The Leading Traits of the Modern Corporate Leader: Comparing Survey Results from 2008 and 2018

This article deals with the evolution of leadership in the corporate business environment by presenting the results of comparative empirical studies conducted in 2008 and 2018. Based on an analysis of empirical research on the 2000 largest global corporations, obtained from the Forbes Global 2000, this work presents the changes that took place over a decade in the characteristics and competencies of contemporary leaders. The results allowed us to identify the desired characteristics, competencies, and character traits of contemporary leaders. In fact, the comparative analysis of these data showed the dynamics of change in the approach of global corporate leaders over the decade. The research results have important implications for the energy sector. Some of the companies participating in the study operate in the energy sector, therefore the opinions of these CEOs indicate significant determinants of modern leadership in this type of enterprise. When analysing the research results on the vision and scope of leadership impact in corporate business, we pointed, among other things, to the assessment of leadership traits, the evolution of leadership activities’ delegation, and the assessment of the importance of managers’ individual action areas and leadership factors.

Free and Open Source Software organizations: A large-scale analysis of code, comments, and commits frequency

As Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) increases in importance and use by global corporations, understanding the dynamics of its communities becomes critical. This paper measures up to 21 years of activities in 1314 individual projects and 1.4 billion lines of code managed. After analyzing the FOSS activities on the projects and organizations level, such as commits frequency, source code lines, and code comments, we find that there is less activity now than there was a decade ago. Moreover, our results suggest a greater decrease in the activities in large and well-established FOSS organizations. Our findings indicate that as technologies and business strategies related to FOSS mature, the role of large formal FOSS organizations serving as intermediary between developers diminishes.

MONGOLIA’S INDEPENDENT INTERNET?

AOIR 2021 conference theme “independence” of the internet provides an opportunity for researchers to reevaluate internet development in the global south by applying theories of “informational capitalism” (Castells, 2000; Schiller, 2000) and “surveillance capitalism” (Suboff, 2019). This paper aims to trace the development of informational society in Mongolia, a 30-year-old democracy in the Central Asian steppe. With a nomadic culture, a Buddhist tradition, and a communist past, Mongolia’s information society has unique encounters with global corporations such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (GAFAM). The paper focuses on juxtapositions of information society with traditional, cultural, political, and social aspects of Mongolian life. I establish how Mongolia is positioned in various global information society perspectives, by investigating tensions that have not been addressed in this nation’s context of a communist past and an ongoing nomadic lifestyle. I also trace the historic development of information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives during the socialist and post-communist eras. Online speech controversies, misinformation, and commercial speech on social media all tested Mongolia’s new Constitution of 1992. The constitution promulgates a free press and the freedom of speech in the zeitgeist of the 1990s to prioritize the eradication of communist-era political censorship and communist party control. One cannot help but notice the gap in the legal frameworks of Mongolian institutions between the current and the “aspired to” states of democratization and protection of human rights and cultural experiences.

Sustainability and short-term profitability in the agri-food sector, a cross-sectional time-series investigation on global corporations

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether being sustainable is also profitable for agri-food companies in the short-term.Design/methodology/approachThe study analysed the impacts of sustainability multiple issues on one-year lagged return on assets, developing a longitudinal analysis focused on best and worst companies' samples for a timeframe of ten years. Notably, we performed OLS regressions on unbalanced panels data collecting overall 1,760 annual observations from 318 companies. Moreover, we examined the moderating effects of slack resources on the relationship between sustainability and the short-term firms' profitability.FindingsThe results show that the best sustainable companies usually improve future profitability. Conversely, the worst ones should prioritize efforts in specific initiatives (i.e. responsible products, eco-innovation, management and governance commitment to sustainability), which positively affect their profitability and compensate possible short-term financial losses due to CSR strategy execution and sustainable production/supply chain management. Finally, the study found mixed results regarding the moderating effects of slack resources on the scrutinized relationships.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the key environmental, social and governance aspects to be addressed for consolidating and enhancing the virtuous relationship between non-financial and financial performance, distinguishing between best and worst sustainability performers.Originality/valueThis study is among the first that decomposed sustainability in multiple micro aspects (i.e. sustainable strategy, products and processes) investigating the effects of each of them on the short-term agri-food firms' profitability.

Electronic Evidence and Electronic Signatures

In this updated edition of the well-established practitioner text, Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng have brought together a team of experts in the field to provide an exhaustive treatment of electronic evidence and electronic signatures. This fifth edition continues to follow the tradition in English evidence text books by basing the text on the law of England and Wales, with appropriate citations of relevant case law and legislation from other jurisdictions. Stephen Mason (of the Middle Temple, Barrister) is a leading authority on electronic evidence and electronic signatures, having advised global corporations and governments on these topics. He is also the editor of International Electronic Evidence, and he founded the innovative international open access journal Digital Evidence and Electronic Signatures Law Review in 2004. Daniel Seng (Associate Professor, National University of Singapore) is the Director of the Centre for Technology, Robotics, AI and the Law (TRAIL). He teaches and researches information technology law and evidence law. Daniel was previously a partner and head of the technology practice at Messrs Rajah & Tann. He is also an active consultant to the World Intellectual Property Organization, where he has researched, delivered papers and published monographs on copyright exceptions for academic institutions, music copyright in the Asia Pacific and the liability of Internet intermediaries.

Identifying global leadership potential

PurposeThis article investigates which criteria and processes are used to identify global leadership potential (GLP) in multinational corporations.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the literature at the intersection between leadership potential and global leadership is reviewed to identify a set of criteria that can be used for assessing GLP. The findings are then validated in a qualitative study against a sample of nine global corporations.FindingsSeveral traits (integrity and resilience), attitudes (learning orientation, motivation to lead, change orientation, drive for results, customer orientation and a global mindset) and competencies (cognitive complexity and intercultural, interpersonal, leadership, learning, change and business competencies) are associated with GLP. The core steps in the GLP identification process are nomination, assessment and confirmation. These steps can be complemented by a preassessment phase and a subsequent talent dialogue.Practical implicationsThe results of this research can inform human resource (HR) management practitioners in their endeavor to successfully identify and assess potential future global leaders.Originality/valuePrior research has focused either on defining global leadership or on assessing leadership potential in general, without a clear focus on identifying global leaders. In this article, the two concepts of global leadership and leadership potential are combined, thus providing an integrated content and process model that indicates how global corporations select their future global leaders.

THE INCLUSIVE ORGANISATION: MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF EMPLOYEE-DRIVEN INNOVATION (EDI)

The purpose of this study is to explore the inclusive involvement of non-R&D and non-managerial employees’ in processes of innovation. It answers a contemporary call for research to investigate a wider scope of organisations in the quest for understanding the interaction between employees and managers in employee-driven innovation (EDI). Based on a qualitative research study of two global corporations, this paper poses the following research question: How does the EDI approach manifest as a new management practice and thereby influence the interaction between employees and managers? By applying a critical discourse analysis, findings reveal that the production, distribution, and consumption of the EDI discourse are pervaded by a dynamic tension in the power relation between the top-level management and employees. While management enforces the impression that the EDI process is inclusive and engaging, employees remain critical to the contrasting way it is communicated.

Introduction

This introductory chapter provides a background of private regulation of labor standards in global supply chains. Over the past three decades, there has been a plethora of private, voluntary regulatory initiatives with regard to social (labor) and environmental issues. This proliferation has come about in part because of pressure from antiglobalizers calling for global governance, and consumer and activist movements calling for global corporations to be more socially and environmentally responsible. There are many different methods of private voluntary regulation for labor standards, but the most common is the private regulation model. It has three elements: setting of standards regarding labor practices in global supply chains through a corporate code of conduct generally based on the conventions of the International Labour Organization; “auditing” or “social auditing” that involves monitoring whether supplier factories comply with the code of conduct; and incentives for suppliers to improve compliance by linking future sourcing decisions to their compliance records (penalizing or dropping noncompliant suppliers and rewarding more compliant ones). The book looks at the current state and future trajectory of this form of private regulation.