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The theoretical basis for the case is information asymmetry and signaling theory, with buybacks providing a mechanism for reducing information asymmetry between management and investors. The controversy surrounding buybacks has led to political and regulatory scrutiny, which, consistent with evidence from academic research, may affect corporate behavior.

The compact case is based on secondary, public information about stock buybacks. All sources used are cited in-text, with full citations included in the references section at the end of the teaching note.

Stock buybacks, a means of providing returns to shareholders, have recently received increased scrutiny by politicians, media and shareholder activists. Proponents have argued that buybacks result in efficient allocation of capital by returning funds to shareholders, whereas opponents have criticized buybacks for enriching executives, providing tax advantages to shareholders and contributing to income inequality. Corporations did not curtail their use of buybacks after the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 imposed an excise tax. The case frames the buyback debate in current events and focuses on the buyback activity of Apple. The case provides students the opportunity to analyze alternative ways that companies can provide returns to shareholders, evaluate impacts of buybacks on corporate stakeholders and appraise the reasons for, and implications of, current controversy regarding buybacks.

This compact case is appropriate for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses in financial accounting, tax and finance. This case provides an opportunity to analyze and evaluate stock buyback decisions in the context of the current controversy related to buybacks.

The Recovery College model is an innovative approach to providing education to consumers, carers and mental health staff, with the potential to facilitate both personal recovery gains and organisational transformation towards recovery-focused service provision. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of students who attended the South Eastern Sydney Recovery College (SESRC).

An exploratory, descriptive qualitative design was employed with data collected through seven focus group interviews with consumers and mental health staff who had participated in courses run by the SESRC. Thematic analysis of the data was conducted using both deductive and inductive processes in order to interpret the data.

All participants were positive about their involvement in the RC. Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: connection with others, hope for the future, the importance of the lived experience, and changing attitudes and systems.

The outcomes of this study indicate that the SESRC is achieving its aims in relation to both personal recovery gains, and the potential to impact on service transformation. It highlights the centrality of co-production as a fundamental aspect of the Recovery College model. This paper contributes to the emerging evidence base for this model and provides evidence that this model is applicable to the Australian context.

This chapter explores the mindset inside companies and how they plan and interact in society. Corporate strategy and leadership are discussed. Specific models illustrate a process of engagement including the sustainable livelihoods approach, The Partnership Continuum by Johnson (2011), Stages of Corporate Citizenship by Mirvis and Googins (2006), and Saul's (2012) social value spectrum and social innovation quartile. Finally, to illustrate best practices with highly driven corporate efforts, a case study at Campbell Soup Company in Camden, New Jersey, illuminates a broad range of perspectives and strategies that foster, manage, and report corporate practices in action.

Narcissism is often cited as a construct that is likely related to unethical leadership. Still, only a handful of empirical studies have examined the relationship between narcissism and workgroup outcomes, and practically none have linked narcissism to leader behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to use narcissism scores to predict behaviors associated with unethical leadership in a controlled setting.

Participants completed a measure of narcissistic personality. Participants also completed an administrative assessment center (AC). Qualitative analysis was used to code the behaviors in the AC into dimensions associated with unethical leader behavior.

Narcissism was related to the display of unethical behaviors during the AC. Scores on the narcissism scale correlated positively with behaviors associated with unethical leadership, including one-way communication, control of power, insensitivity to others, an unrealistic assessment of the environment, manipulative communication, and pseudo-transformational behaviors.

This is one of only a few studies that demonstrate a relationship between narcissism and observed unethical “bad” leader behaviors. Quantifying this relationship suggests that measures of narcissism could be used in leadership selection. Quantifying this relationship could also be used by coaches as they work to improve leader behavior.

Food insecurity and poor access to healthy food is known to compromise tertiary studies in university students, and food choices are linked to student perceptions of the campus food environment. The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence, demographic and education characteristics associated with food insecurity in a sample of Australian university students and their satisfaction with on-campus food choices.

An online, cross-sectional survey conducted as part of the bi-annual sustainability themed survey was conducted at the University of Tasmania in March 2020. A single-item measure was used to assess food insecurity in addition to six demographic and education characteristics and four questions about the availability of food, affordable food, sustainable food and local food on campus.

Survey data (n = 1,858) were analysed using bivariate analyses and multivariate binary logistic regression. A total of 38% of respondents (70% female; 80% domestic student; 42% aged 18–24 years) were food insecure. Overall, 41% of students were satisfied with the food available on campus. Nearly, half (47%) of food insecure students were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the availability of affordable food on campus. A minority of students were satisfied with the availability of sustainable food (37%) and local food (33%) on campus.

These findings demonstrate a high prevalence of food insecurity and deficits in the university food environment, which can inform the development of strategies to improve the food available on campus, including affordable, sustainable and local options.

Luxury companies have expanded globally, but little attention is given to the difficulties associated with expansion to culturally different countries, especially when focusing on training salespeople in rapport-building behaviors. To address this discussion, we answer these research questions: (1) Does the luxury fashion brand country of origin affect the rapport-building strategies of salespeople?; (2) How do luxury fashion employees classify customers from collectivistic cultures with emerging economies, such as that in Brazil?; and (3) What are the rapport-building strategies used by these salespeople for each of these luxury fashion customer segments?

The authors conducted in-depth interviews with salespeople, managers and team supervisors from four global luxury retailers from Britain, France and Italy that operate in Brazil. In total, the authors interviewed 20 employees with an average of greater than 7 years of experience in luxury sales. The authors based their analysis on a theoretically generated coding guide and content analysis theories.

When expanding to culturally different countries, retail companies should adopt glocal strategies, especially when luxury is involved and when customers demand exclusive attention from companies. Additionally, the authors suggest that the effectiveness of rapport building strategies is culturally dependent and should be adapted to the microlevel, especially for continental countries that are culturally diverse.

This is employee-view research, with no inputs from customers or corporate managers. Luxury fashion brand stores did not grant permission for official research within their employees nor the observation of their customers during in-store interactions. Researchers interviewed employees as individual professionals, and their identities will remain anonymous.

When expanding to culturally different countries, luxury retailers should give special attention to the adaption of sales strategies, training and sales guidelines.

This study focuses on customer-employee rapport from the company's perspective.