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Hedge fund teams with heterogeneous educational backgrounds, academic specializations, work experiences, genders, and races, outperform homogeneous teams after adjusting for risk and fund characteristics. An event study of manager team transitions, instrumental variable regressions, and an analysis of managers who simultaneously operate solo- and team-managed funds address endogeneity concerns. Diverse teams deliver superior returns by arbitraging more stock anomalies, avoiding behavioral biases, and minimizing downside risks. Moreover, diversity allows hedge funds to circumvent capacity constraints and generate persistent performance. Our results suggest that diversity adds value in asset management. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental and social (ES) funds in non-ES families must balance incorporating the stakeholders' interests they advertise and maximizing shareholder value favored by their families. We find that these funds support ES proposals that are far from the majority threshold, while opposing them when their vote is more likely to be pivotal. This strategy results in a high average support for ES proposals, seemingly consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities, while opposing contested ES proposals. This greenwashing strategy is driven by ES funds in non-ES families who cater to institutional investors. Indeed, these funds experience lower inflows when providing low average support for ES proposals. This strategic voting is not exhibited in governance proposals, nor by ES funds in ES families or by non-ES funds in non-ES families, reinforcing the notion of strategic voting to accommodate family preferences while appearing to meet the fiduciary responsibilities of the funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study is focussed on redesigning work and green job structures for organisational sustainability. The contribution of this chapter is two-fold: HR practices can be redesigned to incorporate eco-friendly principles into job roles and explore green human resource management (HRM) as innovative approaches that organisations can adopt to promote environmental responsibility and sustainable practices within their workforce. Need of study: The study on green HRM and job redesign is crucial for organisations to align operations with environmental sustainability. It addresses the need for practical guidelines and strategies for implementing sustainable practices. With increasing emphasis on corporate social responsibility and stakeholder demand, this study is essential for organisations to enhance their reputation, attract environmentally conscious talent, and positively impact society and the environment. Methodology: The chapter is conceptually oriented; the data utilised in this study will primarily rely on secondary sources. Findings: The findings demonstrated that adopting green HRM practices can help businesses improve their environmental performance and employee satisfaction. These procedures also allow the organisation to remain sustainable, guaranteeing its long-term success. Practical implications: Humans know that redesigned work and job structures in green HRM can allow staff members to learn new sustainability-related skills and knowledge, boosting their professional growth and future employability. Redesigning work structures and implementing green HRM practices can also increase employee pride and loyalty to the company by integrating them into a mission-driven, sustainability-focussed workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how the presence of female executives on the board affects a company's capital structure decisions. The critical mass of female executives on the board was also considered to observe their impact on capital structure. Design/methodology/approach: Samples were taken from nonfinancial sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange between 2012 and 2021 (3,707 firm-year observations). Capital structure was measured using four approaches, namely, debt-to-total asset ratio (DAR), debt-to-equity ratio (DER), short-term debt-to-total assets (STD) and long-term debt-to-total assets (LTD). The data were analyzed using panel data regression analysis, including a fixed effects model with clustered standard errors. Findings: The presence of female executives on the board is significantly negatively related to capital structure as measured by DER and STD. The critical mass of women provided no evidence of a relationship with a firm's capital structure. Robustness checks were performed, and the results were consistent with those in the main analysis. Research limitations/implications: Female executives can be appointed to management boards when determining a strategy to achieve the capital structure desired by a company. Originality/value: This study increases the diversity of research in corporate governance by synthesizing various indicators from female executives into a single study to determine their relationships with companies' capital structures. In addition, this study stands out by incorporating four distinct indicators for assessing capital structure and diverging from the norm observed in many other studies, many of which rely on just two indicators: DAR and DER. Moreover, it strongly emphasizes the unique economic, legal, social and cultural landscapes of developing countries like Indonesia in comparison to their developed counterparts, particularly Western nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Exploiting a novel measure of hostile takeover exposure primarily based on the staggered adoption of state legislations, we explore a crucial, albeit largely overlooked, aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, we investigate CSR inequality, which is the inequality across different CSR categories. Higher inequality suggests a less balanced, more lopsided, CSR policy. Design/methodology/approach: In addition to the standard regression analysis, we perform several robustness checks including propensity score matching, entropy balancing and an instrumental-variable analysis. Findings: Our results show that more takeover exposure exacerbates CSR inequality. Specifically, a rise in takeover vulnerability by one standard deviation results in an increase in CSR inequality by 4.53–5.40%. The findings support the managerial myopia hypothesis, where myopic managers promote some CSR activities that are useful to them in the short run more than others, leading to higher CSR inequality. Originality/value: Our study is the first to exploit a unique measure of takeover vulnerability to investigate the impact of takeover threats on CSR inequality, which is an important aspect of CSR that is largely overlooked in the literature. We aptly fill this void in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to examine the impact of society’s economic well-being determinants – above and beyond the firm-specific and macroeconomic determinants – on firm profitability in Poland. Based on stakeholder theory we hypothesized that the economic well-being of society can influence firm performance. Therefore, we included real wage and salary growth, internal migration, international migration, and natural increase variables in the regression models. We applied four models with different sets of variables using pooled ordinary least square regression, as well as fixed and random effects regressions with robust standard errors clustered at the firm level. The dataset covers the period from 2004 to 2021, comprising 5400 firm-year observations from Poland in the wholesale and retail trade sector. We found that firm profitability generally increases with higher inflation and exchange rate depreciation. Moreover, in models including society’s economic well-being variables, GDP growth is no longer a significant determinant of firm profitability. Most importantly, the study demonstrates a positive relationship between real wage and salary growth and firm profitability. We also found that international migration is negatively associated with firm profitability. Regarding natural increase, the study suggests that it has a positive effect on return on equity, but not on return on assets.

Employee experience refers to the entire journey of an employee within an organization, encompassing interactions from pre-employment to post-employment. In order to gain and maintain a sustainable competitive edge, organizations should incorporate human-centered design and prioritize employee experience in their organizational reforms, taking into account employees' emotions, ambitions, and expectations. This study aims to provide a clearer and operationalized understanding of the employee experience concept and empirically examines its relationship with employee engagement, considering the moderating role of positive affect - a state of pleasant feelings and moods that people often experience in business life-. Data was collected from 1347 employees in the finance sector of Türkiye, revealing that employee experience consists of dimensions such as manager support and collaboration, organizational identification and development, and career-focused human resource (HR) practices. These dimensions are positively associated with employee engagement. The study also examines the moderating role of the employees'positive affect on the relationship between these constructs. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.

This paper analyses the impact of sustainability through ESG factors on the default risk. The sample consists of 990 non-financial firms in the Eurozone over the period 2004–2020. The results show that ESG factors influence default risk, although this relationship could be influenced by the economic cycle. Also, the results highlight a significant interaction effect between firm size and ESG which affects default risk. Considering firm size by terciles, the evidence obtained shows that smaller and medium-sized firms have a positive net effect of a high ESG score on their default risk, while the opposite effect was found among larger firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Succeeding in a changing business world means being familiar with emerging business trends, including issues and challenges related to human resources (HR). The paper investigates HR issues and challenges addressed by HR professionals and line managers of businesses in the Czech Republic. The investigation aims to uncover which HR issues are faced most often and which HR challenges are expected in the coming years to identify existing and potential HR issues and challenges that businesses should deal with to meet their needs.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, along with the novelty of innovation, are significant factors in promoting sustainable development for corporations. This study employs the Heckman two-stage model to examine the impact of ESG performance on innovation novelty using a dataset comprising A-share listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2011 to 2020. The results indicate that enhanced ESG performance significantly fosters innovation by expanding innovation resources and mitigating agency problems. Further analysis reveals that this relationship is more pronounced under high economic policy uncertainty, a challenging information environment, elevated financing constraints, and in the context of digital transformation. This study not only expands the research on the economic implications of ESG performance for enterprise innovation behavior but also places a distinct emphasis on innovation quality rather than quantity. Additionally, this study enriches the existing literature on the factors influencing innovation novelty and extends research into the link between environmental protection and firm innovation, particularly from the perspective of stakeholder theory. Furthermore, this study holds practical significance for governments aiming to enhance ESG evaluation systems and establish guiding policies that encourage novel innovations, ultimately contributing to sustainable and high-quality development. Simultaneously, this study provides guidance to enterprises by encouraging them to embrace green development, improve social responsibility, and elevate their governance standards to promote innovation quality.

To support the continued expansion of their operations, microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide rely heavily on debt, which exposes them to bankruptcy risk. This underscores the need for prudent selection of debt instruments by MFIs. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the possible influence of board gender diversity on the choice of debt instruments utilized by MFIs. Data from unique 1670 MFIs in 93 countries, spanning the period of 2010–2018, were collected from the World Bank and analyzed using various econometric methods, including Random Effects Model (REM), Fixed Effects Model (FEM), Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS), Generalized Least Squares (GLS), and endogeneity-corrected techniques such as the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The study revealed that gender-diverse boards tend to utilize fewer debt instruments, reflecting the risk-averse nature of the female board members, as observed in the existing literature. However, the statistical significance of these outcomes varies depending on the specific debt, proxies, sub-sample, and econometric methods considered in the analysis.

This paper examines the impact of cross-ownership on the strategic incentive of environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) within a green managerial delegation contract in a triopoly market engaged in price competition. It demonstrates that bilateral cross-ownership between insiders provides weak incentives to undertake ECSR, which has a non-monotone relationship with cross-ownership shares, while it provides strong incentives for outsiders, which increases the ECSR level as cross-ownership increases. It also compares unilateral cross-ownership and finds that a firm that owns shares in its rival has a greater incentive to undertake ECSR than its partially-owned rival, while an outsider has more incentive than firms in bilateral scenarios. These findings reveal that a firm's incentive to increase a market price through ECSR critically depends on its cross-ownership share, while it decreases environmental damage and increases social welfare when the environmental damage is serious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project management and project portfolio management (PPM) foster competitiveness by facilitating the implementation of organizational strategy. Although organizations often struggle to develop PPM capabilities, the academic community does not have an in-depth understanding of the conditions for successfully developing these capabilities. In response, we conducted a multiple-case study with 50 interviewees to develop a theoretical model of the PPM capability-building process. This model is built on the notion of organizational sensemaking and identifies aspects that comprehensively explain why it usually takes so long to develop PPM capabilities. We conceptualize the PPM capability-building process as one that is strongly influenced by (1) the effects of structural rearrangements, (2) the appropriate use of external resources during that process, (3) the role of executive support and legitimization, (4) episodes of regression, and (5) the need for internalization and habitualization. In addition, we provide starting points for explaining organizational capability building in more general terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Historically, the corporate governance (CG) framework was designed primarily to safeguard the economic interests of shareholders, as a result of political and legal interventions, developing into an effective instrument for stakeholders and society in general. Purpose: The core objectives of the study include: identifying journals/publications responsible for publishing CG studies in India, key CG issues covered by CG researchers, the amount of high-impact CG literature across different time periods, sectors/industries covered by CG researchers and different research instruments (quantitative or qualitative) used in CG studies in India. Design/methodology: The chapter used a sample of 130 corporate governance studies that fulfil the selection criteria, drawn from the repository of over 100 reputed journals that are either recognised by the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) or indexed by SCOPUS. A systematic literature review has been carried out pertaining to CG issues in India, based on various statistical tools, data, industries, research outlets & citations, etc. Findings: The results show an overwhelming number of studies have assessed the relationship between CG variables and firm performance, which could be measured through a variety of performance metrics such as ROA and ROI. Apart from empirical analysis, many conceptual studies use repetitive basic statistical tools like descriptive statistics or regression analysis. The chapter offers insights into current achievements and future development. Originality/value: This bibliometric study is a useful guide for policymakers, corporate leaders, research organisations and management faculty to draw insights from work produced by eminent researchers in GC in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examines sustainability communication's direct and indirect effects on consumer loyalty and brand reputation. It also aims to identify sustainable practices that enhance consumer behaviour and brand reputation. Methodology: The study used a cross-sectional survey design and collected data from 500 participants through an online survey. The survey included measures of sustainability communication, consumer loyalty, brand reputation, and demographic variables. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesised relationships between the variables. Findings: The results of the SEM analysis suggest that sustainability communication has a direct and positive effect on consumer loyalty, which in turn positively impacts reputation. Furthermore, the study identifies specific sustainability practices, such as reducing the carbon footprint and promoting ethical sourcing, that can positively influence consumer behaviour and brand reputation. Implications: The study underscores the significance of adept sustainability communication for fostering consumer loyalty and boosting brand reputation. Focusing on initiatives like loyalty programs and personalised offers can harness this connection. Additionally, the research identifies critical sustainable practices – carbon reduction, ethical sourcing, and renewable energy investment – that foster positive consumer behaviour and brand reputation. Originality/value: This study provides new insights into the mechanisms by which sustainability communication can influence consumer behaviour and brand reputation. The study identifies the importance of consumer loyalty as a mediator between sustainability communication and brand reputation. It recommends companies seeking to enhance their brand reputation through sustainability practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The effect of environmental regulations or green policies on the financial health of businesses is still up for debate. The Prime Minister of India presented a bold plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow (UK). Following this announcement, numerous Indian companies voluntarily committed to becoming carbon neutral to support the ambitious emission reduction targets. A growing body of research examines the link between environmental standards compliance and businesses' sustainability measures, and how they affect their overall performance (profitability, stock returns, or output generation). Purpose: The research assesses the effect of these voluntary announcements on the stock performance of Indian companies in the context of voluntary commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Methodology: Concentrating on the announcement impact of carbon neutrality commitments/carbon emissions reductions of 52 Indian companies, the study considers carbon neutrality pledges/carbon emissions reduction from 2018 to 2022. The sample companies list was taken from various indices on the National Stock Exchange. A standard event study methodology is applied to compute abnormal returns during the event window of (−10, 10). Findings: The results show that companies announcing the carbon neutrality pledges/carbon emissions reduction received significantly negative abnormal returns of 0.49% on announcement day. The cumulative average abnormal returns for different windows are also negative. It signifies that investors don't value the environmentally sustainable actions of firms. It may also be because of investors' ignorance of carbon neutrality pledges and their importance, highlighting the need to educate investors about the significance of corporate sustainability initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the determinants of the dividend distribution policy in a banking setting. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 48 Islamic banks and 94 conventional banks from 15 Islamic countries over a period spanning from 2012 to 2019, we document the effect of board gender diversity, executive director profile and governance mechanisms on dividend payment decisions. We also analyze the moderating effect of Islamic banks on the relationship between gender diversity and dividend policy. Findings: We find new evidence on the role of women directors in determining dividend distribution policy and confirm the risk aversion hypothesis, hence contributing to the ongoing debate on gender diversity literature. Our results show that the moderating role of Islamic banks is effective only for small banks. Practical implications: Our findings have practical implications for shareholders, managers and financial analysts as they suggest rationalizing dividend distribution strategies. Originality/value: Our study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on dividend policy, gender diversity and Islamic banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the propagation of environmental performance among competitors and in customer–supplier relationships. We find a significant causal effect among competitors, while the propagation from customers to suppliers and vice versa appears insignificant or does not survive identification tests. The effect is stronger among firms in highly concentrated competitor networks and toward firms with less market and bargaining power than their competitors. We also find significantly stronger propagation of environmental performance among competitors engaged in joint research and development activity. These results show that the propagation stems from both competitive pressure and technological spillover. Importantly, we find that propagation is strong when the competitor improves its environmental performance and when the firm's own environmental performance is poor initially, alleviating concerns that improvements in performance are concentrated among firms, which are already green. Overall, network effects among competing firms are a significant force shaping environmental performance, and a force mostly for good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: European Parliament adopted a new directive on gender balance in corporate boards when by 2026, companies must employ 40% of the underrepresented sex into non-executive directors or 33% among all directors. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the impact of gender diversity (GD) on board of directors and the shareholders' structure and their impact on the likelihood of company bankruptcy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The data sample consists of 1,351 companies for 2019 and 2020, of which 173 were large, 351 medium-sized companies and 827 small companies. Three bankruptcy indicators were tested for each company size, and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and logistic regression models were developed. These models were then cross-validated by a 10-fold approach. Findings: XGBoost models achieved area under curve (AUC) over 98%, which is 25% higher than AUC achieved by logistic regression. Prediction models with GD features performed slightly better than those without them. Furthermore, this study indicates the existence of critical mass between 30% and 50%, which decreases the probability of bankruptcy for small and medium companies. Furthermore, the representation of women in ownership structures above 50% decreases bankruptcy likelihood. Originality/value: This is a pioneering study to explore GD topics by application of ensembled machine learning methods. Moreover, the study does analyze not only the GD of boards but also shareholders. A highly innovative approach is GD analysis based on company size performed in one study considering the COVID-19 pandemic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The packaging practices of HelloFresh have come under scrutiny in recent years as a result of the company's remarkable expansion success. Customers have cancelled their meal-kit subscriptions due to the excessive use of plastic packaging for ingredients. In response to these events, HelloFresh began to seek alternatives to replace plastic packaging for its ingredients, but ultimately found that the currently available packaging technology makes it impossible to eliminate plastic completely. HelloFresh is therefore looking for ways to communicate with customers about its sustainability message and their actions to be cost-effective, retain food-safety, and foster sustainability with regard to packaging while making innovative changes in its packaging processes. In the current stage of the sustainability transition for packaging materials in which no ready-at-hand solutions are available, it is crucial for HelloFresh to strike a balance between converting its packaging practices to be more sustainable and communicating this message effectively to its customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to deepen knowledge of the principle of connectivity between financial and non-financial information defined in the Integrated Reporting (IR) conceptual framework. We have created a multidimensional connectivity index that is used to assess the level of connectivity in reporting. The results indicate that the levels achieved are low, suggesting that firms publishing their reports under the IR conceptual framework have not fully internalised this principle. Our results also show that coercive and normative institutional factors such as the mandatory nature of IR or the legal system, drive connectivity. Connectivity is also generally influenced by internal managerial decisions mainly related to the report's length and assurance. These findings may have practical implications for regulators and standard-setters, who should explicitly incorporate this principle into their pronouncements, providing guidelines to facilitate its practical implementation, and for preparers who should enhance the interactivity of reports.

Corporate universities (CUs) have evolved significantly over the past century, yet empirical studies examining their impact on corporate performance are notably sparse. This study addresses this gap by applying two alternative quasi-experimental designs - Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Synthetic Control Group (SCG), to assess CU's strategic value. By examining 18 listed European telecom companies and 80 Spanish corporations across various industries during the 2004 to 2018 time span, this paper presents a comparative analysis of CU implementation effects within different corporate environments. Our findings indicate that CU establishment is a strategic choice for better corporate performance, identity, and strategy rather than an isolated educational investment. The results offer a better understanding of CU's strategic role, especially in sectors characterized by rapid technological change and the need for strategic human capital development. This study contributes to both empirical knowledge and methodology, proposing innovative ways to explore the effects of strategic decisions like CUs on corporate performance, and enhancing the dialogue between strategic human resource management and corporate investors in the scholarly and managerial domains.