Avenues for corporate sustainability management: guiding SMEs in their strategic journey towards a sustainable long-term growth

L'impatto potenziale delle piccole e medie imprese (PMI) sullo sviluppo sostenibile globale è considerevole e deve derivare da un programma di responsabilità e sostenibilità d’impresa (RSI) strutturato internamente. Questo, tuttavia, non è un compito facile, data, da un lato, l'esistenza di barriere interne che caratterizzano le operazioni delle PMI e, dall'altro, le due nuove sfide mondiali emergenti dell'accelerazione digitale e della crisi derivante dall'emergenza pandemica da Covid-19. Inoltre, queste due questioni globali si rafforzano a vicenda e mettono le PMI in una situazione rischiosa in termini di continuità. Ma anche la sostenibilità d'impresa, che sta diventando sempre più una leva strategica di cui ci si aspetta che le aziende di tutte le dimensioni si avvalgano, presenta rischi simili. È in questo contesto che la tesi cerca di trovare delle soluzioni alle barriere interne e alle sfide esterne che impediscono alle PMI di diventare leader di successo del movimento per lo sviluppo sostenibile. Gli elementi di resilienza alla crisi, coordinamento delle attività di RSI e reporting, digitalizzazione e leadership sembrano avere la capacità intrinseca di guidare lo sviluppo sostenibile di un'azienda nel lungo termine. Tuttavia, per realizzare ciò, devono essere gestiti mediante procedure sistematiche e diventare parte del quadro strategico della sostenibilità all'interno delle aziende. Lo scopo di questa tesi è, dunque, quello di analizzare ciascuno di questi aspetti che sono strettamente legati al tema della sostenibilità aziendale (fornendo output che potrebbero supportare le aziende nel loro percorso di transizione verso la sostenibilità), e che le PMI oggi trovano difficili da affrontare perché il contesto in cui operano diventa sempre più complesso e iniziano a formarsi dei divari tra ciò che ci si aspetta dall’operatività delle PMI e la loro effettiva capacità. La struttura della tesi è composta da quattro capitoli che seguono una prospettiva macro-micro e ogni capitolo adotta una metodologia di ricerca diversa per esplorare gli elementi sopra menzionati. I risultati possono essere utilizzati principalmente dalle aziende che cercano di avviare o migliorare un programma esistente di gestione della sostenibilità. Nonostante il progetto di ricerca sia principalmente rivolto alle PMI, poiché le best practice analizzate sono state principalmente quelle delle grandi aziende, anche queste ultime potranno dunque trarre ispirazione per le loro operazioni di sostenibilità. Per quanto riguarda le PMI, il vantaggio principale sarebbe quello di trovare soluzioni per evitare che le loro barriere interne e le questioni mondiali ne compromettano la capacità di impegno verso un approccio di CSR correttamente strutturato.The potential impact of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) on the global sustainable development is considerable and must stem from an internally structured corporate sustainability and responsibility (CSR) program. This, however, is no easy task, given, on one hand, the existence of internal barriers that characterize SME operations, and on the other, the two newly emerging world-wide challenges of digital acceleration and the crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, these two global matters are mutually reinforcing and put SMEs in a risky situation in terms of continuity. But so does corporate sustainability, which is increasingly becoming a strategic lever that companies of all sizes are expected to make use of. It is within this context that the thesis seeks to find solutions to the internal barriers and external challenges that prevent SMEs from successfully becoming the leaders of the sustainable development movement. The elements of resilience to crisis, coordination of CSR activities and reporting, digitalization, and leadership all seem to have the intrinsic ability to guide the sustainable development of a company in the long term. However, to do so, they must be managed through systematic procedures and become part of the sustainability strategic framework within companies. The aim of this thesis is, thus, to analyze each of these aspects that closely relate to the topic of corporate sustainability (providing outputs that could support companies in their sustainability transition journey), and which SMEs nowadays find difficult to deal with because the context in which they operate becomes increasingly complex and gaps begin to form between what is expected of them and their actual capacity. The structure of the thesis consists of four chapters that follow a macro-micro perspective, each chapter adopting a different research methodology to focus on the above-mentioned elements. The results can be of use mainly by the companies seeking to initiate or improve and existing sustainability management program. Despite the research project being primarily targeted at SMEs, since the best practices analyzed have been mainly those of larger corporations, the latter will also be able to receive some inspiration for their sustainability operations. As for SMEs, the main advantage would be to find solutions to prevent their internal barriers and worldwide issues tamper their ability to engage in a correctly structured CSR approach

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL SERVICES PROVIDED TO FEMALE COMBATANTS AND VETERANS IN UKRAINE AND ABROAD

The war in Eastern Ukraine has been going on since 2014. This situation has led to new challenges for the social sphere, in particular, the construction of a system of social services for combatants and veterans. Female combatants and veterans need gender-specific services adopted to this particular category. Since the experience of social assistance to this specific category of clients of social work in Ukraine is limited, there is a need to study the experience of other countries to address the issue.The purpose of the article is to analyze the peculiarities of women's military service and the system of social protection of this category in Ukraine and abroad.The article analyzes the experience of Australia, Israel, Spain, Canada, Korea, Poland, the USA, and Croatia in implementing the policy of social protection of combatants. The authors identify the main types of services and assistance to this category provided by the legislation in other countries.The authors of the article used the method of theoretical analysis of scientific works and legal documents that describe and regulate the mechanism of social protection of servicemen/servicewoman in different countries; compare the key aspects and features of women's military service in different countries and systematize the list of social services and structures responsible for providing various social services.

Determinants of the influence of innovation on sustainable state development: aspects of public administration

This paper to identify the importance of the impact of innovation on the sustainable development of states and the classification of sustainable development innovations. Design/Methodology/Approach: classification, grouping for classification innovations, analytical economic method to explore innovative development in EU countries; correlation-regression analysis. The study found that the concept of sustainable development, which is implemented to meet the needs of society, taking into account and counteracting the negative environmental impacts and based on the balance of the socio-ecological-economic system, is also oriented towards growth. Such growth can also be achieved through innovation. The main factors of influence of innovations on the sustainable development of the country are identified. Measures have been developed to help manage innovation and achieve sustainable development goals. With this article we show that іn order to stimulate innovative sustainable development, it is necessary to develop and adopt an innovative strategy, simplify the procedures for obtaining patents and licenses, stimulate research and increase the financing of innovation

COVID-19 and sustainability in textile, apparel and fashion use: an assessment of trends

Apart from the many social and health problems it has caused, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on most sectors of the economy worldwide. One of the areas where such impact is noticeable is the textile, apparel, and fashion (TAF) industry. The lockdowns and limited access to retailer outlets resulted in a considerable drop in consumption, creating problems related to the excess of stock, the decrease of sales, and the disposal of non-used items. This paper outlines the implications of the COVID-19 on the TAF sectors and European retailers. It analyzes how the current supply chains exacerbated stock control problems, and it reports on the changes in consumption during the pandemic. The worldwide restrictive measures implemented to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic were responsible for significant profit losses. Also, the decrease in consumption, caused by several geographically wide lockdowns, prompted a subsequent reduction in orders and sales, resulting in a significant number of constraints. The implementation of more environmentally friendly processes, including sustainable circularity as a competitiveness source to keep the TAF sectors in the loop and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, may help address the problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the sustainability context, as reported in this paper.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Accountability through Sustainability Data Governance: Reconfiguring Reporting to Better Account for the Digital Acceleration

Accountability assessment is a highly relevant challenge for companies nowadays. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a digital acceleration in business environments, which in turn brought more focus on sustainability practices that could help organizations better demonstrate their accountability, thus making them more resilient to the ever-changing socio-economic context. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate how to further improve corporate accountability (on a strategic and operational level), taking advantage of the digitalization changes that companies are being forced to go through and applying them to the sustainability evaluation process, including the reporting as its final output. The first research outcome is a combined framework, based on data governance and sustainability literature models, seeking to optimize the manageability of sustainability data. The second outcome is a matrix, based on a content analysis of 20 sustainability reports, representing eight possible types of behavior that companies adopt when integrating digitalization practices into their sustainability evaluation process. The aim is to explore how the communication of digital activities could refine the diligence of the sustainability assessment process, with disclosure representing its last step. Finally, the ‘leading’ case was broken down into the general strategic components that could potentially be included in a balanced data-sustainability reporting strategy

Managing Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Efficiently: A Review of Existing Literature on Business Groups and Networks

Given the global relevance of business groups (BG) and networks as efficient organizational forms for corporate sustainability and responsibility systems (CSR), and seeing that management control systems (MCS) play a pivotal role in transmitting authority to CSR and formalizing a sustainability organizational culture, this paper aims to review the available literature in order to investigate efficient adoptions of CSR by BGs or networks. Both organizational forms have positive effects on CSR development, on three levels: (a) setting industry standards (macro—external environment); (b) stimulating sustainability-oriented innovations (mezzo—member firms); (c) reputational gains, CSR expenses mitigation, and optimization of organizational capabilities (micro—individual SMEs). The studies on SMEs were useful in identifying current sustainability practices: both partial (social, environmental) and complete sustainability systems were susceptible to being integrated with management accounting, making them an almost implicit tool for proper CSR. Finally, by gathering the empirical literature on sustainability transitions of networks and groups, it was possible to trace a comprehensive introductory plan that operators could resort to for initial guidance. The six steps of this process are (1) project initiation, (2) preliminary actions, (3) change management decision, (4) firm-level activities, (5) auditing, (6) transition to territorial social responsibility (optional)

Assessing costs, benefits, and cost-effectiveness in TCM

The chapter intends to fill the gap in evidence on the potential benefits of introducing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices, with respect to its costs. In this regard, the different economic evaluations for the healthcare sector were described. Based on the results of the literature review, which showed a relative lack for standardized cost-benefit tools and methods examining the potential positive impact of TCM, a possible approach was structured, describing the suggested steps and necessary tools that would have to be adopted in order to run a complete appraisal of the costeffectiveness of TCM. The steps of the evaluation include gathering cost information; identifying benefits, computing such CBA outcome measures as net benefits and benefit-cost ratios; running cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) for additional confirmation of the results through the cost-effectiveness, reversed cost-effectiveness, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios; and applying additional cost-utility analysis (CUA) tools in order to obtain the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and reversed cost per QALY outcome measures. The results could also be represented visually by using the incremental cost-effectiveness plane and cost-effectiveness acceptability curve

When is research and development more effective in times of crisis? The role of environmental policies

PurposeIn times of crisis, innovation management and specifically Research and Development (R&D) investments are critical to temper company losses and stimulate higher revenues. Environmental policies, for their potential to stimulate environmental innovations and efficient management of resources, may hold a magnifying role in this relationship. By relying on the distinction between regulatory policies and institutional incentives, this paper argues about the moderating role of environmental policies between a firm's R&D expenses and its performance.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses are tested on data collected from a sample of small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises after the 2008 financial crisis.FindingsFindings reveal positive moderating effects of both regulatory pressures and institutional incentives, with a more significant effect of government support. The highest impact is reached when both these types of policies are present.Originality/valueThe theoretical and methodological relevance of this distinction, the importance of an appropriate mix of environmental policies in policymaking and their resilience building role in stimulating environmental innovations in the aftermath of crises are discussed