low educational attainments on STWT is offset by a low level of the regional digital divide. In addition, more R&D expenditure in higher education is necessary to compensate for the effect of the digital divide on the STWT.

On brief, the policy implications are twofold. Firstly, regions will need to focus more on reducing the digital divide, because it will not only generate positive effects for STWT but will also enhance the positive impact of education and sectoral growth on STWT and even compensate for their low progress. Secondly, in the context of the EU single market, to better address the situation of young people, regions should monitor the relative progress in bridging the digital divide and improving E-skills, with respect to the other EU regions. Improving the relative position on the EU map of E-skills increases the effectiveness of regional policies targeting the STWT.

The originality of the paper lies in the regional approach to the relationship between STWT and the digital divide, which allows us to derive new policy measures for the EU regions. Other innovative contributions rely on the identification of (1) transition patterns that region follow over time in improving STWT while bridging the digital divide and (2) policy measures addressing the NEETs in the context of the regional digital divide.

There is currently a lack of research describing the best way to design learning environments for increasing numbers of children with autism. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of classroom design on the learning and behaviour of pupils with severe autism. The research variables of interest were classroom layout; furniture, fittings and equipment (FFE); materials; colour scheme; wayfinding; lighting; acoustics; and security.

This study conducted a post-occupancy evaluation of classrooms for pupils with severe autism aged 3–19 in a school ten years after its completion. Data collection included a visual assessment of the building and an online survey to educators and administrators asking how satisfied they were that the research variables benefited pupils with severe autism.

Key findings were that zoned areas for different activities met students’ needs. Withdrawal rooms off the classroom, access to shared hygiene facilities and a secure outdoor area received high ratings. The main criticisms were the lack of robustness of FFE and the inability to control temperature. Results were collated into a table of recommendations for classroom design for severely autistic pupils.

The findings demonstrate classroom features that support the needs of pupils with severe autism, an area with limited prior research. Some findings support previous research and some adds new knowledge to our understanding of design for this population. The results provide empirical evidence for professionals involved in designing classrooms for pupils with severe autism.

Parents whose children have undergone an autism assessment often describe the process as extremely stressful. This affects how parents engage with services post-diagnosis, meaning less likelihood of using subsequent service support despite struggling to cope. Since parents already report many barriers to accessing services, e.g. long waiting lists, lack of co-ordination and limited resources (Sapiets et al. 2023), negative experiences during assessment should not pose another potential barrier to engagement. This study aimed to address how families’ needs can be better met during the assessment process.

In this qualitative study, the author conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 parents whose child had undergone an autism assessment in the last five years. Thematic analysis determined key themes.

The six themes were: clarity and communication, access to support and resources, aftercare, recognition of parent concerns, personalisation of the assessment process and concerns around the use of personal protective equipment/online assessments. These themes led to criteria to assess the quality of autism assessment services in line with parent perspectives.

These parent-informed criteria could facilitate the consideration of parents’ views into service evaluations of autism assessment services across the UK.

Previous research indicates that the autism assessment experience is often extremely stressful and overwhelming for families (Crane et al., 2016). Despite this, guidance to improve autism services rarely prioritises the opinions and experiences of service-users and their families. The criteria presented here were derived from themes identified by interviewing parents on their experiences of the autism assessment process, thus shifting the focus onto service-users.

Autism is a spectrum condition, yet many autism services limit access based on IQ score. The Department of Health 2009 enabled enthusiastic clinicians in Leeds with a strong interest in autism to apply for funding to develop an all IQ adult autism diagnostic service and here we present the experience. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The process of establishing and then expanding the service is described. Details of the diagnostic pathway and tools used are provided.

The number of referrals was higher than expected – a baseline of 20 per year rose to 150 per year as soon as the service opened. Other unexpected findings include relatively low diagnosis rates (32 per cent), high rates of past trauma and patient dissatisfaction when a diagnosis of autism is not given.

To date, the service has assessed 517 patients, and plans are underway to collaborate with the local adult ADHD team to form a unified adult neurodevelopmental disorders service.

The objective of the study is to identify the themes of “family friendly practices” and to perform a literature review. The research aims to identify the emerging trends in the area of “family friendly practices” by carrying out an exhaustive literature review.

The study synthesizes the literature between the years 2010 and 2019. First of all, 150 research articles were identified by keyword search, bibliography and citation search, out of which 57 research articles were selected on the basis of the most sound theoretical background and maximum literature contribution. The citation analysis method was performed on these studies in order to study the journals, authors by using Google Scholar, ResearchGate, the international database Science Citation Index and SCImago Journal Ranking.

The author citation count shows that the research topic is still getting recognition and the research in this area is increasing. The finding of the research is that the current research in family-friendly practices has focused mainly on seven topics: availability and usability of family-friendly policy, job satisfaction, organizational performance, supervisor or manager support, work–life conflict, employee turnover employee retention and women’s employment.

The study may provide valuable inputs to the HRD practitioners, managers, research scholars, to understand the recent trends in the field of family-friendly policy. As per the best knowledge of the author, this is the first study on family-friendly practices using citation analysis.

This chapter introduces women's football in a global, professional era. Key in this is an acknowledgement of the male-dominated roots of the sport in many contexts, which has historically served to restrict women's participation. However, we identify the significant growth of women's involvement in football, which has resulted in professional opportunities for women playing and working in the sport. Football organisations are increasingly taking the development of the women's game more seriously and football can be considered a legitimate career opportunity for women. The chapter then identifies the scope of the book, which includes contributions on the lived experience of professionalisation, the processes of professionalisation and the role of commercialisation and media.

Justice rules are standards that serve as criteria for formulating fairness judgments. Though justice rules play a role in the organizational justice literature, they have seldom been the subject of analysis in their own right. To address this limitation, we first consider three meta-theoretical dualities that are highlighted by justice rules – the distinction between justice versus fairness, indirect versus direct measurement, and normative versus descriptive paradigms. Second, we review existing justice rules and organize them into four types of justice: distributive (e.g., equity, equality), procedural (e.g., voice, consistent treatment), interpersonal (e.g., politeness, respectfulness), and informational (e.g., candor, timeliness). We also emphasize emergent rules that have not received sufficient research attention. Third, we consider various computation models purporting to explain how justice rules are assessed and aggregated to form fairness judgments. Fourth and last, we conclude by reviewing research that enriches our understanding of justice rules by showing how they are cognitively processed. We observe that there are a number of influences on fairness judgments, and situations exist in which individuals do not systematically consider justice rules.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate heroism as an embodied system of leadership and well-being. Heroic leadership is presented as a baseline for sustainable futures and global health.

This paper presents an embodied reading of heroic leadership and its sustainable development across five stages. It outlines its core functions, its grounding in self-leadership through physical and mental trauma and its holistic benefits, resulting in the development of the Heroic Leadership Embodiment and Sustainable Development (HLESD) model. The efficacy of HLESD is demonstrated in an empirical case study of heroism promotion and education: the Hero Construction Company and the Heroic Imagination Project.

Heroic leadership is revealed as an emergent, dynamic and distributed form of sustainable development.

This paper demonstrates the critical connections between heroism, sustainability, embodied leadership and well-being and how they stand to benefit from each other, individuals and communities at large.

The implementation of HLESD in educational, counselling and broader contexts in consultation with a wide range of professionals stands to offer significant benefits to pedagogies, clinical practice, holistic therapies and twenty-first-century societies, at both the community and policy level.

The emerging field of heroism science and the use of heroic leadership as an interdisciplinary tool is a novel approach to well-being, which holds immense potential for the imagining and fostering of sustainable personal and collective futures.