This book provides an integrative perspective on financial management and corporate governance deployed in management decisions. It analyzes wide-ranging issues such as valuation, capital investment, capital structure, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder and stakeholder value management, and corporate governance structure. Throughout the analyses, the book provides a coherent view of firms, laws and markets, and offers practical financial modeling techniques to assist in financial decisions.This book also incorporates the latest developments in practice, such as direct listings and SPACs in capital markets, contractual arrangements in mergers and acquisitions, setting of corporate purpose, protection of minority investors in related party transactions, balancing of shareholder and stakeholder value from an ESG perspective, and the growing influence of activist funds, index investors and proxy advisors. It looks at these complex issues in firm management through the dual lens of asymmetric information and conflicts of interest that managers deal with, and gives coherency and clarity to the understanding of these key issues in management.

This book examines the perspectives and experiences of student teachers who are in the process of becoming secondary school English teachers in Japan. It reports on the trainee teachers' attitudes towards theory and practice in their professional development. Through a discussion of what professional expertise should look like in this context, the book identifies the challenges faced by the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) system in Japan, and suggests support and mediational activities that should be included as components of the ITE curriculum. The book contains valuable rich descriptions of trainee teachers' experiences, and will be of interest to those working in EFL both in Japan and elsewhere.

Progressive failure has been a classical problem in the field of geotechnical engineering and has attracted considerable attention in connection with slope stability and foundation problems. It is associated with strain localization or shear banding and is also related to damage in material structures. As knowledge of the progressive failure mechanism increases, it is now necessary to establish effective communications between researchers and engineers.

The International Symposium on Deformation and Progressive Failure in Geomechanics provided an opportunity for discussing recent advances in this area.

A total of 136 papers were contributed from 22 countries. As well as these, the symposium proceedings also contain 8 interim technical reports on the subject by the members of the Asian Technical Committee of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering and the Japanese Geotechnical Society National Committee on Progressive Failure in Geo-structures.