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One of the rewards of success for the company director is that he is unlikely to be called upon to explain his policies publicly and that, consequent upon success, shareholders, whether large or small, are likely to accept uncritically any explanation of the company's activities which the chairman thinks appropriate. In fact, unlike cabinet ministers, who seldom refuse an opportunity of discussing their r6le, or their government's policies, members of boards of directors rarely make statements about company affairs. Even in the very unusual event of a resignation of a director being proffered or sought have those who voted his adoption in the first place any clear idea as to what differences of opinion, blunders, or stupidity may have led to the disappearance of the director. Furthermore, as the process of election or selection calls for none of the skills on the part of the new director associated with the hustings, most shareholders one suspects place their trust in men unknown, unheard and unrecognized. Business success and high profits seldom come to companies all the time and to many companies but rarely. The excuse proffered is that “things did not turn out as expected” or ‐ and currently much more common — “things would have turned out as expected if only Government policy, or the economic climate had been different”. Currently many chairmen have been able to explain away losses amounting to millions of pounds simply by claiming that the national economic position is unfavourable: shareholders appear to have become so bemused by the pessimism surrounding the economic situation that they confidently re‐elect boards of directors who promise nothing better than low sales, lower returns, and lowest profits. It is not surprising that explanations such as those outlined above were accepted occasionally, but in many cases the records of his annual statements show that the chairman has been able to claim the economic situation as being unfavourable as an excuse year after year. In such cases one can only suppose that a favourable economic situation would be one in which some magic National Finance Corporation automatically multiplied profits by two if they were large, by ten if they were small, and gave some special reward for a loss. Discussions recently surrounding a number of take‐over situations, as well as the examination of Lord Robens' thesis that the chairman of a nationalized undertaking must on principle proffer his resignation if serious public criticism is levelled against the corporation, make it worthwhile to re‐examine attitudes towards directors and chairmen of companies. The case that follows invites an examination of the role and responsibilities of directors in a particular situation.

Agriculture and associated services are central to the rural economy of the United Kingdom. Rural veterinary enterprises are important providers of services to livestock producers, but are now facing concerns over their future economic viability. The objectives of this chapter are to outline the changes occurring in the veterinary and agricultural sectors, and to explore the main issues affecting veterinary enterprises in a changing business environment.

This is a conceptual chapter contextualised mainly within the United Kingdom. As such, the methodological approach comprises a critical review of current academic literatures, as well as government reports and relevant media articles.

The findings demonstrate that the commercial success of rural veterinary enterprises is critical to ensuring the future provision of high-quality animal health services to both farmers and government. The current issues facing farmers are likely to affect their willingness and resources to invest in veterinary services. Furthermore, farmers may have doubts as to vets’ ability to provide business-focussed services that add value. In addition, many public services are outsourced to private veterinary enterprises, and forthcoming policy changes are expected to lead to reduced income from public sources for both vets and their livestock farming clients. While wider issues affecting agriculture are beyond the control of private veterinary practitioners, veterinary enterprises will need to ensure that they can deal with such challenges and, where required, adapt their services accordingly.

The chapter is based on a review of extant literatures, and the scope of the research is therefore limited to existing knowledge about the farm animal veterinary business landscape.

The chapter summarises current knowledge of the challenges facing rural veterinary enterprises. While some of the issues described are specific to the veterinary sector, many are also relevant to other rural SMEs providing knowledge-intensive services to farmers. The chapter also describes areas requiring further empirical research.

Small business enterprises (SBEs) are a very critical element of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector especially in the underdeveloped locations of the country. SBEs not only provide employment but also support the local economy by way of their products and services. In modern times, their presence on the digital platform is becoming essential and thus, these types of studies are required to bring to the table the issues and practices from the less represented sections of the sector. This study attempts to understand the responsiveness of the SBEs in Sikkim, India, and Bhutan in terms of their frequency of digital marketing (DM) usage. This study also attempts to understand the relationship between the factors affecting the practice or adoption of DM among the SBEs of Bhutan and Sikkim, India. For this purpose, empirical data were gathered from 320 SBEs from Sikkim and Bhutan representing the various sectors as defined by the national governments of the two countries. The SBEs of Bhutan and Sikkim are not found to be very active on the front of DM. The SBEs in these two locations need to become more active in using the digital platforms and tools to promote their products and services. The industry trends and government support in the form of infrastructural development are expected to play a vital role in orienting the SBEs into the adoption of DM in a better way. This study is crucial for the MSME sector, the government, telecom services providers, and local entrepreneurs.

Artificial intelligence and augmented reality are two key tools gaining importance in the digital era due to their wide range of applications in different fields and sectors. Industry 4.0 lays emphasis principally on the technology used to help the business remain competitive and sustainable. Sustainable development goals are another important objective of the UN which has laid responsibility for every business to support addressing the global challenges. Purpose: This chapter essentially aims to present the standpoint of artificial intelligence and augmented reality in meeting the sustainability perspective of organizations. Information about the study is gathered through secondary approaches, critically reviewing published literature, scientific reports, and statistical data accessible through business reports, and corporate websites. Further analyzed to present the perspectives of the authors in the study. Globally artificial intelligence market size is predicted to reach $190 billion by 2025, while the funding for startups doubled during the period 2011–2020 globally. The investment in artificial intelligence is going to reach $500 by 2024 resulting in substantial revenue returns. The augmented reality market size could reach $97 billion by 2028. Artificial intelligence today is increasingly used in many fields and is attracting multiple applications in many sectors such as manufacturing, retail, education, IT, and health care and has also contributed to sustainable development the same time by providing energy conservation options, optimization, and reduction of resources, minimizing wastage, offering timely assistance on maintenance schedules, practices which are enabling organizations to reach closer to sustainability and transformation.

This paper aims to focus on corporate accountability, analysing the case of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) from the perspective of civil society, acting as a significant stakeholder.

The authors ground the research on legitimacy theory, as the paper presents the company’s efforts to obtain the approval/legitimacy from one of its main vocal stakeholders: civil society. The paper presents the historical background of the Rosia Montana region, and then explains the stages of the RMGC project development, together with the company’s actions to be recognised by the local environment. They also investigate the corporate reports issued by Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, especially in and after 2010.

The results show that RMGC failed to gain the legitimacy of the Romanian society, and the authors discuss causes and implications.

This research brings a valuable contribution to the corporate reporting literature, being one of the first studies on the state of reporting in Romania in the mining sector, analysing the implications of the relationship between corporate accountability and civil society.

Throughout the history of commerce, individuals have searched for informational advantages that will lead to their enrichment. In a time of global capital markets, 24 hours a day trading opportunities, and a professional services corps of market experts, informational advantages are pursued by virtually every market participant. This paper examines one of the most vilified informational advantages in modern capital markets: insider trading. In the USA during the 1980s, insider trading scandals occupied the front pages of not only the trade papers, but also quotidian tabloids. Assailed for its unfairness and characterised by some as thievery, insider trading incidents increased calls for stricter regulation of the marketplace and its participants. In the aftermath of the spectacular insider trading litigation in the USA in the late 1980s, many foreign states began to re‐evaluate the effectiveness of their own regulatory structures. In large part, this reassessment was not the produce of domestic demand, but constituted a response to American agitation for increased regulation of insider trading.

Some reference books are not only useful but a pleasure to read. For anyone interested in literature, the outstanding example is the Wilson Authors Series, which, for over fifty years, has provided excellent summaries of the lives and works of critically acclaimed or popular writers known to English‐speaking readers. Through their coverage of minor writers and inclusion of the autobiographical statements of many twentieth‐century writers, these volumes have constituted a valuable record of the literary scene. Despite the proliferation of literary reference works in recent years, some covering more authors, others providing lengthier articles, the Wilson series has remained a cornerstone of the reference collections of libraries of all sizes and a model of concise biographical writing.