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To meet the goal of the study a hypothesis has been formulated as follows: „Russian energy companies in natural gas and nuclear sector act in order to maximize their influence on CEE markets and to strengthen Russian geopolitical influence in this region.“ Secondary goal here is to find out whether the determinants of the Russian companies differ according to various environments in the region or compared to Asia.
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As stated above, the aim of the research was to provide an in depth analysis of Russian operations in the nuclear sector of Central and Eastern Europe. The research sought to unearth whether Rosatom subscribes to specific patterns of conduct with regard to business environment and if so, what are the determining factors of such behaviour. To meet the goals of the study, the following hypothesis was formulated: „Russian state owne denergy companies in the natural gas and nuclear sectors act in order to maximize their influence and market share in CEE markets and strengthen Russian geopolitical leverage and positioning in this region.“
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Sustainable development and CSR are included in the strategies of most companies. To learn more what companies do for the environment and society—usually, one can visit their websites and read about their SD or CSR activities in reports. However—the quality of such reports differs—from minimum information to very deep immersion into explaining to stakeholders how an organisation understands its role in society. The aim of this chapter is to explain how sustainable development (SD) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) influence corporate strategy, both on a corporate level—mission, vision and its goals, and functional areas of organisation.
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Marketing strategy is an important part of every business strategy because it is crucial in attaining marketing goals and to grant the overall success of a company. Broadly speaking, marketing strategy allows to define the long-term marketing goals of a firm and what needs to be done in order to achieve these goals. This provides a set of planned steps to bring the marketing mix into the desired state to achieve the overall business goal. In this sense, the marketing strategy is never created independently based on the corporate level strategy. Marketing management has evolved over the past decade to become customer-cantered, and it continues to change along with consumers. It is not surprising that the concept of sustainable development (SD) has left its footprints on marketing strategy, as today it has strong impact on the consumer’s mind and behaviour. Managers face the challenge of incorporating the main dimensions of sustainability into the marketing strategy—environmental, social and economic aspects. The main goal of this chapter is to explain how SD is integrated with marketing.
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The concept of sustainability is referred to the basic functions of human resources (HR)—recruitment, motivation, assessment and control. They should embrace sustainability, not just for organisational effectiveness and long-term economic benefits, but also for ethical reasons. Owing to SHRM, the awareness and behaviour of the whole organisation may strongly express SD goals inplanning and implementing the whole corporate strategy. Frequently, the term ‘sustainable practices’ in SHRM is congruent with CSR. The main goal of the chapter is to explain how Sustainable Development Goals can be implemented in human resource management (HRM) and translated into sustainable human resource management (SHRM).
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The purpose of this chapter is to present and discuss the essence and importance of accounting in the concept of sustainable development. Considerations are particularly focused on reporting CSR issues. The growing importance of the idea of sustainable development and the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility that arose on its basis, gave rise to the need for accounting systems to develop solutions enabling the provision of information on the methods and results of implementing these concepts in entities operating on the market. The interest in accounting with regard to the area of sustainable development has contributed to the development of vocabulary related to measurement, calculation, disclosure, reporting and verification of information on the activities of units for sustainable development. Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is still largely voluntary and non-standardised. However, there are various international organisations that develop frameworks and voluntary standards for non-financial reporting, the so-called Social Reporting Standards. The most important EU legislative initiative in the field of disclosure concerning environmental, social and corporate governance information is Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and Council from 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity in formation by certain large undertakings and groups. The combination of financial information (financial statements) with non-financial information relating to the environment, society and corporate governance is included in the integrated report. In Poland, the requirement to present non-financial information related to CSR was introduced by the Accounting Act. Polish companies should prepare a separate report—“Statement on nonfinancial information”. In 2017, the Polish Standard of Non-Financial Information (SIN, 2017) was published to help enterprises fulfil their obligations under the EU Directive.
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Human capital management in an organisation is one of the key areas of company success and its competitive advantage, particularly in a service company such as Raben (Zając, 2014). As an entity operating in the Transport Forwarding Logistics (TFL) sector, its decisions in the area of human resources management depend on industry factors. This is evidenced, among others, by the structure of employees. The aim of this case study is: first, to draw attention to the problems that companies operating in specific sectors may face. The second goal is to identify their ability to implement the concept of a company responsible to employees. The company strives to take the goals set by the United Nations (SDGs) into account. These include taking care of appropriate employment structure, ensuring employee development, ensuring diversity, caring for work-life balance as well as safety in the workplace, and building relations with external stakeholders. The specificity of the industry in which the presented company operates makes it pursue a number of Sustainable Development Goals—both with regard to employees and in terms of environmental protection. Some need to be adapted accordingly.
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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an idea according to which enterprises take responsibility for the effects of their activities and undertake actions aimed at reducing negative effects and improving quality of life of a broadly understood group of stakeholders. In turn, marketing is a concept according to which all activities of enterprises are undertaken with the intention of satisfying consumer needs in the best possible way—by creating and modifying products and services. It would seem that they both—CSR and marketing, share the same goal—providing value to consumers in order to improve their quality of life. However, it can be seen that there is a whole scope of activities under the marketing instruments that primarily serve only to intensify sales. This would not raise any major objections if not for the fact that the occurrence of the demand for restitution is accelerated due to the planned shortening of the product life-cycle. This is in contradiction with the idea of CSR and sustainable development as well as sustainable consumption. So why is it a practice that does not cause widespread outrage and resistance from buyers? And how should it be dealt with? Two widely implemented strategies of manufacturers and retailers are described in that chapter: the 1st one is planned product obsolescence, the second—fast fashion. Retail chains follow the fast fashion trend—offering customers short, frequently changing product lines. However, seeing the effects of this type of strategies, it is possible to undertake a number of activities aimed at reducing the negative effects of these actions.
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In this chapter, two excellent examples from Hungary are presented as cases related to the issues discussed in Chapter 2.6, titled Social responsibility and quality: issues of competitiveness and sustainable development. One case is about a Sustainable restaurant initiative introduced by the Heroes of Responsible Dining Foundation, while the other concerns the Safe place certification developed by the CertUnion certification and consulting company. Both cases are examples for presenting responsibility, quality and innovation from different approaches while contributing to both competitiveness and sustainable development.
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The main objective of this chapter is to present and discuss a possible solution to food waste as a problem occurring in traditional food supply chains, on the one hand, due to food overproduction, and on the other, poverty as a result of economic and pandemic crisis in Europe. The structure of the chapter covers two areas: 1. Food waste as a problem in food supply chains. 2. Reduction of poverty by implementing social supermarkets as new players in the food supply chain.
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The sustainable development goal 7 (affordable and clean energy) seeks to ensure that energy is clean, affordable, available and accessible to all (SD Goals, https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators). Replacing fossil fuel-based energy sources with renewable ones, which include: bioenergy, direct solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, wind and ocean energy (tide and wave), would gradually help the world achieve the idea of sustainability. Renewable energy technologies provide an excellent opportunity for mitigation of greenhouse gas emission and reduce global warming through substituting conventional energy sources (Panwar, Kaushik, & Kothari, 2011; Owusu& Asumadu-Sarkodie, 2016). Nevertheless, investment costs, as well as political environment andmarket conditions, have become barriers preventing countries from full utilisation of the potential to improve the quality of air or water. The aim of the chapter is to initiate discussion on the importance of renewable energy as wellas its environmental and society-related health aspects. Two short case studies presented in the text allow to describe projects concerning solar installations. In the first case, it is educational institution investing in thermal solar panel systems to supply heat for domestic hot water. The results of research conducted by Filho et al. (2019) on a small sample of universities from around the world indicate that in more than half of them, only a small share of energy consumption comes from renewable sources, whilst the European Union policy has identified promotion of energy efficiency in buildings, including educational ones, as a key objective of its energy and climate policy (EPBD Recast, 2010). In the second case study, thoughts on photovoltaic systems installed to supply buildings with electricity are contained and the problem of public resource support forms for that purpose are discussed.
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This chapter is dedicated to the structural equation modelling methods applied to solve sustainable development research problems. A structural equation model is an abstraction of reality, and the researcher’s job is to build a model that approximates that reality as closely as possible. This task can be difficult if we do not have a clear understanding of what the reality of the studied phenomena is. Sometimes there is a sound theory behind the studied phenomena, and we can use variables that other researchers have already pointed out as valid indicators. In other situations, we have to start with a set of variables and test many hypothetical relationships based only on theoretical work. In this chapter, we focus on providing researchers with the knowledge needed to specify, evaluate, and interpret structural equation models (SEMs) in any field of social sciences, but most and foremost—in research related to the concept of sustainable development.
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Sustainable development of business entities can be analysed in terms of three dimensions, i.e., economic, social and environmental ones. The economic dimension of sustainable development can be assessed, inter alia, by entities’ technical efficiency defined as the relation of outputs to inputs. One of the methods that is used to assess the technical efficiency of business entities compared to other entities is the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. The aim of the chapter is to determine the relative technical efficiency of representative agricultural farms from the individual European Union countries in 2018. Moreover, the scale efficiency indexes and the area of scale effects (increasing or decreasing) of the analysed farms were also determined. In the study the data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for 2018 were applied. In order to achieve the assumed research goals, the input-oriented DEA model was used, and the technical efficiency indexes of farms were estimated with the assumption of constant return to scale (CRS) and variable return to scale (VRS). This allowed, among others, for indicating the countries with farms achieving the highest technical efficiency (Belgium, Spain, Italy, Malta and Netherlands assuming CRS, and Belgium, Spain, Italy, Malta and Netherlands, Greece, Ireland, Romania and Slovenia assuming VRS), the lowest technical efficiency (the Czech Republic and Slovakia) within surveyed group of farms. All relatively inefficient farms (except Slovakia) functioned in the area of increasing economies of scale.
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Waste is today considered one of the most significant environmental problems of the modern world. Man, with his activities, is a decisive factor in changing and polluting the environment. Nature does not know waste, waste is the work of man. The research problem is a waste-generating economy model. From the beginning of the industrial revolution, man decided to abandon the circular model of the economy and to move in a straight line. He adopted a linear model of the economy that takes resources from nature,processes them into products, which are thrown away after use and create waste. The linear economy model on the one hand brought rapid economic growth and development, increased productivity, population growth, raising living standards, development of new technologies and knowledge, but on the other hand the linear economy model created catastrophic environmental problems, uncontrolled use of resources, allowed rich global access to resources, changed political and military power, stratified the population into a small group of rich and mass poor, created excessive consumerism, led to drastic climate change and the like. The world has realized that the linear economic model must change.The first phase in the transition from a linear to a circular economy is the recycling economy. The goal is to recycle discarded products and return them as raw materials to a new process. A special problem is the cleaner “planet” than previous waste. The next phase is a systematic approach to economic change that aims to design business systems in such a way that products after use can be easily returned as raw materials to the business process and be zero waste. These changes require all stakeholders to be involved in the change process. Economic progress cannot be stopped, but it can be slowed down for sustainable development. The paper presents the development of economic models and presents the process of transition from linear to circular economy. A special contribution of the paper is the analysis of the state of the economic model in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the comparison with the circular model in the European Union. The discussion analyzes the situation in the field of circular economy in Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia.
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Sustainability is a crucial topic in today’s agricultural policy discussion. Agriculture faces 2 challenges—feeding increasing number of people, while being sustainable and reducing negative environmental effects. Agriculture will require “structural transformation” to meet goals of global society—the Sustainable Development Goals. Land management, bio-diversity and soil degradation are often correlated with farming practices. Thus, having sustainable agriculture requires transformation of farming practices, and organic farming belongs to potential directions. For over 3 decades, organic farming has gained on importance, market share as well as popularity among consumers, producers and policymakers. Health concerns, public support and market potential convinced farmers to introduce non-conventional farming practices. On the contrary, organic farming is often criticized for lower production potential, higher pricing and labour intensity. In the Czech Republic current organic production is rather extensive (on pastures), and products are not sold as organic due to the market oversaturation. However, slow but increasing trend in crop production, which could lead to improved farm economies is observed. The future of organic farming development as individual by side effects related to organic farming are considered to be of the key significance for long-term sustainability of agricultural activities. Organic farming is not a solution to current society issues, butit could be considered as innovative alternative approach for future generations.
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Ten years ago, the European Union recognized the importance of stopping further development of road freight transportation and the need for making rail freight a more prominent branch of industry. Rail transportation used to hold a more relevant position, but because of slow response to changes on the market and no investments in modernization, it now occupies only around 10%of the share in freight transportation in most EU member states. Most members have initiated the implementation of the restructuring and liberalization of rail market, with the aim of establishing a multimodal transportation network and reducing negative impact of road freight on the environment. The Croatian market is no exception, of course. It has liberalized the rail freight market since the Accession to the EU, while the rail passenger traffic is still monopolized by a company owned by the state. The Croatian national carrier HŽ Cargo has decided to face the competition by restructuring the current business and giving a sharper focus on innovation (intermodal terminals, RO-LA, and digitalization of business operations). The above-mentioned topics are analysed in the following chapter.
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The Czech Republic is not a typical wine-growing country, yet winemaking and viticulture are among the oldest Czech crafts. Although the situation is slightly improving today, domestic wine production is not very preferred by Czech consumers since more than two-thirds of the wine that Czechs drink each year is imported. In the long term, the worst situation prevailed with the sales of a young wine. The cause was twofold: On the one hand, the market was already penetrated by imported Beaujolais nouveau, which became a synonym for the young wine. On the other, a peculiar Czechs’ taste for young wine was also an obstacle. As a young wine, many Czechs drink partially fermented must from grapevine fruits called “Burčák”. The young wine market was therefore seemingly penetrated with a low possibility of new brands entering it. The proposed case study will describe an ongoing campaign in which a new brand, “Svatomartinské víno”, was created. With this brand, it was possible to change the Czech consumers’ view of immature wines fundamentally. Thanks to the innovative branding approach, the product, which Czech consumers had neglected for many years, became a superior and must-have product for broad consumers. Also, the relationship between the brand and consumers has been established. The new brand has become a potential for many other related events. Last but not least, the consumption of domestic wine increased, which led to the support of local wineries and related regions.
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Storytelling, as a marketing innovation, is the market communication tool that allows present the facts in a coherent and attractive way so as to stand out from the competition and more effectively influence the consumer’s imagination and engagement. It can be concluded that the history of storytelling itself dates back to the beginnings of mankind, when humans started to transfer knowledge from generation to generation. The chapter indicates that storytelling evokes emotions in customers, and these in turn affect commitment and action. The most important and primary elements of storytelling include superior message, conflict, characters (the archetypes) and plot. Each good story can be based on a few important points, which are well described by the concept proposed by American writer Joseph Campbell. In addition, the chapter also presents examples of sources of inspiration for storytelling. Among them, it is worth mentioning, for example: history of the company’s founder or president, the beginnings of the company, employees’ stories or milestones (successes or failures). The last part presents two case studies of the use of storytelling by enterprises. These are examples from the Polish market regarding the use of storytelling in employee recruitment and customer engagement.
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Sustainable development is a way of thinking, which means changing ideas; sustainable development is one direction, which means reviewing plans and objectives; sustainable development is a statement, which means planning and implementing specific actions. Currently, concrete is the most widely used structural material in road infrastructure. Concrete is a sensitive material, cracks and micro-cracks may occur during operation. Although the cracking/micro-cracking of concrete does not implicitly cause structural damage, it creates a path for corrosive factors, which leads to decreased structural durability caused by material changes and reinforcement corrosion. The self-repairing ability of concrete refers to the process of closing cracks to prevent the entry of potentially aggressive agents. Concrete used in bridge construction is usually covered with a waterproof layer and a layer of asphalt mixture, which also acts as a wear layer, but which can prevent the entry of water containing corrosive ions, the natural aggressiveness of the environment or accelerated corrosion by the penetration of thawing substances etc. Road infrastructure repair works affected by degradation processes are costly, time consuming and lead to a reduction in traffic flow, by partially closing it during interventions. To overcome these shortcomings, over time, several types of concrete with self-repairing properties have been developed, based on several methods such as: pipe networks, superabsorbent polymer capsules and textile fibers, bacteria etc.
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The aim of the study is to assess the importance and socio-economic and environmental aspects of the impact of agriculture in the Southwest region for the development of the region itself. To assess the importance of agriculture in the region and the trends in its development, statistical data are used, such as data from expert assessment of specialists from the regional offices of the State Fund „Agriculture“ and the NAAS. On this basis, the peculiarities of the formed model of agriculture in the Southwest region in terms of changes in the size of farms, organizational parameters, diversification of activities, application of agri-environmental practices and others are derived.
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