The multi-criteria analysis of corporate social responsibility: a comparative study of Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia

Cross-cultural research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) dealing with specific stakeholder groups is fairly rare in the existing literature. The aim of this research is to investigate the level of recognition of CSR in companies by employees working in micro/small, medium-sized and large companies. The research is based on the survey conducted in Bulgaria, Russia and Serbia with the employees' attitudes obtained via a structured questionnaire. A similar socio-historical background of the three countries and different levels of accomplished socio-economic development at present is taken into account. A proposed ranking methodology was based on the multi-criteria decision analysis approach, observed through five studied dimensions: environmental, social, economic, stakeholder and voluntariness. The ranking was carried out using the integrated Entropy-PROMETHEE-GAIA method, where the Entropy method was used for determining the weights of the criteria, whereas PROMETHEE-GAIA was used for final ranking. The obtained results were analyzed from the multi-cultural point of view and show more significant differences in the attitudes of employees from different countries, rather than when the size of a company is taken into consideration

Sustainable Technology Supplier Selection in the Banking Sector

Sustainable supplier selection is a key strategic problem in supply chain management. The aim of this research is to provide a new hybrid multicriteria model for evaluating technology suppliers and validate it with a case study in the banking sector. This approach allows companies to perform qualification, selection, ranking and sorting of suppliers on a sustainable basis. Integration of several techniques is necessary to address this complex decision problem with conflicting economic, environmental and social criteria. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is useful for problem structuring and weighting criteria collaboratively. Multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) is applied to obtain indicators for product quality and supplier risks, whose utility functions are derived by data-driven models that favour evaluation objectivity and transparency. Preference ranking organisation method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) is suitable for supplier selection due to its discriminant power among alternatives. Finally, FlowSort is proposed to classify suppliers into ordered groups and the outcomes are compared with results from MAUT. Results show its applicability by increasing process transparency and reducing operational risks in practice

Bibliometric analysis of scientific production on methods to aid decision making in the last 40 years

Purpose: Multicriteria methods have gained traction in both academia and industry practices for effective decision-making over the years. This bibliometric study aims to explore and provide an overview of research carried out on multicriteria methods, in its various aspects, over the past forty-four years. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases were searched for publications from January 1945 to April 29, 2021, on multicriteria methods in titles, abstracts, and keywords. The bibliographic data were analyzed using the R bibliometrix package. Findings: This bibliometric study asserts that 29,050 authors have produced 20,861 documents on the theme of multicriteria methods in 131 countries in the last forty-four years. Scientific production in this area grows at a rate of 13.88 per year. China is the leading country in publications with 14.14%; India with 10.76%; and Iran with 8.09%. Islamic Azad University leads others with 504 publications, followed by the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University with 456 and the National Institute of Technology with 336. As for journals, Expert Systems With Applications; Sustainability; and Journal of Cleaner Production are the leading journals, which account for more than 4.67% of all indexed literature. Furthermore, Zavadskas E. and Wang J have the highest publications in the multicriteria methods domain regarding the authors. Regarding the most commonly used multicriteria decision-making methods, AHP is the most favored approach among the ten countries with the most publications in this research area, followed by TOPSIS, VIKOR, PROMETHEE, and ANP. Practical implications: The bibliometric literature review method allows the researchers to explore the multicriteria research area more extensively than the traditional literature review method. It enables a large dataset of bibliographic records to be systematically analyzed through statistical measures, yielding informative insights. Originality/value: The usefulness of this bibliometric study is summed in presenting an overview of the topic of the multicriteria methods during the previous forty-four years, allowing other academics to use this research as a starting point for their research

Energy Transition and Climate Change in Decision-making Processes

There is a growing concern about the climate; numerous voices stress that, in order to overcome the climate crisis, the transition to a low-carbon society is the most reasonable path to follow. In this type of society, individuals would be characterized by making mindful efforts to drastically decrease carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, and promote benign energy sources. In order to facilitate this transition, a social perspective in addition to technological, political and economic aspects must be integrated into the relevant decision-making processes. This is necessary because the public can strongly affect actions aimed at driving profound changes in traditional energy systems. To contribute to the effort of promoting energy transition, the Editors of this book invited scholars and practitioners conducting research in the areas of climate change and the energy transition to submit their work. This book includes studies that establish a valuable source of information which can be used to enhance decision-making processes which, in turn, can turn the energy transition into reality. Hopefully, efforts such as this collection of knowledge can help economies make a step towards a secure and sustainable energy future in which renewables will have replaced the centuries-long human dependence on fossil fuels

Sustainability as a Multi-criteria Concept

Sustainability is a fairly old concept, born in the 18th century in the field of forestry, within a mono-functionality perspective. The concept has considerably evolved in the last few years towards a multi-functionality context, with applications reported in practically all areas of economic interest. On the other hand, modern sustainability is a complex problem, for two reasons: a) The multiplicity of functions of a very different nature involved in the process and b) The manner in which different segments of the society or stakeholders perceive the relative importance of these functions. For the above reasons, a realistic approach for dealing with the sustainability issue requires taking into consideration multiple criteria of different nature (economic, environmental and social), and in many cases within a participatory decision making framework. This book presents a collection of papers, dealing with different theoretical and applied issues of sustainability, with the help of a modern multi-criteria decision-making theory, with a single as well as several stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. Hopefully, this material will encourage academics and practitioners to alter their research in this hot and vital topic. After all, the sustainable management of the environment and its embedded resources is one of the most important, if not the major challenge of the 21st century

Analysis of Decision Support Systems of Industrial Relevance: Application Potential of Fuzzy and Grey Set Theories

The present work articulates few case empirical studies on decision making in industrial context. Development of variety of Decision Support System (DSS) under uncertainty and vague information is attempted herein. The study emphases on five important decision making domains where effective decision making may surely enhance overall performance of the organization. The focused territories of this work are i) robot selection, ii) g-resilient supplier selection, iii) third party logistics (3PL) service provider selection, iv) assessment of supply chain’s g-resilient index and v) risk assessment in e-commerce exercises. Firstly, decision support systems in relation to robot selection are conceptualized through adaptation to fuzzy set theory in integration with TODIM and PROMETHEE approach, Grey set theory is also found useful in this regard; and is combined with TODIM approach to identify the best robot alternative. In this work, an attempt is also made to tackle subjective (qualitative) and objective (quantitative) evaluation information simultaneously, towards effective decision making. Supplier selection is a key strategic concern for the large-scale organizations. In view of this, a novel decision support framework is proposed to address g-resilient (green and resilient) supplier selection issues. Green capability of suppliers’ ensures the pollution free operation; while, resiliency deals with unexpected system disruptions. A comparative analysis of the results is also carried out by applying well-known decision making approaches like Fuzzy- TOPSIS and Fuzzy-VIKOR. In relation to 3PL service provider selection, this dissertation proposes a novel ‘Dominance- Based’ model in combination with grey set theory to deal with 3PL provider selection, considering linguistic preferences of the Decision-Makers (DMs). An empirical case study is articulated to demonstrate application potential of the proposed model. The results, obtained thereof, have been compared to that of grey-TOPSIS approach. Another part of this dissertation is to provide an integrated framework in order to assess gresilient (ecosilient) performance of the supply chain of a case automotive company. The overall g-resilient supply chain performance is determined by computing a unique ecosilient (g-resilient) index. The concepts of Fuzzy Performance Importance Index (FPII) along with Degree of Similarity (DOS) (obtained from fuzzy set theory) are applied to rank different gresilient criteria in accordance to their current status of performance. The study is further extended to analyze, and thereby, to mitigate various risk factors (risk sources) involved in e-commerce exercises. A total forty eight major e-commerce risks are recognized and evaluated in a decision making perspective by utilizing the knowledge acquired from the fuzzy set theory. Risk is evaluated as a product of two risk quantifying parameters viz. (i) Likelihood of occurrence and, (ii) Impact. Aforesaid two risk quantifying parameters are assessed in a subjective manner (linguistic human judgment), rather than exploring probabilistic approach of risk analysis. The ‘crisp risk extent’ corresponding to various risk factors are figured out through the proposed fuzzy risk analysis approach. The risk factor possessing high ‘crisp risk extent’ score is said be more critical for the current problem context (toward e-commerce success). Risks are now categorized into different levels of severity (adverse consequences) (i.e. negligible, minor, marginal, critical and catastrophic). Amongst forty eight risk sources, top five risk sources which are supposed to adversely affect the company’s e-commerce performance are recognized through such categorization. The overall risk extent is determined by aggregating individual risks (under ‘critical’ level of severity) using Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) is then used to obtain structural relationship amongst aforementioned five risk sources. An appropriate action requirement plan is also suggested, to control and minimize risks associated with e-commerce exercises

Modeling of corporate social responsibility factors in a dynamic business environment

U doktorskoj disertaciji su predloženi i testirani relevantni modeli kojima se utvrđuju elementi korporativne društvene odgovornosti i uticaj na poslovne performanse kompanija. Istraživanje je sprovedeno u post-tranzicionom poslovnom okruženju Srbije, Rusije i Bugarske sa namerom da se utvrde specifičnosti implementacije korporativne društvene odgovornosti koje nastaju kao posledica razlika u poslovnoj kulturi zemalja koje su prošle kroz proces tranzicije. Analizom relevantnih literaturnih izvora i razvijenih koncepata, utvrđeni su ključni elementi korporativne društvene odgovornosti koji su definisani kroz pet dimenzija: ekološka dimenzija, društvena dimenzija, ekonomska dimenzija, dimenzija stejkholdera i dimenzija dobrovoljnosti. Dalje je, literaturnim pregledom, utvrđeno da uticaj korporativne društvene odgovornosti na poslovne performanse ne mora uvek biti posmatran direktno, već se kao značajan moderator uticaja javlja zadovoljstvo zaposlenih u kompanijama koje primenjuju društveno odgovornu praksu. Pretpostavljeni uticaji i odnosi testirani su korišćenjem statističkih i multikriterijumskih alata. Utvrđena je nadmoć društvene dimenzije i dimenzije stejkholdera u odnosu na ostale dimenzije, prilikom razmatranja ostvarivanja uticaja korporativne društvene odgovornosti na poslovne performanse, kao i na zadovoljstvo zaposlenih. U skladu sa tim je zaključeno da ekološki i ekonomski elementi korporativne društvene odgovornosti nisu adekvatno prepoznati od strane ispitanika što ukazuje na polja koja je potrebno dodatno unapređivati. Takođe, prilikom analize uticaja zadovoljstva zaposlenih na poslovne performanse utvrđene su značajne veze između ova dva elementa. Upoređivanjem percipiranog nivoa implementacije korporativne društvene odgovornosti u zemljama u kojima je istraživanje sprovedeno primećena je određena polarizacija. Pokazalo se da zemlja koja je na najvišem stepenu ekonomskog razvoja ima iskazan najviši nivo implementacije korporativne društvene odgovornosti. Kada se razmatra veličina kompanije prevaga u implementaciji korporativne društvene odgovornosti je u korist većih kompanija.In the doctoral dissertation, relevant models in which the elements of corporate social responsibility were determined and the impact on the business performance of companies are proposed and tested. The research was conducted in a post-transition business environment with the intention to determine the specifics of the implementation of corporate social responsibility that arise as a result of differences in the business culture of countries that have gone through the transition process. By analyzing the relevant literature sources and developed concepts, the critical elements of corporate social responsibility have been identified, which are defined through five dimensions: environmental dimension, social dimension, economic dimension, stakeholder dimension and voluntarism dimension. Further, trough literature review, it was determined that the impact of corporate social responsibility on business performance does not always have to be observed directly, already as the important moderator of the impact appears the satisfaction of employees in companies that implement socially responsible practices. Assumed effects and relationships were tested using statistical and multicriteria tools. The dominance of the social dimension and dimension of stakeholders to other dimensions has been determined when considering the impact of corporate social responsibility on business performance, as well as on employee satisfaction. Accordingly, it was concluded that the environmental and economic elements of corporate social responsibility were not adequately recognized by the respondents, which indicates areas that need to be further improved. Also, during the analysis of the impact of employee satisfaction on business performance, significant links between these two elements were identified. A certain polarisation was noticed by comparing the perceived level of corporate social responsibility implementation in the countries where the research was conducted. It turned out that a country at the highest level of economic development has the highest level of corporate social responsibility. When considering the company's size, the supremacy in the implementation of corporate social responsibility is in favour of larger companies

Challenges of entrepreneurship development in Europe in the light of the pandemic crisis

The paper aims to perform an objective comparative analysis of the business climate for entrepreneurship development in European countries in 2021 and group them according to the quality of the business climate. The research uses thirteen criteria from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report and TOPSIS methodology combined with entropy to perform a comparative analysis of the business climate for entrepreneurship development in selected European economies in 2021. Usage of TOPSIS and entropy method based on the last available data enabled objective and the most accurate evaluation and ranking of countries, taking into account all observed criteria. According to the study, the ranking of European economies indicates that the Netherlands has the most favorable business climate for entrepreneurship development, considering all observed criteria, while Belarus is ranked in the last position. According to relative closeness to the ideal solution (Ci*), the four clusters of countries are derived. Besides the Netherlands, Lithuania, Norway, and Finland were also dedicated to the first cluster, indicating that these economies obtained the most favorable conditions for entrepreneurship development during the pandemic crisis. On the other hand, former command economies and Greece and Cyprus are placed in Cluster IV since they haven’t supported entrepreneurs with sufficient and appropriate economic policy and regulatory reforms