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The implications of the Single European Market for libraries and information services are considered with some examples of what is being done. After a general introduction to 1992, the Plan of Action for Libraries in the EC is considered and the library implications of the five Action Lines. The roles of European Documentation Centres, EC Depository Libraries, European Reference Centres; Euro Information Centres and online databases are considered, together with developments in co‐operation and also the human implications.

This paper provides a primer on European multinational business groups (BGs) and their subsidiaries. Firms in these BGs appear to have higher sales performance than firms in domestic groups (15% higher). This leads us to investigate which elements increase the likelihood that a group will transition towards multinational status. BGs’ characteristics matter for foreign acquisition: groups becoming multinational are usually larger, have a more hierarchical structure with respect to the number of layers in a group, and are more diverse in terms of sectors. Groups tend to expand into bordering countries or countries providing particular advantages, such as a large internal market. The first acquisition is a corporate-level decision that appears to be made by the group’s controlling firm and is often a diversification into a different industry.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the European Union’s (EU) latest regulatory principles for environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures. It explains how some of the EU’s member states are ratifying the EU Commission’s directives on ESG reporting by introducing intelligent, substantive and reflexive regulations.

Following a review of EU publications and relevant theoretical underpinnings, this paper reports on the EU member states’ national policies for ESG reporting and disclosures.

The EU has recently revised a number of tools and instruments for the reporting of financial and non-financial information, including the EU’s modernisation directive, the EU’s directive on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information, the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, the European pollutant release and transfer register, the EU emission trading scheme, the integrated pollution prevention and control directive, among others.

Although all member states are transposing these new EU directives, to date, there are no specific requirements in relation to the type of non-financial indicators that can be included in annual reports. Moreover, there is a need for further empirical evidence that analyse how these regulations may (or may not) affect government entities and big corporations.

Several EU countries are integrating reporting frameworks that require the engagement of relevant stakeholders (including shareholders) to foster a constructive environment that may lead to continuous improvements in ESG disclosures.

EU countries are opting for a mix of voluntary and mandatory measures that improve ESG disclosures in their respective jurisdictions. This contribution indicates that there is scope for national governments to give further guidance to civil society and corporate business to comply with the latest EU developments in ESG reporting. When European entities respond to regulatory pressures, they are also addressing ESG and economic deficits for the benefit of all stakeholders.

The internationalisation of enterprises is expected to undermine national systems of employee representation. This paper assesses the extent to which this expectation can be confirmed. Using a survey of Dutch works councils, we compare national, Dutch multinational and foreign multinational firms. Using another survey, we then assess the role of European works councils within Dutch MNEs. The results of the first survey show that the influence of works councils in multinational firms, especially with respect to strategic policy, but also, to a lesser extent, regarding organisational and personnel issues is decreasing. From the second survey, we learn that European works councils have so far not compensated for this decrease in influence. We conclude that the undermining of employee representation at the national level can only be counteracted by a combination of further regulations at the European level, a change in (top) management attitudes in European MNEs and the close co‐operation of employee representatives within the respective countries and at the different levels.

Although tax-motivated income shifting has been widely explored, no studies have as yet analyzed the association between ownership structure and management decisions about income shifting. The ownership structure of multinational groups is characterized by different levels of minority interests, and our aim is to establish whether income shifting is explained by the aim of expropriation of minorities, as well as taxation avoidance.

We collect data on a sample of European parent companies located in five countries and their foreign subsidiaries, and run a multivariate regression based on the Huizinga and Laeven (2008) model.

Our results support the idea of minority expropriation, finding evidence of ownership-motivated income shifting. We also find that the level of minority protection affects ownership-motivated income shifting, and that, when both are present, expropriation is statistically significant.

Although the study looks at a wide range of subsidiaries, a limitation may be that it examines only firms having parent companies in five European countries. Further research would overcome this limitation and extend the literature and take into account other income-shifting contextual variables. Our results may lead regulators to pay more attention to the protection of minority interests.

This research offers insights to companies and investors, and should help them to make better-informed decisions and evaluate the best contexts for investments.

This study enriches the literature on income shifting by revealing that it can be caused by factors other than the desire to avoid taxation. It suggests that ownership structure is crucial.

The paper seeks to address the European Union's emerging role in the management of international security challenges and its implications for collaboration in armaments procurement. While the former is about integrating member governments at policy level, the latter concerns organising states' defence industries into a cohesive and competitive supply base.

Theoretical frameworks include historic‐comparative analysis and the bureaucratic politics model. Independent variable comprises state actors and interest groups, while the dependent variable comprises the outcomes in terms of defence policy and armaments collaboration decisions. European armaments integration is considered, contrasting liberal inter‐governmentalism and neo‐functionalism theory. Case study data are derived from official EU document sources.

In general, national governments tend to protect important industrial actors irrespective of ownership. Bringing market and defence issues closer challenges the traditional separation between “low” and “high” politics. The collaboration in armaments acquisition is ad hoc and somewhat piecemeal in nature. Structures have evolved in an attempt to integrate the armaments process with spill‐over effect at policy level fostering armaments integration, helped by a more favourably structured and organised defence industry symptomatic of neo‐functionalism. Co‐ordination of European defence policy and armaments procurement through EDA should, in theory, lead to longer‐term co‐ordination, co‐operation and integration between the member states. The latter may see it in their interests to integrate as they come to recognize that EU institutions lack the capabilities to make policies realistic.

European armaments procurement and integration is not well researched; nor are the theoretical issues well understood. An explanation (model) of European armaments procurement integration is developed, along with an identification of key facilitators.

In this chapter, the authors review talent management in the research university sector, business schools in particular. The authors adopt an “exclusive” perspective on talent management, assuming that some scholars contribute disproportionately to organizational performance. The authors identify two particular groups of scholars likely to be the target of exclusive talent management practices in business schools: (i) faculty on a tenure track career path and (ii) “star” tenured faculty with exceptionally strong track records. Focusing on these current and potential future “stars,” the authors review and discuss talent management practices related to talent identification, recruitment and selection, performance management, talent development, benefits and rewards, and tenure, promotion, and retention. In the extant literature, these topics have been mostly examined in the general university environment and less so in the business school context. This is somewhat problematic given that business schools have their own special characteristics. Moreover, some of the reviewed topics – especially talent development – have received only marginal scholarly interest thus far. Based on this literature review, and by drawing on their own experience working in different roles in academia, the authors highlight some of the gaps in the current body of knowledge and propose an agenda for future research.

Whether they can legitimately be described as virtuosi or one man (sic) bands, information professionals working in isolation have become something of a cause célèbre recently. This study looks first at their contribution to the collection, analysis, synthesis and dissemination of information in a single field — that of employment studies. Then, using the test of relative job satisfaction as a function of effectiveness, the characteristics, problems and satisfactions of the workers themselves are examined. The present work is based on two reports of a survey undertaken on behalf of the British Library Research and Development Department in 1983.

When Europe went through the pangs of rebirth after World War II it cast envious eyes across the Atlantic. The USA appeared to be a model of success, not least in the high place which it accorded to management education and in its vast home market, which seemed to provide such an incentive to her productivity and prosperity. From those beliefs INSEAD was born: to serve both the greater European unity and the cause of management studies. Article 1 of its statutes provides that it:

The purpose of this paper is to analyze which key financial factors are appropriate for measuring a credit rating score for family firms. In the recent literature, there exists a vast number of studies which evaluates performance differences between family and non-family firms (NFF). However an analysis with regards to a distinction between credit rating scores of family-orientated businesses compared to their counterparts in Austria has not been examined so far.

In order to bridge this research gap, an empirical model based on Moody’s credit rating methodology is used to address these issues. Therefore, the relevant data were taken from the 600 largest, both listed and non-listed, companies of Austria. The statistical measurements refer to a comparison of the means resulting from quantitative rating categories (profitability, leverage structure, liquidity development and firm size).

The results of this empirical research show that family firms achieve better values in profitability, leverage structure and liquidity development based on credit rating scores. Only firm size represents no significant differences between family and NFF.

This study will contribute to the existing literature in the academic area of family business research and offers a framework for future empirical analysis in this field. Furthermore, this paper provides important information that will help both family and NFF accomplish their financial strategies related to credit rating transitions.