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Intellectual capital (IC) is an increasingly important strategic asset for sustainable value creation in organisations. This paper aims to provide a conceptual perspective on the university’s role as a catalyst for IC creation and development within the dynamic landscape of organisations, exploring the nexus to capture its essence.

Adopting a conceptual framework development approach, key concepts were cohesively and coherently synthesised from various theoretical underpinnings, namely, the multiple capitals approach to maximising corporate value creation, the evolved triple bottom line approach to corporate sustainability, the triple helix innovation model and its subsequent extensions, the upper echelons theory and the social licence construct linked to stakeholder, legitimacy and institutional theories.

A comprehensive conceptual framework was developed that outlines universities’ role in catalysing four corporate IC forms crucial to sustainable organisational value creation: human capital, governance capital, social/relational capital and structural/organisational capital. The framework interprets this role of universities as dynamic IC reservoirs serving regional ecosystems for sustainable development. It highlights the synergistic sustainable value creation between universities and organisations in host communities and broader society, with university governance acting as a key driver.

This paper offers a theoretically grounded interpretation of universities’ pivotal role in catalysing essential forms of IC to support contemporary organisations’ sustainable value-creation processes. The proposed framework has the potential to ignite conversations on the crucial connection between universities and corporate IC development relevant to sustainable organisations, inspiring future empirical research, reflection and discussion.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the legal barriers to termination of an insurance arrangement where there is suspicion of money laundering when paying insurance premiums.

Trials in court between insurance firm and outlaw biker gangs regarding insurance of their clubhouses.

Protection of insured seems more important than prevention of money laundering.

This is a case study that cannot be generalized.

Anti money laundering is difficult when competing with other considerations.

Accusations of money laundering is not sufficient to terminate an insurance contract. Rather, solid evidence is needed.

This is a real case of failing anti-money laundering efforts.

Social enterprises are not generally aware that they might create negative social impacts on local communities. This paper aims to inform social enterprise scholars and practitioners about the potential value of the field of Social Impact Assessment in managing the negative impacts of social enterprises on beneficiaries, local communities and other rightsholders and stakeholders.

This is a conceptual paper.

The authors discuss the key things that could assist social entrepreneurs in assessing their social impacts, negative as well as positive, unintended as well as intended. Social enterprises might: use a human rights-based approach and undertake due diligence; implement a grievance redress mechanism; obtain free, prior and informed consent; consider their ongoing social licence to operate; and implement benefit sharing programs. Doing all this would improve the social outcomes from their activities and contribute to socially sustainable development.

Although social enterprises seek sustainable solutions to social problems and are described as “do good organizations”, there is an assumption (myth) that social enterprises only have positive impacts. This paper argues that social enterprises can also cause negative social impacts, especially where processes to consider potential for harm are absent. Therefore, social enterprises need a way to assess and manage potential negative social impacts and enhance the social outcomes from their activities. The authors argue that learnings from the field of Social Impact Assessment (as codified by the International Association for Impact Assessment) should be brought into the social entrepreneurship discourse.

This study aims to enhance the assessment of green governance in energy projects along the Belt and Road, reduce the influence of fuzzy judgment, and construct a grey network analysis model from the perspective of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG).

The ESG concept is used to establish an evaluation indicator system. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) and the Grey System Theory are applied sequentially to determine the green governance grade of energy projects, exemplified by an evaluation of five projects.

The Karot hydropower project has the best green governance status among the five projects and is of excellent grade. This is followed by the Hongfeng photovoltaic project, the De Aar wind power project, and the Yamal liquefied natural gas project, which are of good grade. The Lamu coal power station project has the worst green governance and is at a medium level.

This study can assist Belt and Road energy projects in identifying their deficiencies and promoting sustainable development by providing a robust framework for green governance evaluation.

The indicator system developed in this study includes social and project governance aspects in addition to environmental performance, reflecting the comprehensive green governance status of projects. The combined use of ANP and grey system theory fully considers the mutual influence relationship between indicators and improves the objectivity of green governance grade judgment.

This paper aims to understand the two-way interaction between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the attractiveness of organization to job seekers (AOJS).

A system dynamics model is developed in the form of a causal loop diagram (CLD) that explains the CSR-AOJS interaction dynamically. To test the credibility of the developed model, the survey data are used to validate the causal relationships in the CLD.

This study found that developing an effective strategy or tool by capturing various essential CSR elements can attract potential job seekers.

The developed model is relevant to policymakers, decision-makers and managers when strategizing the CSR plan to attract potential job seekers.

International investment law governs matters related to transnational investments. The extensive reach of transnational corporations (TNCs) has granted them substantial economic, political and social influence, often intertwining them with public interest issues and implications in human rights violations. This paper aims to explore the profound influence exerted by TNCs in today’s globalized world and its implications for human rights and social responsibility within the framework of international investment law. Particularly, it acknowledges the vulnerability of economically weak South Asian states and cites past instances such as the Bhopal gas tragedy in India and the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh as egregious violations of human rights. Focusing on South Asian bilateral investment treaties (BITs), this paper aims to examine the scope of investors’ social accountability.

This research engages with doctrinal and analytical methods in traversing through primary and secondary sources. It would parse the arbitral tribunals’ jurisprudence for their discussion on the inclusion of social accountability obligations within international investment agreements (IIAs). Further, it engages in a quantitative analysis related to the nature of the social accountability-related obligation of the corporation within South Asian BITs.

The findings reveal a glaring absence of the law on investors’ social accountability and the need for enhanced regulatory mechanisms to address the escalating influence of TNCs on human and social rights. The absence of a robust legal framework, coupled with the asymmetric nature of international investment law, granting investors greater rights and leverage compared to states, exacerbates this challenge. The phenomenon of “regulatory chill” inhibits states from effectively enforcing regulatory measures aimed at protecting human rights and the environment. Furthermore, the broad interpretation of clauses such as “fair and equitable treatment” by investment tribunals often undermines states’ ability to implement measures in the public interest. While international organizations such as the UNCTAD and the UNCITRAL Working Group III are actively discussing reforms to IIAs, the existing guidelines addressing investors’ social accountability are woefully lacking in the content as well as the method of their integration with international human rights law. The findings underscore the imperative for South Asian nations, the subject of this research’s empirical analysis, to adopt a comprehensive approach involving both domestic law reforms to promote corporate social accountability and active pursuit of negotiations for the inclusion of binding social obligations for investors within IIAs.

This research, drawing upon international law developments, offers suggestions for incorporation of social accountability provisions via relevant domestic law reform. The research could be viewed as a prelude for mapping the legal developments in the area of investors’ social accountability within investment agreements, as well as investment contracts, drawing guidance from international law instruments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study analysed the scope of investors’ social accountability in South Asian BITs.

In 2000, Cañibano et al. published a literature review entitled “Accounting for Intangibles: A Literature Review”. This paper revisits the conclusions drawn in that paper. We also discuss the intervening developments in scholarly research, standard setting and practice over the past 20+ years to outline the future challenges for research into accounting for intangibles.

We conducted a literature review to identify past developments and link the findings to current accounting standard-setting developments to inform our view of the future.

Current intangibles accounting practices are conservative and unlikely to change. Accounting standard setters are more interested in how companies report and disclose the value of intangibles rather than changing how they are determined. Standard setters are also interested in accounting for new forms of digital assets and reporting economic, social, governance and sustainability issues and how these link to financial outcomes. The IFRS has released complementary sustainability accounting standards for disclosing value creation in response to the latter. Therefore, the topic of intangibles stretches beyond merely how intangibles create value but how they are also part of a firm’s overall risk and value creation profile.

There is much room academically, practically, and from a social perspective to influence the future of accounting for intangibles. Accounting standard setters and alternative standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and European Union non-financial and sustainability reporting directives, are competing complementary initiatives.

Our results reveal a window of opportunity for accounting scholars to research and influence how intangibles and other non-financial and sustainability accounting will progress based on current developments.

This paper aims to critically examine how dual-listed multinational enterprises (MNEs) that are embedded across multiple national contexts interact with other actors to shape the diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) narrative, outcomes and the associated dynamics of social change in the mining industry.

The authors use data from the publicly available sustainability reports of two global mining conglomerates with dual-listing structure, Rio Tinto and Anglo American, alongside prevalent DEI regulations in the UK, Australia and South Africa to understand how DEI discourse and practice and the corresponding role of key actors have evolved since 2015. The authors combine a case study approach with topic modelling and qualitative content analysis to critically analyse the linkage between actors’ stated posture and actions in their DEI field and their impact upon various exchange relationships within the mining industry exchange field over the period 2015–2021.

The analysis revealed three broad phases of evolution in the DEI involvement of the MNEs emphasizing on diversity, equality and inclusion, respectively. Both firms progressed at a different pace across the three phases highlighting the need for a systemic perspective when addressing DEI concerns.

This paper is one of the earliest to adopt an issue and exchange field perspective towards examining the complexity of DEI. Taking a critical performative stance, the authors argue that for improving convergence between MNEs’ DEI rhetoric and reality and to advance DEI in new ways organizations and policymakers must devise structural interventions in the DEI field that substantively impact MNEs’ industry exchange field relationships.

The social acceptance of wind energy is increasingly conditioning the Italian Government and regions to authorize the construction of these plants. The proposal of offshore wind farm in the south-west of Sardinia has raised many perplexities both from the marine environmental point of view and from concern about increasing the electricity production in a region that already exports electricity to the peninsula. The purpose of this study is to evaluate what are the factors that most affect the coastal residents’ acceptability of an offshore wind farm.

The data is based on a Sardinia-wide in-person survey with about 512 participants in the period between May and June 2023. Respondents were selected randomly from five different locations in Carloforte region. Multiple regression analysis investigates the factors that influenced acceptability to construction and development of offshore wind power plant. Four independent variables were selected in the regression models such as (i) interest towards wind energy, (ii) attitude towards renewable energy production, (iii) perceived regional energy policy and (iv) attitude towards offshore wind farm. The dependent variables are the rates of coastal local residents’ acceptance of offshore wind farm for respondents in five coastal towns.

Fishermen and summer tourism operators’ respondents expressed significant reluctance to accept the new project because they perceive a strong risk of environmental impact on both tuna fishing and marine recreational activities in the vicinity. The distance between the turbines at sea and local residents along the coast and surrounding small islands does not have an influence to accept wind energy. The energy policy of the Region of Sardinia, which is perceived by respondents as an expansive energy policy in the production of electricity that exceeds their needs, not being accompanied by a scenario of reducing that from fossil fuels, is the variable that led about 70% of respondents to express a negative opinion towards this project.

A potential problem associated with the survey is that local response produced sample selection bias. The proportion of respondents with secondary education and no school certificate is quite high. It is possible that respondents who provided valid questionnaires were more low-educated and therefore, the sample may be biased towards lower-educated people. While this does not invalidate the results of this study, it is important to note that the sample was on average less educated than the overall population in Italy. In addition, people with lower incomes were more likely to complete the questionnaires; the results are more representative of a portion of the population with incomes below the national average.

Results showed how coastal communities are in favour of wind energy within their island, but not within a marine protected area that is considered unique for its beauty and marine ecosystem. Wind energy developers should, before submitting a proposal for an offshore wind farm project, consider among other things the long approval time and understand the activities carried out by local communities and their attachment to those places. Politicians and developers should develop a coherent energy transition policy based on a long-term vision of zero emissions, because according to the findings of this study, it was the regional energy policy that is the most controversial reason for residents to reject the project.

The contribution of this study is to fill a part of the research gap linking to ongoing energy transitions. In particular, this study analysed for the first time in Italy the acceptability level of an offshore renewable energy project considering the environmental implications and risks in the fragile marine ecosystem of Carloforte waters. This study also made it possible to analyse the impact of the regional energy policy on the acceptability of residents towards the development of offshore wind farms, which is scarcely discussed in the literature.

The purpose is to stimulate scholarship in the strategic management field that accounts for conditions implied by projected impacts of climate change.

Following conceptual logic, the article analyses how changes in the strategic environment brought about by climate change may challenge current strategic management theory. It develops avenues for theory development based on expanding the field’s scope and extending its limits of applicability.

The article highlights the extent to which the strategy field has evolved in a stable empirical context, despite its attention to dynamism and hence is less well aligned with potentially pervasive new pressures and impacts. It sets out a rationale for moving beyond symbolic environmentalism, possibilities to harness cognitive and behavioural insights, dilemmas in strategic innovation and the empirical potential of non-mainstream contexts.

Firms and organisations can expect widespread systemic effects from climate change that challenge established ways of operating. The article explores how strategic management could better support strategists in navigating these shifts such that firms can continue to thrive.

The article approaches the issue of climate change specifically from the perspective of strategic management of firms rather than as policy or social advocacy. It focuses on pressures and characteristics that distinguish climate change from other environmental and social impacts on firms.