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Running an organization in a rapidly changing world is no easy task. Members of supervisory or executive boards must take the interests of all stakeholders into account. From shareholders, employees and suppliers, to customers, and beyond. Yet reaching the boardroom is equivalent to running a Spartan marathon. At a time when complexity is increasing and technological developments are hard to keep up with, the stakes for organizations and candidates are high. In this chapter, we explore the context of executive search: major trends, the profile of the executive search sector and the types of firms that operate in it. We de-mystify the process: the selection, search, presentation and accompaniment of candidates, looking at the responsibilities of the key players and the accompanying performance pressure and stress. Finally, we propose a vision for the future of executive search and potentially re-think about a professional code of conduct.

An earlier form of this chapter by the author was published in Dutch in “Bestemming Boardroom: over zoeken en gevonden worden” (Boom, Amsterdam, 2018) and in English (online) by the Amrop Partnership (2021) as “Destination Boardroom 1: Three Trends Redefining the Executive Talent Domain.”

In an era where sustainability and digital transformation are becoming indispensable pillars of successful business operations, this chapter explores the potent synergy between these two paradigms. As businesses strive to align their operations with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, digital transformation emerges as a powerful enabler. This chapter delves into how digital technologies are not only revolutionizing traditional business models but are also paving the way toward more sustainable practices. From data-driven decision-making to improved resource management, this chapter discusses the diverse ways in which digital transformation contributes to sustainability. It also offers an in-depth analysis of real-world case studies, illustrating how businesses have successfully integrated digital transformation in their pursuit of sustainability. Recognizing the potential roadblocks, this chapter also addresses the challenges businesses may face in this journey, including cybersecurity risks, data privacy issues, and the need for technological literacy. It further presents strategies to navigate these challenges and underscores the importance of preparedness in managing potential risks. Finally, this chapter ventures into the future of digital transformation, evaluating current trends and predictions, and their potential impact on sustainable business practices.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) promotes society, reduces risk, and encourages ethical business practices. Due to its relevance, we study how CSR influences firms' sustainable development. We analyze data from 427 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed firms from 2008 to 2022. The Refinitiv environmental and social score is used to measure CSR, whereas for firms' sustainable development we rely on corporate sustainable growth rate (SGR) and market-based metrics. The analysis employs various econometric techniques, including ordinary least square, fixed effect regression, two-stage least square, generalized method of moment, and simultaneous quantile regression. The results indicate that CSR has a positive and significant effect on firms' sustainable development across all models. This relationship supports the notion that socially responsible business can contribute to long-term financial sustainability in line with “stakeholder theory”, indicating that companies should accommodate the concerns of various stakeholders, including society and the environment, to achieve sustainable development. We evaluate how the conditional distributions of SGR and firms’ value are affected by CSR, categorizing them into high, moderate, and low regimes. The quantile regression estimates indicate that the effect of CSR is more pronounced at upper quantiles, followed by moderate and low regimes. These findings underscore the importance of considering CSR in assessing the SGR and enterprises market value. We also confirm that our results are robust under range of different econometrics' methods. Finally, we enlighten current literature, and our research has useful policy implications for management and investors.

The changing roles of the United Nations (UN) and national institutions have made addressing climate change a critical concern for many multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) survival and growth. This chapter discusses how such institutions, which vary in their nature and characteristics, shape firm strategies for climate change adaptation. Exploring different versions of institutional theory, the chapter demonstrates how and why institutional characteristics affect typical patterns of firm ownership, governance, and capabilities. These, in turn, influence companies’ internationalisation and climate-change strategies. Climate change poses challenges to how we understand firms’ strategic decisions from both an international business (IB) (HQ–subsidiary relations) and global value chains (GVC) (buyer–supplier relations) perspective. However, climate change also provides opportunities for companies to gain competitive advantages – if firms can reconfigure and adapt faster than their competitors. Existing IB and GVC research tends to downplay the importance of climate change strategies and the ways in which coherent or dysfunctional institutions affect firms’ reconfiguration and adaptation strategies in a globally dispersed network of value creation. This chapter presents a perspective on the institutional conditions that affect firms’ climate change strategies regarding ownership, location, and internalisation (OLI), and GVCs, with ‘investment’ and ‘emerging standards’ playing a significant role. The authors illustrate the discussion using several examples from the Global South (i.e. Bangladesh) and the Global North (i.e. Denmark, Sweden, and Germany) with a special emphasis on the garment industry. The aim is to encourage future research to examine how a ‘business systems’, or varieties of capitalism, institutional perspective can complement the analysis of sustainability and climate change strategies in IB and GVC studies.

Introduction: As Internet usage increases, so does widespread concern about surveillance and privacy. While most of the research primarily focuses on a particular digital setting, these problems cut beyond national boundaries and impact economies everywhere.

Purpose: This study critically analyses the Data Protection Bill 2019’s effectiveness within the context of surveillance and privacy in India’s digital economy. Investigating critical provisions of the bill, comparing it to international privacy laws and standards, and identifying potential gaps and weaknesses, this study provides insights into the bill’s ability to protect personal data and limit surveillance practices.

Methodology: The chapter is based on secondary sources of data, including academic articles, government reports, and news articles on the topics of surveillance, privacy, and the Data Protection Bill 2019 in India, involving content and critical discourse analyses.

Findings: The Data Protection Bill 2019 evaluation reveals a set of provisions with the overarching intent to safeguard citizens’ privacy worldwide and curtail undue surveillance practices exercised by both governmental bodies and private enterprises. Intricately delineates the entitlements of individuals concerning their data, encompassing vital aspects such as the right to access, rectify, and erase their data, the bill mandates stringent adherence to the principle of explicit consent when collecting and processing personal data.

Nevertheless, a comprehensive analysis also reveals several gaps and constraints inherent in the bill’s framework. One such area is the inclusion of exemptions for governmental entities, an aspect that raises international concerns regarding potential disparities in data protection practices.

In this final chapter, we explore the ever-evolving 21st century landscape where ethics drive community development toward resilience and progress. Drawing inspiration from the subheadings mapping our journey, we traverse international case studies spanning Canada, Brazil, Sweden, Kenya, China, Australia, Antarctica, and India. Through these global insights, we uncover the impacts of dynamic forces on communities worldwide, navigating ethical dilemmas and opportunities. We present strategies tailored to diverse continent-specific needs, explore inclusive governance models, and highlight the transformative power of ethical engagement. This journey underscores the vital role of resilience and concludes with a global call to embrace ethical approaches for inclusive community development and a sustainable future.

First-generation college students in the United States are a unique demographic that is often characterized by the institutions that serve them with a risk-laden and deficit-based model. However, our analysis of the transcripts of open-ended, semi-structured interviews with 22 “first-gen” respondents suggests they are actively deft, agentic, self-determining parties to processes of identity construction that are both externally imposed and potentially stigmatizing, as well as exemplars of survivance and determination. We deploy a grounded theory approach to an open-coding process, modeled after the extended case method, while viewing our data through a novel synthesis of the dual theoretical lenses of structural and radical/structural symbolic interactionism and intersectional/standpoint feminist traditions, in order to reveal the complex, unfolding, active strategies students used to make sense of their obstacles, successes, co-created identities, and distinctive institutional encounters. We find that contrary to the dictates of prevailing paradigms, identity-building among first-gens is an incremental and bidirectional process through which students actively perceive and engage existing power structures to persist and even thrive amid incredibly trying, challenging, distressing, and even traumatic circumstances. Our findings suggest that successful institutional interventional strategies designed to serve this functionally unique student population (and particularly those tailored to the COVID-moment) would do well to listen deeply to their voices, consider the secondary consequences of “protectionary” policies as potentially more harmful than helpful, and fundamentally, to reexamine the presumption that such students present just institutional risk and vulnerability, but also present a valuable addition to university environments, due to the unique perspective and broader scale of vision their experiences afford them.