In the EU, most large firms use e-business applications, such as enterprise resource planning and online procurement. Based on e-business watch data for EU-4 (Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom) we find that the actual use of enterprise resource planning and online procurement is...

In the EU, most large firms use e-business applications, such as enterprise resource planning and online procurement. Based on e-business watch data for EU-4 (Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom) we find that the actual use of enterprise resource planning and online procurement is...

We investigate the association between the media coverage of firms' CEO pay packages and subsequent shareholder voting on say-on-pay resolutions, and find that negative media coverage is able to predict shareholder discontent over say on pay. When we divide media coverage into coverage in the...

The competitive dynamics of the UK's Creative Industries has changed considerably over the past decade and perhaps none more so than in the Publishing Industry. There is no doubt that this industry continues to undergo structural changes that compel firms to adapt and transform their business in...

This paper assesses whether reducing ‘readability' is an effective obfuscation strategy for influencing the level of shareholder say-on-pay voting dissent in firms with excessive CEO pay. Based on a sample of UK-listed firms, our results indicate that in cases of excessive CEO pay, a less...

The paper reviews the current state of employee ownership in Britain. It discusses the various forms of employee ownership, highlighting trust-owned, directly-owned, and hybrid forms. It then considers the influences on the development of employee ownership, finding that political support is the...

This paper provides new evidence on the relationship between management practices and firm performance. We interviewed managers of 190 randomly selected manufacturing plants in the UK and matched their responses with official business microdata. We find that climate friendly management practices...

The question of how an individual firm's social and environmental performance impacts its firm risk has not been examined in any empirical UK research. Does a company that strives to attain good environmental performance decrease its market risk or is environmental performance just a...

We study the impact of and reward to middle management ability using data from 245 stores of a nationwide retailer. The company scores six broad areas of management practice, the most important of which turns out to be "commercial awareness", where able managers raise labour productivity by 17%...

Since governments are the largest buyers globally, they have enormous purchasing power. Government purchasing, therefore, has potential to be leveraged to improve social outcomes, such as helping disadvantaged communities, ensuring labor rights, and minimizing negative environmental impacts....