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Self-initiated international placements by students have been largely ignored in the literature on outward mobility in higher education. The support given to self-initiated international placement students, if any, has received even less attention. This study aims to address this lacuna.

Drawing on insights from global mobility literature, we conducted a survey of UK university students who engaged in self-initiated international placements to various countries such as France, China, Brazil and Ghana. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis.

Findings reveal that these “voluntary” placements can improve language fluency, increase self-confidence, renew stress management abilities and enhance cross-cultural competencies and intercultural sensitivity. The study problematises the lack of support given to these students particularly in terms of career development.

Our paper is one of the first to bring this under-studied population to the attention of career guidance scholars. We propose that scholarly attention should be directed toward the agency of self-initiated international placement students and that targeted career guidance must be provided through more inclusive career services.

This paper aims to present a comprehensive theoretical framework that seeks to explore the impact of cultural, legal and social factors within the external environment on the relationship between women on corporate boards and firm performance. By investigating these boundary conditions, the paper aims to shed light on how these pressures influence the aforementioned relationship.

To build the sample of companies, the authors selected companies listed on the stock exchanges of countries that represent a diverse range of institutional contexts. These contexts encompass countries with individualistic cultures, collectivist cultures, environments with mandatory gender quotas, environments without gender quotas, contexts with substantial progress toward gender equality and contexts with limited progress in achieving gender equality. To test the hypotheses, the authors used linear regression analysis as a primary analytical approach. Furthermore, they used the propensity score matching technique to address potential issues of reverse causality and unobserved heterogeneity.

The findings indicate that the positive influence of a critical mass of women on corporate boards on firm performance is contingent upon the institutional context. Specifically, the authors observed that this relationship is strengthened in institutional contexts characterized by an individualistic culture, whereas it is not as pronounced in collectivist cultural contexts. Furthermore, this research provides compelling evidence that the presence of a critical mass of women on boards leads to enhanced firm performance in institutional settings where gender quotas are not binding, as opposed to settings where such quotas are enforced. Lastly, the results demonstrate that the presence of a critical mass of women on boards is associated with improved firm performance in institutional settings characterized by low progress in achieving gender equality. However, the authors did not observe the same effect in institutional contexts that have made significant strides toward gender equality.

This research offers a unique perspective by investigating the relationship between women’s presence on corporate boards and firm performance across different institutional contexts. In this investigation, the authors recognize that gender diversity on corporate boards is not a one-size-fits-all solution and that its effects can be shaped by the unique institutional contexts in which companies operate.

This paper aims to explore how critical digital and data literacies are facilitated by testing different methods in the classroom, with the ambition to find a pedagogical framework for prompting sustained critical literacies.

This contribution draws on a 10-year set of critical pedagogy experiments conducted in Denmark, USA and Italy, and engaging more than 1,500 young adults. Multi-method pedagogical design trains students to conduct self-oriented guided autoethnography, situational analysis, allegorical mapping, and critical infrastructure analysis.

The techniques of guided autoethnography for facilitating sustained data literacy rely on inviting multiple iterations of self-analysis through sequential prompts, whereby students move through stages of observation, critical thinking, critical theory-informed critique around the lived experience of hegemonic data and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructures.

Critical digital/data literacy researchers should continue to test models for building sustained critique that not only facilitate changes in behavior over time but also facilitate citizen social science, whereby participants use these autoethnographic techniques with friends and families to build locally relevant critique of the hegemonic power of data/AI infrastructures.

The proposed literacy model adopts a critical theory stance and shows the value of using multiple modes of intervention at micro and macro levels to prompt self-analysis and meta-level reflexivity for learners. This framework places critical theory at the center of the pedagogy to spark more radical stances, which is contended to be an essential step in moving students from attitudinal change to behavioral change.

This study aims to evaluate the impact of varying cultural dimensions, according to Hofstede, on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance before and during the COVID-19 crisis.

This study examines the moderating impact of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on the relationship between CSR and firm performance. The database comprises 36,295 firm-year observations from 2,135 firms operating in civil law countries.

The findings confirm that CSR investments have a positive impact on firm performance both before and after the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, it becomes evident that cultural dimensions play a moderating role in the CSR–firm performance relationship. The crisis has generated a shift in perspective, emphasizing the advantages of CSR in terms of reputation and financial well-being in the post-crisis environment.

The significance of this study lies in its examination of the relationship between CSR and firm performance within the framework of Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, before and during the COVID-19 crisis.

The purpose of this study is to examine the corruption prevalent in the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives during the lockdown and movement restrictions in the country. This study seeks to analyse the current state of corruption in the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives and public health facilities in Nigeria while also providing a legal insight and strategic blueprint to combat corruption. To this end, this study will address the current legal framework for combating corruption and build upon this to formulate a working strategy for tackling corruption in the future.

Using a doctrinal legal research methodology, this study draws upon existing literature, tertiary data sources and information from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The collected data is analysed and compared with current literature to identify key findings. Rent-seeking and utilitarian theories of the law were examined to guide this study. This study offers useful insights into combating corruption. The use of this method is justified, as it enhances the credibility of the findings on the importance of strategies for future emergencies. This legal research approach is consistent with the law and can be easily verified. The empirical aspect of this study involved a survey of multidimensional health-care and economic data set of 36 states in Nigeria plus the Federal Capital Territory on COVID-19 in Nigeria. A survey linearised regression model was estimated to determine the influence of government revenue and public health-care facilities in the control of the virus spread in Nigeria.

This study reveals the need for emphasis on the imperative of combating corruption in the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives and establishing economic resilience through transparent and accountable practices, supported by legal frameworks.

Rent-seeking and utilitarian theories of law are evaluated because of their impacts on combating corruption. The limitation of this study is the intricacy of gathering data on COVID-19 palliatives corruption in Nigeria because of secrecy and the absence of reliable data on the subject.

Estimating the exact number of stolen palliatives and their fiscal impact on Nigeria's economy proves to be a formidable task because of the covert nature of corruption. This study equips policymakers in Nigeria with a better understanding of the legal challenges posed by corruption in the health care sector and provides an effective strategy to combat it.

The lack of reliable data on the extent of palliative theft hinders the ability of lawmakers to enact effective legislation and strategies for combating corruption in the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives and addressing future emergencies in Nigeria. The policy implications of this study can assist policymakers in Nigeria and other countries in formulating measures to combat corruption in the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives and other future emergencies. Furthermore, it recommends the overhaul of anti-corruption laws and mechanisms in Nigeria to ensure effective measures against corruption.

In conclusion, this study contributes to knowledge by proposing a legal model centred on people's participation to enhance transparency and accountability in future palliative distribution processes. This study recommends legal strategies that can effectively address corruption in future emergencies or shocks. This study proposes a strategic blueprint to tackle corruption in the future. This blueprint includes an analysis of existing laws and regulations, as well as potential policy changes and legislative reform. This study also includes recommendations for improved enforcement and oversight mechanisms and for improved public awareness and education. As part of this, this study considers the potential for public–private partnerships to increase transparency and accountability in public health and health-care services.

This study employs Stein Rokkan's methodological approach to analyse state formation in the Greater Middle East. It develops a conceptual framework distinguishing colonial, populist and democratic pacts, suitable for analysis of state formation and nation-building through to the present period. The framework relies on historical institutionalism. The methodology, however, is Rokkan's. The initial conceptual analysis also specifies differences between European and the Middle Eastern state formation processes. It is followed by a brief and selective discussion of historical preconditions. Next, the method of plotting singular cases into conceptual-typological maps is applied to 20 cases in the Greater Middle East (including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey). For reasons of space, the empirical analysis is limited to the colonial period (1870s to the end of World War 1). Three typologies are combined into one conceptual-typological map of this period. The vertical left-hand axis provides a composite typology that clarifies cultural-territorial preconditions. The horizontal axis specifies transformations of the region's agrarian class structures since the mid-19th century reforms. The right-hand vertical axis provides a four-layered typology of processes of external intervention. A final section presents selected comparative case reconstructions. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time such a Rokkan-style conceptual-typological map has been constructed for a non-European region.

Bailey et al. (2001) queried accounting researchers concerning admitted fraudulent research practices, their beliefs about the prevalence of such practices among their peers, and their perceptions of the causal factors. They used a randomized response technique that assures anonymity, and it remains the only published study to ask these questions explicitly. Over the past two decades, publication pressures have increased, and accounting academia has experienced a shocking instance of fraud. The current study replicates Bailey et al. (2001) and extends the study by asking new questions about the adequacy of participants’ graduate training, the perceived attitudes and practices of mentors and coauthors, and whether their awareness and concern have evolved. Participants’ comments provide insights about the accounting research environment. Importantly, they indicate a lack of consensus about the legitimacy of research practices.

It has become increasingly apparent that one's perception of issues depends largely on his or her personal history. Human beings, professionals, and stakeholders vary in their perspectives, strategies, and solutions. Rather than arbitrarily selecting issues or seeking consensus among interdisciplinary but disparate groups, it is critical to examine the broader array of values and issues that impact learners with exceptionalities and the future of special education. In addition, it is important to conceptualize effective techniques to reverse traditional problems or difficulties while considering the “cycles” of change in general and special education. These cycles are based on the view that educational perspectives have their time since they come and go. When they are innovative, they become the status quo and become finally obsolete as the next group of methods, beliefs, and educational initiatives takes hold. In special education, we have fundamental values that must be respected and followed to deliver services to learners with exceptionalities. These values are sometimes not valued by ill prepared and unprepared professionals, especially since good professionals believe in change. This chapter focuses on how these values can be respected to protect and advance special education and education as a whole.

The present study assesses the commercial bank profit efficiency and its relationship to banking sector competition in a rapidly growing emerging economy, India from 2009 to 2019 using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA).

Lerner indices, conventional and efficiency-adjusted, quantify competition. Two SFA models are employed to calculate alternative profit efficiency (inefficiency) scores: the two-step time-decay approach proposed by Battese and Coelli (1992) and the recently developed single-step pairwise difference estimator (PDE) by Belotti and Ilardi (2018). In the first step of the BC92 framework, profit inefficiency is calculated, and in the second step, Tobit and Fractional Regression Model (FRM) are utilized to evaluate profit inefficiency correlates. PDE concurrently solves the frontier and inefficiency equations using the maximum likelihood process.

The results suggest that foreign banks are less profit efficient than domestic equivalents, supporting the “home-field advantage” hypothesis in India. Further, increasing competition drives bank managers to make riskier lending and investment choices, decreasing bank profit efficiency. However, this effect varies depending on bank ownership and size.

Literature on the competition bank efficiency link is conspicuously scant, with a focus on technical and cost efficiency. Less is known regarding the influence of competition on bank profit efficiency. The article is one of the first to examine commercial bank profit efficiency and its relationship to banking sector competition. Additionally, the study work represents one of the first applications of the FRM presented by Papke and Wooldridge (1996) and the PDE provided by Belotti and Ilardi (2018).

Despite talent management’s (TM) importance for improving organizations' competitiveness and resilience, the pandemic highlighted the weakness of organizational-level TM strategies. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the moderating impact of HR analytics on the relationship between TM and its individual outcomes (talent motivation and quality of hires) and subsequently, their impact on organizational outcomes (talent retention).

The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to analyze 219 online questionnaires administered to HR managers from European companies.

A positive relationship exists between TM activities and talent motivation as well as the quality of hires. Furthermore, HR analytics positively moderates these relationships. Finally, talent motivation and the quality of hires are positively related to talent retention.

This study offers several contributions to theory, as it analyzes TM from an individual perspective and provides further empirical confirmation of the potential benefits of HR analytics and additional grounding to the contingency theory.

Our results will allow practitioners to better orient their HR investments, with positive effects for their organizations and their employees.

This study demonstrates that HR analytics can help organizations adopt a human-centric approach to TM, thus increasing the chances for talents to fully express their potential.

This study takes a step forward toward considering TM outcomes from an individual perspective, responding to new generations' need to pay more attention to their individualities. HR analytics can be a suitable tool to do so, as it can provide insights and suggestions based on the actual organizational context, making TM a more data-driven process.