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Two analytical solutions of thermal problems connected with the disposal of nuclear waste are presented. Non‐linear diffusion problems are analysed. The use of the Kirchhoff transformation and the transformation of coordinates are made along with a numerical solution. Also comparison is made for the exact and numerical solutions for temperature histories at a nuclear waste site. A time dependent heat source is considered.

The purpose of this paper is to find evidence contributing to construction of the dimensions of personal values, professionalization and succession, as well as proposing a new theoretical framework (model) showing the relations between these dimensions and their factors.

A qualitative research approach was adopted, more precisely the case study method. Four Portuguese family firms were selected, with a total of 11 participants. The data-gathering techniques included the interview method, non-participative observation and documentary analysis. To ensure systematization and reliability of data, the content analysis method was used with the help of NVIVO software.

Based on the results, eight factors were obtained explaining the professionalization dimension, the succession dimension was formed of four factors and the personal values dimension was made up of three factors. It was also possible to demonstrate the relationships between personal values, professionalization and succession in family firms.

The results obtained here can provide information to help managers in this type of firm, for example, to know themselves better, about their values and beliefs and how these can help in their daily relationships, in both the family and business domain, as well as in decision making about aspects of succession and professionalization.

This research makes important contributions to studies considering the family firm context. It will help to fill part of the gap in existing studies involving the psychological aspects in family firm management. It also presents important results about personal values and their relations with succession and professionalization of family firm management, as well as adding value to recent studies on the socio-emotional wealth of this type of firm.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between different types of organizational culture (hierarchical, clan or group, market or rational and adhocratic) and sustainability through three dimensions (economic, environmental and social) in ecotourism businesses in Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.

In this research 80 questionnaires were administered in the form of face-to-face interviews to ecotourism business owners'. Through a discriminant analysis and the theoretical support of the competing values framework (CVF), the prevailing types of culture were identified, and their influence was analysed through a regression analysis.

The results show that ecotourism businesses which are driven by hierarchical culture tend to have a greater focus on economic sustainability, while those businesses with a market or rational culture show a positive and significant influence on environmental sustainability. Likewise, businesses with adhocratic culture achieve sustainability holistically; however, the data reveal that clan or group culture is not associated with social sustainability.

This study offers empirical research that explains the relationship between organizational culture and sustainability. Additionally, it contributes to the study of environmental management issues in the ecotourism sector.

The purpose of this study is to examine the capital market effects of corporate governance (CG) practices of a “comply or explain” environment on stock market liquidity in a frontier market.

Using secondary data from Nairobi Securities Exchange, the liquidity position is analyzed using panel data random effects regression against CG guidelines.

The results show a negative and significant relationship between CG compliance and stock market liquidity, suggesting that regulated CG practices improve market liquidity in Kenya. The results are remarkably robust to different measures of liquidity and supports agency and signaling theory.

The authors provide evidence to show that security regulation improves stock market liquidity in a frontier market whose characteristics are thought not to favor regulation. Therefore, regulators and stakeholders could be motivated by the benefits of regulation, and this could lead to renewed effort to improve CG compliance.

The findings show that security market regulation through CG guidelines can improve stock market liquidity in frontier markets. This offers regulators and policymakers a strong motivation to enhance security regulation to improve capital market confidence.

Drawing on neo-institutional, stakeholder, social contract and contingency theories, the objective of this study is to examine whether cultural values across countries may influence decisions to assure integrated reports.

For this purpose, the authors have collected integrated reporting assurance, national culture and firm-specific data from several sources for the years ranging between 2011 and 2016 and have performed pooled and panel logistic regression analyses.

The authors found that corporations established in countries where the following characteristics prevail have higher tendencies to assure integrated reports: high collectivism among people, low power distance, strong feminine values rather than masculine values, high uncertainty avoidance, pursuance of short-term goals rather than long-term and a low level of indulgence.

The study is not free from limitations. First, the authors were only able to obtain assurance data for the years between 2011 and 2016 since 2011 was the initial year in which integrated reporting was adopted. Second, culture variables used throughout the study remained the same for each year due to the unavailability of differing data. This was noted in prior studies as well; thus, this is not an exception. Third, the assumption that all companies in a country have the same culture score is inherent in the scoring system of countries (Orij, 2010).

Based on the results, the authors drew implications for organizations, policymakers and assurance service providers. Multinational corporations can benefit from the outcome of this study by considering national cultures in formulating their corporate strategies. Finally, assurance service providers can position themselves in the marketplace by the findings of this study.

This paper aims to enhance the comprehension of corporate reporting practices by companies that operate in different countries, with necessarily varying cultural values. To the best knowledge of the authors, no prior study has yet examined the impact of national culture on the assurance of integrated reports.

Manufacturing firms face increasing pressure to be more “greener” or environmentally friendly. Drawing upon the sustainable development (SD) theory and resource-based view, this study aims to examine the role of total quality management (TQM) and its effect on corporate SD (CSD). Also, this study focused on the mediating role of green innovation (GI).

This study used data from a time-lagged design with two waves that strengthened the hypothesized framework and used structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses.

The results showed a significant influence of TQM on CSD and GI. Also, GI positively affects CSD and fully mediates TQM and CSD relationships.

Important practical implications are integrating the quality indicators with sustainability and environmental dimensions. This study shall help the managers and policymakers in achieving their sustainability goals.

This study advances the prior literature and provides a noble approach of SD for TQM in manufacturing small and medium enterprises in an emerging country context.

The goal of this work is to include the new economic-based approaches related to entrepreneurship that have been published in the literature. Based on the neoclassical and Austrian schools, some sociological, psychological and economic theories about entrepreneurship. In this work, some unknown economic-based approaches related to entrepreneurship will be summarized, as they are included in the work of Saiz-Alvarez and García-Vaquero (2017). These approaches are: (1) The Jack-of-all-trades Theory, (2) The Mezzanine Theory, (3) The O-Ring Theory, (4) The Theory of Resources and Capabilities, (5) Entrepreneurial Bricolage, (6) The Processes’ School, (7) The Feedback Loop Theory, (8) The Theory of Effectuation, and (9) The Theory of the Optimal Triangle. All these theories will be summarized in this chapter.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, its importance, and its difficulties have been defined. This chapter seeks to present the digital tools that have been used during the pandemic period and that have been focused on promoting STEM education at different levels. The efforts made by educational organizations worldwide are mentioned. Different regions are shown presenting the best experiences of digital tools that enhance the elements of STEM and can be extended to different levels of education from elementary school to university. On the other hand, successful experiences of the use of technological tools from the teachers' point of view are shown, depicting the tools that have worked the most during the process of adapting to online classes to devise a much better educational plan that continues to take advantage of digital tools for STEM education.

In a pandemic framework (COVID-19), this chapter explores the impact of the global economy and socio-cultures concerning three axes: recreational, tourism, and hospitality. Although we slowly see an economic revival, it is well known that this sector of study is very susceptible to being affected by the context of nations. Following restrictions and measures taken by governments around the world to reduce the number of cases of coronavirus infections, many nations closed their borders, affecting international travel and by 2020 tourism had been reduced to the near cessation of operations due to the imminent fear of this poorly studied disease, and the service sector was negatively affected. It should be added that, according to the World Tourism Organization's projections, a decrease of between 20 and 30% is forecast for 2020 compared to the previous year.