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In academia, assessment is often narrow in its focus on research productivity, its application of a limited number of standardised metrics and its summative approach aimed at selection. This approach, corresponding to an exclusive, subject-oriented concept of talent management, can be thought of as at odds with a broader view of the role of academic institutions as accelerating and improving science and scholarship and its societal impact. In recent years, open science practices as well as research integrity issues have increased awareness of the need for a more inclusive approach to assessment and talent management in academia, broadening assessment to reward the full spectrum of academic activities and, within that spectrum, deepening assessment by critically reflecting on the processes and indicators involved (both qualitative and quantitative). In terms of talent management, this would mean a move from research-focused assessment to assessment including all academic activities (including education, professional performance and leadership), a shift from focus on the individual to a focus on collaboration in teams (recognising contributions of both academic and support staff), increased attention for formative assessment and greater agency for those being evaluated, as well as around the data, tools and platforms used in assessment. Together, this represents a more inclusive, subject-oriented approach to talent management. Implementation of such changes requires involvement from university management, human resource management and academic and support staff at all career levels, and universities would benefit from participation in mutual learning initiatives currently taking shape in various regions of the world.

How can large international financial firms go green in authentic ways? What enhances ‘Net Zero action’? Changes in global banks, fund managers, and insurance firms are at the heart of green finance. External change pressures – combined with problematic firm predispositions – exacerbate barriers to change and promote scepticism about authentic Net Zero change. Field research reveals main elements, connections, and interactions of this question by considering financial firms as complex socio-technical systems (Mitleton-Kelly, 2003). An interdisciplinary/holistic narrative approach (De Bakker et al., 2019) is adopted to design a conceptual framework that can support a green ‘behavioural theory of the financial firm’ (green BTFF). The BTFF presents an international version (Peng, 2001) of the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm (Barney, 1991; Hart, 1995; Teece et al., 1997).

The approach of this chapter is aimed at closing knowledge gaps and realign values in financial markets and society. By raising awareness about organised hypocrisy and facades (Brunsson, 1993; Cho et al., 2015; Schoeneborn et al., 2020) in financial firms the chapter aims at overcoming the gap between ‘talking’ and ‘walking’ in the financial sector. The chapter defines testable firm-level hypotheses for ‘Green Finance’ (Poterba, 2021) as well as – by implication – tests for ‘greenwashing’.

Amid public acknowledgment of recurring ethical violations in the volatile financial service industry, internal auditing (IA) professionals do not seem to have done enough to perform their professional responsibility as a line of defense for their employing organizations. This chapter explores whether changes in an IA approach can effectively enable IA as a practice to fulfill its governance role in managing “conduct risk,” i.e., any behavior in a firm that could cause problems to consumer protection, market integrity or competition. We examine the ethical implications of the existing compliance-based IA approach and explain its ineffectiveness in auditing conduct risk within a turbulent environment. Using action research, we explain the germane changes necessary to define a new conduct-focused IA approach capable of predicting and preventing ethical wrongdoing. A conduct-focused approach launches auditors into unfamiliar but strategically critical areas to not only identify material risks but also add value to their organizations. The authors further examine how a change in the auditor’s mindset and other factors promote the effectiveness of the new IA approach in a sustainable way. This chapter contributes to the literature by investigating how internal auditors can better fulfill their professional responsibility when adopting a conduct-focused approach.

In this chapter, we discuss talent development in the context of higher education. After discussing the advantages and disadvantages of inclusive and exclusive approaches to talent development, we present empirical data that detail how the participants of a focus group study perceive talent development in higher education. Our data show the importance of a contextualized reading of talent development as the competitive context in academia hinders an inclusive focus on talent development. This context results in a performance-centred, instead of a development-centred approach to talent management, where outperforming others in narrowly defined areas (e.g. publication record) is the main goal. We show that in such a context the development of competitive talent is rewarded, and the development of communal talent is not. The focus on performance instead of (inclusive) development becomes more pronounced when employees move through their career and is believed to have several negative consequences. Mostly women perceived that such a non-inclusive approach to talent development hinders the development and deployment of their talents and obstructs their career progression.

Supervision is an essential component of the helping professions. It provides a gatekeeping role into the quality and effectiveness of care, while also having a safeguarding and reporting function. Moreover, practitioners' use of effective supervision is associated with various personal and organisational outcomes. Supervision is generally provided by a more senior member of the same or very similar profession. However, peer support is still a developing profession and does not, generally speaking, have peer supervisors. Although other professions can and do supervise peer workers effectively, there are various concerns that for many, the peer role gets diluted when those without lived experience are supervising peers.

The advent of the digital technologies (DTs), coincided with the pandemic and global conflicts, has proven to be an unprecedented and transformative era for supply chain management (SCM). DTs are reshaping the way organizations plan, execute, and optimize their SC operations. Throughout this book, we posit that the adoption of digital supply chain management (DSCM) has become essential for staying competitive and responsive in a rapidly evolving business environment. However, amid technological advancements and digital solutions, there exists a critical factor that often goes overlooked – the significance of intangible assets, specifically intellectual capital (IC). This chapter comprehensively explores the role of an organization's IC in the adoption and performance of DSCM. We employ a comprehensive analytical approach, drawing upon existing literature from various sources to elucidate the relationship between IC and DSCM. Synthesizing insights from the literature, the chapter shows how each constituent of IC contributes to the adoption, operation, and performance improvement of DSCM. The discussion in the chapter shows that human capital (HC) forms foundations, as the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of the employees are prerequisites essential for understanding, adopting, and capitalizing on DTs in SCM. The analysis also reveals that SC, which represents organizational processes, digital tools, and knowledge repositories, supports the seamless integration of DTs within SCs. Similarly, RC, by nurturing trust, open communication, and collaborative networks, plays an instrumental role in establishing ecosystems that help the adoption and effective functioning of DSCM. This chapter makes a convincing case to consider IC as the strategic component while DSCM adoption and performance.