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Purpose – Is the current economic crisis affecting the quality of working conditions within organisations? More specifically, due to constrained economic times, are organisations reducing the social benefits they offer to employees? This study analyses whether the current economic downturn influences companies’ maintenance of social benefits. Social benefits are those remunerations in kind voluntarily offered by an employer beyond what is established in labour laws and collective agreements

Design/methodology/approach – In doing so, this chapter presents an analysis of the evolution of social benefits in a sample of 171 employees, comparing the situation before and during the economic crisis.

Findings – Results showed that, in general, social benefits offered by companies to their workers have been reduced due to economic recession.

Originality/value of the chapter – Understanding the topic addressed in this work is interesting for scholars, regulators, and practitioners because the diminishing of social benefits due to the economic constraints could yield negative consequences for the employees’ involvement with the firm and have a subsequent negative impact on business performance.

Practical/social implications – This work demonstrates the need to pay greater attention to indirect remuneration. This issue is intimately related to the Internal Corporate Social Responsibility of the company.

Companies are interested in engaging consumers in spreading the word about their products or brands. Although more and more studies are analysing word of mouth marketing (WOMM), the topic is still very recent, thus very little is known about how to develop a WOMM campaign effectively. This chapter develops a literature review on WOMM in social media for better understanding on how to manage WOMM.

The studies reviewed have allowed us to identify the main decisions that should be taken when planning a WOMM campaign: the selection of the seed, the type of message and the inclusion of incentives.

We identify the two types of objectives that companies can follow with WOMM: information diffusion or consumers’ persuasion. Depending on the campaign objectives, the strategy to be used in order to be successful is different.

This chapter can be useful to both, marketers, by showing them how to develop a WOMM campaign effectively; and researchers, by showing them the main gaps on WOMM that should be addressed in future studies.

This is one of the first attempts to review the literature and organize knowledge on WOMM. Concepts that have been treated as synonymous by many researchers such as opinion leaders, market mavens, innovative consumers, and hubs are clarified and distinguished one from the other which may help in improving previous knowledge on this field.

In this chapter, we explore the legal framework of AGMs in seven Member States (Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) of shareholder decision-making rights. We find that, since only a small part of the decision-making rights is harmonized at the European level, there are numerous differences in shareholder rights among national laws. These decision-making rights are usually about the topics director (re-)elections, pay matters, share capital, amendments to articles of association, annual accounts, etc. To be able to conduct empirical research in the remaining chapters, we develop a categorization framework of 15 voting items.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to examine the hypothesized effects of board characteristics and performance on directors’ compensation in the Spanish corporations, whose corporate governance is a special example of a unitary board system.

Methodology/approach – In order to test the influence of a set of factors on directors’ compensation levels, we have developed several models based on linear panel data regression. The sample included 76 listed companies on the Spanish computerized trading system or Continuous Market for the period 2004–2009.

Findings – The control mechanisms, like board characteristics and performance and their effect on the level of directors’ compensation, depend on the types of director (executive, independent and proprietary).

Research limitations/implications (if applicable) – This study has certain limitations mainly related to problems associated with obtaining information. The methodology should be complemented by other types of analyses, such as the influence of the characteristics of the board on the remuneration structure in a greater level of disaggregation.

Practical implications (if applicable) – The results of this research chapter give reasons to regulators and investors to be aware of the importance of the board's characteristics as corporate control mechanisms over the directors’ remuneration and the necessity of connection between directors’ compensation and the firm's performance.

Originality/value of paper – Firstly, descriptive empirical evidence on the level of directors’ compensation is provided within a unitary board system for different types of directors. Secondly, an ample panel data set enables the examination of a set of determinants using panel data methods which control for unobserved firm heterogeneity. Finally, the perspective is extended from executive director compensation to other types of directors, such as proprietary or independent, which are very important features of the Spanish board structure.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insight and analysis into E-commerce in China and how it has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society. Split into four distinct sections, the book first lays out the theoretical foundations and fundamental concepts of E-Business before moving on to look at internet+ innovation models and their applications in different industries such as agriculture, finance and commerce. The book then provides a comprehensive analysis of E-business platforms and their applications in China before finishing with four comprehensive case studies of major E-business projects, providing readers with successful examples of implementing E-Business entrepreneurship projects.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insights and analysis into how E-commerce has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society in China.