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Considering in one side, the differences between the non-profits and profits entities and, in other side, given the importance of governance to monitoring the protection of the interests of the different stakeholders, this literature review aims to identify the special features of the social economy entities and its effects in the principles and guidelines of an adequate governance model for these entities.

An important conclusion after the analysis of several frameworks is that the latest approaches place less importance on formal aspects such as the governing body roles or composition. Nowadays the concerns are increasingly focused in the best ways to adopt viable strategies and business models that will ensure survival and growth of non-profit entities.

In Portugal we identified the specificities of the Portuguese third sector that is limited to the fulfilment of the legally imposed requirements to these organizations. Regarding governance aspects, Portuguese organizations are not subject to codes of good practice or if they follow them, they are designed for the for-profit sector and do not address the main concerns of the non-profit sector.

This empirical chapter contributes to international business (IB) research on the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) by opening a new research trajectory on sustainable headquarters (HQ) buildings. This multidisciplinary study conceptualizes the notion of a sustainable HQ based on a case study and three streams of literature – research on HQs, sustainable office design and the SDGs in IB. It offers a novel angle to prior research on HQs that has largely focused on their functional roles. While IB scholars are increasingly embracing the SDGs, limited attention has been devoted to SDG 11, “sustainable cities and communities.” This chapter draws on a real-time, longitudinal, single case study of a Nordic multinational in renewable products. The authors adopt a future-facing, phenomenon-based approach to envision and reimagine the modern wooden corporate HQ building on a culturally sensitive site in the heart of Helsinki, Finland. The findings emphasize the environmental, social, economic and cultural considerations of HQ buildings. By combining HQ premises with commercial spaces, and by opening the building to citizens, sustainable HQ buildings create a lively city space and increase urban social cohesion. The use of wood as a construction material and the application of design principles that promote human–nature relationships, have a positive impact on climate and human health. By focusing on the physical building, the authors aim to change the way IB scholars understand and study the role of HQ as a part of sustainable cities.

This chapter explores how robots can be used to design science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning that is inclusive and engaging for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The importance of purposefully designed and problematic learning experiences is explored along with an examination of the role and function of meaningful discursive situations and inclusive contexts for learning. The goal of the chapter is to provide a context for readers interested in integrating the use of robots with adolescents with ASD, but it is also of use to those more broadly interested in the use of robots as learning tools. Recommendations for successful use are provided along with a discussion of how to start. This chapter is of interest to K-12 educators and others interested in the use of robots to create opportunities for students to understand the nature of doing STEM in an inclusive environment.

Today, the need for renewable energy is rising steadily. Various steps are being taken by nations to address the rising need. The developments occurring in proportion to the industrial structures and economic levels of the countries, these efforts, the political structure of the country, some established patterns from the past, and many other external factors affect the use of renewable energy and therefore sustainable development, which has been one of the most important agendas since the early 1990s. In this study, it is examined whether certain characteristics of the Scandinavian Welfare Model affect the background of this successful image of Finland, Denmark, and Sweden, which rank in the top three positions in both the Global Energy Innovation Index and the Sustainable Development Report. As a result, although the use of fossil fuels increases the ecological footprint in the Scandinavian countries, which are evaluated as in the rest of the world, continuing the principles of innovation, trust, equality, openness, and sustainability with determination, the Nordic approach has not departed from the welfare state principle compatible with its own codes, unlike the transformations experienced by other welfare regimes, and has become a distinctive factor.

The R environment for statistical computing and graphics (R Development Core Team, 2008) offers practitioners a rich set of statistical methods ranging from random number generation and optimization methods through regression, panel data, and time series methods, by way of illustration. The standard R distribution (base R) comes preloaded with a rich variety of functionality useful for applied econometricians. This functionality is enhanced by user-supplied packages made available via R servers that are mirrored around the world. Of interest in this chapter are methods for estimating nonparametric and semiparametric models. We summarize many of the facilities in R and consider some tools that might be of interest to those wishing to work with nonparametric methods who want to avoid resorting to programming in C or Fortran but need the speed of compiled code as opposed to interpreted code such as Gauss or Matlab by way of example. We encourage those working in the field to strongly consider implementing their methods in the R environment thereby making their work accessible to the widest possible audience via an open collaborative forum.

Indicators of financial crises generally do not have a good track record. This chapter presents an early warning system (EWS) for six countries in Asia in which indicators do work. We extract a full list of currency crisis indicators from the literature, apply factor analysis to combine the indicators, and use these factors as explanatory variables in logit models which are estimated for the period 1970:01–2001:12. The quality of the EWS is assessed both in-sample and out-of-sample. We find that money growth (M1 and M2), national savings, and import growth correlate with currency crises.

Underrepresented in medicine individuals have historically been discouraged to consider surgical subspecialties and instead encouraged toward primary care fields thus representing less than 2% of the workforce in these areas. In the last 15 years, the Rabb-Venable Excellence in Research program has worked with medical students, residents, and fellows in preparing them to become ophthalmologists, medical researchers, academicians, or private practice. While the Rabb-Venable program centers on expanding the number of ophthalmologists, pipeline programs exist to enhance the representation of URM individuals in other medical specialties to decrease health disparities.

This chapter discusses the Rabb-Venable program, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the sponsorship of the National Medical Association (NMA), has combined a research competition at the annual meeting of the NMA. The Rabb-Venable program is geared toward increasing the number of (URM) in the field of ophthalmology and increasing the number of URM participants in academic medicine. The program has a twofold mission of supporting the development of the clinical specialty of ophthalmology and creating physician researchers through leadership, academic excellence, professionalism, service, and mentorship. Exploration of the different types of eye diseases that disproportionally affect minority groups are identified. In addition the medical students who have been part of the program and are eligible to apply have had an 84% rate of matching in ophthalmology.

We elaborate an interpretation of the critical discourse analysis of Norman Fairclough illustrating this in focusing upon struggles over takeovers legislation in New Zealand. We indicate the more general applicability of such analysis in the area of financial and accounting regulation.