Tariq Elrazaz

Purpose: This study aims to examine how Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 (Climate Action) is integrated into business education in higher education (HE) by exploring student perceptions to comprehend whether climate education is substantively implemented or symbolically presented. Design/methodology/approach: Using Q-methodology, 137 business students ranked 29 statements covering curriculum content, skills development, and attitudes toward climate action. Principal component analysis identified shared viewpoints, while qualitative feedback provided depth and context. Findings: Tensions between sustainability objectives and disciplinary silos are highlighted by the emergence of two student archetypes: Engaged Advocates, who demand experiential pedagogies, and Pragmatic Observers, who prioritize economic outcomes. Results highlight a legitimacy gap between institutional rhetoric and meaningful curriculum integration. Research limitations/implications: Findings are drawn from a single HE institution and focus solely on students, limiting generalizability. Future research should examine faculty perspectives, policy implementation and multi-institutional comparisons. Practical implications: HE must integrate sustainability into research, curricula and community engagement, following 1) Systemic curriculum integration; 2) Scaling experiential/place-based learning and systemic/anticipatory skills; 3) Faculty training for climate-aligned pedagogies to prepare students to be actionable leaders. Social implications: Empowering students as climate leaders can drive institutional reform, support regional sustainability agendas, and advance the welfare of society. Originality/value: This research introduces a comprehensive framework that links educational theory, SDG competencies and transformative pedagogy to examine climate education through the lens of legitimacy theory. It also demonstrates the unique value of Q-methodology in capturing nuanced stakeholder perspectives in the context of HE.

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThis study examines whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance mitigates earnings management within the setting of corporate takeovers in the United Kingdom. The study utilized a panel dataset of 380 UK takeover targets (1,121 firm-year observations) acquired from 2013 to 2023. We measure accrual-based earnings management using discretionary accruals. The findings reveal that targets manipulate their earnings in the first year with an earnings release prior to the acquisition relative to other periods in the three-year event period under study (β = 0.0168, p < 0.10). Crucially, firms with higher aggregate ESG scores exhibit substantially lower discretionary accruals (β = –0.026, p < 0.05), indicating that strong ESG performance constrains opportunistic reporting. This mitigating effect is driven primarily by the social pillar of ESG (β = –0.00069, p < 0.01). These results indicate that earnings management by takeover targets is concentrated in the period of greatest valuation scrutiny, highlighting the strategic nature of preacquisition reporting behavior. Moreover, our results further suggest that ESG performance, particularly social responsibility, acts as a governance mechanism that constrains managerial opportunism when incentives to manipulate earnings are strongest.AcknowledgmentWe would like to thank the United Arab Emirates University for funding this research with the research grant number CARP Grant 2023.

This study examines the conflicting relationship between high awareness and limited competency in applying Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 principles among students in Higher Education (HE). Although SDG 12 is acknowledged as a societal imperative and students exhibit a grounded understanding of these sustainability concepts, there is a scarcity of holistic integration of the necessary competencies for the application of SDG principles to real-world business contexts. This discrepancy necessitates the development of educational strategies that not only increase awareness but also improve practical competencies. This study explores the cognitive, affective, and behavioral pillars of student perceptions by employing a mixed-methods approach. The findings reveal a division among students into idealist and pragmatist groups regarding SDG 12 implementation, highlighting the need for pedagogical innovation and interdisciplinary integration. By bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, this study contributes to equipping future leaders with the skills necessary to drive sustainable transformations in an increasingly complex world.

This study evaluates the effect of earnings management on earnings quality and sustainability in the GCC region, particularly in distressed and non-distressed companies. Studies on earnings quality and sustainability have mostly concentrated on developed markets, with little attention paid to emerging markets like the GCC region. This research is the first to examine how manipulating earnings impacts the quality and sustainability of earnings in distressed and non-distressed companies. This study utilized a unique dataset that represents the GCC region, which has a specific socio-cultural context. We collected data from 839 publicly listed companies in the GCC region between 2011 and 2022 using DataStream^®, WorldScope (WS), and Refinitiv Eikon. To test our hypotheses and ensure accuracy, we used three types of regressions (the fixed effects model, OLS, and 2SLS) and conducted robustness and endogeneity tests. The results of this study indicate that accruals-based earnings management has a negative impact on earnings quality for distressed and non-distressed firms but a positive effect on earnings sustainability for both types of companies. The results of this study also find variations in earnings management practices across industries. These findings provide valuable guidance for auditors, investors, and other stakeholders to evaluate the earnings quality and sustainability of distressed and non-distressed companies, benefiting the GCC economy and similar economies.

Following a long stream of literature on the drivers of Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) activities, this study examines the effect of corporate leverage on several decisions of M&A deals in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Using M&A data from the Thomson One database for the period between 2005 and 2022, we find that corporate leverage significantly influences the type of M&A target. This study further adds to the prior literature on the contradictory behaviours of high and low leverage firms by examining whether acquisition decisions differ amongst them in M&A deals in the UAE context. Results indicate that high (low) leverage firms are less (more) likely to acquire private targets and more (less) inclined to acquire a target from a different (same) industry. Furthermore, our results show that the relationship between the method of payment used in M&A deals and corporate leverage is insignificant. We control for endogeneity using Heckman’s two-stage method. In brief, this paper extends the literature with conclusive evidence that considerations of capital structure can significantly anticipate and explain firms’ behaviour toward M&A choices. The implication of findings may include a call to reform some aspects of the Competition Law in the UAE by requiring private firms to enhance their disclosure practices similar to their public counterparts.

Drawing on legitimacy theory, this study examines the extent of corporate engagement with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) through assessing the corporate disclosure quality of SDG‐related information in a mandated setting environment, focusing on the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Based on corporate sustainability reports for 132 UAE publicly listed companies in years 2020 and 20,221, we use a scoring methodology incorporating the GRI standards related to the economic, environmental and social impacts of corporate operations. Results of the study reveal that UAE companies use mandatory sustainability reports as a legitimacy tool through a symbolic action superficially integrating SDGs targets into their corporate operations and activities. However, in year 2021 the results show that some companies act substantively by adopting substantive organizational structural changes to integrate SDGs in their business operations and reporting behavior. Unlike previous studies, the paper contributes to the literature and practice by examining the corporate disclosure quality of SDGs in a mandated setting environment. This mandatory context offers an opportunity for a comprehensive analysis of company endeavors regarding their symbolic execution aimed at projecting a surface display of commitment to SDGs, versus their substantive implementation, which leads to significant enhancements in corporate sustainability reports. The findings of this study offer valuable practical implications for regulators and policymakers regarding the implementation of mandatory sustainability reporting. While such reporting may not necessarily result in significant changes in terms of integrating SDGs targets into business strategies and operations, it could potentially lead to the adoption of “SDG‐washing” practices by companies.

This paper aims to assess students’ perceptions regarding the extent of integration of the eighth principal Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 8) “promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work for all” into an undergraduate business school (BS) course. We analyzed students’ perceptions with respect to three pedagogical themes: content/curriculum; knowledge and skills; and awareness and attitudes. Based on legitimacy theory, we conducted a survey of 124 students at a globally accredited business school that has been a pioneer in terms of integrating SDGs into business school education in the Middle East and particularly in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which we refer to as Alpha Business School (ABS). A Q-methodology approach was adopted by designing a concourse of 37 statements. Our research findings highlight that in response to institutional governmental pressure to implement the SDGs at all levels in the country, ABS has begun to integrate the SDGs into its practice, including undergraduate courses. However, after a more in-depth analysis, the findings suggest that traditional learning methods and a “business as usual” mentality continue to prevail as a management paradigm among students and that, therefore, ABS has only embedded SDG 8 symbolically without undergoing a full substantive change. In conclusion, further work is needed to incorporate the SDGs into all dimensions of the business school’s activities and to promote new methodologies, skills, and competencies. This paper is helpful for accounting educators and curriculum setters in the process of revamping accounting curricula to reflect the importance of sustainability education. The results of this study have professional, academic, and policy-making implications.

There is a stream of research that has introduced strategic investment decision-making (SIDM) through case studies and organisation-based fieldwork. However, a systematic theorisation around SIDM processes and practices still under-presented in the literature. This research aims to show how strong structuration theory (SST) could be used as an appropriate theoretical lens to explore how SIDM studies are theorised and conducted. Through employing the parameters and the concepts of SST within the SIDM context, we found that SID is a judgemental decision that is constructed by various influences. SIDs are not isolated from the social, political, and economic aspects. Subjective judgements and the decision-makers’ intuition are crucial throughout the process of SIDM. Therefore, SIDs cannot be abstracted as an objective decision-based on applying investment appraisal technical methods. The theoretical lens presented in this paper will enable researchers to drill down into the ‘ontic’ level to empirically explore in-depth the complex interrelationships between various agents and structures which, arguably, fits the SID context. Furthermore, this paper will help scholars understand how SID is made from SST perspective and guide them to conduct future research to build on and also help executives to be guided by