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To explain two papers published by the European Securities and Marketing Authority (ESMA) covering the application of the mar-keting “passport” under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).

Explains ESMA’s first paper, containing an advice to the European Parliament, Council and Commission (collectively the Trilogue) on the potential application of the AIFMD passport to non-EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) and Alternative in-vestment Funds (AIFs), and a second paper, containing ESMA’s opinion on the current functioning of the AIFMD (currently used by EU AIFMs marketing EU AIFs in the EU) and National Private Placement Regimes (NPPRs, used for marketing by non-EU AIFMs and non-EU AIFs).

The ESMA papers were disappointing because they gave far less guidance and encouragement than anticipated that AIFs located in major jurisdictions such as the US and the Cayman Islands will be any easier to market to EU professional investors in the near future.

AIFMs (both inside and outside the EU) who are already using, or intending to use, the NPPRs should take some comfort that it seems highly unlikely that these regimes will be removed in the near future.

Practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the blended learning preferences under which adult students study mathematics, electronics and industry certificate examinations like project management and e‐SAP (systems, applications and products).

The study is based on four case studies in mathematics, electronics and industry certificate examinations like project management and e‐SAP. Case studies are developed based on observations and feedback from students who have undergone different types of blended learning. The four different blended learning models used are: the complete e‐learning self‐study; the instructor‐led programme blended with self‐study e‐learning; the live e‐learning centred with other media added; and the simulation and laboratory‐centred model.

It is found that unmotivated adult learners may not necessarily like e‐learning courses that are unguided. The e‐learning self‐study model suits the highly motivated students who aim for industry‐based certifications like the project management or the e‐SAP certifications. Using simulation and virtual laboratory sessions does help to reduce the cost of setting up the full‐fledged laboratory and also make it more accessible to the students. In the blended learning model, the instructor and the subject matter expert are the two most important people in programme design and delivery, not the developer or the technologist.

This paper is useful to adult educators and those dealing with an open university type of education where there are less face‐to‐face interactions.

The incentive cost of enterprises increases significantly with the rapid growth of the social commerce (SC) market. In this context, enterprises need to develop the optimal strategy to improve incentive effectiveness and reduce cost. Different types of consumers’ responses to incentives bring different values to enterprises. Hence, this paper proposes the social commerce value network (SCVN) to help enterprises study the contributions of different types of consumers to the network.

Based on the graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT), the authors construct the social commerce value GERT (i.e. SCV-GERT) network and design three progressive experiments for estimating the value contributions of “network stage”, “consumer type”, and “resource type” to the SCVN under the same incentives. The authors initialize the SCV-GERT model with consumer data in SC and distinguish the most valuable consumers by adjusting the incentive parameters.

The results show that the SCV-GERT model can well describe the value flow of SCVN. The incentive on forwarding consumers brings the greatest value gain to the SCVN, and social trust contributes the most to forwarding consumers.

Under the guidance of the results, platforms and enterprises in SC can select the optimal type of consumers who bring the maximum network value so as to improve the effectiveness of incentive strategy and reduce marketing costs. A four-level incentive system should be established according to the ranking of the corresponding value gains: forwarding consumers > agent consumers > commenting consumers > potential consumers. Enterprises also need to find ways to improve the social resource investments of consumers participating in SC.

This paper investigates the incentive problem in SC grounded in the SCVN and uses the GERT method to construct the SCV-GERT model, which is the first attempt to introduce GERT into the SC context. This study also makes up for the lack of comparative research on different types of consumers in SC and can provide support for enterprises’ customer relationship management and marketing decisions.

In terms of having the general idea of what the whole book entails, the first chapter gave an insight into all the chapters and what details each chapter holds. This chapter began with an introduction of the book title in relation to the construction industry and sustainable practice in a collaborative manner. In addition, sustainable infrastructure management (SIM) was discussed in relation to construction Industry 4.0 and the management qualities of the technologies incorporated into construction activities. The objective of the book gave the need for SIM in construction with the view of achieving sustainable practices beneficial to both the client and the construction professional.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: use advanced frameworks and tools to convey complex ideas related to corporate social responsibility and ethics; apply relevant concepts and theories of ethics and corporate governance to a practical situation while making decisions; demonstrate understanding of the importance of stakeholders when developing socially responsible thinking; and analyze ethical and legal conflicts that need to be considered by employees in situations of whistleblowing.

Sara Khan was a Pakistani-American who had moved to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2015 to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in accounting. After graduation, she started working for a baked products manufacturer, Dough Fresh, which was a business unit of Dubai-based Fresh Foods Co. Three years later, she enjoyed her work in the company that embraced strong ethical values and socially responsible practices. She was recently given the task of delivering a financial statements’, investment projections’ and cost-cutting presentation to the senior management of Dough Fresh. Her performance at completing this task was of critical importance for her obtaining the eagerly awaited promotion to the senior accountant position. One day, while Sara was looking through some files to update the financial statements’ records, she came across a deleted purchase order of poppy seeds that amounted to AED 680,000. While poppy seeds were widely used as ingredients in baked products in other countries, they were illegal in the UAE. After approaching her colleague from the purchasing department, she realized that the purchasing manager, who was the grandson of the chairman, was closely involved in the matter. Moreover, it appeared that poppy seeds were used unwashed, which triggered deleterious health consequences and made them highly dangerous to consume. As Sara spent more time researching about poppy seeds and whistleblowing laws in the UAE, she questioned whether she should divulge this information or keep it for herself. Making this decision was extremely challenging. Because the UAE laws regarding whistleblowing were not comprehensive and constantly evolving, she was not certain whether her identity and reputation would be protected in case she decided to blow the whistle. Even more, she worried immensely about the prospect of her colleagues losing their jobs if this information became public, as many of them needed the money to support their families back home and to finance expensive health-related treatments of their relatives. At the same time, she was also aware that if poppy seeds were consumed by people unknowingly, this could lead to serious and even fatal health consequences. All things considered, Sara was caught between deciding what was the right thing to do.

This case study can be used in a higher level undergraduate business course on Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Introduces a special issue on globalization and the welfare state. Asserts that economic globalization constrains national economic and social policy far more now than ever before, although the level of international trade has not increased that much compared to levels at the beginning of this century. Talks about the political consequences of economic globalization, particularly welfare state retrenchment in the advanced capitalist world. Outlines the papers included in this issue – comparing welfare system changes in Sweden, the UK and the USA; urban bias in state policy‐making in Mexico; and the developing of the Israeli welfare state. Concludes that economic globalization has a limited effect in shaping social welfare policy in advanced capitalist countries; nevertheless, recommends further research into which aspects of economic globalization shape social welfare policy.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

Outlines some basic human embryological facts and considers several myths such as “the immediate product of fertilization is just a potential human being”. Gives medical facts to clarify these issues and concludes that these have far reaching implications for many areas of research. Argues that these decisions, at present, are based more on myth than science.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate the EDI (electronic data interchange) X12 ordering and invoicing implementation at Sims Memorial Library. The paper will allow practitioners at academic libraries to understand the implementation process, the types of problems and resolutions encountered during the project and the time and potential cost-saving benefits of EDI X12 book acquisitions.

A team of LOUIS (the Louisiana Library Network consortium) consultants and a SirsiDynix manager helped librarians at Sims Library to implement EDI X12 ordering using Yankee Book Peddler (YBP)’s GobiExport Plus service. Vendor and report templates with mapping configurations were established, and tests were conducted until a successful outcome was achieved.

EDI X12 ordering and invoicing significantly streamlined the acquisitions workflow at Sims Memorial Library. A substantial amount of time is saved compared to the previous method of manually creating purchase orders and invoices.

The paper is a current case study, and the collaborative aspects and problems and resolutions encountered during the implementation offer original material. The paper will offer valuable practical information and provide a blueprint for those libraries seeking to adopt EDI book acquisitions.