Through a focus on the ‘High Value Migrants’ programme of the United Kingdom, this article directs attention to how commercial migration laws and policies of developed countries could impact negatively on the global south. Drawing mainly on insights from criminology and development studies, it investigates how the commercial migration laws and policies, specifically the aspects that deal with encouraging or attracting ‘high-value’ foreign entrepreneurs and investors hold out the state as potentially complicit in corruption and underdevelopment in the global south. There is an important need to address the implicated migration laws and policies as a critical and integral part of the international efforts to combat corruption and promote peace and development in the global south. Reform of the implicated laws and policies is in the long term interest of all stakeholders.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the position of international financial services centres (IFSCs) in the International Federation of Accountants’ countries’ status on the adoption of International Standards on Auditing (ISA) and assess the factors influencing ISA adoption in these centres. Design/methodology/approach This research drew its data from various sources, including the World Economic Forum (WEF) data set, the World Bank Report on Observation of Standards and Codes, the World Development Indicators and the Economic Intelligence Unit Report on Democracy Index on 50 countries classified as IFSCs. The adoption status is then regressed on a number of variables of interest. To establish that the results are robust, the authors used a combination of different regression techniques comprising OLS, multinomial and logistic regressions. Findings In addition to the gross domestic product growth and education level, this paper adds new evidence to the literature by reporting the positive association between the level of democracy and the enforcement of securities’ regulation on ISA adoption. It argues that political, economic, social and legal factors impact on ISA adoption in the IFSCs. Research limitations/implications The sample size is limited to 50 from a population of 99 IFSCs because of the lack of data. Some of the independent variables are basically archival data. Reliance is placed on WEF with regard to the measurement of protection of minority interest, securities and exchange regulations and on the Economic Intelligence Unit for democracy index. Practical implications This paper stresses the importance of ISAs in IFSCs and the role of political power and the enforcement of securities laws on the adoption of ISA. Originality/value This study fills the research gap relating to the absence of empirical studies on ISA adoption and its drivers in IFSCs.

Purpose: This paper contends that the dominant voluntarism approach to the accountability of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) is inadequate and not fit-for-purpose. It argues for the establishment of an international legal mechanism for securing the accountability of TNCs particularly in the context of developing countries with notoriously weak governance mechanisms to protect all relevant stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts insights from the fields of management and international law to draw out synergies from particular understandings of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and international human rights. The governance challenges in developing countries with regard to securing the accountability of TNCs is illustrated with the Nigerian experience of oil-industry legislation reform. Findings: The specific context of the experiences of developing countries in Africa on the operations of TNCs particularly commends the need and expedience to create an international legal regime for ensuring the accountability of TNCs. Originality/value: Mainstream research in this area has focused mainly on self and voluntary models of regulation and accountability that have privileged the legal fiction of the corporate status of TNCs. This article departs from that model to argue for an enforceable model of TNC accountability based on an international mechanism.

Abstract: The subject of feedback for students is one of the most important contributors to the student experience and attracts one of the lowest responses within the National Union of Students survey. This paper reports on the feasibility of providing feedback on written assignments by marking electronically using the comments function on Microsoft Word and also providing verbal feedback via use of a hand held digital voice recorder. The students (post graduate part-time business students) were surveyed as to their response to this feedback. The paper reports the feedback from both the tutor and the student perspective and examines the impact on the experience of both groups. The results were positively in favour of the use of audio feedback but are different to results in other studies in that it is concluded that a combination of both typed and verbal feedback was preferred by the students. Keywords: audio-feedback; feedback; written feedback; electronically mediated feedback; recorded feedback; online submission; assessment; student experience; National Student Survey; NSS.

Using the case of a training restaurant open to paying guests, this study compares the perceptions of two groups of stakeholders with regard to different factors of the dining experience. The first group represents the supply side and is composed of 73 students involved in the preparation and delivery of menu dishes, while the demand side consists of 222 guests of the training restaurant. Both groups' level of agreement was similar when they identified gaps regarding the restaurant's performance in terms of décor, design, lighting and background music. The groups, however, differed in their perceptions of other elements, most notably regarding the selection of beverages, and the entertainment aspect of the dining experience (e.g., deboning fish in front of guests), with students clearly in lesser agreement. Overall, the study's findings demonstrate that involving different groups of stakeholders to evaluate the restaurant's performance could potentially enhance the dining experience.

Purpose The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate the significance of self-efficacy and knowledge acquisition among micro businesses operating in challenging economic environments. The study uses social cognitive theory (SCT) and the knowledge-based theory of the firm (KBTF), and it proposes a refinement of these theoretical frameworks in the context of the study. Design/methodology/approach A case method was chosen, and face-to-face interviews with 14 owners of firms in island and rural regions of Greece and Spain were conducted. Findings Content analysis identified the importance of self-efficacy, primarily illustrated by entrepreneurs’ determination and self-motivation, propensity to take risks and ability to anticipate consequences of their actions. Acquisition and accumulation of explicit knowledge, particularly through generational or mentoring processes, and subsequent wealth of tacit knowledge, also emerged as very significant in preparing and guiding entrepreneurs. Various links between the adopted theories and findings emerged, particularly regarding forethought, vicarious learning (SCT) and specialisation in knowledge acquisition (KBTF). Originality/value The proposed theoretical refinement based on the SCT and KBTF paradigms allows for a more rigorous, in-depth reflection on the links between cognitive elements present in the participating micro entrepreneurs and knowledge-based attributes on their ability to increase organisational resilience. The study also contributes toward the micro business literature and addresses a knowledge gap, particularly, in that contemporary research has not explored entrepreneurial motivations among small firm entrepreneurs. Finally, the practical implications emerging from the findings provide a platform for various stakeholders (associations, government agencies) to appreciate and support entrepreneurs’ needs, notably, of acquiring, increasing and sharing knowledge.

Developed as a supranational corporate form intended to facilitate cross-border activity by natural and legal persons alike, the European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) arguably offers multinational enterprises looking to collaborate with other entities an efficient and effective corporate vehicle for their projects. Though this form offers multinational enterprises many attractive features, certain drawbacks associated with this form may impede take-up by such entities. After a review of the development of the EEIG (part I), this paper will examine the features and purposes of this corporate form (part II), before looking at the benefits (part III) and the drawbacks associated with this form (part IV). In the conclusion, the author will review possible reforms to this corporate form.

Environmental irresponsibility is one of the most prominent issues confronting host communities of transnational corporations (TNCs) engaged in the production of economic goods and, sometimes, services. Drawing mainly on stakeholder theory, combined with legitimacy theory, this article addresses how host communities in Africa combat the challenge of environmental irresponsibility of TNCs. To illustrate the dimensions and dynamics of the challenge, this paper examines the experience of despoliation of Ogoniland by the oil giant Shell in Nigeria. The analysis draws attention to the significance of the role of individuals and civil society groups in securing accountability of one of the most formidable fronts of economic globalisation. The analysis is particularly relevant to the experience of environmental irresponsibility in the context of weak governance structures.

Despite the relevance of building information modelling for simulating building performance at various life cycle stages, Its use for assessing the end-of-life impacts is not a common practice. Even though the global sustainability and circular economy agendas require that buildings must have minimal impact on the environment across the entire lifecycle. In this study therefore, a disassembly and deconstruction analytics system is developed to provide buildings’ end-of-life performance assessment from the design stage. The system architecture builds on the existing building information modelling capabilities in managing building design and construction process. The architecture is made up of four different layers namely (i) Data storage layer, (ii) Semantic layer, (iii) Analytics and functional models layer and (iv) Application layer. The four layers are logically connected to function as a single system. Three key functionalities of the disassembly and deconstruction analytics system namely (i) Building Whole Life Performance Analytics (ii) Building Element Deconstruction Analytics and (iii) Design for Deconstruction Advisor are implemented as plug-in in Revit 2017. Three scenarios of a case study building design were used to test and evaluate the performance of the system. The results show that building information modelling software capabilities can be extended to provide a platform for assessing the performance of building designs in respect of the circular economy principle of keeping the embodied energy of materials perpetually in an economy. The disassembly and deconstruction analytics system would ensure that buildings are designed with design for disassembly and deconstruction principles that guarantee efficient materials recovery in mind. The disassembly and deconstruction analytics tool could also serve as a decision support platform that government and planners can use to evaluate the level of compliance of building designs to circular economy and sustainability requirements.

The transition to a low carbon economy demands new strategies to enable organizations to take advantage of the potential for “green” growth. An organization's environmental stakeholders can provide opportunities for growth and support the success of its low carbon strategies, as well as potentially acting as a constraint on new initiatives. Building environmental capabilities through engagement with environmental stakeholders is conceptualized as an important aspect for the success of organizational low carbon strategies. We examine capability building across a range of sectors affected by the sustainability agenda, including construction, rail, water, and health care. We identify a number of emergent environmental stakeholders and explore their engagement with the development of environmental capabilities in the context of the transition toward a low carbon economy. Our conceptual framework offers a categorization of environmental stakeholders based on their position in relation to a focal organization and the potential for the development of environmental capabilities.