ABSTRACT
The Europe 2020 Strategy with its three priorities - smart, sustainable and inclusive growth- has been only partially successful and ended in 2020. The new European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen launched six new policy ambitions aka priorities for 2019-2024 and then the devasting COVID-19 pandemic hit the EU. Arguably, these six new ambitions continue the trio of previous priorities and effectively and efficiently remain unchanged regardless of COVID-19. Is this true and correct? In order to address these two burning questions, firstly the original three priorities and six new ambitions need to be identified and compared, and secondly the six new ambitions need to be assessed in the light of the current two key commands - sustainability and managing COVID-19. A holistic description and critical comparison along with Meta-Analysis with glossing and Socratic questioning offers a new perspective regarding the European Commission endeavours and perhaps even regarding the future of the EU.
ABSTRACT
Research background: The morality and sustainability depend upon the active engagement of all stakeholders. Businesses might have to observe minimum standards via their corporate social responsibility (CSR), but this does not imply any mandatory and enforceable requirements for their internal documents. Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic magnify differences and might impact the perception and commitment to ethics and modify preferences. Purpose of the article: Since it is up to each and every business whether it will issue Codes of Ethics or Codes of Conduct (Codes) and how they will project ethical principles, values and concerns in them, it is both illuminative and instrumental to conduct a massive theoretical and literature, review, to identify five aspects for exploration of Codes: (i) human nature (ii) moral values (iii) ethical principles, (iv) reasoning and (v) sustainability pillars, and to perform such an exploration via a case study at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Based on a massive theoretical and literature review. five aspect for exploration have been identified and employed in a case study involving twenty Codes of the largest Czech businesses, while focusing on their preferences. This is to be achieved by a holistic advanced content analysis employing meta-analysis and manual Delphi method with Liken scoring by a panel of experts. Findings & Value added: The case study reveals that generally Codes prefer (i) Socrates perception of human nature. (ii) respect and responsibility as moral values, (iii) the principle of solidarity, (iv) social contract and deontological reasoning and (v) the sustainability social pillar. These findings demonstrate discrepancies and inconsistencies between and also within these Codes, which often paternalistically reject the multi-stakeholder approach that is needed to overcome COVID-19. This litigates for the appropriateness of this new methodology and encourages further longitudinal case studies entailing more jurisdictions and industries.
ABSTRACT
This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of tools boosting marketing, management, and innovations via digital platforms, such as internal websites of the top Czech luxury fashion businesses in the COVID-19 era. The main purpose of the research is to perform a case study about how these websites address COVID-19, innovations, sustainability. and corporate social responsibility. Systematization of the scientific sources and approaches for solving the problem indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted industries that are dispensable and. at the same time. costly. The relevance of this scientific problem's decision matters theory and practice since the COVID-19 crisis is rather a negative challenge than a positive opportunity for businesses, which often ends up paying the ultimate price - falling into bankruptcy. A battery of employed methodological tools includes a simplified Delphi method with data processing by a panel of experts, the meta-analysis and content analysis. and teleological interpretations instruments. The research object is the Summer 2021 version of the internal websites of the top 20 Czech luxury fashion businesses based on their pre-COVID-19 turnover in 2018. The paper presents an empirical analysis based on this case study and juxtaposes it to prior academic findings. The research empirically confirmed and theoretically proved the underplayed potential of the websites of luxury fashion businesses. The research results could be helpful for theory adjustments and have practical implications and offer recommendations for businesses. They lead to propositions about the internal perspective and digital readiness to inform about it and a general attitude to the marketing. management. and innovations during crises.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has dramatically changed the economic scenery. Despite the austerity measures and decreasing resources, it might lead to an increase of the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as the key for sustainable growth and prosperity. The luxury fashion industry is known for its lavish commitment to CSR as expressed by owners and top management. However, the bottom perception is unclear. A longitudinal front-line case study of the perception of the significance of CSR by the low management and customers allows for filling in this vacuum and to comparatively assess the annual evolution from December 2019 to November 2020. The holistic Meta-Analysis using informal open-interview and mystery shopping techniques and the investigative questionnaire with the Pearson Chi-squared test reveals a fragmented and only slightly raised significance of the CSR by the low management and customers. This disappointing finding has inherent limitations and calls for further studies. © 2021 Mendel University in Brno. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
For over five decades, the modern concept of sustainability has evolved along with its implication in almost all spheres, including the engagement of businesses via their Corporate Social Responsibility. The EU has joined international UN endeavors and attempts to progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”). The EU regime for CSR and CSR reporting is a mixture of hard-law, soft-law and policy measures and has predominantly facultative features. Nevertheless, its backbone is Directive 2013/34/EU, especially Art.19a with a rather general wording about which the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJ EU”) has not yet developed. The organic shaping of the understanding and application of the CSR reporting has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and related crises translated in EU law measures. Arguably, the COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented stress test which has brought new light in the interpretation of the scope of CSR to be reported, perhaps it even takes it into a new dimension. © 2021, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of State and Law. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The three pillars concept of sustainability relies on the multi-stakeholder model and expects socially responsible behavior by each and everyone, including businesses. Their sustainable engagement is the outcome of by them generally freely assumed Corporate Social Responsibility ("CSR"). The EU has been following the sustainability trends and goals set internationally by the UN, including the Agenda 2030 with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"). Nevertheless, the EU law requires CSR reporting only by certain businesses and does not go into detail regarding its compulsory content, see Directive 2013/34/EU, especially Art.19a. Large businesses admit to be in the reach of the Directive 2013/34/EU and satisfy their CSR reporting duty. However, in what quality is it satisfied during the stress test time? The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted almost all aspects of our life and its consequences for businesses and their conduct in Central Europe are massive and multi-faceted. As a precursor of the assessment of formal CSR reports for 2020 to be filed in 2021, a set of central European case studies regarding various industries was performed in the summer of 2020 to holistically and critically assess whether and how COVID-19 impacted their informal CSR reporting. A qualitative Delphi-method was used along with an automatic key word scanning and revealed a significant impact with various nature, intensity and patterns. If this is confirmed by the formal CSR reports to be filed within next 10 months, then it means that the COVID-19 pushes the content of CSR reporting into a new dimension.
ABSTRACT
Sustainability, with its three pillars, is projected into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and their effectiveness and efficiency depend upon the operation of the multi-stakeholder model. Both the EU and the EU member states depone clearly that, via CSR, we can exit from the COVID-19 crises stronger and better. The feasibility of the CSR depends upon the eager support of all stakeholders, including consumers. Therefore, it is highly relevant to assess whether the new group of consumers, known as Generation Z, is open to financially support CSR, to what extent and why and/or under what conditions. These three research questions became the foundation of a survey of 179 college students paying for their tertiary study at a private university in Prague. The survey included both closed and open question, brought forth a highly revealing and surprisingly consistent message about the conditional and rather generous readiness of this new generation of consumers in Central Europe, and led to a set of recommendations. © 2020 Radka MacGregor Pelikánová et al., published by Sciendo 2020.