Browse
Recent Submissions
Publication The Journey of Corporate Diversity in Tribal Times: Corporate Communities of Aspiration in MAPFRE(Springer Nature, 2018-05-31) Anca, Celia de; Aragón, Salvador; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Understanding diversity and its connection with identity in global organizations is particularly relevant at this moment in history, often described as tribal and whose driving force takes the form of a collective mindset, as illustrated by many terms that have recently entered into currency: co-creation, co-working, co-thinking or co-financing, along with working collectively, all key elements in the new forms of economic activity. The first step to correctly manage diversity is to understand what it means, as well as understand the different types of diversity that can be found in global organizations. This is covered in the first part of this chapter. We then move to the relationship between diversity and identity. Understanding identities helps us to use the existing tools correctly to effectively include diversity in corporate life. Next, we define how diversity fits in the new tribal context and how companies can use the emerging collective mindset as a driving force. The concept of collective individualism can help companies balance our desire for community with our individual needs. Finally, we describe the case of Spanish insurance company, MAPFRE, as an illustration of how corporate communities of aspiration can become a powerful tool for companies to channel the power of diversity into innovative energy.Publication Fintech in Islamic finance: From collaborative finance to community-based finance(Routledge, 2019) Anca, Celia de; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75This chapter analyses several fundamental aspects of fintech solutions in Islamic finance. It discusses the new collaborative economy and the sociological elements behind this new form of collective economic relationships. The chapter explores collaborative fintech and new forms of technology-driven financial intermediation solutions being launched in the market between capital holders and capital seekers. It explains the opportunities and challenges for Islamic finance. The Islamic financial industry is young, highly technological and with the excess liquidity required to finance innovation. The Islamic finance industry has reacted more quickly than its conventional counterparts, in two fundamental areas; developing innovation in its own capacity and partnering with new Shari‘ah-compliant fintech ventures. Fintech offers a way whereby new technologies can help channel Islamic principles to create a new generation of financial products that can satisfy the demands of future generations. Fintech is revolutionising the financial world through automated complex reasoning mechanisms and new technologies able to make more efficient decision-making procedures.Publication Digital platforms(Elgar Online, 2021-01-19) Cutolo, Donato; Vang, Jan; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Digital platforms have changed the conditions influencing entrepreneurship across the globe. Research has shown that context is critical in understanding how these platforms impact entrepreneurial endeavors. This chapter illustrates how context is critical in understanding and analyzing how digital platforms influence entrepreneurial opportunities. It suggests that digital platforms represent a new type of intersection between the global and the local, where global forces promote conditions of dependent entrepreneurship. In contrast, local forces shape entrepreneurs’ agency in relation to the global processes. We suggest that, to ensure fair competition and just working conditions for platform entrepreneurs and employees within the industry, there is a need for policies not being steered by techno-skeptical or techno-optimistic frameworks but by a balanced approach. Since Joseph Schumpeter at least, it has been recognized that entrepreneurs discover and create opportunities and build new independent firms (Alvarez and Barney, 2007; Audretsch, 2007). More recently, scholars such as Brynjolffson and McAfee (2016) have hailed entrepreneurship as a vital response to the increasing concerns about digitization’s impact on entrepreneurship and the future of work. The impact of digital platforms on entrepreneurship has emerged simultaneously with a recognition of the importance of context in generic entrepreneurship research. Researching context in relation to digital platforms provides a particular challenge to researchers owing to their simultaneous global and localized nature; the interplay between the global and the local is more complex than in most other industries given the high digital interconnectivity and limited footlessness for many types of transactions and activities. A request on, for example, Innocentive, the world’s leading problem-solving digital platform, can be promoted to potential problem-solvers across the globe at the same time.Publication Innodiversidad: La diversidad al servicio de la Innovación para navegar en tiempos turbulentos(Lo que no existe, 0202) Anca, Celia de; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75¿Por qué discriminar a quien opina distinto? ¿Cómo aprovechar el potencial de su pensamiento y de su experiencia? ¿Cómo utilizar esa diversidad convirtiéndola en ventaja competitiva para nuestra empresa? La rápida globalización está dando lugar a un despertar de identidades donde las personas diferentes quieren ser reconocidas y valoradas. Somos diferentes, es inevitable y es bueno. Sin la diversidad no tendríamos variedad de respuestas, el grupo no se beneficiaría de la creatividad de la persona y la persona tampoco lo haría del progreso del grupo. Personas pertenecientes a organizaciones y empresas privadas comparten en este libro su saber teórico y su experiencia abordando aspectos relativos a la gestión de la diversidad y la inclusión. Gracias a ellas y ellos obtenemos un retrato de la situación actual y una guía cuyo propósito es ayudarnos a progresar como empresas y sociedad, aprovechando el talento único de cada individuo.Publication Bobby Baker: la normalización y el espacio público(Genueve Ediciones, 2019) Zarza García Arena, Clara; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75¿Cómo afectan las prácticas artísticas a los entornos y las personas que los realizan? Tiempos de habitar se proponen como una utopía concreta, siguiendo la formulación de Ernst Bloch, una utopía que se cumple en su propio inacabamiento, lugares intermedios de reflexión práctica a través del encuentro con lo otro y los otros, un tiempo de suspensión para replantear las posibilidades del ejercicio artístico como herramienta pública. El objetivo de este libro es investigar desde diversos contextos artísticos, económicos y regionales de Latinoamérica y Europa de qué manera las prácticas artísticas pueden crear esfera pública, generar otros entornos habitables desde lo performativo y proponer otros ámbitos de sociabilidad desde lo artístico. La práctica artística es un espacio de investigación que rompe lógicas ya asumidas y contiene una posibilidad de libertad creativa de procedimientos para descubrir nuevas vías no predeterminadas de investigación. “Sin embargo —como afirma Diego Agulló, uno de los autores de este volumen—, no existe garantía alguna de ir caminando hacia el lugar correcto, en todo momento se trata de un experimento, un ensayo y error en constante renegociación. No se puede pretender saber qué mundo queremos sin ponerlo en juego desde el hacer, desde el estar ya desde siempre haciendo mundo con lo otro”.Publication The Journey of Corporate Diversity in Tribal Times: Corporate Communities of Aspiration in MAPFRE(Springer, 2018-05-31) Anca, Celia de; Aragón, Salvador; Iñiguez, Santiago; Ichijo, Kazuo; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Understanding diversity and its connection with identity in global organizations is particularly relevant at this moment in history, often described as tribal and whose driving force takes the form of a collective mindset, as illustrated by many terms that have recently entered into currency: co-creation, co-working, co-thinking or co-financing, along with working collectively, all key elements in the new forms of economic activity. The first step to correctly manage diversity is to understand what it means, as well as understand the different types of diversity that can be found in global organizations. This is covered in the first part of this chapter. We then move to the relationship between diversity and identity. Understanding identities helps us to use the existing tools correctly to effectively include diversity in corporate life. Next, we define how diversity fits in the new tribal context and how companies can use the emerging collective mindset as a driving force. The concept of collective individualism can help companies balance our desire for community with our individual needs. Finally, we describe the case of Spanish insurance company, MAPFRE, as an illustration of how corporate communities of aspiration can become a powerful tool for companies to channel the power of diversity into innovative energy.Publication Indicadores comentados sobre el estado del sistema educativo español 2024(2024) Scarlat, Elvira; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Esta décima edición dedica un capítulo especial al informe PISA y cuenta también con los comentarios de un amplio grupo de expertos que comentan aspectos significativos de nuestro sistema de educación y formación.Publication Connectivity in the Virtual Office Space: Catalyst or Impediment to TMT Agility?(Springer, 2022) Scarlat, Elvira; Neacsu, Ionela; M. Elvira, Marta; Rodríguez-Lluesma, Carlos; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75In today’s fast-paced and uncertain business landscape, coping with technology developments, increased demand for innovative products, and competitive shifts require top management teams (TMTs) to respond to these challenges with increasingly higher levels of agility. Given the recent rise of ICT in business communication, in this conceptual paper we build on the attention-based view of the firm to shed light on the impact of ICT in shaping the TMT agility. We discuss how ICT can either enhance or impair TMT agility, and identify TMT- and firm-level contingencies that boost the interplay between the two concepts.Publication When the Cloud Runs out of its Silver Lining(Routledge, 2020-07-27) Ravindran, Kiron; Gonzalez Muñoz, Juan Manuel; van den Bergh, Alex; Beulen, Erik; Ribbers, Pieter; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Cloud computing services are central to most organizations’ IT portfolio. Adopting a cloud computing strategy typically involves a one-way migration of IT skills and capabilities out of the organization. Therefore, it is interesting to observe what happens when organizations wish to end such engagements. Based on a survey of Spanish firms, we list some key insights on software as a service (SaaS) contracts in comparison to contracts containing Application development and maintenance and others containing hardware services. We find that satisfaction levels are generally high and premature termination is lower in the case of SaaS contracts compared to application development and hardware contracts. Post-termination, the typical strategy is to move to new external providers. Termination is associated with vendors’ service quality rather than relationship management. Unlike in the case of application or hardware contracts, SaaS contracts do not appear to suffer from the challenges of know-how transfer.Publication Mecanismos de democracia directa en la República Federal de Alemania: una aproximación a la iniciativa revocatoria en el ámbito local(Aranzadi, 2023) Arias, Sonsoles; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75La iniciativa ciudadana vinculada al referéndum es la facultad atribuida a un número de ciudadanos o a un porcentaje de ellos para instar la celebración de un referéndum sobre una cuestión política de interés general o sobre un texto normativo, remitiendo al cuerpo electoral la decisión sobre su oportunidad, su aprobación o su abrogación normativa. Este tipo de iniciativa fue ideada por Condorcet e incorporada a la Constitución francesa de 1793, pero cayó en el olvido hasta que tiempo después fue recuperada en Suiza y, bajo el empuje del movimiento progresista, en varios estados de los EEUU. Y, a partir de su experiencia, se fue extendiendo en el derecho comparado, especialmente en los últimos años, al punto de integrar hoy el acervo constitucional de un buen número de democracias que la regulan y practican en diversos niveles de gobierno. En este libro se estudia la regulación de las diversas modalidades de iniciativa ciudadana vinculada al referéndum y se valora la funcionalidad de impulso o contrapeso que pueden desempeñar en las democracias representativas. Los autores analizan la iniciativa popular de referéndum sobre reformas constitucionales (constitutucional initiative), la iniciativa propositiva de referéndum sobre leyes (legislative initiative), las iniciativas de referéndums sobre decisiones de transcendencia nacional (agenda initiative), de ratificación referendaria de leyes y de abrogación de leyes en vigor (abrogative initiative) y también la iniciativa de revocación de mandatos (recall initiative) en su vertiente individual y colectiva. En cada una de estas modalidades se abordan los principales aspectos de su formalización jurídica: la determinación del número de ciudadanos legitimados, la selección de las materias susceptibles de iniciativa (o de los mandatos objeto de recall), el control de su admisibilidad, su procedimiento de ejercicio y la determinación de sus consecuencias jurídico-políticas.Publication El peso de la deslealtad en la configuración del referéndum autonómico(Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, 2021) Arias, Sonsoles; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75[No abstract available]Publication A Blueprint on global legal Education. The European perspective(Springer Nature Singapore, 2022-07-14) Arias, Sonsoles; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75This chapter is based on the report “Blueprint on global legal education” by the International Bar Association and the Law Schools Global League that outlines the main trends and challenges that legal education faces globally. In this chapter, the coordinators of the report describe the quantitative and qualitative research methodology used to develop the report and reach the conclusions from the analysis, including the main key trends, challenges and opportunities emerging globally in current legal education, with a particular focus on Continental Europe. The key trends identified in global legal education include internationalization, technology and the development of new skills, while one of the main challenges identified is the regulation of legal education and the legal profession, an aspect that could hinder internationalization and innovation. Special mention should be made of legal education in the COVID-19 era. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, new challenges in legal education have arisen and need to be addressed.Publication Legal Clinic de IE University(Aranzadi, 2022) Arias, Sonsoles; Sánchez Fernández, Sara; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Con esta obra se pretende dar a conocer qué se hace y cómo se trabaja en las Clínicas jurídicas, cuya cifra va aumentando cada año. En ella han participado más de cincuenta autores en un total de veintinueve capítulos con proyectos en los que está muy presente la función social de las universidades y cuya esencia transciende de lo convencional. En definitiva, por sus propias características, esta obra se convierte en un referente jurídico para todo profesional que quiera romper una lanza en favor de la justicia social y la defensa de los derechos humanos.Publication Separation of Powers and Executive Clemency in the Civil Law World(Routledge, 2020) Arias, Sonsoles; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75This chapter examines comparatively the executive clemency laws of several unitary and federal civil law systems, namely Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, and Spain. It aims to compare and contrast different constitutional and legislative executive clemency mechanisms in correlation with specific separation of powers models. Executive clemency, sometimes known as the power to pardon or the prerogative of mercy, occupies an ever-present place in modern constitutional documents around the world. The power to pardon falls within the constitutional competence of the president. The Constitution of the French Fifth Republic was adopted in 1958, establishing a semi-presidential system of separation of powers. The power of the president to pardon such a crime and such a prisoner within a democracy where the rule of law prevailed was questioned at length by the media. The modern power to grant clemency falls within executive competence.Publication Mechanisms of Accountability and Governance: Audit, Assurance, and Internal Control(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023-09-12) Trombetta, Marco; Carrera, Nieves; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75We adopt a historical perspective to understand the current landscape of accountability and governance mechanisms. In adopting assurance as the umbrella concept for audit and internal control, we explore how the notion of accountability ("accountability for what") and the beneficiaries of corporate accountability ("accountability to whom") have changed over time, leading to the re-definition of "old" mechanisms of accountability and governance and the development of new mechanisms ("accountability through"). We then provide an overview of recent studies examining how these mechanisms contribute to accountability and governance. We show that the recent trend of combining traditional financial reporting with other reporting activities in an integrated report is questioning the traditional boundaries among the three mechanisms, challenging the attempts to compartmentalize them ("combined assurance"). The chapter concludes by proposing a taxonomy as a tool to help conceptually organize the recent debates on assurance, audit, and internal control practices.Publication Exploring three sets of issues(Taylor & Francis Group, 2023-05-11) Delerue, François; Cristiano, Fabio; Broeders, Dennis; Douzet, Frédérick; Géry, Aude; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Over the past three decades, cyberspace developed into a crucial frontier and issue of international conflict. However, scholarly work on the relationship between AI and conflict in cyberspace has been produced along somewhat rigid disciplinary boundaries and an even more rigid sociotechnical divide – wherein technical and social scholarship are seldomly brought into a conversation. This is the first volume to address these themes through a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary approach. With the intent of exploring the question ‘what is at stake with the use of automation in international conflict in cyberspace through AI?’, the chapters in the volume focus on three broad themes, namely: (1) technical and operational, (2) strategic and geopolitical and (3) normative and legal. These also constitute the three parts in which the chapters of this volume are organised, although these thematic sections should not be considered as an analytical or a disciplinary demarcation.Publication Contribuciones del Análisis Económico del Derecho de Sociedades(Tirant lo blanch, 2018) Marcos, Francisco; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75El propósito de este artículo es dar cuenta de las principales aportaciones que el análisis económico del Derecho (AED) ha hecho en el estudio e investigación del Derecho de sociedades en España. Seguramente, el principal aporte ha consistido en enfatizar el carácter contractual de las sociedades de capital, pero también ha proporcionado herramientas y perspectivas distintas para resolver los tradicionales problemas y típicos conflictos societarios.Publication Consumer protection in the metaverse(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024-08-23) Elizalde, Francisco de; European Union’s Erasmus+; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75This Research Handbook analyses the role of law in a universe fractured by new disruptive technologies such as metaverse platforms. Contributing authors explore how the law will adapt as new dimensions of the metaverse are introduced to issues such as intellectual property rights, e-commerce, NFTs and cryptocurrencies, data privacy, contract law, as well as human rights, consumer law and criminal law. The abuse and manipulation of users is studied in several contributions.Publication Governance Through Ownership and Sustainable Corporate Governance(Oxford Research Encyclopedias, 2022-03-23) Goergen, Marc; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Sustainable corporate governance has been defined as corporate governance that ensures corporations are run in such a way that they are sustainable over the long term. Note that for corporations to be sustainable in the long run, they need to ensure the preservation, as well as possibly the enhancement, of their ecosystem. This not only includes establishing and maintaining good relations with their shareholders and stakeholders but also preserving their environment. Here, the term environment should be understood as taking on a broader meaning. Indeed, corporations preserving their environment should not be reduced to mere environmentalism but they should also operate in harmony with the broader economic and social system. Put differently, sustainable corporate governance should also ensure that corporations are run in such a way to avoid future crises, such as the Great Recession. This would require a move away from business models that focus on short-term shareholder value while endangering the survival of the corporation over the long term. Whereas much of the existing literature suggests that corporations should merely maximize shareholder value and that a stakeholder approach will result in vague and often contradictory objectives for the management, long-term shareholder value creation is nevertheless compatible with the corporation looking after the interests of its immediate, as well as possibly more remote, stakeholders. Ultimately, sustainable business practices will not only benefit the corporation’s employees, customers, and the broader society but also its owners. The key question that arises is whether there is a link between various types of owners and sustainable corporate governance. A number of related questions emerge. What different types of owners are there and how influential are they in putting their stamp on how their investee firms are managed? Attempting to answer these questions requires revisiting the premise of the principal-agent theory that owners are typically disinterested from engaging with their investee firms. The main critique of this premise is that, even within the Anglo-Saxon corporate governance system, firms tend to have block holders, and there exist activist shareholders. Further, since the 1980s there has been an emergence - as well as an increase in the prevalence - of activist shareholders. Are some types of owners or shareholders more likely to enhance and maintain sustainability than others? A review of extant evidence on the effects of various types of shareholders on long-term financial and non-financial goals suggests the following. While some types of owners are found to promote and support sustainable corporate governance, the effect of other types is less clear or even negative. This difference in effects could be due to three reasons. First, context, including the national setting, is important. Second, some types of investors, such as sovereign wealth funds, show great diversity in their characteristics and objectives. Finally, the goalposts are shifting with an increasing number of investors embracing corporate social responsibility and environmental, social, and governance issues. Importantly, given the increasingly visible consequences of global warming and societal unrest caused by a worsening of wealth inequality, the transition to a more sustainable society should not merely be the responsibility of corporate owners. Others, including corporate executives and business schools, are key to achieving this transition.Publication Private Equity and Employment(2012-01-01) Goergen, Marc; O’Sullivan, Noel; Wood, Geoffrey; Springer International Publishing; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75Private equity houses are normally structured in the form of private partnerships, with the silent partners, typically institutional investors and the odd wealthy individuals providing the financing, while the general partners choose the firms to be acquired. The general managers charge a fixed management fee for their efforts and they also receive a percentage of the profits – confusingly called carried interest – when the private equity house exits an investee firm. Investee firms are typically acquired through debt finance with a fairly minor share of the financing being in the form of equity (Brealey et al. 2022). Private equity acquisitions – or for that matter, even for the growing number of firms where private equity merely takes a minority stake – may have quite profound effects not only on financial performance but also on the long-term sustainability of the firm, and indeed, on a wide range of stakeholders, most notably employees (Goergen 2022)....