Chapter 4 challenges the financial risk management (FRM) approach to compliance as ethically inadequate. Sometimes law provides insufficient economic incentive to ensure that society’s normative aspirations are met. When this failure directly threatens human health, safety, or dignity, the need for a corrective framework becomes evident. Concerns for social justice require managers to go beyond the economic logic of the FRM paradigm, embrace a broader view of the firm’s civic duties, and cooperate with the ethical aspirations that inform the law. The argument is advanced with reference to the persistent industrial air pollution found in the now-infamously named Cancer Alley.

This chapter introduces critical international business (critical IB), emphasizing a systematic, socially aware perspective on cross-border commercial activities. It challenges the mainstream IB focus on MNE performance by examining broader consequences for stakeholders, society, and the environment. The chapter defines what it means to take a critical perspective, drawing on the Socratic method, critical management studies, and critical social theory, and highlights the historical and theoretical underpinnings of critical IB, including Hymer’s critique of MNE power and dependency theory. Key sub-topics include MNE power and influence, negative externalities and MNE misconduct, post- and neocolonial perspectives, and the importance of a multiple-stakeholder, societally engaged approach. The chapter establishes the foundational concepts for the book, providing students with a framework to analyse IB activities critically, understand ethical and political implications, and explore more equitable and sustainable models of international business.

Stakeholder participation is presented as a core requirement for socially robust and legitimate AI systems. Meaningful involvement of affected and interested stakeholders helps surface diverse values, contextual knowledge, and potential risks that may otherwise be overlooked. The content emphasizes inclusion, representation, and attention to power asymmetries, advocating participatory practices such as consultation, co-design, and deliberation. Participation is framed not only as a democratic principle, but as a practical means to improve decision-making, enhance trust, and align AI systems with societal needs and expectations.

This chapter explores the attitudes and perceptions of fifty-five practitioners engaged in infrastructure-related dispute prevention and resolution in the Asia Pacific region. The aim of the survey and follow-up interview conversations is to provide insights into the dynamics, challenges and lessons learned in engaging with communities to prevent and resolve disputes in the context of infrastructure projects. The principal finding of this chapter, based on survey data and follow-up questions, is that from the perspective of regional practitioners, prior community consultation is considered the most effective approach to preventing infrastructure disputes. This finding is consistent with the results of the data analysis in the prior chapter correlating heightened consultation standards with a reduction in the proportion of project disputes. A number of challenges continue to exist in mitigation efforts with the most challenging being the ‘lack of agreement on shared economic benefits’ and ‘limited communication’. Overall, practitioners advised that most disputes arise because ‘there was no consultation or inadequate consultation with a marginalised part of the community’. The chapter also includes practitioner suggestions on areas for improvement. The findings of this chapter demonstrate the significance of effective prior community consultation and grievance mechanisms for preventing disputes.

This chapter explores developments after standards for pre-project consultation were raised in 2013. The six cases examined in this chapter, funded by multilateral and national development banks operating in the Asia Pacific region after heightened community engagement policies, were introduced underscore a number of key insights. The post-2013 cases broadly demonstrate a number of key improvements including greater rigour in consultation and diligence mechanisms, heightened precision in identifying issues of community concern, higher pre-project diligence and screening standards, ongoing environmental and technical monitoring, the presence of locally trained mediators, skill development for consultation participants, and a longer-term view of community welfare and responsive grievance remedies. Shortcomings persisted in some cases, including instances of duress, lack of information disclosure, fraud, limited access to consultation mechanisms and environmental harm leading to project cessation in two cases when the adverse social impacts were seen to outweigh potential benefits. On the whole, corresponding with more rigorous community consultation and diligence standards, during this phase, the number of stalled/cancelled and litigated case declined by 33%, the percentages of cases brought to court declined by 16%, and the number of cases pursuing party agreement through mediation or negotiation increased by 50% compared with ad-hoc discretionary consultation practices prior to 2013.

This chapter presents a series of six investor–community case studies in the Asia Pacific region during the pre-2013 period, during which pre-project community engagement and accountability on the part of infrastructure investment banks were relatively less stringent, in order to understand the impact of relatively relaxed community engagement standards on subsequent grievance claims. This set of six cases will be compared with a set of six cases presented in Chapter 6 after heightened diligence standards were introduced after 2013. The cases reviewed in this chapter were either sole financed projects by the World Bank/International Finance Corporation or collaborative projects with the Asian Development Bank and European Investment Bank in the Asia Pacific region. The sectors include investment in transport, the extractive industry and special economic zone development. The key finding of this chapter is that during this pre-2013 discretionary community consultation phase, most cases resulted in either full or partial project cancellation, delay, suspension, compensation for harms or transfer to local courts for resolution. A small portion were dismissed due to insufficient information. In total, of the six cases examined, four were cancelled or stalled, one proceeded to court litigation and one was closed. The cases highlight the risks of insufficient attention to community consultation.

Global community-infrastructure engagement and accountability norms have emerged out of crises, decentralised shared knowledge generation amongst national and multilateral banking institutions, resulting in legal innovations. This process has accelerated in the context of cross-border infrastructure development projects, which often involve coordination between national and multilateral standards. A learning orientation, accompanied by the creation of shared learning spaces such as the International Financial Institution Meetings, which are hosted by the world’s multilateral development banks on a rotating basis on themes such as information disclosure and stakeholder engagement, have resulted in growing agreement on relevant underlying principles and good practices in community engagement in the context of infrastructure planning.

Outlines the leadership skills needed to navigate modern higher education’s complexity. Discusses strategic vision, emotional intelligence, and managing change in a VUCA environment. Highlights the need for leaders to balance efficiency with entrepreneurial thinking and foster a culture of innovation.

Chapter 5 examines the distinctive characteristics of Nordic leadership at the individual level, highlighting how cooperation and consensus-building form its core. It introduces the concept of “wicked problems” to demonstrate why Nordic leadership approaches – characterized by humility, collaboration, and democratic engagement – are particularly well-suited for addressing complex sustainability challenges. The chapter identifies key Nordic leadership norms including cooperation, modesty, humanism, and democracy, contrasting them with more hierarchical approaches common in American business. Through analysis of how Nordic leaders navigate complex challenges, it demonstrates why these leadership practices are increasingly relevant for addressing global sustainability challenges. The chapter concludes by arguing that while Nordic leadership may not suit every situation, its emphasis on cooperation and stakeholder engagement offers valuable lessons for tackling the complex, interconnected problems represented by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This chapter sets the scene for the volume by exploring the application of corpus linguistics across established and emerging contexts, examining its evolving role and methodological innovations both within the academy and beyond it. It discusses how corpus linguistics has expanded from foundational work in language pedagogy to address interdisciplinary needs, including social justice initiatives and policy influence. The chapter highlights diverse perspectives on what it means to ‘apply’ corpus linguistics, noting that this notion is shaped by the various cultural, institutional, and disciplinary contexts in which it is taken up. The chapter emphasises the importance of engaging with stakeholders and adapting corpus methods to new domains, from education to media and law enforcement, aiming to achieve social impact through research. Additionally, it reflects on the relational, social, methodological, and institutional dimensions that characterise the practical application of corpus linguistics today. The authors call for critical reflection on these dimensions to inform future applications, ultimately positioning corpus linguistics as a versatile and impactful methodology and field for addressing complex linguistic, professional, and societal challenges.

Transformative constitutions – which have been described as bringing about more than reform but less than a revolution – steer countries towards democracy, participation, and egalitarianism. The interpretation and enforcement of such transformative constitutions by courts and public institutions, such as tax administrations, deliver radical social change. A core aim of a transformative constitution is to promote greater democracy and participation in governance and, thus, state-building. Relying on case studies from Kenya, this chapter asks how citizens contribute to state-building by participating in the national tax policy, administration, and legislative processes and considers the roles of transparency and inclusivity on such public participation.