Regulation of estuarine primary production by watershed rainfall and river flow

Enhanced phytoplankton production and algal blooms, symptoms of eutrophication, are frequently caused by elevated nutrient loading, usually as nitrogen, to coastal waters. This nitrogen is derived primarily from anthropogenic sources (urban, industrial, and agricultural) but is delivered to coastal waters through meteorological and hydrological means. We utilized a 4 yr monthly data set to investigate the effect of these upstream physical forces upon primary productivity of the Neuse River Estuary (North Carolina, USA), a large temperate coastal plain estuary. Our results indicate that the magnitude of estuarine primary production and the periodicity of algal blooms can be directly related to variations in upper watershed rainfall and its subsequent regulation of downstream river flow. Future changes in precipitation patterns for coastal regions may thus lead to substantial alterations in coastal primary productivity rates and patterns

Ethical and compliance-competence evaluation: a key element of sound corporate governance

Motivated by the ongoing post-Enron refocusing on corporate governance and the shift by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK to promoting compliance- competence within the financial services sector, this paper demonstrates how template analysis can be used as a tool for evaluating compliance-competence. Focusing on the ethical dimension of compliance-competence, we illustrate how this can be subjectively appraised. We propose that this evaluation technique could be utilised as a starting point in informing senior management of corporate governance issues and be used to monitor and demonstrate key compliance and ethical aspects of an institution to external stakeholders and regulators

Gender Diversity and Say‐on‐Pay: Evidence from UK Remuneration Committees

Empirical Research question/issue We examine whether the presence of women on the remuneration committee has an influence on say‐on‐pay voting. Research findings/insights Based on panel data from the UK's FTSE 350 firms from 2003 to 2015, we find that firms with women on the remuneration committee reduce shareholders’ dissent via say‐on‐pay. However, only firms with a critical mass of more than 30% women on this committee are more likely to have less shareholders’ dissent via say‐on‐pay (i.e. the presence of 30% women or less on this committee is not sufficient). Theoretical/academic implications Our results provide empirical evidence that the gender diversity of directors on the remuneration committee plays a significant role in shaping shareholders’ dissent via say‐on‐pay in the UK. Our results also provide empirical support for some of the previous studies that draw on critical mass theory that imply that women are more effective monitors when they make up a critical mass of more than 30%. Practitioner/policy implications Our results could provide regulators with evidence in favour of improving women's representation on UK remuneration committees. In addition, our results could help shareholders and nomination committee members understand the importance of having women on UK remuneration committees, as they are more likely to avoid suboptimal pay and align directors’ remuneration packages more closely with shareholders’ expectations. Finally, our results could also attract the attention of main stakeholders and the media, especially given their increasing attention both to gender diversity and say on pay

Governance tools for board members : adapting strategy maps and balanced scorecards for directorial action

The accountability of members of the board of directors of publicly traded companies has increased over years. Corresponding to these developments, there has been an inadequate advancement of tools and frameworks to help directorial functioning. This paper provides an argument for design of the Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Maps made available to the directors as a means of influencing, monitoring, controlling and assisting managerial action. This paper examines how the Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Maps could be modified and used for this purpose. The paper suggests incorporating Balanced Scorecards in the Internal Process perspective, ‘internal’ implying here not just ‘internal to the firm’, but also ‘internal to the inter-organizational system’. We recommend that other such factors be introduced separately under a new ‘perspective’ depending upon what the board wants to emphasize without creating any unwieldy proliferation of measures. Tracking the Strategy Map over time by the board of directors is a way for the board to take responsibility for the firm’s performance. The paper makes a distinction between action variables and monitoring variables. Monitoring variables are further divided on the basis of two considerations: a) whether results have been met or not and b) whether causative factors have met the expected levels of performance or not. Based on directorial responsibilities and accountability, we take another look at how the variables could be specified more completely and accurately with directorial recommendations for executives

Repairing Trust in Organizations and Institutions: Toward a Conceptual Framework

Trust plays a fundamental role in facilitating social exchange, yet recent global events have undermined trust in many of society’s institutions and organizations. This raises the pertinent question of how trust in organizations and institutions can be restored once it has been lost. The emerging literature on trust repair is largely focused at the micro level, with limited examination of how these processes operate at the macro level and across levels. In this introductory essay, we show how the papers in this special issue each advance our understanding of macro-level trust repair. We draw on these papers, as well as the extant interdisciplinary literature, to propose an integrated conceptual model of six key mechanisms for restoring trust in organizations and institutions, highlighting the merits, limits and paradoxes of each. We conclude that no single mechanism can be relied on to rebuild organizational trust and identify a future research agenda for advancing scholarly understanding of organizational and institutional trust repair