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Australian sales of hyperpalatable beverages (HPB) (a term used to describe naturally or artificially sweet beverages) have followed a consistent upward trend since 2000. The purpose of this paper is to examine HPB brand placements in the top 20 annual highest grossing movies in Australia in 2010-2014.

A content analysis was undertaken on the 20 highest grossing movies annually from 2010 to 2014. Movies were analysed according to the prevalence and portrayal of branded beverages.

In total, 35 per cent of movies contained an HPB brand placement. Movies were more likely to be classified M, MA15+, R/R18+, and categorised as comedy, or action/adventure genre. Soft drinks were the most prevalent category (60.9 per cent), and Coca Cola Company manufactured 40.6 per cent of the brands that were embedded throughout the movies.

This study revealed some of industry’s non-direct marketing strategies through HPB placement in movies. Findings suggest that further scrutiny is needed of the relatively underresearched medium of beverage advertising.

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed angel investment meetings from in-person to online. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether this move affected angel investors' perception of subjective behavioral cues in pitch sessions within a large Brazilian angel group.

This study followed an exploratory approach using a triangulation process that combined observation, documents and interviews. Data collected by observation, document studies, and interviews were themed, coded, and organized during the research.

The move from in-person to online pitches did not seem to affect levels of trustworthiness or arrogance as angels assessed more message content during Q&A sessions. Body movement, gestures and “eye gaze” (i.e. the look on a presenter’s face) played a central role in passion assessment during in-person meetings. Body language was highly limited during online sessions and tone of voice became the main source of passion assessment.

The findings of this study suggest that pitches at online meetings affect angel investors' perception of founders' subjective cues, particularly cues pertaining to passion. Entrepreneurs should be trained to convey passion with tone of voice and to improve their body language in the context of webcam use. The interviews with volunteer sampling were subject to volunteer bias. Additionally, the findings may be affected by cultural context.

A practical contribution of this study is to highlight the need for entrepreneurs to be trained for online pitches. In an online setting, body language is limited, but it is still possible to use one’s hands and tone of voice to connect better to investors.

This study is unique because it captures the transition of angel investment meetings from in-person affairs before the pandemic to online meetings during the pandemic crisis. These unique circumstances provided a real-world laboratory to observe founders' subjective cue effects on angel investment decision-making.

Approximately 20 per cent of Australian children live with a parent who experiences mental illness. These children have poorer health and psychosocial outcomes than their peers. While family-focused practice (FFP) can improve these outcomes, family-focused service provision is inconsistent. The purpose of this paper is to understand clinicians’ experiences of FFP and associated workplace factors.

In-depth interviews were conducted with ten community mental health clinicians. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

A global theme of “navigating rocky terrain” captured clinicians’ experiences of working with families. The rocky terrain encompassed both family complexity and workplace barriers to FFP. Clinicians navigated this terrain by using multiple strategies to support families, working in partnership with families and other clinicians and services, and drawing on personal resources. Interactive approaches to enhancing knowledge and skills were preferred over paper-based information. While an organisation-wide approach to support FFP was beneficial, clinicians continued to feel challenged in implementing FFP.

Working with families in which parents experience mental illness is affected by systemic issues at the family and organisational levels. Systemic approaches to both delivering and supporting this work are required. Partnership working and organisation-wide capacity building strategies emphasising interactive approaches to learning appear to have positive effects.

This study explores the challenges of FFP in a real-world multidisciplinary context where there has been a systemic approach to enabling this work. It highlights the challenges clinicians face in family-focused practice in spite of substantial organisational supports and suggests some approaches that might be effective. This is a topic which has received minimal attention in the literature.

Business rescue, as a mechanism to aid financially distressed companies in South Africa, has received considerable academic and practical recognition. However, the business rescue plan is an overlooked and, perhaps, underdeveloped aspect of the regime. For stakeholders, this is the ultimate decision-making document. Creditors are the most influential stakeholders in business rescue proceedings owing to their voting rights. For creditors to make informed decisions and exercise their votes meaningfully, the business rescue plan should be transparent and adequately disclose relevant and reliable information. This study aims to identify creditors’ primary information needs to enhance the sufficiency and decision-usefulness of business rescue plans, not only to entice the vote of creditors but to enforce accountability from practitioners.

Using a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 executives from 10 South African financial institutions.

The findings reveal that comprehensive disclosure of financial, commercial and legal information in business rescue plans was a critical antecedent for stakeholder decision-making. Additionally, leadership and social impact information were influential determinants. This study advances academic knowledge and, for practitioners, adds value to the development of business rescue plans. This can enhance creditors' confidence in supporting the rescue effort and approving the plan.

This study advances academic knowledge and, for practitioners, adds value to the development of business rescue plans. This can enhance creditors' confidence in supporting the rescue effort and approving the plan.

The originality of this article lies in its investigation of how creditors assess the information in BR plans as a precursor to supporting the company’s reorganisation in a creditor-friendly business rescue system such as South Africa. This study provides novel insights into the decision-making process, particularly how creditors assess BR plans, address information asymmetry and vote on the plan.

Working creatively as a researcher should be a core foundation in doctoral studies, though it may be an isolating, even risky, endeavour. The purpose of this paper is to share the author’s journey through the “darkness” of innovation in research methodology.

At the heart of this research journey was Portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot, 1983), which emerged early in the post-modern evolution of qualitative research. While exploring Portraiture, the author found researchers used this methodology in varying ways: application, appropriation and interpretation. In stumbling through Portraiture, the author discovered patchwork as their bricoleur’s toolbag. Patchwork provided a torch that gave light to the darkness of the research process enabling interpretation of Portraiture for alignment of method and research problematic[1].

Looking back at the research journey, the author recognises the steps into post-qualitative research and the need for methodological innovators to share their journeys for inspiration, to develop understanding and open the way to greater creativity and innovation during the research process.

This paper provides an original view to Portraiture along with the addition of patchwork as a way of engaging with methodology as well as data.

Drawing on the service-dominant logic and taking a multi-stakeholder brand value co-creation perspective, this paper aims to investigate whether positioning a place brand around sustainability helps or hinders stakeholders’ ability to co-create value for themselves and the brand.

This paper is based on a case study of Bristol’s city branding following its award of European Green Capital, drawing on 29 in-depth interviews with key informants from multiple stakeholder groups. These interviews are supported by secondary material and field observations.

The findings evidence a “tale of two cities”. When sustainability is used as a positioning device, tensions are identified across three elements of brand co-creation: brand meanings; extraordinary versus mundane brand performances; and empowerment and disempowerment in branding governance. These tensions create stakeholder experiences of both engagement and estrangement.

This paper is based on one case study and evaluates face-to-face stakeholder interactions. Future research could access further stakeholders, across multiple cities and also examine their digital engagement.

Positioning a brand as sustainable (i.e. green) requires strong commitment to other ethical principles in practice. Brand practitioners and marketers may benefit from advancing stakeholders’ everyday brand performances to reduce disillusionment.

Rallying around virtuous associations, i.e. sustainability, does not in itself facilitate the generation of value for stakeholders and the brand, but instead can illuminate power imbalances and tensions in stakeholder interactions that result in a co-destruction of value.

The purpose of this paper is to examine female leaders' attitudes toward demand-side strategies to close the gender-leadership gap and discuss implications for organizations.

This article describes the process of knowledge co-creation that took place using an engaged scholarship epistemology over 23 interviews with North American women in senior leadership roles.

Five key themes related to women leaders' attitudes toward demand-side strategies are discussed. Some felt uncertain or opposed toward these strategies, whereas others supported them. Support for these strategies was dependent on perceptions of backlash regarding the implementation of these strategies and the participants' career stage. Finally, participants acknowledged that demand-side strategies are insufficient in isolation and require additional organizational supports.

These findings enhance our understanding and provide theoretical refinement of the mechanisms that drive female leaders' reactions to demand-side strategies to close the gender-leadership gap.

Participants advocated for certain practices to be considered when organizations contemplate the adoption of demand-side strategies. Importantly, participants advocated that the implementation of demand-side strategies would be insufficient unless organizations encourage greater dialogue regarding the gender-leadership gap, that top management support more gender inclusive leadership, and that male colleagues act as allies for women in leadership.

This article extends past research and theory by integrating the pragmatic perspectives of successful female leaders with previous empirical evidence to illustrate different reactions to demand-side strategies and ways for organizations to manage those in their efforts to close the gender-leadership gap.

Environmental health disparities case studies are explored through a combination of lens including the naturome/nurturome, exposome [nature vs nurture] and multiple exposure-zone [place as predictor of health and wellbeing] concepts. This work places the educational program and experience within a theoretical framework using all these grounding theories. This provides an approach to experiential and transformative education in environmental equity/sustainability that we are calling transformative, trans-theoretical equity education, T²E². This paper aims to describe this model, its grounding theories and provide real-world examples of this model in action through PIEER.

The University of Northern Iowa’s environmental equity internship, Panther Initiative for Environmental Equity and Resilience, PIEER, engages students on multiple levels to view sustainability from an equity perspective. The experience seeks to immerse the student in an understanding of equity while also having a tangible impact in the community. Systems analysis of issues, through formal systems thinking approaches, inculcating practices that allow students to work through difficult equity and social justice implications, high vs. low context communication and leadership styles are discussed.

Findings of the first evaluation of program impact indicate long-lasting benefits to this immersive experience. Findings of an evaluation survey of current and past PIEER interns (N = 30, n = 22/21; response ∼0.73/72) indicate that participants consistently rank the experience in the upper 25th percentile of benefit for their personal growth in understanding equity and environmental issues. They also note that the experience has led them to be more likely to engage in behaviors supporting both social justice and environmental concerns.

This evaluation consists of a small sample size which prevents the use of a mixed methods approach to evaluate the consistencies among the data.

If society is to truly achieve equitable sustainability, we must accomplish this through both transformative theory and transformative experiences.

Providing both transformative theory and transformative experiences to students is an important foundational step in achieving equitable sustainability.

The University of Northern Iowa has a unique environmental equity internship which is training students to revision sustainability from an equity perspective.