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It is generally believed that in order to maximise value for shareholders, companies should strive towards maximising MVA (and not necessarily their total market value). The best way to do so is to maximise the EVA, which reflects an organisation’s ability to earn returns above the cost of capital. The leverage available to companies that incur fixed costs and use borrowed capital with a fixed interest charge has been known and quantified by financial managers for some time. The popularisation of EVA and MVA has opened up new possibilities for investigating the leverage effect of fixed costs (operational leverage) and interest (financial leverage) in conjunction with EVA and MVA, and for determining what effect changes in sales would have through leverage, not only on profits, but also on EVA and MVA. Combining a variable costing approach with leverage analysis and value analysis opens up new opportunities to investigate the effect of certain decisions on the MVA and the share price of a company. A spreadsheet model is used to illustrate how financial managers can use the leverage effects of fixed costs and the (fixed) cost of capital to maximise profits and also to determine what impact changes in any variable like sales or costs will have on the wealth of shareholders.

This paper aims to forgo the conventional (degree of operating leverage) risk measure by replacing elasticity of operating profits with respect to output with elasticity of free cash flow (FCF) with respect to optimal output and by considering exogenous random demand shocks for the firm’s products as a source of risk.

The elasticity risk measure accounts for corporate taxes and the cost of bankruptcy. The methodology is selecting optimal level of production investment and capital structure to generate efficient frontier of expected FCF and its risk in terms of its elasticity with respect to output.

The risk measure leads to efficient frontier between expected FCF and its idiosyncratic managerial risk. The model also resolves the empirical debate on the tradeoff between operating and financial leverages.

It is the first elasticity risk measure that embodied the impact of future level of capital expenditure, total level of assets and their sensitivity to random shocks in the product market.

Academic and research libraries have made many efforts to diversify their workforces; however, today the profession remains largely homogenous. We recognize that diversification cannot be achieved without creating inclusive and more equitable workspaces and workplaces. This requires rethinking our assumptions and behaviors as individuals and as a profession, questioning entrenched structures that maintain the status quo, and developing practices that keep these critical questions in the forefront as we do the difficult work of redefining our infrastructure in order to create equitable and socially just workplaces. To inspire a different type of dialogue, we offer actionable information and tools – strategies, ideas, and concepts from outside our profession. In this chapter, the authors present strategies used by corporations, industries, organizations, or fields outside of academia that have contributed to substantially diversifying their workforces and discuss how they could be integrated into our own workplaces. While these efforts are imperfect, incomplete, or have mixed results, we focus on strategies that demonstrate outside-the-box thinking for our profession, practices that will require academic and research libraries to rethink their operations, the behaviors and structures that support them, and thus the way library management and leadership are practiced. We are hoping that providing strategies outside our profession, as well as guidance on applying these strategies, will create reflection, dialogue, and innovative ideas for our own institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to apply a systems thinking methodology to analyse Indonesia’s new and renewable energy (NRE) electricity sector to describe the complex interrelations between its actors and variables, identify the systemic patterns and formulate recommendations for the policymakers.

Systems thinking methodology is used to observe the NRE electricity system and compile the corresponding data into a meaningful diagram to describe and recommend solutions for the sector’s issues. Causal loop diagram is used as the main method in this study with a deeper analysis of system archetypes to uncover the system behaviour. Soft system methodology and critical system heuristic are used partially to clarify the system boundaries, cultivate the perspective of the involved actors and problem categorization.

A comprehensive diagram is developed to present interrelation between all the components within the NRE electricity sector in Indonesia and the expected impact of any act or change to the entire system. Based on the causal interrelations between variables, typical systemic patterns or archetypes are used to identify unproductive patterns towards achieving the NRE electricity sector objectives.

The findings provide an initial outlook on the variables and systemic patterns within the system as a critical consideration in the decision-making process and policy development for the NRE electricity sector.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it endeavors to document the current state of environmental, social and governance (ESG) pedagogy within undergraduate finance courses of business schools, and second, it seeks to show how business schools can leverage student managed investment funds (SMIFs) to swiftly integrate ESG pedagogy.

The study is comprised of two sections that use different methodologies. The first part of the study involves a manual content analysis of undergraduate finance course textbooks, and related instructor materials are used to estimate the average coverage of ESG-related topics. Next, a case study of a SMIF that has recently integrated an ESG framework is provided to illustrate how this pedagogical innovation is effective in teaching ESG skills.

The findings of the content analysis of the three most commonly used textbooks in a sample of 17 Canadian universities, as well as associated instructor material, provide evidence that the primary emphasis in traditional curriculum remains on the shareholder, with little attention paid to ESG factors. The case study of an existing SMIF clearly demonstrates how a student-led development of an ESG framework provides the setting for effective, experiential learning.

This study shows that while traditional teaching settings, like lectures, may be slow to adapt to the rapidly changing needs of industry, nontraditional teaching venues, such as SMIFs, can be leveraged to meet industry demand for ESG skills, thereby closing the skills gap, enhancing student employability and increasing the relevance of business school education.

This paper aims to investigate the temporal dynamics of users browsing activity on a hotel website in order to derive effective marketing strategies and constantly improve website effectiveness. Users' activities on the hotel's website on yearly, monthly, daily and hourly basis are examined and compared, demonstrating the power of informatics and data analytics.

A total of 29,976 hourly Weblog files from 1 August 2014 to 31 December 2017 were collected from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong. ANOVA and post-hoc comparisons were used to analyse the data.

Users' browsing behaviours, particularly stickiness, on the hotel website differ on yearly, monthly, daily and weekly bases. Users' activities increased steadily from 2014 to 2016, but dropped in 2017. Users are most active from July to September, on weekdays, and from noon to evening time. The month-, day-, and hour-based behaviours changed through years. The analysis of big data determines strategic and operational management and marketing decision-making.

Understanding the usage patterns of their websites allow organisations to make a range of strategic, marketing, pricing and distribution decisions to optimise their performance. Fluctuation of website usage and level of customer engagement have implications on customer support and services, as well as strategic partnership decisions.

Leveraging the power of big data analytics, this paper adds to the existing literature by performing a comprehensive analysis on the temporal dynamics of users' online browsing behaviours.

The study aims to unpack the role of Malawi Library Association (MALA) in developing librarianship in Malawi. It also explores an array of opportunities and challenges that are present for MALA.

The study applies the interpretivist paradigm for the research design. Qualitative data were collected from a purposeful sample totaling 24 practicing librarians and paraprofessionals in different work environments to inform the study phenomenon.

The study gathers that the role of MALA has been in its infancy stage for a long time. However, the apparent developments of MALA manifest in its pro-educational initiatives. Overall, MALA is impeded by a litany of obstacles such as financial constraints and a lack of advocacy strategy.

The study theorizes the role of MALA by triangulating the advocacy coalition framework, institutional theory and professionalization theory in the library and information practice.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the expectations of human resource management professionals as they relate to reality‐based learning experiences that can shape college graduates' education. Computer‐based simulations can provide a strong opportunity for learning‐by‐doing, so it would be important to understand what skill sets should be targeted for these.

A survey was used for the research question: what work‐related skill sets will human resource management (HRM) professionals value in recent college graduates who are starting in entry‐level HRM positions? The respondents were from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).

The respondents targeted specific skill sets that they value, and the data provided can now be applied in creating reality‐based learning opportunities using educational simulations in an online environment.

The potential for future research includes the opportunity to collect data on student use of educational simulations that focus on providing the subject HRM skill sets in this paper.

The implications for pedagogy include the use of educational simulations that target the reinforcement of specific HRM skill sets that have been identified. These can provide college students with a unique opportunity for praxis.

This paper examines the underlying value of reality‐based learning and how the use of educational simulations can add value in praxis. Additionally, it identifies several HRM skill sets for recent college graduates seeking to enter the HRM field. This paper will be of value to university educators, curriculum management professionals, university administrators, and university technology management professionals.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the initial top-level findings of a year-long comprehensive needs assessment, conducted with the digital library community, to reveal reuse assessment practices and requirements for digital assets held by cultural heritage and research organizations. The type of assessment examined is in contrast to traditional library analytics, and does not focus on access statistics, but rather on how users utilize and transform unique materials from digital collections.

This paper takes a variety of investigative approaches to explore the current landscape, and future needs, of digital library reuse assessment. This includes the development and analysis of pre- and post-study surveys, in-person and virtual focus group sessions, a literature review, and the incorporation of community and advisory board feedback.

The digital library community is searching for ways to better understand how materials are reused and repurposed. This paper shares the initial quantitative and qualitative analysis and results of a community needs assessment conducted in 2017 and 2018 that illuminates the current and hoped for landscape of digital library reuse assessment, its strengths, weaknesses and community applications.

In so far as the authors are aware, this is the first paper to examine with a broad lens the reuse assessment needs of the digital library community. The preliminary analysis and initial findings have not been previously published.

This study aims to explore the influence of risk preference and information acquisition on outdoor tourism safety decision-making.

Five hundred twenty outdoor tourists were surveyed, and data were analyzed using two-stage regression.

Risk preference positively affects tourists’ safety decisions for outdoor travel. The greater the risk preference is, the more likely the tourists are to make the risky decision of outdoor tourism. Information acquisition significantly negatively affects tourists’ safety decisions for outdoor tourism. Tourists who obtain information through social channels are more likely to make safer travel decisions than those who do not.

Risk preference and information acquisition are introduced into outdoor tourism safety research.