This extended abstract of a DBA thesis addresses the deterministic way in which the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) is computed in non-recourse project finance, which overlooks the joint behaviour of environmentally material risk drivers such as carbon-regulatory costs, energy prices, hydrologic stress and supervisory enforcement. It proposes DSCR-ER, an environmental- and regulatory-adjusted DSCR that treats coverage as a scenario-conditional random variable, combining a four-channel cash-flow decomposition, Gaussian and Vine copula dependence structures, a stochastic regulatory enforcement channel, Monte Carlo simulation and a tiered data-governance hierarchy. The framework is illustrated on two Spanish concession assets, the Barcelona Llobregat desalination plant and the Madrid M-45 shadow-toll motorway, testing whether assets that appear robust under deterministic appraisal show material probabilities of covenant erosion under modelled joint stress.

This conceptual paper develops a relational framework for understanding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) capability as it operates within the CEO–top management team (TMT) dyad, and illustrates that framework with pilot evidence from a small qualitative inquiry. The paper argues that dominant structural and economic accounts of CEO capability, anchored in Upper Echelons and agency-theoretic traditions, are usefully complemented by a relational reading. On this reading, capability is co-produced in specific dyadic relationships and received, interpreted, and responded to by the senior managers who work most closely with CEOs. Drawing on role theory, relational leadership, and adjacent work on emotional intelligence and humble leadership, the paper synthesises these literatures into a framework in which personal characteristics function as a foundational layer shaping team collaborative skills, which in turn shape management style. Analytical skills operate as a baseline prerequisite rather than a relational differentiator. Pilot evidence from Critical Incident Interviewing (CII) with four senior line managers in multinational organisations, producing 117 inductive codes organised into nine categories and four themes, illustrates the framework and supports its use as a basis for a larger doctoral inquiry. The paper makes three contributions: a conceptual framework for CEO–TMT relational capability grounded in the receiving side of the dyad; a methodological evaluation of CII as a technique for elite C-suite research, with specific adaptations identified; and an insider, practitioner-informed register with implications for CEO selection, development, and board oversight. The pilot material is offered as illustrative and as justification for the larger study that will follow, not as generalisable empirical findings in its own right.

This study examines how frontline waste industry employees with varying levels of work experience interpret the expectancy, value and cost of their roles, and how these interpretations influence decisions to enter, remain in or exit these occupations. Grounded in Expectancy–Value Theory and using an interpretive phenomenological design with semi-structured interviews of 12–16 drivers and helpers, it reframes workforce challenges in the waste industry as a sustainability issue. Expected implications include stronger onboarding, realistic job previews and a focus on dignity, purpose and career pathways.

This doctoral research proposal addresses the underexplored topic of scaleup ecosystems, examining how network structures and other systemic conditions influence the formation, performance and regional economic impact of scaleup activity. Drawing on Stam’s entrepreneurial ecosystem model, the Schumpeterian/Kirznerian distinction, New Institutional Economics, the REDI framework and Complex Adaptive Systems theory, it proposes a quantitative design combining Social Network Analysis, fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and statistical models applied to seven years of longitudinal data on interactions among scaleups, mentors, investors and institutional actors. The study aims to identify the ecosystem configurations most conducive to scaleup success and to inform regional policy, including European Smart Specialisation strategies; preliminary results are not yet available.

Contemporary organizations increasingly operate under external scrutiny, as authorities monitor, assess, and influence decision-making on an ongoing basis. While prior research has examined the structural features of such oversight, little is known about how it is experienced and negotiated by those responsible for governance. This study addresses that gap in a revealing setting: post-crisis European banking supervision. Drawing on fifty-eight interviews with directors and senior managers of Spanish credit institutions, using phenomenology and thematic analysis, it examines how supervisory scrutiny becomes subjectively experienced authority in everyday governance work. The analysis identifies four experiential structures. Financial stability emerges as the dominant organizing principle shaping institutional purpose, strategic discretion, and professional identity. Supervision transforms corporate governance from within, as anticipated supervisory scrutiny becomes embedded in deliberation and decision-making. Supervisory risk emerges as a distinct uncertainty embedded in governance judgment. Sustained oversight reshapes the supervisor–supervisee relationship through behavioral and strategic responses, including signaling, impression management, and anticipatory compliance. The study shows that supervision’s most important consequences arise not only from formal rules or episodic intervention, but from how supervisory scrutiny is internalized, anticipated, and enacted in governance decision-making, reshaping authority, judgment, and professional identity in what we coin institutionalized evaluative authority.