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Knight's Industrial Law Reports goes into a new style and format as Managerial Law This issue of KILR is restyled Managerial Law and it now appears on a continuous updating basis rather than as a monthly routine affair.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of Combined code (2010) impact in the Greek soft law (SEV code, 2011) and the adoption of an overlapping set (between the two codes) of best practice provisions in Greece.

Content analysis was conducted to examine the similarities between the UK’s Combined code (2010) and the Greek SEV code (2011). Moreover, a sample of 219 Greek listed companies’ annual reports was analyzed, and their compliance with a specific number of provisions was evaluated.

Through analyzing the content of both codes, it was found that from the total 64 provisions of the SEV code (2011), 45 were matched to at least one of the Combined codes (2010). From these 45 provisions, 26 were characterized as “in spirit” influence and 19 as “in letter”. Based on this evidence, 22 overlapping practices were selected to investigate the compliance and a quite low rate was revealed, an average percentage of 30.46 per cent. These findings indicate that while exogenous forces trigger the development and adoption of a code in Greece, in line with the UK’s, the endogenous forces tend to avoid the compliance with that “exogenous practices”. Moreover, the results support the idea that the Greek national code should be reshaped to fit the different country’s characteristics.

The research limitations are associated with the content analysis methodology, as well as the reliability of corporate governance (CG)statements.

This study contributes to understanding in a more comprehensive manner the impact of Combined Code (2010) in Greek soft law. More specifically, based on a previous case study, this paper extends the seven analyzed factors of Koutoupis’ (2012) research to the total CG provisions of both codes. However, it goes further and develops a coding scheme to rate the level of compliance of the overlapping provisions.

In the last monograph an attempt was made at giving a short historical background of the trade union movement; at defining a trade union; at discussing the closed shop and at looking towards its future.

A revised Combined Code on corporate governance was introduced in the UK in 2003 which set out a number of new provisions relating to the composition of the company's Board of Directors and its main Committees. The Code gives greater prominence to the role of non‐executive directors in a company's corporate governance structures and decision‐making processes. This paper examines the main provisions of the Code relating to non‐executive directors and the emphasis it places on the importance of non‐executives being “independent”.

The paper discusses the main issues concerning the effectiveness of non‐executive directors, drawing in part of the evidence provided by a sample of large UK companies.

Most companies “comply” with the Code's requirements relating to non‐executive directors and endorse the positive contribution they make to Board and Committee work.

Considers the pros and cons of the role of non‐executives and the issue of what constitutes “ independency”.

This is one of the first papers to examine the provisions of the new Code relating to non‐executive directors.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which a sample of large UK companies comply with the main provisions of the revised 2003 Combined Code on corporate governance. The new Code incorporates a number of key principles of compliance with regard to the roles of a company's chairperson and chief executive, the composition of its Board of Directors and the composition of the Board's three main committees – the Nominations, Remuneration and Audit Committees. Companies are expected to fully comply with the provisions of the Code or proffer an “acceptable” explanation as to why they have not done so under the Code's “comply or explain” philosophy. The Code gives greater prominence to the role of non‐executive directors in a company's corporate governance structures and decision‐making processes and emphasizes the importance of non‐executive directors being “independent”.

The paper looks at the extent of compliance in respect of the governance provisions referred to above presenting a survey of 50 large UK companies reporting in 2005 drawn (at random) from the FTSE‐250 listing.

A total of 17 companies fully complied throughout their reporting year. Twenty‐two companies took action to comply or proffered “acceptable” explanations as to why not during their reporting year. Eleven companies, however, remained in breach of the Code on one or more counts.

The paper discusses some of the issues which have arisen concerning the effectiveness of non‐executive directors and addresses the controversial matter of what constitutes “independency”.

This is one of the first papers to present an empirical study of the initial impact of the new Code.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact corporate governance, measured by a governance index, on the performance of listed firms in a developing economy, Ghana. It also evaluates the effect of the introduction of a code of corporate governance on compliance rates across Ghanaian firms as well as assessing the impact of the code’s introduction on firm performance for the study period 2000-2009.

The paper develops a Ghanaian corporate governance index (GCGI) containing 33 provisions to measure corporate governance quality during the pre-code and the post-code sub-periods. The authors use a panel data analytical framework and fixed effects regressions to analyse the governance-performance relationships.

After controlling for endogeneity, the authors find a statistically significant and positive relationship between the GCGI and firm performance. The analysis shows evidence of a statistically significant increase in the degree of compliance with the Ghanaian Code from the pre-2003 sub-period to the post-2003 sub-period. The authors also find that the introduction of the code has led to improved firm performance. However, not all elements of corporate governance appear to have a significant effect on firm performance.

One limitation of this study is the development of a corporate governance index. The binary coding used to construct the GCGI may not reflect the relative importance of the different corporate governance provisions. This means that all elements included in the index are given equal weighting. Future research may assign weights to each of the corporate governance provisions but this may have the disadvantage of making subjective judgements relative to the importance of each corporate governance provision recommended by the Ghanaian Code.

These results have important implications for both policy makers and companies. For policy makers, it is encouraging for the development of a code of corporate governance to regulate firms rather than enforcing rigid laws that may not be value relevant. For companies, the improvement in compliance with a code of corporate governance can provide a means of achieving improved performance.

This paper adds to the limited evidence on the governance-performance relationship in developing economies and in particular it analyses the role of a governance index. It is also the first paper to compare the pre- and the post-code governance index-performance relationship in an African or developing country.

The current fire protection measures in buildings do not account for all contemporary fire hazard issues, which has made fire safety a growing concern. Therefore, this paper aims to present a critical review of current fire protection measures and their applicability to address current challenges relating to fire hazards in buildings.

To overcome fire hazards in buildings, impact of fire hazards is also reviewed to set the context for fire protection measures. Based on the review, an integrated framework for mitigation of fire hazards is proposed. The proposed framework involves enhancement of fire safety in four key areas: fire protection features in buildings, regulation and enforcement, consumer awareness and technology and resources advancement. Detailed strategies on improving fire safety in buildings in these four key areas are presented, and future research and training needs are identified.

Current fire protection measures lead to an unquantified level of fire safety in buildings, provide minimal strategies to mitigate fire hazard and do not account for contemporary fire hazard issues. Implementing key measures that include reliable fire protection systems, proper regulation and enforcement of building code provisions, enhancement of public awareness and proper use of technology and resources is key to mitigating fire hazard in buildings. Major research and training required to improve fire safety in buildings include developing cost-effective fire suppression systems and rational fire design approaches, characterizing new materials and developing performance-based codes.

The proposed framework encompasses both prevention and management of fire hazard. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified, and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework.

Fire represents a severe hazard in both developing and developed countries and poses significant threat to life, structure, property and environment. The proposed framework has social implications as it addresses some of the current challenges relating to fire hazard in buildings and will enhance overall fire safety.

The novelty of proposed framework lies in encompassing both prevention and management of fire hazard. This is unlike current fire safety improvement strategies, which focus only on improving fire protection features in buildings (i.e. managing impact of fire hazard) using performance-based codes. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework. Special emphasis is given to cost-effectiveness of proposed strategies, and research and training needs for further enhancing building fire safety are identified.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the final version of the Remuneration Code, published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in December 2010, which deals with remuneration in the financial services industry and incorporates requirements contained in the latest version of the European Union (EU) Capital Requirements Directive (CRD3).

The paper gives an overview of the Code, focusing on its scope; the deadlines for compliance; the constraints on variable remuneration; the proportional application of the Code through the division of businesses covered by the Code into four tiers, each with different compliance requirements; and voiding provisions – i.e. provisions which render certain contractual terms on variable remuneration void if they breach Code requirements. It also summarizes the related and new obligations on disclosure of remuneration, which were published by the FSA at the same time as the Code.

The overriding objective of the Code is to ensure that remuneration policies, procedures and practices do not undermine effective risk management.

Now the details have been published and deadlines for compliance set, it is imperative that those in the financial services industry with UK operations, whether in the UK or elsewhere, start taking steps straightaway to ensure that their remuneration policies, practices and procedures are compliant with the new regulatory regime.

The paper provides practical guidance from experienced securities lawyers.

The discussion on the incorporation of the collective agreement into the individual contract of employment has treated so far direct incorporation and its various facets, implied and express incorporation, the multiplicity within the hierarchy of individual agreements, what may or may not be incorporated, and so on.

This paper describes ways to improve the effectiveness of a code of ethics where the goal is to affect the alternative chosen by a decision maker. These avenues for improvement are divided into those related to the content of the code and those related to enforcement provisions associated with a code. Improvements related to the content of the code are designed to change decision makers’ perceptions as to whether an action is ethical in such a way that they change the action chosen. Improvements related to enforcement provisions are designed to change how decision makers value the outcomes associated with selecting specific actions.