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Purpose – This article describes a theoretical model that allows understanding, explaining, and measuring the perceived organizational effectiveness of multinational coalition operations’ headquarters.

Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model is based on subject matter experts’ opinions and on existing general and military models of organizational effectiveness. It is tailored to the particular case of coalition operations’ headquarters.

Findings – The model includes input factors such as structure and processes, people and organizational culture as well as the operative and official goals of the organization. It especially emphasizes the degree of fit, or alignment, among them.

Originality/value – This comprehensive model provides a solid basis for (a) capturing the perceived effectiveness of people deployed in such headquarters, (b) for determining influencing factors in order to identify barriers and, if required, (c) for deducing improvement opportunities for organizational effectiveness of these coalition operations’ headquarters.

This article aims at investigating knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) between founder firms and corporate foundations (CFs), looking at mechanisms able to enhance CFs’ orientation of effectiveness.

We analyze 50 questionnaires collected through a survey of CFs based in Italy (redemption of 42.7% of the total). We use a number of regressions to verify the change of explained variance moving from a basic model with control variables (enter method) and a model including KTE mechanisms with an impact on orientation to effectiveness (stepwise method).

The analysis produced a model which underlines the influence of knowledge transfer mechanisms in stimulating orientation to effectiveness. The adoption of specific knowledge transfer mechanisms by founder firms can have a significant influence on how CFs manage their effectiveness. Three mechanisms emerge from the study as elements with a positive impact.

The results apply to nonprofit or public bodies, especially if we consider partnerships or organizational networks. The individuated criteria for selecting a positive KTE could drive similar choices of other nonprofit bodies.

The study individuates a set of practices that are potentially able to influence positively the orientation to effectiveness of CFs, and the capacity to perform their activities and respond to social needs more successfully.

This research considers CFs as founder firms’ subsidiaries, with a growing strategic importance. This research reveals how KTE mechanisms can foster the development of orientation to effectiveness if implying interaction, firms’ commitment, autonomy, and alignment with the firms’ strategy and CFs’ purposes.

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of the internal audit function in the public sector entities in Ghana and the factors limiting the effectiveness of internal audit in the sector.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The study collected the data from 120 internal auditors in 40 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) through a self-administered questionnaire. A semi-structured interview with a senior manager of the Internal Audit Agency, the oversight body was also carried out as a follow up.

Findings – The scope of internal audit services in the sector is limited to regular audit activities, mainly pre-audit of payment vouchers which take estimated 74% of the average productive audit time. The effectiveness of internal audit in the Ghanaian public sector is hampered by several factors: low professional proficiency of internal auditors; lack of management ownership and support for internal audit activities, lack of budget authority of the internal audit units and weak functioning of audit committees, among others. Some remedial programmes are ongoing.

Research limitations – Inherent in the study result is the limitation associated with non-probability sampling methods because of the use of purposive sampling technique to select the internal auditors and the organisations.

Practical implication – The result of the study may have policy implication for government in the design of programmes for improving the effectiveness of internal audit as an element of public financial management reforms.

Originality/Value – Despite several studies on internal audit effectiveness in the public sector organisations, none relates to Ghana. This study fills the gap.

Two interrelated theoretical schemes on leadership are presented in this paper. One is the Chinese CPM leadership behavior model, and the other, the Chinese implicit leadership theory. The CPM model recognizes three factors: Moral Character (“C” factor), Performance (“P” factor) and Maintenance (“M” factor). The Chinese implicit theory on leadership differentiates four trait factors: Personal Morality, Goal Efficiency, Interpersonal Competence, and Versatility. As such, it corresponds well with the CPM theory’s three-factor model. Both of these studies point to the salience of a cultural aspect. It has been demonstrated in the Chinese cultural context that the Chinese still place key importance on the moral character of their leaders and their behavior.

Active school travel, such as walking or cycling to/from school, provides a significant source of physical activity for children. However, the number of children actively travelling to school has declined in recent decades while motor vehicle trips are increasing. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the primary Canadian approach in helping increase active school, through an intervention called School Travel Planning (STP). It addresses the following: explanation of the STP model; the research evidence on STP effectiveness; anecdotal feedback on factors facilitating and hindering STP effectiveness; the costs and benefits of STP; a case study of STP in Toronto; and STP-related tools and resources. STP is a multi-strategic, school-specific intervention that engages school and community-level stakeholders. Evidence demonstrates that STP can facilitate increases in active travel after the first year of implementation, though the degree of change can vary based on a range of factors. In terms of cost-benefit analyses, STP appears to be a relatively (1.8) cost-effective and feasible intervention, which can result in positive school travel behaviour change, while providing economic, environmental and physical activity benefits. Overall, STP can promote increases in active travel following one year of implementation and is relatively cost-effective, feasible, intervention to implement. The content provided in this chapter can inform future practices by highlighting key factors to consider when implementing STP. Also emphasised is the necessity of stakeholder involvement in initiatives promoting active travel to help tackle the complex set of barriers.

This chapter analyses the marketing management practices for the video games industry in Turkey. To identify the extended value chains and define the critical success factors in this local environment, we invited the members of OYUNDER – Game Developers, Designers and Publishers Association in Turkey – to participate in an online survey. The following three main research questions guided this survey: (1) How video game developer companies resolve marketing decisions, decide on their marketing mix and create marketing plans; (2) how they perceive the importance given to marketing in their industry and (3) how they measure and judge the success of their marketing activities. Results indicate that Turkish video game developers are predominantly male and young. They organise and work in small teams. They lack marketing planning as indicated by actualised versus expected revenues and marketing spendings. Only 23.7% of the participants report employing marketing-related staff and their opinions of marketing-related business partners – such as advertising and PR agencies – are negative due to these institutions’ perceived lack of industry experience. The developers mainly use social media channels and digital advertising for their marketing needs. Above-the-line advertising is the least used channel, with content, influencer and below-the-line marketing channels ranging in the middle. They report confidence in managing campaigns for social media, digital marketing and content marketing. However, they believe that they lack the skills to manage above-the-line and below-the-line marketing activities, reporting lack of capital and human resources as the main barriers. Although they believe that marketing can help them reach new customers, they are also afraid to take risks and admit to being conservative in marketing practices.

The health crisis linked to COVID-19 has made digitization a significant issue for companies regardless of their form or geographical location. Our research focuses on the financial technology (Fintech) revolution in the context of international development. Its theoretical framework lies in both the fields of Fintech and factoring. As innovative start-ups that combine finance with new technologies, Fintechs have been able to disrupt the banking world in a few years by challenging its traditional practices. We use the case method to analyze two Fintech in-depth, and our results highlight the upheaval of Fintechs in the factoring sector. The supply of the analyzed Fintech is a limited working capital requirement. Furthermore, Fintechs may threaten classical banks due to the innovation of their offers and business models. However, the Fintech revolution focused on corporate finance is still in its infancy.