Purpose -The paper seeks to consider the findings that emerged from a preliminary study into Cypriot businesses and their attitudes and behaviour towards corporate social responsibility (CSR). The overarching aim of the discussion is to explore whether Cypriot businesses have realized the opportunity of using CSR to build a strong reputation, a practice "embraced" and adopted by many successful and profitable corporations, or whether they ignore their social responsibilities and do it at their peril. Design/methodology/approach -A total of 4,000 questionnaires were given to the Employers Federation in Cyprus to mail to its members. Two issues were addressed: one dealing with philanthropic and the other with the stewardship CSR projects, covering social responsibility not only towards customers and society at large but also towards employees, suppliers, investors, and the environment.Findings -It appears that local corporations primarily emphasize the importance of meeting their responsibilities and obligations towards their employees and customers. The majority of respondents postulate that their philanthropic donations are made to approved organizations for tax deduction. So, financial gain appears to be a key motive for the adoption of social responsibility by the business sector in Cyprus.Research limitations/implications -The study was characterized by a low response rate, which has implications to the generalization of the research findings. Perhaps future research can focus on certain sectors and their approach to the practice of CSR instead of exploring several sectors in the Cypriot economy, which was the approach adopted in this study. Originality/value -The paper reports findings from the first nationwide study carried out in the area of CSR.

Today’s hospitality workforce is more diverse than ever with the symbiotic co-existence of three different generations; Generation Y, Generation X and Baby Boomers. This co-existence poses numerous challenges for an industry that strives to achieve inter-generational comfort, thus avoiding conflict, an impediment to the effectiveness of even its most sophisticated organizations. Adopting a quantitative methodology, this article explores the occupational similarities and differences of the three prevailing generations, currently active in the diverse hospitality workplace, as well as investigating how each generation cohort is perceived by its own members in comparison to members of other generations. Findings, which provide invaluable insights of interest to hospitality stakeholders, confirm the vast perceptual inter-generational differences within a plethora of work-related issues.

When the Cyprus economy was booming in the 1990s, key issues emanating from sound corporate governance, such as accountability, transparency and effective independent boards were not deemed important. However, largely as a result of the Cyprus stock exchange collapse of 2000, this view changed. In September 2002, due to the collapse, the Cyprus Stock Exchange implemented a Corporate Governance Code predicated largely on Anglo-Saxon principles of corporate governance. Copyright (c) 2006 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

PurposeTo examine the enabling legislation of European Union (EU) member country supreme audit institutions (SAIs) for their accountability to parliament and independence from the executive arm of government.Design/methodology/approachThe sample comprises the SAIs of the 25 EU member countries and the European Court of Auditors. Data were collected on 30 accountability and independence issues directly from the enabling legislation of these SAIs.FindingsResults indicate that apart from a number of instances where the enabling legislation is silent, provisions generally provide for adequate independence of the SAIs from the executive arm of government. On the other hand, the provisions for the accountability of the SAIs to parliament are somewhat weaker.Research limitations/implicationsIf actual practice or convention does not reflect the literal interpretation and application of the enabling legislation, then SAIs may have more or less independence and/or accountability than suggested by the analysis of the legislation alone.Practical implicationsResults of this study highlight where current provisions could be further strengthened through appropriate amendments to the enabling legislation.Originality/valueSuch findings may be useful to policy makers and legislators.

Cyprus, tertiary education, students ethical standing,