Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosure and Its Consequences on the Sustainability Reporting Quality of Italian and German Companies

Companies disclosing nonfinancial information through sustainability reporting practices provide markets with data on their social, environmental, and governance performance. The quality of sustainability reporting is much discussed in the literature because this quality affects factors such as the credibility of accountability and building stakeholders\u2019 trust in the company. Nonetheless, the concept of quality is multidimensional, and empirical evidence relating to the quality of sustainability reporting presents different findings. Regulations on mandatory nonfinancial disclosure (NFD) open new perspectives for research on sustainability reporting quality (SRQ). This study explored the effect of introducing mandatory NFD on SRQ by focusing on the effects of new legislation (Directive 2014/95/EU) introduced in Italy and Germany. The analysis was conducted through qualitative content analysis of the sustainability reporting practices of Italian and German companies in the top lists of stock exchanges. Sustainability reporting practices of one year before (2016) and one year after (2017) the implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU were compared. The results of 132 observations demonstrated that the quality of sustainability reporting increased after implementation of the law on mandatory NFD. Further, the effect of the law seemed to reduce the differences in SRQ of the two countries before the introduction of mandatory NFD. The results suggested that obligatoriness of NFD affects SRQ together with other relevant determinants focused on by previous research (e.g., company size and industry type)

Understanding the purpose of benefit corporations: an empirical study on the Italian case

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The contribution of manufacturing companies to the achievement of sustainable development goals: an empirical analysis of the operationalization of sustainable business models

This study aims to identify the sustainable business practices operationalized in the sustainable business models of manufacturing companies and highlights these companies' contributions to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The results outline that a clear sustainable value proposition is operationalized through a large and various range of sustainable practices that, although some of them are legally promoted, are mostly voluntarily adopted. Unlike previous studies, this research shows a widespread commitment not only to the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability but also to the social one, above all to promote workers' well-being, improve the workplaces, and engage the employees. Furthermore, the study reveals an across-the-board dimension of sustainability operationalized by the adoption of local embeddedness strategies, networking development, and creation of a sustainable ecosystem and contributes to extending -and improving all dimensions of- the triple bottom line framework. Finally, the companies investigated contribute to the achievement of 11 of the 17 SDGs by highlighting dimensions in which companies already have a strong impact and those in which they could enhance their practice. Based on these results, this research advances theoretical knowledge and offers practical implications to improve sustainable business management further.The authors wish to express their gratitude to Prof. Claudio Baccarani, Emeritus Professor of Business Management in University of Verona, for valuable comments and for supporting the original research carried out. Open Access Funding provided by Universita degli Studi di Verona within the CRUI-CARE Agreement

An Approach to the Simulation of a Batch-respirometer

Dynamic models in activated sludge processes have demonstrated to be a reliable and useful instrument in design and management of wastewater treatment plants. The biochemical nature of the processes involved the models which need a specific calibration to local conditions. A common method to determine kinetic and stoichiometric parameters of the biomass or wastewater/sludge fractionations is respirometry. Theoretically, nearly all biomass parameters and fractions can be estimated by respirometry, but a lot of difficulties rise when some parameters, such as saturation and hydrolysis rate constants, have to be drawn from experimental data. The aim of our work is the setting up of a simple method to calibrate Activated Sludge Model No. 1 applying traditional batch respirometric tests together with dynamic simulations of the respirometer itself

Essere insegnanti di economia aziendale nella scuola secondaria di secondo grado: uno studio qualitativo

Paper faces didactics of “Economia Aziendale” (Business Administration) in Upper Secondary School; the theme is substantially new in the scientific debates on didactics.The research aims to identify didactical choices and practices of teachers of Economia Aziendale, to enhance a practical knowledge that remain often implicit. We have adopted qualitative research methodologies and we have involved 33 teachers operating in 10 schools placed in provinces of Verona and Vicenza. The interdisciplinary composition of research team allows torecognize, into teachers’ narrations, the complex twine between didactical practice and disciplinary knowledge that constitutes the content of daily teaching.The research aims to contribute to build a shared knowledge that can be significant to both initial and continuous training of teachers of Economia Aziendale.Among the reach evidences emerged from interviews, observations in classroom and focus group, this paper focuses on the professional profile of teacher of Economia Aziendale and on the specific didactical characteristics of this discipline. Even if this focus is precise, the paper offers some significant starks useful also for teachers of other subjects.L’articolo affronta il tema della didattica dell’Economia Aziendale nella Scuola Secondaria di Secondo Grado (SSSG), argomento sul quale si rileva una sostanziale assenza di letteratura.La ricerca ha interpellato gli insegnanti di Economia Aziendale per individuare le scelte che li guidano nel loro agire e le pratiche che le concretizzano, al fine di valorizzare un sapere che spesso rimane implicito. Sono state impiegate metodologie di ricerca qualitativa, coinvolgendo 33 docenti di 10 istituti scolastici collocati nelle province di Verona e Vicenza. La composizione interdisciplinare del gruppo di ricerca ha permesso di cogliere nelle narrazioni dei docenti ilcomplesso intreccio tra il sapere didattico-pedagogico e quello specifico della disciplina che costituisce la viva realtà di quanto accade in aula. Obiettivo della ricerca è contribuire alla costruzione di un sapere che risulti significativo per la formazione iniziale e in servizio degli insegnanti di questa disciplina.Dalla ricchezza delle evidenze emerse, si focalizza l’attenzione sul profilo del docente di Economia Aziendale nella SSSG e le caratteristiche che assume la disciplina nel contesto scolastico.Sebbene il focus della ricerca sia specifico in termini disciplinari, le tematiche trattate offrono spunti significativi di riflessione anche per docenti di altre discipline

Rapid and Affordable High Throughput Screening of SARS-CoV-2 Variants Using Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Analysis

Mutations in the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 alter the infectivity, pathogenicity, and transmissibility of new variants of concern (VOCs). In addition, those mutations cause immune escape, undermining the population immunity induced by ongoing mass vaccination programs. There is an urgent need for novel strategies and techniques aimed at the surveillance of the active emergence and spread of the VOCs. The aim of this study was to provide a quick, cheap and straightforward denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) method for the prompt identification of the SARS-CoV-2 VOCs. Two PCRs were designed to target the RBD region, spanning residues N417 through N501 of the Spike protein. Furthermore, a DHPLC screening analysis was set up. The screening consisted of mixing the unknown sample with a standard sample of a known variant, denaturing at high temperature, renaturing at room temperature followed by a 2-minute run using the WAVE DHPLC system to detect the heteroduplexes which invariably form whenever the unknown sample has a nucleotide difference with respect to the standard used. The workflow was able to readily detect all the variants including B.1.1.7, P.1, B.1.585 B.1. 617.2 and lineages at a very affordable cost. The DHPLC analysis was robust being able to identify variants, even in the case of samples with very unbalanced target concentrations including those samples at the limit of detection. This approach has the potential of greatly expediting surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 variants

L'espressione quantitativa della responsabilita' d'impresa nella definizione degli equilibri di sistema

Enterprises are complex system, but they are also cells of the global social and economic system; the relation between functional character of enterprise and functional character of social system can be correctly interpreted as a relation between the internal rationality and the order of system. There are several positive consequences of this relation and the accounting model of “added value” can measure these effects; nevertheless, there are negative consequences too. This paper intend to look for an accounting method to measure these negative effects: they represent a sort of “removed value”, which enterprises can allot to stakeholders only because they don’t meet the expenses of damages caused to social system

La fenomenologia aziendale "ibrida"

Il capitolo \ue8 teso ad illustrare il concetto di "hybrid organization" nella letteratura internazionale, anche con riferimento alle diverse tassonomie utilizzate (mission-driven organization, social enterprise, ecc.). Inoltre, sulla scorta della Dottrina, si individuano i caratteri peculiari della fenomenologia aziendale ibrida e si costruire un framework integrato di analisi per tali organizzazioni

Insegnare nella Scuola secondaria di secondo grado. La didattica disciplinare dell'Economia Aziendale: una ricerca qualitativa

La ricerca - frutto di sinergia interdisciplinare - esplora il tema della didattica dell'Economia Aziendale nella scuola superiore, facendo leva sulle buone prassi diffuse. Inserendosi in un territorio di ricerca in parte inesplorato, il presente volume si propone di sistematizzare quel sapere didattico che nasce e si sviluppa nella pratica d’aula: un ricco sapere diffuso che necessita di emergere, perché non ancora codificato e perché privo di piena consapevolezza negli stessi insegnanti. La rigorosa applicazione di metodologie qualitative di ricerca è stata finalizzata alla valorizzazione ed alla sistematizzazione di evidenze significative, utili sia per lo sviluppo del dibattito scientifico sulle didattiche disciplinari sia per la crescita delle pratiche didattiche. Il volume, dunque, si rivolte ai ricercatori impegnati nel campo della didattica disciplinare (in special modo in ambito economico-aziendale), nonché ai docenti in servizio ed in formazione