Recent Submissions

  • Triggers, content, and enforcement: directors’ duties to creditors – where are we after Sequana?

    Walton, Peter (University of Wolverhampton, 2024-12-31)
    Despite their codification by the Companies Act 2006, there remain several unresolved issues in relation to directors’ duties, in particular, how those duties operate when a company becomes insolvent or where its insolvency is imminent. In 2022, the Supreme Court in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA provided much needed clarity in this area but some questions remain unanswered. This article looks at the Supreme Court’s decision in order to assess when the directors’ duty owed to their company shifts from a duty to act in the best interests of the company’s members to one where the interests of the company’s creditors are paramount or at minimum must be considered alongside the interests of the members. The nature of this ‘creditors’ duty’ will be considered, along with what triggers it and who, if anyone, can enforce it. Although limited to the duty under section172 of the Companies Act 2006, the Sequana case appears to open up the creditors’ duty to all of the directors’ codified duties. The Sequana decision also points out the similarities between the creditors’ duty and the insolvency office-holder actions available under sections 214 and 239 of the Insolvency Act 1986. It is argued here that it may be time to consider opening up the opportunity for creditors to bring a derivative action on behalf of the company for breach of the creditors’ duty.
  • Misogyny in music: actors, business and law

    Bain, Vick; Potočnik, Metka; Arditi, David M.; Nolan, Ryan C. (Palgrave, 2024-12-31)
  • The Bayeux Tapestry: new yarns

    Black, Daisy (Brepols, 2024-12-31)
  • Companies, damned companies and statistics – corporate insolvency through the years: have we got it right with the existing regimes?

    Keay, Andrew; Walton, Peter (Lloyds List Intelligence, 2024-12-31)
    When companies experience insolvency, they may well enter a formal insolvency regime provided for under statute. This paper examines the statistics that have been gathered in relation to company insolvencies in England and Wales and it focuses on the number of all of the formal corporate insolvency regimes that have been available for insolvent companies since records were first kept in 1960. A way to assess whether a policy approach has been successful is to consider changes in the use of formal regimes over time. The aim of the paper is to analyse the statistics, and then to ascertain what can be learned from the statistics as far as the employment of the regimes is concerned.
  • ‘Implacable enemies’? The Labour Party and the intelligence community in 1920s Britain

    Kassimeris, George; Price, Oliver (Taylor & Francis, 2024-01-12)
    The 1920s marked the first decade in which the Labour Party and the British intelligence community had to work closely together. Their relations during this period, which were often strained, have come to be defined by the Zinoviev letter affair. Allegations that intelligence officials leaked the Zinoviev letter to bring down the Labour government in 1924 have persisted for the last century. Using documents that have been largely unexplored, this article argues that the Zinoviev affair was not an isolated incident. It uses two specific case studies to show that a small number of intelligence officials also leaked sensitive information, in the years before and after 1924, in an attempt to undermine and discredit prominent Labour Party figures. By analysing events in the years before and after the Zinoviev affair, the article illustrates how relations between the British state and the Labour Party fluctuated providing a fresh understanding of Labour Party-intelligence relations during the interwar years.
  • Deaf translators/interpreters’ renderings processes - the translation of oral languages

    Stone, Christopher (St. Jerome Publishing, 2007-01-29)
    The rendering of English to BSL within television settings provides us an opportunity to identify ways in which written languages are translated into oral languages (Ong 1982, Furniss 2004), using Kade’s definition (cited in Pöchhacker, 2004) as a starting point. The distribution of blinks is compared in Deaf and hearing Translator/Interpreters to illuminate the role of preparation and rehearsal. Think-aloud-protocols are used to explore whether differences between the two groups point to a contrast between translation and interpretation processes.
  • Emerging themes in the Identifying Successful STARTS Methodologies project and exhibition

    Doyle, Denise; Glover, Richard; Khechara, Martin; Groes, Sebastian (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 2023-07-31)
    In 2019 a team of multi-disciplinary researchers undertook a research project entitled Identifying Successful STARTS Methodologies (ISSM) (2019-2021) in order to analyze the innovative and collaborative strategies utilized by the global Science, Technology and Arts (STARTS) Prize Winners and nominees. The aim was to identify and articulate successful STARTS Methodologies through a series of interviews and in-depth case studies of the recognized projects. The project culminated in a series of case studies and an exhibition at the Made in Wolves Gallery at the University of Wolverhampton, UK, and further presented at the UK Garden of Earthly Delights at Ars Electronica in 2020. The project identified three emerging themes: the significance of building a new language of art and science through a third space, the process of anti-disciplinarity as an emergent form of practice, and the importance of different ways of knowing through art and science. A number of the case studies and themes are presented here alongside images from the exhibition.
  • Exploring contract cheating in further education: student engagement and academic integrity challenges

    Rahimi, Roya; Jones, Jenni; Bailey, Carol (Taylor & Francis, 2024-01-22)
    Contract cheating is a challenging problem facing higher and further education providers (HE and FE) worldwide. In the UK, contract cheating has been identified as a growing problem by the HEA and, more recently, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and the Department for Education. The high rate of contact cheating among students suggests that 8-9% of degrees awarded in the UK are unsafe. To address this issue, the current study with a new approach seeks to investigate student’s motivations, experiences, and rationale for using contract cheating from their point of view. Collected data has been subjected to content analysis and the findings show different phases and drivers in this process as follows: initial stage of connection and conversation, beginning stage of contracting, middle stage which is obtaining a guarantee for a pass and the final stage which includes payment and submission. This study will help increase awareness among UK academics and education providers about the processes involved in contract cheating and propose a set of recommendations for the future.
  • Shattering the ceiling: exploring culture and religion's impact on female empowerment in the Nigerian hospitality industry

    Rahimi, Roya; Ukachukwu, Amarachukwu (Emerald, 2024-02-26)
    Purpose This study addresses the persistent impact of patriarchal societal structures on women's empowerment in Nigeria, where social power, political authority, and autonomy continue to elude them. Despite advancements made by women in workplaces worldwide, gender inequalities prevail, particularly in the Nigerian hotel industry. Existing qualitative evidence on the intersection of gender, culture, and religion in shaping gender diversity and career progression within this industry remains limited. To address this gap, this study employs intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity frameworks to explore the influence of local cultures, religion, and gender practices on gender imbalances in three distinct cultural settings in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from in-depth interviews with thirty-eight hotel workers, this research provides original insights into their lived experiences, offering a deeper understanding of the narratives underlying gender inequality statistics. By delving beyond surface-level observations, this study uncovers the multifaceted dynamics that perpetuate gender imbalances. By examining the interplay between gender, culture, and religion, this research contributes to a nuanced comprehension of the factors that shape career trajectories in the Nigerian hotel industry. Findings The findings of this study reveal the enduring influence of patriarchal societal structures, highlighting the challenges faced by women in accessing social power, political authority, and autonomy. By extending intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity approaches, this research unveils the intricate stories that illustrate the underlying complexities of gender imbalances. In doing so, it fills critical gaps in the qualitative evidence surrounding gender diversity and career progression in the Nigerian hotel industry. Originality This study is original in its comprehensive examination of the intersection of gender, culture, and religion in the Nigerian hotel industry. It offers unique insights by conducting indepth interviews with thirty-eight hotel workers, unravelling the underlying factors contributing to gender imbalances. By extending intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity frameworks, it provides a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by women and highlights the need for tailored interventions to promote gender equality.
  • Misogyny in music: a feminist reading of performers' rights

    Potočnik, Metka; Bowrey, Kathy; Lai, Jessica (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024-12-31)
  • Sustainable development: the role of sustainability committees in achieving ESG targets

    Abdullah, Aso; Yamak, Sibel; Korzhenitskaya, Anna; Rahimi, Roya; McClellan, Jeanette (Wiley, 2023-10-24)
    This study investigating the impact of Sustainability Committee characteristics (SCCs) on Corporate Sustainability Performance (CSP) utilised environmental, social and governance (ESG) scoring. Based on secondary data obtained from Refinitiv, Fame and FTSE 150 databases, the sample consists of 112 non-financial companies from 2010-2018, thus, 926 firm-year observations. The results reveal a positive and significant relationship between organisational factors including firm size, profitability and firm age across combined ESG and Environmental scores. As for the sustainability committee characteristics, there is a positive association between frequency of committee meeting and age diversity with Governance scores and a negative relationship between frequency of committee meeting and environmental performance. The empirical finding shows these positive and negative relationships under the presence of focused and non-focused committees equally. Furthermore, the presence of focused or non-focused sustainability committees (SC) do appear to have an association with the overall CSP. Furthermore, this paper provides empirical evidence of the insignificant relationship of SCC with the sub-dimension of Social Performance, which contradicts our hypothesis and existing studies. Together with SCC’s weak associations with environment and governance dimensions this finding supports the argument that firms are actively using sustainability committees to create positive public image and reputation to protect legitimacy.
  • Toward 'Squire Horror' : Genesis 1972-1973

    Halligan, Benjamin (Routledge, 2023-10-09)
    Folk Horror theorisation has tended to shy away from what could be read (justifiably or otherwise) as misanthropy in the representation and uses of the folk (in the sense of common people) in its three origin films: Witchfinder General, The Wicker Man, and The Blood on Satan’s Claw. Such misanthropy chimed with conservative and reactionary political positions of the 1970s (with respect to immigration and the homegrown ‘underclass’) and was at odds with progressive developments in the critical methodologies of history disciplines. In considering this impasse, this chapter identifies the aristocratic/clerical-judicial figures who also appear in the three origin films and explores the idea that the horror seems generated by those of the upper rather than sub-proletariat classes. This reading, then, is termed ‘Squire Horror’. In order to undergo this exploration, a consideration of the concept of ‘folk’ of British folk music occurs-as re-worked in the early music and performances of Genesis. This chapter argues that Genesis, at this point, both embraced and made strange foundational folk notions, aligned to a mythical Victorian era, explored through its juvenilia and upper-class cultures. In performance, ‘The Musical Box’ adds a paedophilic context to the supernatural narrative of the recorded song, and represents an upending of notions of Victorian propriety and morality and advances the idea of an excavation of previously repressed secrets. This critical position on the Victorian upper classes and culture is considered in respect to the coming strategy of a renewed moralism on the part of the British Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher, via a ‘return to Victorian values’. In this respect, Squire Horror can be considered to critically engage with a key ideological discourse of the 1970s. The chapter concludes with a preliminary filmography of British Squire Horror, acknowledging that this grouping is not as strong or artistically coherent as Folk Horror filmographies.
  • Working with and embracing difference

    Jones, Jenni (Coach Magazine Global, 2023-09-01)
  • Mind the gap – a comparative analysis of (in-)congruences in HRD role perception

    Lundgren, Henriette; Stewart, Jim; Kah, Sally; Jones, Jenni; Poell, Rob F.; Hamlin, Robert; Scully-Russ, Ellen (Routledge, 2023-08-29)
    Inspired by role conceptualisations and calls to rethink and reshape activities and competences of professionally qualified HRD practitioners, we examine HRD’s role and its associated activities through established versions of role theory. We ask: To what extent is there congruence in role expectations of HRD practitioners and other stakeholders? We study this question by interviewing 71 HRD practitioners and non-HRD managers across 16 organisations in three countries (US/UK/NL) and by analysing their responses on HRD role expectations and perceptions, congruences and incongruences. We map our findings on a 2 × 2 matrix and find that only a small number of organisations see professional HRD practitioners as strategic partners; most organisations find themselves within a more operational HRD role definition, or somewhere ‘on the fence’, with mixed ideas of role perceptions. Yet, a few organisations struggle to find alignment on HRD’s strategic aspirations and how those play out in practice. While our findings highlight the progress that HRD practice has made towards strategic partnership, we conclude that many HRD practitioners struggle to gain a seat at the table. We close our paper by discussing implications for HRD practice and scholarship.
  • How well is HRD meeting the needs of those it is intending to serve? From diffusion to confusion

    Jones, Jenni; Kah, Sally (University Forum for Human Resource Development and the World Federation of People Management Associations, 2022-11-01)
    Human Resource Development (HRD) is broadly concerned with individual and organisational learning and development. However, it is unclear how well HRD is meeting the needs of those it intends to serve and how key stakeholders (i.e. HRD professionals, managers, employees) perceive this function in organisations. Underpinned by stakeholder theory, this study explored the perception of the HRD function from the perspectives of employees, managers, and HRD professionals in UK public and private sector organisations. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 30 participants across six organisations provided insights into the perceived role of HRD professionals. Employees and managers acknowledged HRD as a central focus for learning and development, but the HRD function is not perceived as strategic. HRD professionals, on the other hand, claimed that they have a strategic influence and add value through the employee life cycle. The differing views are centred on the perceived value, positioning, and responsiveness of the HRD role. Thus, a framework is developed to illustrate the tensions between HRD professionals and other critical stakeholders. Previous studies have provided extensive evidence of HRD's role and function. This study provides insights from the internal stakeholders on how HRD professionals and the HRD function meet their needs.
  • Technology assisted research assessment: Algorithmic bias and transparency issues

    Thelwall, Mike; Kousha, Kayvan (Emerald, 2023-10-02)
    Purpose: Technology is sometimes used to support assessments of academic research in the form of automatically generated bibliometrics for reviewers to consult during their evaluations or by replacing some or all human judgements. With Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is increasing scope to use technology to assist research assessment processes in new ways. Since transparency and fairness are widely considered important for research assessment and AI introduces new issues, this review investigates their implications. Design/methodology/approach: This articles reviews and briefly summarises transparency and fairness concerns in general terms and through the issues that they raise for various types of Technology Assisted Research Assessment (TARA). Findings: Whilst TARA can have varying levels of problems with both transparency and bias, in most contexts it is unclear whether it worsens the transparency and bias problems that are inherent in peer review. Originality: This is the first analysis that focuses on algorithmic bias and transparency issues for technology assisted research assessment.

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