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This study aims to contribute to the enrichment of the literature by examining the impact of cross-cultural training on expatriates’ adjustment of Nigerian bankers on expatriate assignments in other African countries.

Data on cross-cultural adjustment from expatriate employees in five banks that collectively accounted for over 80 per cent of Nigerian banks with subsidiaries in other African were systematically selected for the investigation. This data was collected quantitatively via a survey instrument. Independent sample t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis were deployed in analyzing the data.

The study found that cross-cultural adjustment varied significantly across the different categories of gender, age, marital status, previous expatriate training, previous expatriate experience, and duration of expatriation. The study concludes that in order to attain higher levels of adjustment African banks and other organizations should provide a more comprehensive cross-cultural training program that mirrors the needs of employees following a detailed needs analysis. Also, the training must be sequential and not a one-off approach.

The literature though still nascent is largely focused on expatriate preparation and adjustment for expatriates moving from Western-to-western contexts and very little exists in the literature on how multinationals from Non-Western contexts like Africa prepare their staff for expatriation and its consequent impact on their adjustment. This study aims to enrich the literature by examining the impact of cross-cultural training on expatriates’ adjustment of Nigerian bankers on expatriate assignments in other African countries.

The study aims to shed light on the concepts most addressed in scientific research, which blockchain topics are of most interest, how relevant are these tools for academia, and how relevant are they?

The authors have developed a bibliometric study of scientific publications on blockchain made since 2016. For the analysis, the VOSViewer software version 1.6.19 has been used, which allows a statistical analysis of scientific publications on the subject.

The study manifest the relevance of Initial Coin Offering, growth of research interest in this field and the relevance of blockchain technology in the development of entrepreneurial projects.

This study provides a complete and updated picture of the scientific research on blockchain for the subsequent transfer of knowledge to the business world.

Building a cycling route is an interesting example of sustainable, environmentally friendly leisure and tourism project and this also fosters innovation in eco-friendly transport options. Financial resources must be found to achieve these ambitious goals and crowdfunding could be the answer. The study analyses the factors that influence potential backers' decisions to contribute to the fundraising campaign.

A Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) was applied to elaborate a map of factors that could influence the process of the crowd's contribution to a crowdfunding round for supporting the enhancement of a cycling route. The factors taken into account were the motivations to contribute, the crowdfunder's features and the dynamics of the fundraising campaign.

The results demonstrate the strategic role played by rewards in the design of a crowdfunding round for a sustainable tourism and leisure project. The results also add more insights by considering backers' attitudes to rewards.

Understanding the factors that can influence the decision to pledge in the tourism and leisure context has extremely valuable implications for tourism businesses developing the business idea and associated capital raising strategies. The study also has practical implications for all institutions trying to foster innovation in eco-friendly transport, particularly in promoting more cycling and improving the image of cycling in the culture.

The study is a step forward in understanding the factors that lead backers to support a sustainable project in the tourism and leisure context and the related dynamics of the crowdfunding round.

The importance of crowdfunding has grown considerably in recent years. Its potential as a source of financing has captured the attention of academia. In view of the challenge of creating a cleaner energy system and the considerable investments required to reach this goal, the literature has pointed to crowdlending as a viable alternative due to its social qualities. However, the literature on this regard is still scarce. This paper aims to contribute to this gap by examining some of the critical factors that determine the performance of financing renewable energy projects through crowdlending.

The data collected from the ECrowd! platform is studied through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) as research method.

The results emphasize the importance of the founders’ presence in social networks and the amount of information provided in the description. They also suggest that investors do not react negatively to projects of larger amounts and terms and that giving rewards does not have a significant impact on the campaigns results.

The literature linking crowdfunding and sustainability is still scarce, which is why this paper contributes to filling this gap by identifying some of the factors that have a significant impact on the performance of campaigns. Critical conditions used are grouped into three categories: loan characteristics, project description and social capital. Conclusions help promoters and platforms to know what actions they should take in order to enhance their campaigns performance.

La importancia del crowdfunding ha crecido considerablemente en los últimos años. Su potential como fuente de financiación ha captado la atención del mundo académico. Ante el desafío de crear un sistema energético más limpio y las considerables inversiones necesarias para alcanzar este objetivo, la literatura ha apuntado al crowdlending como una alternativa viable por sus cualidades sociales. Sin embargo, la literatura al respecto aún es escasa. Este documento tiene como objetivo contribuir a esta brecha examinando algunos de los factores críticos que determinan el desempeño de la financiación de proyectos de energía renovable a través del crowdlending.

Los datos recopilados de la plataforma ECrowd! se estudian utilizando el análisis comparativo cualitativo de conjuntos difusos (fsQCA) como método de investigación.

Las condiciones críticas utilizadas se agrupan en tres categorías: características del préstamo, descripción del proyecto y redes sociales. Los resultados recalcan la importancia de la presencia de los fundadores en las redes sociales y de la cantidad de información proporcionada en la descripción. También sugieren que los inversores no reaccionan negativamente ante proyectos de mayores importes y plazos y que dar recompensas no tiene un impacto significativo en los resultados de las campañas.

La literatura que vincula el crowdfunding y la sostenibilidad es aún escasa, por lo que este trabajo contribuye a llenar este vacío al identificar algunos de los factores que tienen un impacto significativo en el desempeño de las campañas. Las condiciones críticas utilizadas se agrupan en tres categorías: características del préstamo, descripción del proyecto y capital social. Las conclusiones ayudan a los promotores y plataformas a saber qué acciones deben realizar para mejorar el desempeño de sus campañas.

Business growth is one of the most studied areas over the years. However, with the current uncertainty and entrepreneurial dynamism it becomes relevant to consider new variables such as entrepreneurial skills and competencies that influence its development. Accordingly, this research refers to the impact that the individual's skills have on the entrepreneurial environment. For this purpose, a survey has been developed of employees of different organizations considering the variables of high degree of proactivity in the employees' attitude, entrepreneurial training, innovation, previous experience or risk aversion.

The research has been conducted through fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and the result shows the differences between the combination of variables for business growth through the consideration of sales growth and profit.

The results of this research provide new insights that allow the development and boosting of business growth.

The main contribution of this work is to pay attention to the human team of startups and show the role that this has in their growth.

This paper provides a cross‐country examination of service management practice and performance of service organizations in the UK, USA and Germany. The findings reported are based on a sample of firms from the international service study (ISS) from four service sectors: financial services, professional services, hotels, and utilities. The paper argues that generally there are differences in services management practices and performance and, more specifically, that service quality performance may be explained by the nature and market dynamics of the service sector within the individual countries.

The objective of the article is to determine the numerical increase in publications on green libraries and the dynamics of its development as well as to determine the thematic structure of the scientific literature in the field of green libraries and its changes as a representation of research in this area.

The research material consisted of publications on green libraries published between 1991 and 2020, indexed in the Web of Science database. The bibliometric method was used to determine the numerical increase in publications on green libraries and the dynamics of its development. In order to characterize the thematic structure of publications representing research in this area, content analysis was performed.

Quantitative analysis of the literature on green libraries has shown that this is a new area of research not explored with constant intensity. The time of publishing materials on green libraries can be divided into two periods: the so-called period of first publications between 1991 and 2006, and the period between 2007 and 2020, when the number of publications increased relatively systematically. The content analysis confirmed the hypothesis that the most frequent theme is the issue of a green building and its management. It showed that the period after 2010 is the time of building a theoretical framework for a new research field, i.e. green libraries.

The main value of the article is the performance of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the scientific literature indexed in the Web of Science devoted to green libraries, from the moment of the first publications to the present day. The codebook developed for the needs of content analysis can constitute the basis for the development of criteria for the evaluation of green libraries and guidelines for their organization.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the concepts related to environmental education in the context of sustainable development, to indicate the links between them as well as to identify and organize elements of library activities that have the potential to implement environmental education.

The method of analysis and criticism of scientific and professional literature and research reports was used. The multiple case study method was also used.

An analysis of literature and multiple case studies confirms the assumption that sustainable development is now a new paradigm of librarianship. Among the goals of sustainable development are environmental goals, which in libraries can be achieved through environmental education. A broad approach to environmental education has been proposed, which is implemented not only by using library services but also by building green collections, contacts with environmentally involved librarians, using ecological library infrastructure, observing sustainable management methods in libraries, cooperation between the library and the external environment in terms of the natural environment.

An analysis of 20 case studies was carried out regarding the implementation of pro-environmental measures in libraries. Examination of a larger number of case studies would probably give a more complete picture of this area of activity in libraries. The next stage of research should be the development of standards/guidelines in the field of environmental education in libraries, and then the development of methods and techniques for assessing the quality of library activities in this area and methods for assessing the impact of libraries on society and the environment in the field of environmental education.

The paper indicates – based on case study analyses – those library elements that have potential in the field of environmental education. They were ordered in categories that were assigned to the three main components of a library: people, artefacts and processes.

Sustainable development is a new library paradigm. The paper focuses on the environmental area, specifically environmental education. It has been recognized that libraries have considerable potential for environmental education and should be seen as socially responsible organizations that take responsibility for the impact of their decisions and actions on society and the environment.

The paper explains the basic concepts of environmental education and the relationships between them. It defines the area of environmental education in libraries in terms of library activity elements that can be used to organize them according to the three main components of a library, which are people, artefacts and processes. The paper also indicates that sustainable development should be treated as a new paradigm of librarianship, and environmental education as a new research field of library and information science.

Cu/Cu diffusion bonding is characterised by high electrical and thermal conductivity, as well as the mechanical strength of the interconnects. But despite a number of advantages, Cu oxidises readily upon exposure to air. To break through the adsorbed oxide-layer high temperature and pressure, long bonding time and inert gas atmosphere are required during the bonding process. This paper aims to present the implementation of an organic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) as a temporary protective coating that inhibits Cu oxidation.

Information concerning elemental composition of the Cu surface has been yielded by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Two types of substrates (electroplated and sputtered Cu) are prepared for thermocompression bonding in two different ways. In the first case, Cu is cleaned with dilute sulphuric acid to remove native copper oxide. In the second case, passivation with SAM followed the cleaning step with dilute sulphuric acid. Shear strength, fracture surface, microstructure of the received Cu/Cu interconnects are investigated after the bonding procedure.

The XPS method revealed that SAM can retard Cu from oxidation on air for at least 12 h. SAM passivation on the substrates with sputtered Cu appears to have better quality than on the electroplated ones. This derives from the results of the shear strength tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging of Cu/Cu interconnects cross sections. SAM passivation improved the bonding quality of the interconnects with sputtered Cu in comparison to the cleaned samples without passivation.

The Cu/Cu bonding procedure was optimised by a novel preparation method using SAMs which enables storage and bonding of Si-dies with Cu microbumps at air conditions while remaining a good-quality interconnect. The passivation revealed to be advantageous for the smooth surfaces. SEM and shear strength tests showed improved bonding quality for the passivated bottom dies with sputtered Cu in comparison to the samples without SAM.

This chapter presents the current research status of family constitutions from an economics perspective. It locates the family constitution as part of the family and business governance structure of a family firm and the owner family. The typical structure and content of a family constitution are introduced. The chapter focuses on the status of research about family constitutions and provides a structured map for future research. With regard to extant research, it must be stated that the stock of literature is small. The contributions to literature are categorized in surveys; conceptual contributions; survey data; small sample, qualitative, empirical studies; and big sample, quantitative, empirical studies. The latter group includes three studies with a separate family constitution variable. This small number symbolizes that the family constitution still is an under-researched area. Therefore, family constitution research is far away from being able to answer central questions of advice-seeking owner families like, for example, whether a family constitution affects family performance, firm performance, or both; or whether the development process of a family constitutions disposes of an effect on family or firm performance separately from the hypothesized effect of the family constitution document.