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The purpose of this paper is to share learning about practical steps that can be taken to eliminate persistent racism from the workplace, including racism by people who have cognitive impairments who do not understand the impact of their behaviours.

This paper is informed by qualitative research. An independent researcher was commissioned to recruit 45 black British, black African and black Caribbean women living in Norfolk and working for a range of employers. Parameters were agreed in advance (aims, consent, data protection). A list of questions was provided to the researcher. The questions covered experiences of prejudice and discrimination. Data collection included face to face/online/telephone interviews, focus groups and questionnaires. The researcher recorded the women’s views and compiled them in a findings report. The report was shared with the women to confirm that their views had been recorded accurately. The author has also convened conversations with over 100 professionals representing providers of public services, including social and domiciliary care.

The author identified that it will be impossible for employers to eliminate persistent racism from their workplaces until all managers consistently and diligently address every report of racism effectively, in line with the steps set out in this paper. The purpose is to establish, over time, a workplace culture where racism is never tolerated or allowed to persist, and workers and managers learn – and become more confident – to recognise, address and eliminate racism at work. Until this is embedded, racism affecting workers will continue to go unchecked and unacknowledged in the workplace.

The data gathered to inform this paper (specifically the research commissioned and described in this abstract, in addition to other data, such as conversations convened with professionals) is qualitative data. It cannot be assumed that the experiences of the people interviewed reflect the experiences of all people. However, the voices of participants have highlighted issues to inform future planning.

The author must be clear that, so far there has been no definitive solution to persistent racism in the workplace. The learning so far is being shared with the hope that this assists others with developing strategies to eliminate persistent racism.

Workplaces across the UK are committed to eradicating racism. However, the rate of change is glacial. This research paper shares learning about how to address this, to increase the pace of change, to begin to genuinely eliminate persistent racism from the workplace.

To the author’s knowledge, the learning from this research is original and not replicated elsewhere.

It has been apparent to women in the UK for a long time that the equality legislation of the mid‐seventies is an inadequate remedy to sexual discrimination. Only half of equal pay claims make it as far as an industrial tribunal, and even fewer sex discrimination claims (forty per cent). Of these, only one in ten cases is found in the employee's favour, and the remedies are trifling. Half of all awards in cases where sex discrimination is found are for less than £300, while more than four in ten increases ordered by tribunals for equal pay claims are for less than £8 a week.

This study aims to examine the combined impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings on the market and financial performance of Egyptian companies during the period from 2007 to 2016 and, thereby, determines the influence of the recent political revolutions –that broke out in the MENA region in early 2011 – on the association between ESG practices and corporate performance.

The present work uses data from the S&P/EGX ESG index, which is the first of its kind in the MENA region. The ESG index is designed to increase the profile of companies listed on the Egyptian Exchange and is expected to boost the level and quality of ESG practices in the Egyptian context. The sample includes the 100 most active Egyptian companies in the Egyptian Stock Exchange as measured by the EGX 100 index in the financial year that ended in 2016. The sample begins in 2007, concurrent with the start of the ESG index, and ends in 2016. The period from 2007 to 2010 represents the pre-revolution period, and the period from 2012 to 2016 is the post-revolution period.

Firms with high ESG ratings are found to enjoy a better financial and market performance. The authors found some evidence that the influence of ESG ratings on financial performance is more obvious after the revolutions than before the revolutions.

This study provides insights regarding the impact of political events on the market in the Middle East region. Despite its increasing economic and political importance, this region still suffers from inadequate attention in the literature. The present work investigates the variances that evolved out of the events that started in early 2011 and the implications of these events on the market. The results of this study have implications for regulators and investors in the Egyptian stock market. The authors believe that the relatively new S&P/EGX ESG index provides a way to enhance ESG ratings in Egypt.

The results of the present study provide insights for policymakers regarding the usefulness of the sustainability indices.

The present results contribute to the growing literature on the economic consequences of ESG ratings, especially in relation to a context characterized by intense political/revolutionary changes. In particular, this study contributes to the few works that have addressed the economic implications of ESG ratings in emerging markets.

A brief overview of some of the approaches being used to attract women back into work is given, providing examples from a number of organisations. A brief list of helpful sources of further information is provided.

The aim of the NHS England Vanguards of new care models was to improve healthcare provision and integration through the coordination of services, seeking to deliver the Five Year Forward View. The purpose of this paper is to report on an extensive analysis of one of the Vanguard programmes, exploring whether the implemented integrated response service (IRS) based in Harrogate, England, resulted in any meaningful change in secondary healthcare activity.

The authors used an interrupted time series framework applied to aggregate secondary care data, specifically emergency attendances for patients 65+, emergency bed days for all adults and non-elective admissions for 65+. Synthetic and geographic comparator data were employed to inform additional scenario analyses.

The majority of the analyses conducted found no statistically significant effect of the IRS team in either direction, suggesting that there was no change in the metrics that could be separated from natural variation. The data correlated with the findings of a qualitative analysis and challenges faced in staffing the team towards the end of the analysis period and the eventual disbanding of the IRS.

The analysis was partially hampered by data access challenges, limited to poorly specified aggregate secondary care data, and a poorly specified intervention. Furthermore, the follow-up period was limited by the disbanding of the service.

This analysis indicates that the Harrogate-based IRS team is unlikely to have delivered any sustained quantifiable impact on the intended secondary care outcomes. While this does not necessarily demonstrate a failure of the core principle behind the drive for integrated care, it is an important exploration of the challenges of evaluating such a service.

The emergence of social media as a corporate disclosure channel has caused significant changes in the production and dissemination of corporate information. This review identifies important themes in recent research on the impact of social media on the corporate information environment and provides suggestions for further explorations of this new but fast-growing area of research. Specifically, we first review the evolution of Internet-based corporate disclosure and related regulations, and then focus on three recent streams of research: 1) companies’ use of social media; 2) information produced by non-corporate users and its impact on capital markets; and 3) the credibility of corporate information on social media platforms.