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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

This paper examines the growth in international sport marketing, considers factors such as globalisation which have fuelled the process, looks at practical implications and provides research avenues for future exploration.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organisations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Ever since Mead, sociology has maintained a deep divide between human and non human animals. In effect, Mead constructed humans as having capacities that he saw lacking in animals. Recent research on animals has challenged the traditional ideas of Mead and others by providing evidence of animal intelligence, adaptability, selfawareness, emotionality, communication and culture. This paper examines the human‐animal relationship as presented in Introductory Sociology Textbooks to see if this new research on animals has allowed us to move beyond Mead. We find outdated information and confused thinking on such topics as the relationship between language and culture, the development of the self in animals, and the role of instinct, socialization and culture in animal behavior. We conclude that, with few exceptions, the main function of the treatment of animals in these texts is to affirm the hard line that sociology has always drawn between humans and other species.

Cornwall has implemented significant changes to the way that it delivers its safeguarding adults training. This paper outlines the benefits of combining safeguarding adults, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (HM Government, 2005a) and equality and diversity training within a human rights framework. It examines the notion of learning transfer and considers how the design and delivery of training can improve the transfer of learning into practice. Finally, it highlights the importance of a receptive workplace culture to promote effective learning transfer.

Special guardianship order (SGO) assessments require social workers to make plans and recommendations for ongoing post-SGO contact between the child and the parents. However, there is very little policy to inform and guide practitioners on how these duties should be undertaken, and no studies that describe current practice. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the recommending of contact in special guardianship cases is currently working, by holding focus groups with social workers and special guardians. This paper reports on the results of a study to examine what contact plans social workers are recommending, the thinking behind their decisions and the views of the special guardians who have to make those plans work.

The research involved a mixed methods approach comprising of an online questionnaire, two focus groups for social workers and two focus groups for special guardians. This paper describes the second part of the study and reports on the qualitative results from the four focus groups. The methodology was based on a pragmatist theoretical position, and used an interpretivist approach and elements of the analytical procedure of grounded theory in order to generate inductive research. The focus group method was chosen as the best way to gather rich information on the opinions and ideas of practitioners who are recommending contact and the carers who are managing it.

Participants provided a wide range of views on the issues, with practitioners describing the challenges of planning contact, and special guardians explaining the problems they faced with the parents. Involving special guardians in the study gave a chance to include the different perspectives of the people who have to make the contact recommendations work, and contrast their views on contact planning with those of the professionals. The study makes recommendations for practice, which recognise the difficulty of preparing an initial contact plan that will remain relevant for years ahead.

The number of focus groups the author held was limited by the author’s own personal resources and the time the author had available, and one group only had three social workers on the day. The author’s involvement affected the responses, and the author’s questions dictated the issues that were commented on, but the answers were the opinions that the participants wanted to express. The nature of the approach means that no two sets of focus group results would ever be the same. And as the direction of the discussions was largely dictated by the participants, the coverage of all aspects of contact was probably inconsistent.

This research sheds light on a crucial area of social work permanency planning, that has suffered from a lack of previous research, in order to better inform future practice. The paper reports on what contact plans social workers are recommending, the thinking behind their decisions and the views of the special guardians who have to make those plans work. It concludes with recommendations for improving future special guardianship policy and practice.

The research clearly raises a number of specific difficulties faced by special guardians and problems with current policy and practice. These include the special guardians’ lack of understanding about contact, the difficulty for social workers of long-term planning, the challenge posed by uncooperative parents who behave badly, the view of carers for the need for a greater emphasis on the quality and reliability of contact, and the challenge to careful contact planning posed by the adversarial court process.

Special guardianship has had a major impact on permanency planning since its introduction 12 years ago. However, apart from one DfE study in 2014, very little research has been produced to inform policy and practice. There have been no studies specifically on contact in special guardianship cases, despite contact being one of the two major factors in determining the success of SGO placements. This study has provided the first in-depth evaluation of social worker contact planning in special guardianship, and the first investigation of special guardians’ views on contact.

The focus of this paper is the economic theory of the plans for the European Monetary Union. Part 1 demonstrates that economists, bankers and policy makers know very little about monetary policy. Part 2 explains the errors of the common practice of defining money by its functions. Because any monetary policy must rest on a definition of money it seems reasonable to conclude that a flawed definition might lead to problems with monetary policy. Part 3 applies this insight to the plans for a common currency in Europe. Because of uncertainties about the timing and details of the implementation, some important considerations are necessarily speculative. They are relegated to appendices. Appendix 1 comments on the timing and authorship and responsibility for the official reports with their unspecified authors. Appendix 2 supplies some grounds for doubting the ultimate durability of the European Monetary Union focusing on reasons that are historical, economic and pragmatic. Because the entire movement is driven by politics, not economics, Appendix 3 considers some of the relevant political issues. The conclusions summarize and speculate on possible reasons for successful outcomes.

The paper aims to contribute to the broader literature on just transition by examining the intersection of technology and justice, and identifying opportunities for bridging the gap between theory and practice. The work seeks to emphasize the importance of transformative change, which ensures that no individual, community or sector is left behind in the transition towards a sustainable future, both on a global and local scale.

The paper explores the potential for linking justice to the ongoing technological transition, focusing on its impacts on climate and sustainability. Drawing on various sociological, environmental and technological studies, this work examines the intersections between justice and technological change. Through a qualitative analysis of case studies and a review of literature, the article offers insights and recommendations for policymakers, practitioners and scholars involved in the pursuit of a sustainable and equitable future.

The paper concludes that balancing environmental, social and economic goals is necessary on a large scale within the framework of a “just transition”, in order to ensure that no individual, community or sector is left behind in the path to a sustainable future. This involves reflecting on sensitive issues such as competition, intellectual property, market openness, liability and fighting against inequalities. Additionally, it requires considering smart and welfare policies from a multilevel perspective.

The originality of this work lies in its contribution to advancing the understanding of the limitations of a technology-centric approach to climate action and the need for systemic changes. The paper emphasizes the importance of addressing social equity, policy reform and collective action in conjunction with technological transition to achieve a sustainable future. It highlights the risks of overlooking the systemic drivers of the climate crisis, such as unsustainable consumption patterns and reliance on fossil fuels, while pursuing technological solutions. Furthermore, the work emphasizes the relevance of the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 in guiding a just transition towards sustainability.

The purpose of this research is to understand how educational tourists in Northern Cyprus perceive and respond to the concerns associated with climate change.

A qualitative method was employed and the data gathered from educational tourists enrolled in tourism planning and sustainable tourism courses in Northern Cyprus and analyzed using the content analysis technique.

Four major themes emerged in this study including “weather changes”, “human-induced causes”, “collective responsibility” and “waste management and recycling”.

Climate change-related issues among educational tourists have received little attention in the literature. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by examining educational tourists' perspectives and reactions to climate change in Northern Cyprus.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an optimal model of an integrated quality and safety management system (QSMS).

Keywords related with these systems were identified from international standards and subsequently mined from a selection of peer reviewed articles that discuss and propose varying forms of integrated models for both systems. Cluster analysis was used to establish the degree to which integrated models, as described in the articles were quality dominant vs safety dominant. Word counts were utilized for establishing content and attributes for each category. An optimal integrated model was developed from the final cluster analysis and substantiated by a one-way analysis of variance. Experts from industry were consulted to validate and fine-tune the model.

It was determined that characteristics of an optimal integrated model include the keywords “risk,” “safety,” “incident,” “injury,” “hazards,” as well as “preventive action,” “corrective action,” “rework,” “repair,” and “scrap.” It also combines elements of quality function deployment as well as hazard and operability analysis meshed into a plan-do-check-act type work-flow.

Given the vast array of clustering algorithms available, the clusters that resulted were dependent upon the algorithm deployed and may differ from clusters resulting for divergent algorithms.

The optimized model is a hybrid that consists of a quality management system as the superordinate strategic element with safety management system deployed as the supporting tactical element. The model was implemented as a case study, and resulted in 13 percent labor-hour saving.