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The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on almost all sectors, but the airline industry has been globally most affected. Although recent years have witnessed an increase in attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, the disclosure within the airline sector has been historically limited. This paper aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social and environmental reporting and financial performance of airlines operating in the UK.

The paper applies content, textual and financial analysis to 16 company-year observations covering two fiscal years, 2018 and 2020, of eight airlines operating in the UK. A coding structure is based on the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. NVivo is used for textual comparative analysis.

The research reveals that social disclosures exceeded environmental disclosures in the period before and during COVID-19. However, the pandemic has shown a significant increase in environmental rather than social disclosures. The study evidences the dominating themes of social and environmental disclosure, showing changes between 2018 and 2020. The study finds the extent of negative impact of COVID-19 on airlines’ financial performance. A period of crisis prompts companies to release more information, with a positive correlation between higher debt levels and increased disclosure.

The findings complement the emerging empirical evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on CSR reporting and demonstrate how challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis affect the disclosure practices in the airline industry.

Recent international business research finds that state-owned multinational enterprises (SOMNEs) invest relatively more in politically risky host countries than do privately-owned multinational enterprises (MNEs). This study aims to investigate theoretically and empirically whether state ownership mitigates the impact of host-country political risk on subsidiary economic risk.

The authors link theoretical arguments on state ownership to arguments from non-market strategy literature to outline mechanisms whereby state ownership can buffer subsidiaries from political risk, weakening the link between host-country political risk and earnings volatility in subsidiaries. Using a data set on Norwegian MNEs’ foreign subsidiaries across almost two decades, the authors test this prediction using both matching methods and panel regressions.

While standard panel regressions provide empirical support only for the infrastructure sector and for the highest political risk contexts, nearest-neighbour matching models – comparing only otherwise similar private- and SOMNE subsidiaries using the full sample – reveal more general support for the political risk mitigation hypothesis.

The study presents the first comprehensive analysis of whether state ownership can mitigate the effect of political risk on subsidiary economic risk.

Although India is seen as a key player in the global economy, it is still below its potential level of growth. In this age of globalism, integration with the global economy through trade and foreign investments fosters domestic growth. For India, although this integration has strengthened over the years, there are certain gaps that remain to be addressed. Though numerous studies in the literature have tried to find answers to these questions, an important aspect that has not been considered by these studies relates to India’s federal structure and the role of states in determining the aggregate economic outcome. As Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to India are concentrated in a few states, this paper aims to provide an assessment of the reasons behind this trend.

This paper aims to investigate the reasons behind the interstate differences with respect to FDI inflows in India. The analytical work undertaken for this paper is based on secondary data, collected and collated from various sources. The approach adopted for this paper includes a heat graph analysis to examine whether there is a clear pattern in terms of the state-specific factors for high FDI states versus the low FDI states. This data analysis is followed by an econometric estimation to gauge the impact of state-specific factors in determining the FDI inflows.

As per the secondary data–driven heat graph and econometric analysis, factors like industrial output, social sector expenditure, judicial quality, connectivity indicators, labor cost and availability of credit, act as differentiators between high and low FDI-receiving states. It then becomes imperative to bridge the gap between the two sets of states in terms of these specific factors. Implementation and success of policy interventions can only be derived at the state level and therefore needs more decentralized approach.

This paper tries to identify the reasons that are responsible for FDI inflows being concentrated in a few Indian states. This involves a comprehensive analysis of several variables to understand whether there is a clear pattern where high-FDI states are also in a better position with respect to these attributes. This effort to factor in the federal aspect of a macroeconomic indicator like FDI provides new dynamic to this area of work.

This paper examines how board structure influences real earnings management and the interaction effect of CEO narcissism on board structure-real earnings management relationship.

The authors used panel data derived from secondary sources from publicly listed firms in Kenya during 2002–2017. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

The results indicate that board independence, board tenure and size have significant negative effect on real earnings management, while CEO duality positively affects real earnings management. Further, the interaction results show that CEO narcissism moderates the relationship between CEO duality and real earnings management.

The results suggest that real earnings management reduces when boards are independent, large and comprising of long-tenured members. However, when the CEO plays dual role of a chairman, real earnings management increases. The authors also find that when CEOs are narcissists, the monitoring role of the board is compromised.

The study adds value to the understanding of how board structure and CEO narcissism influence the monitoring role of the board among firms listed at Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Institutional framings of doctoral education mostly do not recognize the existential dimension of doctoral experience. This paper aims to offer an expanded understanding of experiences of doctoral researchers in the humanities with the concept of entangled becoming. This concept is developed through an existential lens by using Søren Kierkegaard’s philosophy – particularly his emphasis on emotions such as passion, anxiety and despair – and Denise Batchelor’s derived concept of vulnerable voices.

The conceptual framing is used for an empirical study based on ethnographic interviews with 10 doctoral researchers and supplementary observational notes from fieldwork at a university in Denmark. Two of the interview cases were selected to showcase variation across lived experiences and how doctoral researchers voice their entangled becoming.

Common experiences such as loneliness, insecurity(ies), vulnerability(ies) or passion for one’s research were identified across the interviews. On the other hand, this study shows that each doctoral journey in the humanities envelops a distinct web of entanglements, entailing distinct navigation, that makes each case a unique story and each doctoral voice a specific one.

Combining an existential philosophical perspective with a qualitative study, the paper offers an alternative perspective for doctoral education. It connects the humanities doctoral experience to the broader condition of human existence and the sophisticated uniqueness of each researcher’s becoming.

Managers of public organizations in liberalized sectors face the dual imperative of retaining skilled employees who might be poached by commercial competitors and improving service performance levels without a free hand to invest resources. While employee work engagement (EWE) has been previously suggested as a solution to such management challenges, limitations in its ability to retain employees have been identified. We therefore examine how a social identity crafting (SIC) approach to public leadership that confers a sense of group identity among team members can enhance and extend beyond EWE in addressing this dual imperative.

We report findings from a survey of employees (n = 199) at “ATCO,” a state-owned national airline that is facing challenges from commercial rivals within a new, competitive environment.

We confirm previously identified limitations of EWE and, further, demonstrate that a social identity approach to leadership offers a promising avenue for public managers, not only by enhancing employee engagement but, more importantly, by enhancing retention and service performance.

We contribute to studies of leadership, particularly for managers operating in the public sector and resource-constrained environments, demonstrating how SIC, which does not require costly investment to attain, can deliver improved service performance and reduced employee turnover intention, operating beyond EWE, which reaches a plateau in respect of the latter.

Aerospace is a demanding technological and industrial sector. Several regulations and policies via innovative digital transformation have been integrated to impact production systems and supply chains, including safety measures. Studies demonstrated that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies could enhance productivity growth and safety measures. The 4IR role in influencing airlines’ growth is yet to receive in-depth studies in South Africa. Thus, this study aims to investigate the role of 4IR technologies in influencing airlines’ growth in South Africa.

This research used a qualitative research method. Primary data were compiled via 56 face-to-face semi-structured interviews with major stakeholders. The study achieved saturation. A thematic method was used to analyse the collected data.

Findings reveal the nine major factors influencing South African airlines’ growth in the 4IR era. This includes investment in ergonomics applications and research, governance is driven by 4IR, collaboration and incorporation of 4IR concepts, partnership with drone technology and high precision and efficiency with 4IR. Others are reskilling and upskilling, investment in 4IR software, policies to promote 4IR usage in the industry and policies to reduce human interface.

Understanding the relative significance of 4IR technologies’ role in airlines’ growth can assist critical stakeholders in promoting innovative policies and regulations tailored towards digitalised aerospace. Thus, the study contributes to strategies to improve digital innovation, airline growth and safety as components of the air travel demands in South Africa.

Distressed companies create panic among investors. The overall effect comes on the economy and leads to a degraded image and value of all the companies operating in a country. These distressing situations are harmful to the efficient development of a country in process of development. Financial distress (FD) is when a company or individual cannot promise to pay their obligations on time. Therefore, to analyze the threatening impacts of FD, the current study aims to reveal the impact of FD on the debt ratio (proxy of capital structure) of firms working in India.

Panel data analysis (PDA) has been used in the current study to analyze the data and generate novel results. The authors have considered the secondary data of firms present in the S&P BSE 100 index for ten financial years, i.e. 2010 to 2019.

This study has established that FD has no significant impact on the firm's capital structure. In addition, it has also been proved that asset size, learner's index, market capitalization and operating profit margin (OPM) have no interacting impact on the association between FD and the capital mix of firms.

As per the authors’ observation, no such study has been conducted till now that involves finding out the moderating impact of four different but significant factors of the business environment (assets size, learner's index, market capitalization and OPM) on the association between FD and capital structure of companies operating in a such an extensive and diverse economy.

This study aims to analyse how consumers' perceptions of justice in a service recovery scenario vary, not only due to the company's actions but also due to the comparisons they make with the experiences of other consumers.

Based on justice theory, social comparison theory and referent cognitions theory, this study describes an eight-scenario experiment with better or worse interactional, procedural and distributive justice (better/worse interactional justice given to other consumers) × 2 (better/worse procedural justice given to other consumers) × 2 (better/worse distributive justice given to other consumers).

First, consumers' perceptions of interactional, procedural and distributive justice vary based on the comparisons they draw with other consumers' experiences. Second, the results confirmed that interactional justice has a moderating effect on procedural justice, whereas procedural justice does not significantly moderate distributive justice.

First, based on justice theory, social comparison theory and referent cognitions theory, we focus on the influence of the treatment received by other consumers on the consumer's perceived justice in the same service recovery situation. Second, it is proposed that the three justice dimensions follow a defined sequence through the service recovery phases. Third, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to propose a multistage model in which some justice dimensions influence other justice dimensions.

: 本研究擬探討在服務補救的處境裡, 消費者對公平的看法不但會受公司的行動所影響, 同時也會因他們與其他消費者的經驗作比較而有所改變。

: 本研究根據正義理論、社會比較理論和參照認知理論, 描述一個涵蓋八個處境的實驗, 實驗包含更好的或更差的互動的、程序上的和分配性的公平 (給予其他消費者更好的/更差的互動公平) × 2(給予其他消費者更好的/更差的程序上的公平) × 2 (給予其他消費者更好的/更差的分配性的公平)。

: 研究結果顯示, 消費者對互動的、程序上的和分配性公平的看法, 是會根據他們與其他消費者的體驗所作的比較而有所改變; 研究結果亦確認了互動的公平對程序上的公平會有調節作用, 而程序上的公平對分配性的公平則沒有顯著的調節作用。

: 首先, 我們根據正義理論、社會比較理論和參照認知理論, 把研究焦點放在於相同的服務補救情景中, 其他消費者受到的待遇, 如何影響消費者自身的認知公平; 另外, 我們建議, 這三個公平維度, 在各個服務補救階段裡, 均會跟隨一個清晰的次序。最後, 就研究人員所知, 本研究為首個提出一個公平維度互為影響的多階段模型的研究。

This study examines the effect of resources (e.g. tangible resources, human skills and intangible resources) that are utilized as a bundle of standard practices on sustainable net zero economy implementation and their further impact on financial, environmental and social performance among small- and medium-level enterprises in business markets. The moderating effect of big data analytical intelligence is also examined.

The samples were selected from the paper and chemical manufacturing industries of South Africa. The data analysis was performed using variance-based structural equation modeling.

The results show that tangible resources, human skills and intangible resources positively influence sustainable net zero economy adoption. However, intangible resources have a more substantial influence on sustainable net zero economy implementation. This shows that adopting a sustainable net zero economy depends more on a bundle of common practices, including sustainability culture, employee training and knowledge management, and managers must create the necessary action plans accordingly. In addition, sustainable net zero economy adoption positively influences financial performance, environmental performance and social performance. However, sustainable net zero economy adoption has a more substantial influence on social performance. Therefore, implementing a net zero economy will be more advantageous to society and to local communities.

To achieve a sustainable net zero economy, managers should recognize the significance of resource management. While managing tangible resources and human skills is crucial, intangible resources, such as culture and organizational learning, require more attention. Additionally, the ability of small- and medium-sized enterprises to explore, store, share and apply knowledge is crucial to achieving net zero. Therefore, managers should make use of Industry 4.0-based digital technologies for effective knowledge management. Moreover, net zero economy adoption can significantly enhance societal performance. Hence, while making budgeting decisions, managers must consider the potential of the firm's resources to improve social performance.

This study is the first to investigate the impact of human skills and tangible and intangible resources on the adoption of a sustainable net zero economy by companies, using empirical evidence. The research expands on the concept of the practice-based view (PBV) in the implementation of sustainable net zero economies by small- and medium-sized business-to-business enterprises.