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The purpose of this paper is to examine how major changes in an industry may differentially affect firms based on their organizational structure. The authors examine midstream oil and gas firms, comparing master limited partnerships (MLPs or uncorporates) with more traditional midstream corporate firms when the industry changed from one that was considered mature to a more rapid growth industry.

Non-parametric comparisons of returns, distributions, and operating ratios are presented across the two organizational forms and across two distinct industry activity periods. The risk-adjusted return analysis, including Fama and French factors, incorporates a wild bootstrap to address heteroscedasticity in the data.

In the industry’s mature market period, partnerships provided a significantly greater payout, return, return on equity (ROE), cash flow, and lower leverage, while exhibiting lower levels of systematic risk than corporations. In the later growth period, midstream corporations and partnerships are no longer significantly different in their returns, ROE or margins. MLPs now have significantly higher leverage levels, while continuing to provide significantly higher dividend payouts.

The paper contributes to the literature with an analysis of the effects of a changing industry environment on two different organizational types across a common industry. The authors find that the optimal organizational structure may be dependent on the environment. The findings during the initial period are consistent with prior research comparing publicly traded partnerships and corporations. During the growth phase, the findings lend support to the seminal literature with respect to corporations potentially best-suited to “growth” industries, while highlighting specific results by organizational form.

The purpose of the paper is to assess the relevance of the personal value called self‐transcendence as an explanatory factor regarding gender differences in the socio‐cultural adjustment of expatriate employees.

A sample of 37 male and 31 female expatriates responded to an online questionnaire concerning their self‐transcendence value and their adjustment as expatriate employees.

Self‐transcendence of the expatriate predicted interactional and work adjustment. Perceived expatriate‐local difference in self‐transcendence was a negative predictor of work and interactional adjustment. Females had higher (non‐significant) self‐transcendence than males. Further gender differences in the impact of self‐transcendence and perceived expatriate‐local differences in self‐transcendence were found.

Further research into the effect of expatriate levels of the personal value of self‐transcendence, its two components, universalism and benevolence, and gender differences therein appears warranted. Statistical techniques to establish causality should be used.

Knowledge regarding the self‐transcendence values of candidates for expatriate assignments may assist global human resource managers to make more effective selection decisions regarding expatriate assignments.

The study described in this paper is among the first to assess potential explanations for the better interactional and work adjustment of female expatriates compared to males. This study replicates earlier findings regarding the relationship between perceived expatriate‐local differences in self‐transcendence and expatriate socio‐cultural adjustment and provides new knowledge regarding gender differences in this relationship.

This study aims to examine the question of how long a behavioral skills training program should be in order to result in measurable behavioral change.

An empirical field study was conducted to compare two different lengths of time for a managerial skills training program aimed at achieving behavioral change. The training time for the first training condition was based on “rules‐of‐thumb” found in the literature. The training time was increased in an “extended” training condition that covered the same material but permitted more time for lecture, role‐playing and discussion.

Results showed that, relative to a control group, participants in the “extended” training condition exhibited behavioral change, but those in the “rules‐of‐thumb” training condition did not. Self‐efficacy increased significantly for trainees in both training conditions.

More attention is required to the length of training programs as they are being designed, especially if behavioral change is a goal of the training. Using rules‐of‐thumb regarding training length may be insufficient for bringing about behavioral change. More importantly, the need for more effective management skills will not be met, and organizational performance outcomes may be jeopardized.

The results of this research have the potential to be broadly applicable to management training and may possibly generalize to training in other disciplines where the training is intended to effect behavioral change.

The purpose of this study is to explore consumer innovativeness as a personality trait and addresses the hedonic, social, cognitive and functional motivational elements that lie behind consumer innovativeness. It explores the weak relationship between consumer innovativeness and really new product (novel innovation) adoption and challenges the classic relationship between consumer learning, attitude and intention.

This study adopts a quantitative approach, gathering survey data via an institutional online platform. A total of 300 participants were recruited. Participants were directed to a website presenting the information of the product with the inclusion of 2D and 3D images and an avatar. For data analysis, CFA and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used.

Results indicate a positive impact of attitude on comprehension and intention. In addition, hedonic innovativeness positively impacts customer's attitude, whereas there is a negative relationship between social innovativeness and attitude. Motivational elements of innovation, with the exception of hedonic motivation, positively influence purchase intention.

The main limitation of the study lies in the measurement of purchase intention, as actual purchases cannot be assessed as the products are not yet available. The findings encourage marketers to target innovators first, ideally innovators motivated by hedonic needs.

The findings encourage marketers to target innovators first, perhaps for a long-term, innovators motivated by hedonic needs, as they are the ones who change their attitude positively towards novel innovation when presented in an aesthetically pleasant manner.

This study challenges the classic theories identifying the link between comprehension, attitude and purchase intention within the field of innovation. The findings indicate that while interacting with really new products, comprehension does not necessarily lead to attitude and intention but attitude does positively influence both intention and comprehension.

This study aims to examine the attitudes of physicians towards the pharmaceutical industry and investigates how these are reflected when a new drug is introduced.

The qualitative theme-interview study adopts the innovation diffusion perspective and is conducted with 22 general practitioners and specialists.

Physicians’ positive relationship orientation and active interaction can result in early adoption of new drugs with product advantage. In comparison, negatively oriented and passively interacting physicians will adopt a new drug later based on research evidence- and experience-based reasoning and opinions of their colleagues.

The objective was to obtain a deeper understanding of the research themes. Further qualitative studies in different countries and health care environments with a larger sample size would improve generalizability of results.

It’s necessary to find an optimal win – win situation that fulfils both parties’ needs, while decreasing unnecessary and time-consuming marketing activities and avoiding waste of limited resources and allowing physicians to participate in activities that better serve their primary needs. Managers in pharmaceutical companies should ensure their sales representatives act in appropriate and professional ways, interact openly and reciprocally and provide accurate and objective information.

The study demonstrates that the physician–pharmaceutical industry relationship has developed from being ethically precarious and having non-professional related personal benefits, towards becoming a more sustainable collaboration. The mutually beneficial collaboration supports physicians’ professional development, enabling better patient care and relieving strain on limited resources.

Energy poverty can be seen as a relatively new, but typical sustainability problem in which various dimensions (ecology, society and economy) are interlinked and in part conflict with each other. Moreover, the variety of involved stakeholders (planners, tenants, housing companies, private landlords, energy consultants, etc.) represents conflicting aims for solving this problem. This paper aims to present a systematic linkage between higher education for sustainable development (HESD) and education about energy poverty yet.

A qualitative comparative case study approach with a similar didactic approach is used.

Based on the literature about HESD and an overall model in general didactics, ten criteria were identified and used for an overall reflection about similar courses dealing with the topic of energy poverty. The criteria covered the learning goals, the didactical approaches and the institutional support in the forms of organisation in the courses.

There was no competency measurement of the students in the described courses.

There was no evaluation of the development of students’ key competencies for sustainability. However, the reflections of students and teachers revealed a positive development regarding the students’ learning process, especially because they worked on a real-world sustainability problem: energy poverty.

This contribution describes how university courses on energy poverty were designed and implemented at five German universities. Against the background of general criteria for HESD, it reflects on the experiences that the use of this concept evoked. Through a comparison of the five courses against these criteria, the paper outlines strengths and weaknesses of the approach and closes with recommendations and requirements for designing further courses.

This chapter focusses on the role of reflective practices within initial teacher education courses and the context of the practicum and the role that school-based mentors have in helping student-teachers to learn the skills of ‘reading’ the classroom. It will also discuss how lesson study can support student-teachers and their school-based mentors in their collaborative planning, execution and discussions so that their reflections can be used to further their professional development. Finally, suggestions will be made to support the reflective development of student-teachers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore swap-shops, which emerged as part of the collaborative consumption phenomenon, by investigating what the implications are of consumers acting as suppliers and how this affects supply chain management within the context of the fashion industry.

This study explores the collaborative consumption phenomenon through swap-shops in three countries: the UK, Finland and Germany. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with swappers, non-swappers and organisers. To further enhance the data set six observations of swap-shop events were conducted. Data were transcribed and analysed using multiple coding cycles and using a grounded research approach.

Findings indicate that consumers were most concerned with availability/sizing and quality of garments, whilst organisers felt uncertainty was the biggest issue. Data allowed creating a framework that blueprints the swapping supply chain, in which consumers emerge as suppliers. It highlights possible activities in different cycles, whilst furthermore indicates that consumption cycles can move from monetary (e.g. selling) to non-monetary transactions (e.g. swapping) and vice versa.

Swapping as a relatively new fashion supply mode implies a fluidity of market roles. Disruptive business models can blur boundaries between the supply- and demand-side. This indicates that consumers can change “roles” multiple times as they go through the consumption cycle.

The authors extended the knowledge on swapping by describing how this phenomenon can activate consumers, and extend and intensify the use of garments and therefore swapping can slow the material throughput in the system. It is the first paper to focus solely on swapping within a three country context.

Based on the social capital theory, the authors assume that personal and professional experts are both relevant to people's competence development. However, to date, there is little empirical evidence of how professional experts can support, or impede, people in learning how to deal with social media. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role and position of social media experts in the distribution of information on social media within the library as organization.

The paper draws upon social network and qualitative methods, within three public libraries located in Belgium.

The findings suggest that as the most central actors, social media experts in a library play a significant role in either supporting or constraining the distribution of information on social media.

While the sample size was chosen to conduct a mixed methods study that would explore how the position of a social media expert in an organization such as the library facilitates or prevents the exchange of social media information, the authors acknowledge the need for large-scale empirical studies that can substantiate the findings in larger and more diverse samples.

This unique study explores how the role and position social media experts in Belgian public libraries can support, or impede, librarians in learning how to deal with social media. This study is useful for other public libraries who want to implement social media, establish a social media policy and/or provide social media training.

This case study explores trust at work, described by young professionals in the early stages of their careers. In this article, trust is approached as the study participants' experiences of interpersonal trust. More specifically, it refers to relationships between colleagues, among individuals or at group level (Ma et al., 2019). Supervisors or managers did not take part in this study. The research question was “What do young professionals tell about trust and its importance at work?”

The empirical study consists of qualitative data, focus group (5) interviews (n = 20) of young professionals who are in the early stages of their careers (1–3 years after graduation). The study is contextualized in Finland, in Helsinki metropolitan area, in three social and healthcare workplaces and two information technology (IT) organizations. Both public and private sectors are represented. The data were analysed by theory-based content analysis.

According to the study results, descriptions of trust and its importance at work can be placed in three main categories. First, trust is an important element in improving young professionals' adaptation into the working community. Second, trust strengthens young professionals' professionalism and professional development at work. Third, trust at work highlights ethical issues and their significance in workplace relationships. Practical implications and limitations are also discussed.

Due to the nature of this study, the research results should be viewed critically. The results can be seen as one suggestion to structure and increase understanding of trust in working life, from the perspective of young professionals in the early stages of their careers. As all research, the studies included in this review had several limitations that need to be taken into account. First, one of them is the size of the data, also in this study. Second, although literature has been searched carefully, there is always a chance of better literature existing for discussion on trust at work from young professionals' points of view, even though there is not a lot available on this specific topic. Nonetheless, literature of this study includes the most relevant classics of trust research. Third, the method has its own limits because it is based on focus group interviews, not interviews of individuals. On the other hand, it offered time for the team to reflect on trust in their own team. Still, this study offers one option for discussion of trust in work relationships. Additionally, it was noteworthy that the subjects were at the beginning of their careers, joining a new working community. They were in the early stages of building a professional identity, seeking confirmation of their skills and position in the working community. Thus, we recognize that this may have contributed to the collection of research data, which was a focus group interview. Few participants in the interview wanted to strongly point out the factors related to distrust, even if they had appeared at work. The authors recognize that exploring trust requires trust and acknowledge it. Data have been collected before the COVID-19 pandemic (see, e.g. van Zoonen et al., 2021).

This study implies that trust at work should focus on discussing young professionals' thoughts, expectations, feelings and experiences of trust at work as part of transitioning from graduation into working life or in early stages of their careers. Trust should not only be discussed in dyadic discussions between young professionals and supervisors but also as part of team discussions. The authors’ suggestion is that trust should be in the core of team discussions, not just as part of teams' social and emotional dimensions of their functionality and capacity. Courage and skills to take part in such discussions is needed from all parties. Especially leaders have to have the ability to create a trusting environment to talk about trust. In particular, the importance of peers in trust and their importance at work should be taken into account. By understanding young professionals’ point of view, we can prevent job changes or dissatisfaction at work too. The purpose of this study was to contribute to this line of research on trust at work. The trust resource contributes to and promotes the realization of participation in working life.

The trust resource contributes to and promotes the realization of participation in working life. Leaders and coworkers can learn about trust as a phenomenon, while developing more emotionally sustainable working environments for young professionals. Trust should be seen as a skill or competence to improve various positive functional dimensions at work.

The results demonstrate that it is crucial to ensure emotional sustainability at work, and a positive feeling of belonging at work supports young professionals by developing a trusting work environment. It strengthens their engagement in a new work.