Purpose: The paper examines auditors’ experiences with corporate governance (CG) in general and
audit committees (ACs) in particular in the setting of a Polish two-tier board system and a capital
market characterized by high ownership concentration, which therefore extends the research on
CG practices of an economy beyond the well-researched Anglo-American model.

Methodology: This study adopts a qualitative research approach by using interview data from
fifteen interviews with auditors working with large publicly-listed companies in Poland to examine
the relationships among auditors, Audit Committees, and CG.

Findings: The auditors indicate that the CG environment has changed. However, the institutionalization
of an AC in Poland generally is the subject of coercive isomorphic pressures, which lead
to its decoupling and transition toward a ritualistic role. Moreover, auditors report only some
reliance on CG information in the planning phase and none in the field-testing or review phases.

Originality: The findings differ from those of prior studies conducted predominantly in the USA
and the UK, in which auditors reported far greater reliance on CG in all phases of the audit process.
The two possible reasons for this difference in findings could be the different development stages
between capital markets and different CG systems.

Purpose: Strategy determines the patterns of internationalization. The speed, scale, and scope of
internationalization are important dimensions from the perspective of firms’ behaviors and activities.
The aim of the article is to identify and verify the relationship between the international
strategy and its impact on three dimensions of the studied phenomenon.

Methodology: The article uses a quantitative approach. The survey was conducted on a sample of
355 internationalized firms from Poland, varying in size.

Findings: The analysis with t test and U test (ANOVA) shows a correlation between a company’s
international strategy as a planning instrument and the speed and scope of internationalization.

Research limitations/implications: While considering a firm’s development, especially its international
growth, one should plan the activities related to entering into foreign markets. The results
presented in this article are just a starting point for further analyses. In an attempt to eliminate its
limitations, further research should focus on building a comprehensive model that includes the
remaining components of international strategy and other categories that stimulate internationalization
processes.

Originality: The originality of this article lies in three elements: (i) the article comprehensively
captures the scale, scope, and speed of internationalization at the same time, (ii) the strategy is
introduced as a determining factor of the scale, scope, and speed of internationalization, and (iii)
the article enriches empirical studies about emerging markets such as Poland.

Purpose: The article attempts to identify the relationship between employers’ psychological contract
perception (relational and transactional expectations) and the occurrence of counterproductive
work behavior among their employees. The study seeks to extend the understanding of the
psychological contract concept and its correlation with counterproductive work behaviors. There
are numerous studies analyzing the perceptions of obligations and promises of a psychological contract
from the employee’s viewpoint. However, the question of employer expectations and the
perception of the fulfillment of these expectations is not less important, albeit much less
elaborated.

Methodology: Participants were 101 managers and owners of small and medium companies who
represent different businesses in construction industry in the Ukrainian market. Data were collected
through a questionnaire.

Key findings: The results of the study show that employers have a high level of expectations toward
their employees, and the relational character of the expectations is dominant. However, the perceptions
of the fulfillment of these expectations were at a moderate level. The results also show
that employers reveal a moderate level of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and a significant
relationship between psychological contract (PC), relational expectations, an

Purpose: This study aims to investigate female top managers’ choice of working capital management
policies and its effect on firm profitability. The theoretical arguments about the effects of working
capital management policies on firm profitability and empirical evidence are often inconsistent.
Additionally, it is likely that the policy choice is closely related to the gender of top managers.

Methodology: Our research sample was all 136 manufacturing firms listed in Indonesian Stock
Exchange during the 2013–2017 period. Following the hypothesis formulation, this study employed
four estimation models tested using panel data regression.

Findings: Female CFOs tend to choose more conservative working capital investment policies.
Moreover, conservative investment policies have a positive effect on firm profitability and mediate
the impact of top female managers on firm profitability.

Originality: Previous literature tends to overlook the role of top female managers in affecting
working capital management policies and the effect of these policies on firm profitability. In this
respect, this study provides insights on the role of the gender of top managers as a factor that likely
explains the choice of working capital management policies in manufacturing firms which, in turn,
affect firm profitability.