The management of corporate social responsibility through projects : a more economically developed country perspective

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an increasingly influential concept, claimed to be implemented more in the West than in the Gulf Cooperation Community (GCC) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region where CSR is often portrayed as less developed and mainly philanthropic. The research reported in this paper investigates capacity building for CSR in organizations and examines the research question as to whether the project management of CSR can contribute to increasing levels of awareness, engagement, and implementation. The empirical study therefore examines the management of CSR through projects and consists of data analysed from 29 interviews conducted during 2011–2016 with CSR representatives for organizations operating in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is a member of the GCC, located in the MENA region, and categorized as a more economically developed country. The findings reveal evidence supporting the argument that organizations with capabilities in the project management of CSR are in the position to develop capacities for strategic CSR. This empirical analysis of CSR capacity development across varying degrees of sophistication in the project management of CSR activities implies a more developed stage of CSR engagement, at least in the sample of organizations studied, than is expressed in the extant literature on CSR in the UAE, and elsewhere in the MENA region. The use of project management to organize, implement, align, and monitor CSR activity supports capacity development in CSR and can contribute to its sustainability. We recommend that future research examines the political, business, and institutional factors that could further develop CSR in organizations when managed through projects

Green process innovation: Where we are and where we are going

Environmental pollution has worsened in the past few decades, and increasing pressure is being put on firms by different regulatory bodies, customer groups, NGOs and other media outlets to adopt green process innovations (GPcIs), which include clean technologies and end-of-pipe solutions. Although considerable studies have been published on GPcI, the literature is disjointed, and as such, a comprehensive understanding of the issues, challenges and gaps is lacking. A systematic literature review (SLR) involving 80 relevant studies was conducted to extract seven themes: strategic response, organisational learning, institutional pressures, structural issues, outcomes, barriers and methodological choices. The review thus highlights the various gaps in the GPcI literature and illuminates the pathways for future research by proposing a series of potential research questions. This study is of vital importance to business strategy as it provides a comprehensive framework to help firms understand the various contours of GPcI. Likewise, policymakers can use the findings of this study to fill in the loopholes in the existing regulations that firms are exploiting to circumvent taxes and other penalties by locating their operations to emerging economies with less stringent environmental regulations.publishedVersio

Advancing the sustainable development goals: evidence from leading European banks

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflect grand challenges the global community needs to address in order to ensure economic welfare, environmental quality as well as social cohesion and prosperity for future generations. In this respect, the role of the banking sector, among other critical business entities and key stakeholders, is vital. The purpose of our paper is to examine how comprehensively the reported performance of banks aligns with the endorsement of the SDGs. We employ the well-established framework of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) performance indicators for a comparative assessment of the nonfinancial performance disclosed in the annual sustainability reports. Focusing on a small sample of leading European banks, we find an overall low contribution to the SDGs. Furthermore, each bank’s contribution remains particularly heterogeneous towards most individual SDG goals. Likewise, bank-specific strategies drive the most extensively addressed SDGs, overlooking any critical importance of certain GRI indicators with multifaceted impact across several SDGs. The study sets forth managerial implications for improving effective reporting of SDG performance. It concludes with emerging opportunities for enhancing disclosure of SDGs contribution and highlights future research perspectives towards industry-wide shared-value appraisal under the scope of these pressing grand challenges

The evolution of the ventilatory ratio is a prognostic factor in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients

Background: Mortality due to COVID-19 is high, especially in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The purpose of the study is to investigate associations between mortality and variables measured during the first three days of mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 intubated at ICU admission. Methods: Multicenter, observational, cohort study includes consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to 44 Spanish ICUs between February 25 and July 31, 2020, who required intubation at ICU admission and mechanical ventilation for more than three days. We collected demographic and clinical data prior to admission; information about clinical evolution at days 1 and 3 of mechanical ventilation; and outcomes. Results: Of the 2,095 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU, 1,118 (53.3%) were intubated at day 1 and remained under mechanical ventilation at day three. From days 1 to 3, PaO2/FiO2 increased from 115.6 [80.0-171.2] to 180.0 [135.4-227.9] mmHg and the ventilatory ratio from 1.73 [1.33-2.25] to 1.96 [1.61-2.40]. In-hospital mortality was 38.7%. A higher increase between ICU admission and day 3 in the ventilatory ratio (OR 1.04 [CI 1.01-1.07], p = 0.030) and creatinine levels (OR 1.05 [CI 1.01-1.09], p = 0.005) and a lower increase in platelet counts (OR 0.96 [CI 0.93-1.00], p = 0.037) were independently associated with a higher risk of death. No association between mortality and the PaO2/FiO2 variation was observed (OR 0.99 [CI 0.95 to 1.02], p = 0.47). Conclusions: Higher ventilatory ratio and its increase at day 3 is associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving mechanical ventilation at ICU admission. No association was found in the PaO2/FiO2 variation

Ispanismo internazionale e circolazione delle storiografie negli anni della democrazia spagnola (1978-2008)

Il volume presenta una panoramica ad ampio raggio della ricerca storiografica ispanistica sul piano internazionale dell'ultimo trentennio. Allo stesso tempo indaga sull'influenza che le varie storiografie nazionali sull'età contemporanea hanno esercitato sulla storiografia del paese iberico