The Impact of CEO Duality and Financial Performance on CSR Disclosure: Empirical Evidence from State-Owned Enterprises in China

: This paper studies the effects of a firm’s financial performance (FP) and chief executive officer’s (CEO) duality on the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the context of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) among Chinese A-share-registered companies. The results depict a negative relationship between CEO duality and CSR disclosure. Our results demonstrate that better-performing firms disclose CSR information more frequently and of higher quality compared with firms with poor financial performance. This role of financial performance in the quality of CSR disclosure is generally valuable in public enterprises; however, it is relatively sluggish in state-owned enterprises The outcomes indicate that the dual leadership structure reduces assessments and renders CEOs less liable to their stakeholders. Therefore, this study offers valuable information and details for regulators to improve corporate governance and CSR from the perspective of stakeholder theory.

What Does a Systems Approach to Quality Improvement Look Like in Practice?

Universally improving healthcare systems is difficult to achieve in practice with organisations implementing a range of quality improvement (QI) approaches, in varying and changing contexts, and efforts ranging from project-based improvements to whole system change. This study aimed to identify how organisations overcome the challenges to improving the quality of the services they deliver. Drawing on the eight challenges from the ‘Quality and Safety in Europe by Research (QUASER) hospital guide, we assessed eight cases reported by the UK-based regulator Care Quality Commission as improving their performance. A thematic analysis of these secondary data established that all eight challenges had been addressed or considered in varying degrees. Education and physical and technological challenges seemed less prominent than developments made to address other challenges such as developing leadership, structure, and culture to support improving quality. This paper relies on the analysis of secondary case data and one framework to assess improvement efforts. Further research is required to consider other models and frameworks and to collate longitudinal data to capture the dynamics and increasing the maturity of improving healthcare systems in practice.

IJTIHAD POLITIK KYAI: PERGESERAN OTORITAS KHR. ACH. FAWAID AS’AD SITUBONDO

This study found that the relationship between santri and kyai is a pattern of emotional relations such as the feudal system. Kyai has three pillars. They are the mass base as a pattern of social structure, the ulama base as a leadership structure and the cultural base as a scientific basis. However, these three pillars have experienced a shift due to the kyai's entry into practical politics due to his political ijtihad. This shift places the authority of the kyai from a spiritual teacher (central position) to a politician (peripheral position). In this case, the kyai is still obeyed when he is in a central position as a spiritual teacher and not obeyed when his position is marginal as a politician. Of course, this becomes an authority dilemma as experienced by kyai Fawaid who is directly involved in practical politics. The involvement of kyai Fawaid in politics does not belong to the opportunist category but is a form of concern for carrying out the commands of ma'ruf nahi munkar in social transformation. Kyai Fawaid's political ijtihad was strongly influenced by the habituation of Islamic boarding schools based on fiqh. Habituation here is to create a political situation and condition (persistence life situation) through a process of internalization and habituation in accordance with the values ​​of the pesantren, not to be carried away by the flow of political habituation which is always pragmatic and materialistic. The result of his Ijitihad that winning in politics by deception must be abandoned and losing in the right way must be maintained. Thus, the findings of this study can invalidate the theory from the results of research that has been carried out by Ernst Utrecht, Mochtar Naim, Daneli Lev, Justus van der Kroef, Arnold Brackman and Munir Mulkan, where they say that kyai or pesantren of Nahdlatul Ulama who participate politics are opportunists.

The Role of Board Leadership Structure in Firm Governance

Boards of directors are governing bodies that reside at the apex of the modern corporation. Boards monitor the behavior of firm management, provide managers access to knowledge, expertise, and external networks, and serve as advisors and sounding boards for the CEO. Board attributes such as board size and independence, director demographics, and firm ownership have all been studied as antecedents of effective board functioning and, ultimately, firm performance. Steady progress has been made toward understanding how boards influence firm outcomes, but several key questions about board leadership structure remain unresolved. Research on board leadership structure encompasses the study of board chairs, lead independent directors, and board committees. Board chair research indicates that when held by competent individuals, this key leadership position has the potential to contribute to efficient board functioning and firm performance. Researchers have found conflicting evidence regarding CEO duality, the practice of the CEO also serving as the board chair. The effect of this phenomenon—once ubiquitous among U.S. boards—ranges widely based on circumstances such as board independence, CEO power, and/or environmental conditions. Progressively, however, potential negative consequences of CEO duality proposed by agency theory appear to be counterbalanced by other governance mechanisms and regulatory changes. A popular mechanism for a compromise between the benefits of CEO duality and independent monitoring is to establish the role of a lead independent director. Although research on this role is in its early stage, results suggest that when implemented properly, the lead independent director can aid board monitoring without adding confusion to a unified chain of command. Board oversight committees, another key board leadership mechanism, improve directors’ access to information, enhance decision-making quality by allowing directors to focus on specialized topics outside of board meetings, and increase the speed of response to critical matters. Future research on the governance roles of boards, leadership configurations, and board committees is likely to explore theories beyond agency and resource dependence, as well as rely less on collecting archival data and more on finding creative ways to access rarely examined board interactions, such as board and committee meetings and executive sessions.

Change Laboratory Workshops as Tools for Improving Learner Leadership in Schools: A Researcher-Interventionist Approach

The purpose of this study was to engage learners and teachers with the aim of developing leadership potential and improving the leadership capacity and capabilities of the learner leaders through mainly Change Laboratory Workshops, which were conducted with the Learner Representative Council (LRC) members, at a public secondary school in the Oshana Region, Namibia. The study was guided by the following main question: How can learner leadership structure be improved in schools? The researchers used a researcher-interventionist approach to implement measures for improving learner leadership, guided by the ideals of the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), as a theoretical lens through which the researchers made interventions for improving learner leadership at school. Empirically, the study made use of a qualitative research methodology carried out through a case study design. The population consisted of teachers and learners of the case study school. The data was collected by questionnaires, interviews, document analysis, observation and journaling. The data was analysed thematically, interpreted and discussed inductively.

The State of Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Nigeria: A Case Study of Durumi Camp in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria

This Investigation was conducted among a small group of IDP population living at the heart of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, which is the capital city of Nigeria. The study was conducted to determine the living conditions of Internally Displaced Persons in the Camp and their access to basic amenities as action research. It was conducted through an unstructured interview of the sampled population in the Camp to source relevant information. Data was collected by taking notes and recording of interview sessions. Results revealed that 2830 individuals live in the camp, mostly in family units. IDPs in the camp come from the Northeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria in the states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, with the majority of them from Borno state. They were all displaced as a result of insurgency. This IDP camp is organized with a leadership structure and defined system for the management of amenities such as the health clinic, water supply, allocation of shelter, and sharing of donated items received from philanthropists, the private sector, and other well-wishers. The camp has running water, a clinic for basic health care provision, a borehole, toilet facilities, a store for foodstuff and a security post within 500 metres to 1 kilometre of the Camp.

Tree structures are employed by pigeons as leadership structures to flock

Collective behaviors displaying a variety of fascinating movement patterns are thought to be products of complex interplay among individuals. Previous studies have proposed the hierarchical leadership networks and the coexistence of compromise and leadership in pigeon flocks, but these conclusions have not been confirmed by theoretical or modeling studies. Here, based on the same datasets, using a more reasonable research route, we found a more concise leadership structure in pigeon flocks. i.e., the tree structure, which was verified by our modeling studies. We showed that each individual may follow its only pilot (leader) during collective flights of pigeon flocks, and the only top leader of a certain flock determines the flight direction of the whole flock. Our results confirmed the leadership hypothesis, denying the illusion of compromise between individuals at the same level. The findings shed light on the hierarchical leadership structure in pigeon flocks and have implications for artificial collective systems, e.g., autonomous formation control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles.

The Impact of Female Directors on Board, and Female CEO on Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Emerging Economy

Purpose: As per agency theory prospective, board gender diversity enhances the corporate leadership structure which mitigates agency conflicts among stakeholders. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of female directors on board, and female CEOs on firm performance. We also uses board size, and board independence as board level control, while leverage, firm size, capital expenditure & tangibility as firm level control. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study uses a panel data starting from 2005 to 2020 on annual basis. To resolve endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity problems in panel data analysis, study uses static (fixed effect, & random effect) and dynamic (GMM) estimation techniques in Pakistan. Findings: Result shows the positive impact of female directors on board and female CEOs on firm performance. These findings are robust under alternative measures of firm performance. Implications/Originality/Value: The study suggests that female representation and female CEOs are the important attributes to enhance firm performance. Additionally, females are performing a significant role through monitor and control for excellent corporate leadership structure. Furthermore, this is the first study of its kind which analyzes this relationship in the emerging equity market of Pakistan.