Improvement of management performance in the School System

An increasing awareness of the importance of activating long-term positive relations between scholastic institutions, students, families, governmental authority and other structures of public Administration is crucial for a real autonomy in school management. Few resources, rapid changes of the characteristics that influence educational system, high demand for managerial skill and operational autonomy, impose the capability to optimize performance, transparency of behaviour and results. In this ambit, is critical an effectiveness accountability system as starting point for the improvement of the relations between the schools and their stakeholders. The study propose the sharing and the organization of the information to create a Network of Sustainability Reports as lever for an effectiveness stakeholders engagement. The approach proposed is to optimize performance management cycle of the scholastic institutions and the employment of public resource

School Governance, Accountability and Performance Management

Limited resources, recent reforms of educational system that impose rapid changes in the governance system, high demand for managerial skill and operational autonomy, impose the capability to optimize performance, transparency of behaviour, dialogue with stakeholder to grow results in the school system. It therefore draws attention to the importance of activate long-term positive relations between schools, students, families, governmental authority and other structures of public Administration to improve quality and performance in school management. So is critical an effectiveness accountability system as starting point to develop the quality of relations between the schools and their stakeholders. In this regard, this article proposes the Network Governance as lever to improve an effectiveness stakeholder engagement and to optimize performance in the School System. This study represents a dissertation that aims to raise awareness about the cycle of performance management in schools and for the optimization of the use of public resources

Corporate Social Responsibility and Shareholder Relations

The diffusion of social responsibility principles, together with the globalization of financial market highlight the importance of the value creation in the long run for both companies and investors. Stable relations with investors are based on corporate decision making processes privileging the creation of greater value in the future instead of maximizing immediate profits, when a trade-off between long and short run exists. These corporate behaviours reduce both the business risk of companies and the investment risk of shareholders. This conceptual article aims to highlight the importance of the relationships between the assertion of corporate social responsibility by companies and investors, according to a management model able to create sustainable value optimizing the satisfaction of the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders

Corporate governance, ownership and sustainability

The main finding of this article is that sustainability and the broader concept of social responsibility imply a change in the spirit of governance, which promotes the so-called 'de facto convergence' between the different corporate governance systems existing all over the world. Substantial corporate governance convergence suggests that different countries may have different companies' ownership structure, rules and institutions but the corporate boards may still be able to perform common goals, with attention to similar key performance indicators, such as ensuring fair disclosure or accountability. Companies that perform better with regard to the triple bottom line can increase shareholder value contributing, at the same time, to the sustainable development of the societies in which they operate

Sustainability in the Higher Education System: An Opportunity to Improve Quality and Image

In view of the increasing importance attributed to social responsibility and stakeholder relationship management, more universities have expanded their research topics and their educational programs through the years. High attention is dedicated to the dominant principles and values of internal and external relations, to the innovation processes designed to ensure an approach to sustainable development. However, less attention is dedicated to the sustainability governance orientation and to the development of a strong institutional culture of sustainability, which is a key success factor to improve the quality and the image. This article observes the sustainability governance orientation, through the analysis of the information on the websites of three fair groups of universities in the international Top 500-ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities) 2015 ranking. The aim is to verify if there is a link between the degree of sustainability culture in the management and the positioning of the universities in the international ranking. In addition, the analysis is compared with self-assessment data carried out by the same universities in terms of performance sustainability through the STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) online platform. As principal consideration, we have noted that the best universities in the ranking have a management approach based on a shared vision of sustainability development of their university leaders, who play an essential role affirming and disseminating a sustainability culture. All this opens broader future implications intended to highlight the importance of management sustainability as a quality improvement factor of universities

Sustainability and Convergence: The Future of Corporate Governance Systems?

In today’s world, a sustainable approach to corporate governance can be a source of competitive advantage and a long-term success factor for any firm. Sustainable governance requires that the board of directors considers economic, social and environmental expectations in an integrated way, no matter what ownership structure and formal rules of corporate governance apply to the company: this mitigates the traditional differences between insider and outsider systems of corporate governance. Previous studies failed to consider the contribution of sustainability in the process of corporate governance convergence. Therefore, the aim of this article is to fill the gap in the existing literature by means of a qualitative analysis, supporting the international debate about convergence of corporate governance systems. The article describes the evolution of outsider and insider systems in the light of the increasing importance of sustainability in the board’s decision-making and firm’s operation to satisfy the needs of all the company’s stakeholders. According to this, a qualitative content analysis developed with a directed approach completes the theoretical discussion, demonstrating that sustainability can bring de facto convergence between outsider and insider corporate governance systems. The article aims to be a theoretical starting point for future research, the findings of which could also have practical implications: the study encourages the policy makers to translate the sustainable business best practices into laws and recommendations, strengthening the mutual influence between formal and substantial convergence