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Class action litigation has the potential to severely damage the image customers have of a company (brand), often with calamitous consequences for its strategy. Such risks increase when plaintiff's attorneys use all of the instruments of influence to embarrass and persuade large corporations to settle large lawsuits before they ever reach a courtroom. The aim of this paper is to examine this issue.

The paper offers a five‐point plan that organizations can use to pro‐actively defend themselves from aggressive litigants and thus protect their brand.

The paper finds that companies that cede the litigation communication advantage to their adversaries commit a fundamental mistake. They fail to understand the threat they face.

Corporations facing class action litigation need to understand that: it is more than a legal fight; and plaintiffs' lawyers count on corporate defendants to act (and communicate) in predictable and often counterproductive ways. Litigation (and all supporting communication) is at its core a battle for the hearts and minds of the stakeholders. It is a simultaneous public relations and political war being waged against the defendant company.

The paper shows how organizations can defend their reputation in litigation by: understanding the context of the fight; identifying the likely assault; pre‐empting their adversary; and communicating forcefully.

IN HIS masterly book “Planning and Control Systems: a framework for analysis” R. N. Anthony attempts to clear up some of the confusion which seems to befog both the theory and practice of planning. He distinguishes between two aspects of planning which he sees as fundamentally different — namely, strategic planning and what he calls management planning and control. He defines strategic planning as policy formula‐tion and goal setting for the organization as a whole; a process which involves deciding on company objectives, choosing the resources to be used to achieve these objectives and the policies which are to govern the acquisition, use and disposition of the resources. Stated in these terms strategic planning is very much a staff and top management process. Management planning and control he defines as a type of planning concerned with the administration of the enterprise — for example, bringing new systems of work into operation and formulating personnel practices to meet departmental needs. He sees these localized planning functions as line activities.

The study aimed at examining the regional reorganization and its implications on socio-economic development on the people of Oti region, Ghana.

The study utilized both textual data and in-depth interviews in context. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to select 35 participants from the Oti Region.

The study found some critical services, and public goods have been provided and established in Oti Region since its establishment. Furthermore, it was established that residents have mixed reactions in terms of their expectations of the establishment of the new region on their livelihoods.

The conclusion and the outcome of this study cannot be generalized as a representation of the whole population of Oti Region due to a qualitative approach.

This study discovered country- and community-specific understanding, expectations and elucidations of socio-economic development.

The outcome of the study has expanded and further advanced the sparse literature in the domain, which could help politician and policymakers in future, policy direction and further help to ignite scholars' interest in the field in future

This paper aims to critically explore the consequences of how Scotland interprets the UK Misuse of Drugs Act (1971). Scotland prosecutes 24 per cent of people found in possession of illegal drugs for drug “dealing” compared to less than 15 per cent in England and Wales and less than 16 per cent in Northern Ireland.

The paper provides a narrative review in the context of the background of the economic and social costs of illegal drugs in Scotland and compares this with the UK and Northern Ireland.

The explanation for such a wide disparity in numbers of dealers between these countries proposed is that the Scottish Police force is comparatively more successful at persuading courts that small quantities of drugs rather than for personal use are in fact for onward sale or supply to others.

The police in Scotland have a network of specialist drug units in which officers make decisions in the absence of benchmarks against which to judge quantities of repossessed drugs. Taking this approach, a devolved Scotland's commitment to drug prohibition has resulted in some very curious differences in classifications of prosecutions compared to other countries.

The paper explores the consequences of how Scotland deals with the use of illegal drugs and the economic and social costs.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the talent challenges faced by hospitality organisations. This paper aims to propose a new concept – industry talent branding – which, is argued, offers industry stakeholders the opportunity to reduce such issues through working more collaboratively and strategically to magnify the pool in which individual organisations compete for talent.

This paper proposes a conceptual framework of industry talent branding, based on brand equity theory, signalling theory and the employer branding literature.

Industry talent branding opens a potentially new stream of research on how talent attraction and retention issues may be addressed. The authors propose that there is merit in moving beyond the organisational-level phenomenon of employer branding to industry talent branding through articulating a broader collaborative and strategic agenda to increase and widen the talent pool available to organisations.

The proposed framework offers the hospitality industry and its encompassing stakeholders a means to adopt a more proactive, collective and strategic approach to address long-standing talent challenges.

This paper combines brand equity and signalling theories to develop the concept of industry talent branding, defined as a strategically curated, yet realistic impression of the employee value proposition (i.e. the benefits and rewards received by employees in return for their work performance) available within the industry, that by design will sustainably attract new employees into the industry and retain existing talent.

THE question which Mr. Sanderson asked at the March meeting of the Home Counties Branch of the Library Association is susceptible of many answers. “Are libraries doing their job?” he asked. In general we think that they are doing their best in circumstances which are not always stimulating. He used the work they do with children as an example; describing it, if The Manchester Guardian reports him aright, as being in many places “a few juggling tricks with books and a certain amount of shop‐window dressing.” Again, “two or three shelves of books would suffice for the average student studying for a university degree, but the urgent need for those shelves was in danger of being forgotten by libraries in their craze for special stuff.” Mr. Sanderson's address had much more in it than these two excerpts would imply. They are, however, worth separate consideration. Librarians can answer if they are true or not. We know of places of which such remarks would be libellous; of others where they are mere truth.

Firms are increasingly resorting to responsible supply chain management as they align their economic success with socially responsible initiatives in their value chain. This contribution aims to suggest that there are opportunities for global corporations who are keen on integrating responsible practices into their business operations. It is in their interest to report about their responsible supply chain management, social performance and sustainable innovations to their stakeholders.

This paper identifies future research avenues in the promising areas of responsible procurement and global supply chain management.

The corporations’ differentiated strategies as well as their proactive engagement in responsible supply chain management can lead them to achieve a competitive advantage in the long term. The low-cost producers may be neglecting the marketplace stakeholders, including suppliers, distributors among others. Moreover, the smaller businesses’ could not be in a position to follow responsible procurement practices, as they may lack the scarce resources to do so.

This paper raises awareness about the integration of socially responsible behaviours and sustainable practices in business operations. It contends that a responsible supply chain management necessitates an improved relationship with suppliers and distributors in the value chain. This stakeholder engagement with ultimately create value to the businesses themselves.

This paper explores the challenge of “fuzzy” assessment criteria and feedback with a view to aiding student learning. The paper untangles three guiding principles as mechanisms to enhance the effectiveness of assessment and feedback through overcoming the inherent challenges which stem from tacit judgement during assessment.

The paper applies a realistic evaluation methodology, with a framework for assessment and feedback consisting of three principles – Means, Opportunity and Motivation (MOM). Through in-depth interviews with undergraduate and postgraduate management students the paper identifies how and when the means, opportunity and motivation principles impact student learning through assessment and the utility of the feedback received on their learning.

The findings in the paper illustrate that students do not always understand the feedback they receive on their learning because they do not fully understand the criteria to which it refers due to the tacit dimensions of assessment. The findings substantiate the proposition that effective assessment processes must ensure that students have the means, opportunity and motivation to use feedback and to understand the criteria, a central component of which is understanding tacit dimensions of assessment.

The paper deciphers three practical implications for instructors related to (1) teaching, (2) course and program design and (3) the nature of the feedback instructors should provide.

While prior scholarship has flagged the challenge of “fuzzy” assessment and feedback, this paper identifies when and how the means, opportunity and motivation principles are manifested in the process of making the tacit components of assessment codified and actionable, a critical process in developing expert learners.