Boosting or Hindering Aid Effectiveness? An Assessment of Systems for Measuring Donor Agency Results

Amid rising criticism of aid effectiveness coupled with tight budgets in many donor countries at a time of economic crisis, donor agencies are under pressure to deliver value for money and to demonstrate development results. In response to these pressures, more and more donor agencies are adopting standard indicators, which allow for results to be aggregated across interventions and countries, in order to report agency‐wide results. This article analyses the reporting practices of eleven bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and assesses the implications of agency‐wide results measurement systems for aid effectiveness. The analysis shows that the data on aggregate results provided by donor agencies is only of limited informational value and does not provide an adequate basis for holding donor agencies to account. Moreover, reporting on agency‐wide results may have a number of adverse effects. Given the various limitations and risks identified in this article, I suggest that donor agencies should explore complementary options or alternatives to standard indicators in order to meet their reporting requirements. Donor agencies are advised to invest more in rigorous impact evaluations and to raise the transparency of individual interventions. © 2016 The Authors. Public Administration and Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Working with boards: The experiences of Australian managers in performing arts organisations

Corporate governance has long been a feature of the arts and cultural sector and is a requirement for all cultural organisations seeking public funding, regardless of their size. However, despite the ubiquity of corporate governance in the arts and cultural sector, there is little research addressing the experiences of managers. This study examines the experiences of managers in performing arts organisations in working with their boards, based on data collected across 20 performing arts organisations in Australia using a stakeholder salience lens. Our results indicate that while the board is seen as a key organisational stakeholder, managers have a range of concerns about the governance role of boards, and in particular their limited effectiveness on the dimensions of legitimacy and urgency. We find that arts managers often must wrestle with competing agendas around creative autonomy and the low‐risk appetite of their management boards. Our findings highlight the need to re‐align, particularly in small‐ and medium‐sized organisations, the organisational needs of arts managers with corporate governance arrangements, without detracting from creative endeavours.     

Ethics in the workplace

The right to request flexible working has been introduced into the UK employment laws against a background of post-fordist work practices, which already allow for employer rather than employee flexibility. This paper posits the idea that for the individual employee to benefit from these new rights what is required is the situation of dialogues within the workplace that take place in an ethical frame that recognises the employee as an individual.

深化广西国企改革关键是完善法人治理结构

文章从研究广西国企法人治理结构所处的困境出发,探索研究建立现代企业法人治理结构需要解决的问题。首先必须解决理论认识问题,走出建立法人治理结构的理论困境。其次从实践上引入资本所有权多元化结构,建立以股建制的法人结构和人力资本结构的激励机制及约束机制。     

对企业文化建设的几点认识

企业发展必须重视企业文化的作用。企业文化建设应当结合本企业实际,潜心研究,大胆实践,努力探索适应企业发展的道路。     

由韩国的企业结构调整看经济改革方向

韩国企业自金融危机后 ,为适应经营环境的变化 ,正在进行结构调整。企业结构调整包括几个方面 ,即改善所有权结构与支配结构 ,灵活运用社外理事制度 ,扩大小额股东的权力 ,充分发挥机构投资者的作用 ,改善会计监察制度 ,加强对企业的监督。同时 ,今后韩国企业的发展方向是减少信贷经营 ,充实自有资本 ,设立控股公司负责企业总体规划 ,子公司专心从事企业经营 ,从而全面提高企业的经营效率。     

Corporate Groups under Italian Law: A Comparative Approach and the Brand-New “Crisis Code”

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of the harmonization process of European law in the field of group of companies, referring to the development of a national “group of companies law” — from the company law reform to the crisis and insolvency code — with the purpose of examining the main aspects of the regulation in force, considering mainly the possible interaction with the rules on the crisis of the groups of companies introduced by the Legislative Decree No. 14/2019, and with the aim of analyzing its suitability for being devoted to the prospect of harmonization across countries.     

Influence of eco-product innovation and firm reputation on corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage: A mediation-moderation analysis

Eco-product innovation is a response to environmental legislation and social responsibility movements. Established agricultural manufacturers must figure out how to use green ideas and reputation to compete for business excellence. This study adopted a knowledge-based approach to examine corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage. This study also examined how eco-product innovation and reputation affect firms' competitive advantage. The proposed model was tested on 427 Nigerian agro-allied manufacturers using causal pathways and structural equation modeling. Business competition is directly and indirectly affected by corporate social responsibility, eco-product innovations, and firm reputation. Additionally, eco-product innovation partially mediated the nexus between corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage, while reputation moderated the influence of eco-product innovation. The findings suggest that manufacturers pursuing green initiatives should strive to participate in an eco-friendly competition and deal with policy pressures in order to meet environmental standards. Overall, this study adds the environment and business competition to the idea of innovation.     

An integrated approach to corporate due diligence from a human rights,environmental, and TWAIL perspective

Ten years since the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, we have witnessed an increasing trend in Europe toward the adoption of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. Focusing on due diligence legislation from France, Germany, Norway, and the EU, this article examines the extent to which these laws are laying the foundations for the articulation of an integrated, comprehensive, and robust framework that effectively fosters corporate accountability through preventing, addressing, and remedying corporate-related human rights and environmental harms. In this examination, we draw on international human rights and environmental standards and Third World Approaches to International Law, to identify the lessons learned from current approaches and that ought to be considered in future frameworks.     

Issue opacity and sustainability standard effectiveness

Many voluntary sustainability standards govern opaque environmental and social issues, which are difficult to understand and address. Extant studies show mixed evidence around the effectiveness of such standards. We develop a theoretical framework that relates different degrees and types of opacity to standard effectiveness. Systemic opacity results from issues embedded in complex, diverse, and dynamic settings, whereas behavioral opacity stems from human challenges in interpreting and acting upon focal issues. Rigid sustainability standards, oriented toward compliance, are effective for addressing issues that are transparent or enshrouded by behavioral opacity, but are counterproductive for issues with systemic opacity. The trade-off between rigidity and flexibility leads to optimal effectiveness when standards governing systemically and behaviorally opaque issues are moderately rigid. Our ideas are illustrated with two leading sustainability standards in the fisheries and real estate sectors, which effectively address transparent issues but show limited success when facing opacity. We conclude that unpacking issue opacity is instrumental in designing and implementing more effective sustainability standards.