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Effective business and investment climate can lead to a higher rate of investment, profits and improved productivity, through the creation of an institutional environment, where the state provides high-quality public goods. This study aims to explore the impact of the business–investment climate on firm performance in a sample of six countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Turkey. Furthermore, we extend our analysis to explore the impact of business–investment climate on the resource misallocation in Egypt and Turkey.

The study used fixed effects models to investigate the relationship between the business and investment climate, expressed by the obstacles in state–business relations- and the firm performance, which is measured by the firm's value-added, the labour productivity and the total factor productivity To reduce the endogeneity coming from possible reverse causality and the perceptions about the business climate, an instrumental variables (IV) approach applying the two-stage least squares (2SLS) method was followed. The empirical analysis relies on data derived from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys.

Based on estimates, the obstacles in business climate may reduce the firm performance measures by 15–40%. These findings indicate the importance of quality in the business climate and how the improvement in its efficiency can have a very considerable positive impact on firms' performance and thus on the overall economic growth of a country.

This is the first study exploring the impact of business–investment climate on various measures of the firm performance and the resource misallocation in a large sample of countries in the MENA region.

In absence of extensive regulation, expectations can be a noteworthy institutional pressure driving corporate climate change action. The purpose of this study is to explore expectations on businesses to act on climate change when the anticipations for a new global climate agreement are relatively low. Expectations on corporate climate action are compared in two ways: to the previous year, when anticipations for a new international climate treaty were high, and to other categories of societal actors.

This paper builds on a questionnaire handed out to an élite sample of 205 participants at the UN climate conference COP16/CMP6 in Cancún 2010, when anticipations were low for regulatory breakthrough in the international climate negotiations.

The responses suggest that expectations on businesses in 2010 did not decrease compared to 2009, when anticipations were high for regulatory breakthrough. A total of 40 percent of the respondents indicated that their expectations had increased since the previous year. Expectations on businesses were relatively high compared to other societal actors; and the highest expectations were expressed by businesses themselves.

The results provide an empirical foundation which stimulates thinking around expectations that make up an important component in the business environment. It is the first systematic ranking of expectations on business to act on climate change among participants at the UN climate change conference, one of the most prominent arenas in the field. The timing for the data collection provides a unique opportunity to analyse how expectations are related to different levels of regulatory anticipation.

Presents the results of an empirical investigation into American executives’ perceptions of business climates in India and China. Addresses six distinct issues cocnerning economy, management, marketing, government, labour and finance. Attempts to establish the homogeneity of internal consistency of the shortened version of Buntzman’s 31 item scale used in the study. Surveyed 110 US businessmen working in these countries. Suggests that findings show India to possess a more favourable business climate but perceive China’s economy to be better.

This paper sets out to tackle the issue of climate change from a business perspective. It seeks to discuss why it is important to take climate change considerations into account in business decisions, how this can be done and what further action is required from managers and business scholars.

The paper describes ways of reducing emissions and adapting to climate change that can be implemented by any business. As an illustration, the proposed climate strategy of a large European utility company, RWE, is provided.

There are numerous ways to reduce emissions within business operations, along the supply chain and surrounding product usage and disposal. Climate‐proofing operations is also becoming increasingly pertinent to businesses.

New ways have to be found yet in order to take emission reductions to a more ambitious level by altering patterns of production and consumption.

The paper discusses how businesses can reduce their carbon footprint and anticipate changes in the physical and political environment related to climate change.

The paper is of value to managers who, today, are expected not only to reduce emissions from operations, but also to gain an awareness of the physical, political and social risks stemming from the impacts of climate change.

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of key actors in the Caribbean’s hotel industry on the development of business models that are inclusive of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and resilient to climate change challenges. The objectives are to gain a better understanding of the central actors’ perspective and to explore the potential of scenario thinking as a pragmatic tool to provoke deep and practical reflections on business model innovation.

The research is based on a questionnaire survey conducted via email to senior personnel in the hotel industry across the region as well as to national and regional tourism and hospitality associations/agencies and government ministries. The questionnaire used a mix of close- and open-ended questions, as well as fictional scenarios to gain insight about perceptions from key actors in the tourism sector, including respondents’ personal beliefs about the reality of climate science and the need for action at the levels of individuals, governments, local, regional and multinational institutions.

The study found that while the awareness of climate change and willingness to action is high, respondents perceive that hotels are not prepared for the climate crisis. Respondents had an overall view that the hotel sector in the Caribbean was unprepared for the negative impacts of climate change. Recommendations from the study include the need for immediate action on the part of all to both raise awareness and implement focused climate action to secure the future of tourism in the Caribbean.

The use of a survey has considerable challenges, including low response rates and the limitations of using perceptions to understand a phenomenon. The survey was conducted across the Caribbean from The Bahamas to Belize and down to Trinidad and Tobago so that views from across the similar, yet diverse, regions could be gathered, included and compared for a comprehensive view of perceptions and possible ideas for climate smart action.

The 2030 Agenda for SDGs is based on policy and academic debates. This study helps to bridge the academic and policy discussion with the needs of the industry.

This study contributes a consideration for climate-resilient business models for hotels in the tourism industry as a definitive action toward achieving SDG 13. This combined with the use of fictional climate change scenarios to access perceptions about the future of the hotel industry in the light of climate change, adds originality to the study.

The purpose of this paper is to comparatively analyze how top corporations in New Zealand, Australia and the Global Fortune 500 group communicate about climate science.

A combination of keyword count and quantitative content analysis is used to develop a reliable set of indicators to measure corporate communication about climate science.

Just a few corporations mention or explicitly agree with scientific consensus on climate change and few report science-based targets. They report more frequently on societal risks of climate change, as well as business contribution and responsibility. New Zealand based corporations generally do poor reporting compared to Australian corporations, who do as well as the biggest corporations in the world.

There is a further need for cross-country research and for more longitudinal analysis to understand how organizations communicate about scientific issues to its stakeholders.

This paper can inform communication managers about the need to pay attention to how their communication, individually and in comparison with their peers, is likely interpreted by the stakeholders. Managers may attend to scientific consensus messaging to gain stakeholder approval for ambitious business actions on climate change.

Organizations are powerful social and economic drivers. Understanding how they interpret and communicate a scientific issue has implications for public and policy discourses and outcomes.

This is the first paper to comparatively identify common and contextual drivers of business communication of complex scientific issues. A reliable scale to measure climate science communication by corporations will be helpful for future researchers to replicate in other sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study around an approach to team performance management being deployed within the BELRON group of companies. The device being deployed is the climate measure (OCSII), which is being used within the organisation as an indicator of leadership capability. Although the results of climate surveys may be reported at both team and individual levels, this paper seeks to focus on team climate and how this may be linked to changes in business performance.

The performance management approach has been aligned to a strategic intent, as championed by the CEO, to focus on leadership development as a key enabler of BELRON's future success. The paper considers the deployment of the climate tool within the Top Teams of three different business units and this is linked to available information relating to performance.

The paper finds that, within BELRON, there is a belief that the emphasis on climate has been a major contributor to its enhanced business performance over recent years. The paper presents information from three BELRON contexts where changes in climate would appear to precede improvements in business performance. However, despite these examples, i.e. where “high performing climates” appear to be linked with profitability, or other measures of business performance, this is not seen to be universal within the company.

The work reported has limitations in that it focuses on only three positive examples of a possible climate/performance link at BELRON.

The paper makes a key contribution for practitioners, particularly HR, OD professionals and consultants as well as any senior manager concerned with managing performance. The climate survey being deployed in this context (the OCSII) is a tool which has been in use since the 1960s, with many claims made about its links to performance. However, the vast majority of the work has been conducted in a consultancy setting without much coverage in academic literatures.

The paper describes for the reader how the OSCII tool may be deployed to support team performance management. It then describes how the instrument has been deployed within the Top Teams of three business units within BELRON.

The problem of climate change is one aspect of the broader problem of sustainability. Many businesses in most sectors now accept that they must address the issue of climate change in order to survive and grow in ever‐changing entangled business economies. Due to mounting pressure from stakeholders, top executives of many organisations are now implementing various carbon emissions reduction strategies. However, the extent to which businesses embrace climate change and carbon management as an integral pillar of their business models remains unclear and poorly understood. This paper seeks to address these issues.

The aim of this research is to investigate the key carbon emissions reduction initiatives currently being implemented in the UK industrial sectors so as to improve their competitiveness. In order to achieve this aim, a mixed research methodological approach was adopted to collect and analyse data. Four industry sectors were examined, specifically: energy and utilities, transportation, construction and not‐for‐profit organisations; with specific respect to their environmental, social and economic impact on the UK society.

The level of implementation of carbon emissions reduction strategies within the UK industrial sectors is fairly “low” and varies significantly across the four sectors; with relatively high uptake in the energy and utilities sector, and low uptake in the construction sector. The level of implementation of change management initiatives to deal with carbon emissions reduction initiatives is also relatively “low”.

This study suggests that carbon emissions reduction strategies are in their infancy. Taken together, the impact of management commitment and leadership, climate change‐related policies, structures, reward systems, training programmes and performance reporting are key factors in successful implementation of low carbon strategies. The paper concludes that there is a need for cross‐sector collaboration to capture and share best and worst practices relating to low carbon strategies.

The paper provides a richer insight into the understanding and awareness of low carbon strategies for competitive advantage.

The purpose of this paper is to address an important gap in the literature by investigating the relationship between organizational climate and performance in small businesses.

Data were collected from 100 retail pharmacies in Sydney, Australia where a manager and up to three staff members and three buying customers were interviewed in each pharmacy.

Supportive climates tend to be associated with higher organizational performance (i.e. financial performance, staff satisfaction, customer satisfaction) in small retail pharmacies, and may reduce staff turnover.

The results suggest that managers should consider creating warm and supportive organizational climates to enhance business performance, employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and increase employee tenure.

This paper is among the first to empirically establish a direct link between organizational climate and the performance of small businesses, in particular in retail pharmacies. Both financial and non‐financial measures of performance confirm reports based on larger firms that performance is enhanced in the presence of more supportive organizational climates. A further benefit of supportive climates, namely lower staff turnover in small businesses, was also evident.

This paper reports the results of a study into leadership of new service development projects in consumer banking. A sample of UK businesses embracing both new entrants and mature incumbent players was studied. The results highlight considerable similarity in the project “micro‐climate” for successful projects. It is argued that a micro‐climate is created by appropriate leadership practices and styles. The paper highlights lessons in the organisation of innovation and the contributions of different types of leaders.