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Urban green space (UGS) shows to be a sustainable resource stimulating physical activity, health and quality of life in the general population. With regard to an aging European population, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between UGS, physical activity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in community-dwelling older adults.

Cross-sectional survey data were provided by a sample from Hamburg (Germany), consisting of 272 adults aged⩾65 years. Respondents answered questions regarding HRQoL (Short Form 12), physical activity (German-PAQ-50+) and exposure to UGS. The authors applied a linear regression to analyse the relationship between weekly duration of exposure to UGS and physical activity. While controlling for confounding factors, the authors used a multivariate linear regression model to detect effects on HRQoL.

A significant effect (adjusted R²: 4.3 per cent; p-value⩽0.001) was found for weekly duration of exposure to UGS and weekly physical activity. Multiple linear regression showed significant positive effects of weekly duration of exposure to UGS (p=0.010) and weekly time of physical activity (p=0.017) on HRQoL. Age, sex and feeling of satisfaction were identified as relevant confounding factors.

Future research should continue to explore the indicators that mediate an increase of physical activity and HRQoL in the heterogeneous age band of older adults.

Findings suggest that community-dwelling older adults are likely to benefit from higher amounts of time in UGS since it is positively associated with both physical activity and HRQoL. Therefore, urban planners should explicitly consider the demands of community-dwelling older adults towards UGS.

This study is one of the first to examine the relationship between UGS, physical activity and HRQoL in older adults.

This paper reviews published arbitration awards dealing with fighting covering 1980 to 1990 as reported in the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) and Commerce Clearing House (CCH). It attempts to show arbitral guidelines developed from the case sources. Where disagreement in approach to issues by arbitrators is noted, competing schools of thought are presented The majority of arbitrators define fighting as a physical encounter with the intent of offensively striking another person that must normally occur on company premises. For an employee to be considered acting in self‐defense s/he must have been assaulted by another employee and be of the mind that force is necessary to prevent bodily harm. Moreover, an employee acting in self defense must use only the amount of force necessary to protect himself or herself from danger. The right to discipline for off‐premises fights may be accorded to an employer when the fight is related to disagreements which have had their origins in the work place or is a continuation of a dispute occurring in the plant, or is otherwise clearly work‐related Discipline may also be issued when a supervisor is attacked away from the plant premises. A major factor leading to the mitigation of discipline can occur when both parties to a fight are determined to be equally guilty (i.e., there was no clear provocateur), but one is given a harsher penalty than the other. When assessing penalties imposed for fighting, arbitrators also take into account the length of service and/or the work record of an involved employee. The contrition or lack of contrition by one or both employees may also lead an arbitrator to modify or sustain the degree of the penalty imposed depending on the severity of the altercation. An arbitrator may reduce the degree of discipline based on management's failure to diffuse conditions leading to a fight when these are known in advance, or for inaction to break up a fight before it becomes serious.

The authors aim to conceptually show how social capital between service buyer and partner firm in a service triad impacts the service buyer's opportunism risk regarding the service provider's behavior.

The authors draw on social capital theory to conceptually derive propositions on the role of social capital with regard to the antecedents of opportunism in service triads.

Based on literature, the authors show how social capital between service buyer and partner firm decreases the service buyer's opportunism risk regarding the provider's behavior. Structural capital enhances information flows, thus reducing ambiguity. Relational capital reduces ambiguity as well as the service buyer' dependence. Cognitive capital enhances the mitigating effect of relational norms.

The authors extend the conceptual perspective on social capital and opportunism risk to triadic environments. Besides empirical validation, a resulting research program could follow three avenues: interdependencies between other relationships in service triads, the impact of social capital on effects other than opportunism as well as the role of relationships between individual boundary-spanners.

When deciding upon service outsourcing in triads, service buyers should assess their resulting opportunism risk, considering not only the service provider but also their relationship to the partner firm.

The propositions entail a shift from a dyadic to a triadic perspective. Analyzing the established dyadic concepts of social capital and opportunism in a triadic environment, the authors contribute to theory on triads as the simplest building blocks of networks.

This article investigates concentration, efficiency, and profitability of commercial banks operating in Saudi Arabia, which is considering acceding to the World Trade Organisation whose rules on financial services liberalisation could pose a competitive challenge to local banks. We use regression analysis to investigate the underlying determinants of Saudi bank concentration, efficiency, and profitability. The significance of the study stems from the conventional premise that highly concentrated banking or credit market introduces inefficiencies that would harm firms’ access to credit thus hindering economic growth. If banks were found to be highly concentrated and hence inefficient, then the relevant policy question that should be addressed by Saudi Arabian policy makers is what should be done to alleviate the situation. Empirical results show that Saudi banking market is highly concentrated, and healthy competition through the Saudi adoption of corrective measures would ease the problem. The Saudi government may like to consider concurrently joining the WTO, and allow non‐banking institutions to enter into brokerage business, offer financial products and services (investment banking, brokerage, and portfolio management), and compete with commercial banks through fair participation in auctioning of government securities.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically evaluate the effect of resources and capabilities in purchasing and supply management (PSM) on operational performance. Specifically, to examine whether managers who neglect investments into key knowledge‐driven PSM resources will be foregoing the opportunity for a higher performance return from their core supplier‐related capabilities.

Based on an international cross‐industry survey of 273 major companies, two conceptual models grounded in the resource‐based view (RBV) theory are analyzed for moderation and mediation effects, and provide both researchers and practitioners with means of determining targets for investment prioritization. The models are tested using multiple regression techniques and structural equation modeling.

The authors' findings suggest that the impact of supply base practices on operational performance is stronger in firms where more advanced PSM resources are deployed; and that these improvements can be explained by a higher leverage of supply base practices on advanced PSM resources.

The paper documents the combined positive effect of knowledge‐driven resources and supplier‐related capabilities on operational performance. Additional resources and capabilities, e.g. PSM integration, deserve further research. A longitudinal survey of relationships would help us to gain a better understanding of sequential relationships between the examined constructs.

This paper will help to guide senior management in balancing investment decisions for PSM development. The applied measurement model can be used to identify specific potential of improvement in individual organizations that can lead to increased operational performance.

The simultaneous consideration of moderation and mediation based on the RBV's conceptualization of resources versus capabilities provided a contribution in PSM. The results support management in maximizing the return of investments into PSM.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a set of nine hypotheses linking four purchasing and supply management (PSM) practices directly to purchasing performance and indirectly to financial performance.

The authors collected data in a global cross‐industry survey of 148 companies, combining primary interview and survey data with secondary data on firm performance, in order to minimize the impact of common method variance.

Support was found for eight of the nine hypotheses. In particular, a positive impact was found of cross‐functional integration and functional coordination on purchasing performance, and of purchasing performance on firm performance. Both talent management and performance management have a positive impact on cross‐functional integration and functional coordination. Talent management also has a direct impact on purchasing performance, in contrast to performance management.

The association of enhanced PSM maturity levels with financial performance metrics collected from secondary data sources provides robust empirical support for the stated but to this point largely untested positive impact of PSMmaturity on the firm's competitive position.

Three sets of environmental conditions favour the personnel function: tight labour market conditions, substantial government intervention in the employment relationship through legislation, a sizeable increase in the proportion of the workforce that is unionised. The presence of the latter two in the 1970s is thought to be the basis of the gains made during that period. The extent to which these gains were considerabe relative to other management functions and enough to ensure a sufficiently entrenched position which could not be subsequently undermined or cut back remains open to question. The latter should be considered in any study specifically concerned with the supposed current decline of the personnel function.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This study examines the interactions between entrepreneurial orientation, supply chain resilience (SCRES) as well as the financial and commercial dimensions of business performance.

Drawing on a literature review, the authors develop a research model to identify positive relationships between five specific dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation, SCRES and business performance based on the dynamic capabilities view. The hypotheses are then empirically validated by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on survey data obtained from a questionnaire and 168 global companies.

The results partially support the hypotheses and suggest that entrepreneurial activities complement the resilience of supply chains to sudden disruptions and therefore also foster competitive advantage.

The relationships between entrepreneurial orientation, SCRES and business performance are examined and validated empirically in a single model, bridging the gap between these distinct research streams and shedding further light on supply chain risk management.