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This study develops a hybrid, bottom-up approach to field research, namely Rapid Situation Analysis, and implements it in Ghana. It draws on elements from two existing participatory methodological approaches: Rapid Rural Appraisal and Participatory Rural Appraisal. The approach was developed to suit the particular needs of investigating corporate social responsibility practices, sustainable development and poverty reduction through tourism, a fragmented sector which tends to be ambiguous and unstructured and lack cohesion (unlike, for example, agriculture or primary health care, both of which are familiar territory for Rapid Rural Appraisal and Participatory Rural Appraisal). The Rapid Situation Analysis bottom-up approach to data gathering was underpinned by supporting methods, including participant and direct observation, in-depth interviews, stakeholder focus groups and informal conversations. Moreover, the multiple methods were further enriched by the collection of visual data in the form of moving and still images. These research findings were fed back to the communities at the centre of the research.

Cyprus is established as a summer destination. To aid the destination in developing its winter season as well, this research uses a qualitative inductive approach to explore the tourists' current image of the island and their motivations of visiting it. The research indicates that the current image, which essentially portrays Cyprus as a sun-and-sea destination is thought to dissuade tourists from perceiving the island as a year-round destination.

review. Permission is also granted to make limited numbers of copies of items in this monograph for personal, internal, classroom or other instructional use, on condition that the foregoing copyright notice is used so as to give reasonable notice of the Society's copyright. This consent for free limited copying without prior consent of the Society does not extend to making copies for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for inclusion in new collective works or for resale. 2 Risk is inherent to all functions of a business. Enterprise risk management (ERM) is for the measurement and the management of all significant risks of the business holistically irrespective of types and sources. Consequently, the portfolio of enterprise risk includes both objective and subjective elements. Two key benefits of ERM—i.e., shareholder value creation and securing competitive advantage—have been derived from the empirical study. The traditional financial approach, e.g., ...

Increasing global concern over the impact of climate change has recently led to public scrutiny over the adequacy of existing risk management practices by insurance companies and pension schemes in dealing with these challenges that potentially impact both individual actuaries and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries generally. Most recently, the Prudential Regulation Authority has issued further guidance concerning its expectations for the UK insurance industry regarding the development of an approach to disclosure on and management of the financial risks from climate change, while a Parliamentary Committee has demanded public clarification from UK pension scheme trustees regarding their degree of engagement with incorporating climate-related financial risks into their investment decision-making. The aim of this paper is to identify the dominating factors of the current evolvement of UK insurance companies’ and pension schemes’ climate risk disclosure practices. This paper analys...

This paper addresses two critical questions related to the performance of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): whether its implementation adds value to the firm and whether it undergoes stages in order to mature. It confirms both arguments: that ERM creates value when the infrastructure is fully embedded within a company’s operations, and it matures. When using the traditional methods for measuring value creation in non-life insurance, the combined and operation ratios fail to capture the benefits of ERM in a consistent manner. The more scientific measure, return on capital and surplus, which takes a portfolio view of performance, better captures the benefits of ERM than the traditional one. The results confirm the need to treat the implementation of risk management in a holistic manner if the true benefits are to be realized. Therefore, the quality of value creation depends on the level of integration of risk into the operations, underwriting, investment, human resources, reporting, c...

“We must urgently bring back some pragmatism to corporate governance. … And if we want governance schemes that actually work in a real business environment, they must be based on principles, not detailed rules that try to pre-empt all the eventualities a lawyer can think of.”

Group projects form a large and possibly growing component of the work undertaken for assessing students in higher education, and especially in post-graduate work in business. Yet the assessments sources, methods and purposes result in an array of combinations that the literature fails ...

Universities – in the UK and elsewhere – are caught on the horns of a dilemma: they need to innovate in course design, but have little or no money available for speculative investment in new programmes. This paper presents an approach to curriculum design that links the ...

In the real world of higher education, the power of the purse lies just below the surface of many decisions on curriculum design. On the one hand we wonder: Is there really a market for this course? On the other, we ask: Does this project meet the academic standards we hold to ...

How does a board of directors decide what is right? The contest over this question is frequently framed as a debate between shareholder value and stakeholder rights, between a utilitarian view of the ethics of corporate governance and a deontological one. This paper uses a case study with special circumstances that allow us to examine the conflict between shareholder value and other bases on which a board can act. In the autumn of 2010 the board of Liverpool Football Club sold the company to another investing group against the wishes of the owners. The analysis suggests the board saw more than one type of utility on which to base its decision and that one version resonated with perceived duties to stakeholders. This alignment of outcomes of strategic value with duties contrasted with the utility of shareholder value. While there are reasons to be cautious in generalizing, the case further suggests reasons why boards may reject shareholder value in opposition to mainstream notions of corporate governance, without rejecting utility as a base of their decisions.

Universities-in the UK and elsewhere-are caught on the horns of a dilemma: they need to innovate in course design, but have little or no money available for speculative investment in new programmes. This paper presents an approach to curriculum design that links the pedagogical concerns of quality standards and knowledge creation to the commercial imperatives of funding and development of third-stream income. Drawing in part on Whittington's classification of theories of strategy, it suggests an emergent process serving multiple outcomes in a low-cost, low-risk model. It also addresses in outline the issues of assessment and teaching and dealing with the potential loss of coherence in such an approach.

Purpose-The purpose of this "viewpoint" is to consider developments in the governance practices in UK public organizations, showing how ideas from the governance of listed companies have translated into public bodies. Design/methodology/approach-It discusses the literature of corporate governance and public service motivation and reflects it against practice evidenced in documentation for the UK Corporate Governance Code, codes for boards of different levels of public organizations, and both formal and informal evaluations of practice. Findings-The use of independent, non-executives directors in public bodies encapsulates the tension in the private sector between the service role of directors and how they control managers. The paper gives a preliminary investigation of three public bodies, comparing how reform of their governance has affected tensions in accountability and director motivation. The changes involve greater emphasis on extrinsic goals, potentially at the cost of the intrinsic ones. Research limitations/implications-The paper suggests avenues for future research, linking notions of the tensions between the service and control functions in corporate governance with the balance between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Practical implications-Directors in both public and private bodies face a need to hold at bay forces that push in opposing directions to accommodate demands for greater accountability while sustaining the altruism social mindedness. Originality/value-The area of public sector boards is undergoing considerable change in the UK and this paper, although preliminary, is one of the few to examine the links to motivation. 1 This paper is a pre-publication version of an article that appeared in the journal Evidence-Based HRM, 2(1), 114-119.