A roadmap for triggering the convergence of global ESG disclosure standards: lessons from the IFRS foundation and stakeholder engagement

PurposeMotivated by the growing and urgent demands for a unified set of internationally accepted, and high-quality environmental, social and governance (hereafter ESG) disclosure standards, this exploratory study aims to propose a roadmap for setting out the proper technical groundwork for global ESG disclosure standards. Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory study is conducted to gain initial understanding and insights into establishing a worldwide set of standards for reporting on sustainability, as this topic has not been extensively studied. This study examines the viewpoints of various stakeholders, including sustainability practitioners, academics and organizations focused on ESG issues, to generate knowledge that is more solid than knowledge produced when one group of stakeholders work alone. FindingsThe results revealed that there is an ongoing and incompatible debate regarding several conceptual and practical challenges for setting a unified set of ESG disclosure standards. Practical implicationsThe study results provide multidimensional insights for regulatory parties and standard-setters to develop a high-quality package of global ESG reporting standards. This, in turn, enables different groups of stakeholders to understand the firm's impact on the environment, society and economy. Originality/valueResearch into this timely and relevant global issue is considered an appealing area of study and deserves significant attention. Thereby, working on this topic merits remarkable attention. Furthermore, this exploratory article provides valuable and informative suggestions for creating a unified and high-quality set of internationally accepted sustainability reporting standards.

Corporate social responsibility within a global pandemic: a qualitative analysis of the population's perception of sport organizations

The purpose of this study was to examine the population's perception of corporate social responsibility of three (inter)national sport organizations during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Within an online survey in Germany, 389 open statements were gathered and analyzed using thematic analysis. Drawing on Carroll's CSR conceptualization, the identified themes were assigned to the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibility of sport organizations. The analysis revealed a fifth dimension of responsibility referring to organizations' communication and transparency. Most answers were concerned with the economic and ethical theme, highlighting the importance of financial modesty and contributing to the health of others during the pandemic. This study stresses the importance for sport organizations to meet ethical and moral expectations of society during times of crisis to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with core stakeholders such as the resident population. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Criteria Clustering and Supplier Segmentation Based on Sustainable Shared Value Using BWM and PROMETHEE

With the advent of healthy visions, two of the trends that have become extremely important in the supply chain in recent decades are corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, which have affected the activities of buyers and suppliers. The next trend that is emerging is the vision of creating shared value (CSV), which wants to move the supply chain toward solving social problems in a completely strategic way. This research intends to develop a step-by-step framework for evaluating and segmenting suppliers based on CSV criteria in the supply chain. In the first stage, the criteria for creating sustainable shared value (CSSV) are obtained through existing activities in the field of CSR. The obtained criteria are then divided into two categories, strategic and critical, and then the weight of each criterion is obtained using the best–worst method (BWM). In the next step, based on the Kraljic model, the suppliers are divided into four clusters using the preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) technique. This framework helps the buyer to conclude and select purchasing decisions and relationships with suppliers through the lenses of CSV and sustainability.

Guest editorial: Post-COVID-19 sustainable supply chain management in emerging markets

Since the early 2000s, emerging markets have become the heart of global supply chains hosting a large volume of industrial productions. The second article looked into the barriers to attaining sustainability in supply chain of the Bangladeshi pharmaceutical sector and developed a hierarchical structure of those barriers using interpretive structural modeling and MICMAC analysis. The eleventh article explored a new way to assess suppliers' suitability by considering pseudo-resilience factors to achieve SSC in the post-COVID-19 era using an analytical hierarchy process and R. It also provided a case study of three smartphone processor suppliers (Jessin et al., 2023).

Resilient product and production adaptation in a large-scale disaster: Does it pay off?

Pandemic outbreaks can disrupt firms' normal operations, so they demand a resilient response. Firms can combine social responsibility initiatives with resilient responses by reconfiguring their production resources for pandemic relief. It remains unclear, however, whether pandemic-relieving product adaptation (in short, PRPA) improves financial performance. We draw on stakeholder theory to analyze the effect of a PRPA strategy on the stock returns of US-listed manufacturing firms during the COVID-19 pandemic—the most enduring and large-scale pandemic in recent history. The results reveal that the stock market reacts more positively to PRPA under severe pandemic circumstances and for firms with low political connectedness, low media coverage, and/or more unique production technology. The findings offer important implications for operations theory and practice. © 2023 Decision Sciences Institute.

The Relationship between Marine Sports Tourist Destinations, Social Responsibility, and Environmentally Responsible Behavior

This study investigated the structural relationship between tourist destination identification and environmental responsibility practices based on the social responsibility activities for visitors of marine sports tourist destinations where domestic travel has been active since COVID-19. Furthermore, we aimed to provide academic and practical implications by investigating the relationship between DSR, a major variable in sustainable marine sports tourism, and ERB. Data from a survey of tourists who participated in marine sports (n = 392) were analyzed using structural equation modeling and Hayes PROCESS macro with bootstrapping procedures. According to the analysis results, it was found that marine sports tourist DSR positively affected destination identification and ERB, and that tourist destination identification positively influenced ERB. Second, it was shown that the effect of the social responsibility of a marine sports tourist destination on ERB is mediated via the influence of tourist destination identification.

Separation and Discrimination: The Lived Experience of COVID-19 Survivors in Philippine Isolation Centers

Social isolation in times of pandemic can affect the well-being of individuals infected with a contagious disease. This study explores the lived experience of the 12 COVID-19 survivors placed in community-based isolation centers in Cebu City, Philippines and whose cases were mild and asymptomatic. In describing their lived experience, we employed Max van Manen's phenomenology of practice. Results show that the COVID-19 survivors have suffered more from the consequences of separation and discrimination than the disease's physiological effects. Educating the whole community about social responsibility and ethical behavior in dealing with COVID-19 survivors is essential to minimize social stigma and discrimination.

Analysis of the Mexican communication plan to control the Covid-19 epidemic

This chapter uses discourse analysis to study the statements made by two main players of the Mexican government: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Hugo López-Gatell, the Undersecretary for Health Prevention and Promotion. This analysis also discusses the ¡Quédate en casa! audiovisual advertisement campaign and its main character: the heroine SuSana Distancia. It suggests that the government's advertisement campaigns failed to promote the importance of health care and joint responsibility among the community;this is reflected in the number of people infected and deaths in Mexico. This study is made up of six parts: the first introduces the importance of a strategic communication plan;the second discusses the frame of reference;the third describes the analysis method and the corpus study configuration;the fourth includes the results;the fifth ponders the analysis;and the sixth includes the conclusions. The main findings are that the Mexican government never had the intention of promoting the use of masks as an essential measure. Two spots taught the population how to wear a mask;however, the discourse of both the Undersecretary and the President was that wearing a mask was not an essential measure to control infections. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Thematic Investing: Identifying Opportunities Based on an Analysis of Stewardship Reports

Globally, a growing number of stakeholders recognise that sustainability determines success on multiple levels. Therefore, asset managers in developing and emerging countries increasingly focus on sustainable investment opportunities. While institutional investors largely centred on governance considerations pre-2020, the Coronavirus pandemic highlighted substantial social and environmental concerns at companies worldwide. As South Africa is the most unequal country globally according to the World Bank, decisions made by local institutional investors can have significant implications for individuals and environments where capital is invested. The objectives of this study were hence to analyse the sustainability themes on which South African asset managers focused in their stewardship reports and to explore the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that they addressed through their investment mandates. A content analysis was performed on stewardship reports that were published in 2020 and 2021 to consider the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. The findings indicate that prioritised sustainability themes include climate action, infrastructure development and social considerations. The considered asset managers accordingly focused on addressing climate action (SDG 13), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), and affordable and clean energy (SDG 7). Promising investment opportunities in companies that address key social issues, including the health and well-being of society (SDG 3) and broadening access to quality education (SDG 4) were also highlighted. The leaders of local investee companies are thus encouraged to ensure concise, transparent reporting on these material matters to enhance communication and engagement with institutional investors and other key stakeholders. This study offers a novel perspective on sustainable thematic investing in a highly unequal society.

Academic Research Responses to Covid-19: The Corporate Social Responsibility Perspective

This study investigates the strategic responses to the Covid-19 pandemic by academic research from the distinctive lens of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Specifically, it examines the evolution and trend of published academic research covering the CSR-Covid-19 nexus by highlighting key characteristics of published theoretical and empirical research linking the two elements. A total of 99 papers on CSR-Covid-19 nexus derived from Scopus database were analysed using bibliometrics, social network techniques and content analysis to examine the research activities since the start of the pandemic up to November 2021. The results indicate that the pandemic had effectively stimulated rapid growth of research interests examining the intertwined nature of CSR and Covid-19 as reflected in the swift proliferation of studies theoretically explaining and empirically testing the roles and impacts of CSR on various Covid-19 outcomes within myriads of domains, including but not limited to health, business practices, economics, and socials. The practical implications of this article lies on its ability to accentuate key research characteristics that early and/or mature researchers should consider when planning their future research trajectory on the link between CSR and Covid-19.

Post COVID-19's opportunities for customer-centric green supply chain management and customers' resilience, the moderate effect of corporate social responsibility

PurposeThis research aims to profoundly investigate the post-COVID-19's opportunities for customer-centric green supply chain management (GSCM) and perceived customer resilience by studying the correlation between fear-uncertainty of COVID-19, customer-centric GSCM, and the perceived customers' resilience. Moreover, to examine how the perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities moderates the relationship among the variables.Design/methodology/approachIn this study partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was adopted on a sample of 298 managers and customers in the Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) market for data analysis and hypotheses testing.FindingsPreliminary results indicate that the fear-uncertainty of COVID-19 positively affects customer-centric GSCM. Also, external CSR moderates the association between fear-uncertainty towards COVID-19 and customer-centric GSCM. However, internal CSR does not moderate this relationship. Customer-centric GSCM has a significant positive impact on the perceived environmental and social resilience. However, it has an insignificant effect on the perceived financial resilience. Also, customer-centric GSCM has a significant mediation outcome on the relation between fear-uncertainty of COVID-19 and the perceived environmental and social resilience. However, this relation is insignificant regarding the perceived financial resilience.Practical implicationsManagers could develop a consistent strategy for applying CSR practices, providing clear information and focusing on their procedures to meet their customer needs during COVID-19. Governments and managers should develop a consistent strategy to apply customer-oriented green practices to achieve customers' resilience, especially during the pandemic.Originality/valueBased on the "social-cognitive,” "stakeholder” and "consumer culture” theories, this study shed light on the optimistic side of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it also brings the concepts of social responsibility, resilience and green practices back into the light, which helps in solving customers' issues and help to achieve their resilience.

How Has the Pandemic Affected Social Values? From the Perspective of Preservice Teachers, Is It Erosion or Gain?

This research aims to examine from the perspective of pre-service teachers how values, which have a great function in ensuring social order and welfare, maintaining healthy interpersonal relations, adapting the behaviour of the individual with the expectations of social life, and preventing possible social problems, are affected by the pandemic process.The research was carried out using phenomenology method, which is a qualitative research method. The study group of the research consists of twenty-five pre-service teachers. While determining the study group, easily accessible sampling method was used. In the research, a questionnaire containing four open questions developed by the researchers was used as a data collection tool. Content analysis was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research, it was determined that the pandemic positively affected some values such as altruism, benevolence, solidarity, gratitude, resignation, cleanliness, giving importance to being healthy, and negatively affected some values such as hospitality, freedom, equality, kindness, perseverance, and aesthetics. On the other hand, it is seen that some values such as patience, solidarity, savings and being scientific take their place among the values that both erode and gain from due to the differences in the perspective of pre-service teachers towards life. In addition, it was concluded that the pre-service teachers have a concern that the eroded values will force humanity to face problems such as various health problems, an asocial life, emotional deprivation, depression, digital addiction, selfishness, unemployment, anxiety, and impoliteness in the future.

Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on sustainable food supply chains

PurposeThe ongoing pandemic has gravely affected different facets of society and economic trades worldwide. During the outbreak, most manufacturing and service sectors were closed across the globe except for essential commodities such as food and medicines. Consequently, recent literature has focused on studying supply chain resilience and sustainability in different pandemic contexts. This study aims to add to the existing literature by exploring the economic, environmental and societal aspects affecting the food supply chain and assessing the impact of COVID-19 on food sustainability.Design/methodology/approachA survey method has been adopted with a questionnaire instrument investigating the role of technology, government policies, geopolitics and intermediaries on sustainable organisational management. A five-point Likert scale (i.e. 1 = strongly disagree;5 = strongly agree) is used to evaluate the responses. The findings are based on 131 responses from entry-level workers and senior executives of different food supply chains across Asia and Europe. The data has been analysed to derive insights into the impacts of this pandemic.FindingsThe survey concludes with the significant impact of COVID-19 on the three pillars of sustainability, i.e. economic, social and environmental dimensions. The empirical analysis shows digitalisation and its applications help mitigate the negative effect of COVID-19 on sustainability. In addition, the supportive government policies and intermediatory interventions were helpful in improving sustainability at each level.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings have implications for businesses and policymakers. Companies can learn from the advantages of digitalisation to counter the challenges imposed by the pandemic or similar situations in the future in maintaining the sustainability of their supply chains. Managers can also learn the importance of effective organisational management in driving sustainability. Finally, policymakers can devise policies to support businesses in adopting sustainable practices in their supply chains.Originality/valueThis study adds to the limited literature exploring the impact of COVID-19 on food supply chain sustainability through the triple bottom line lens. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is also one of the first empirical studies to examine the effect of technology, government and organisational management practices on the sustainability of food supply chains.

5 Ways DCTs Can Positively Impact Trial Diversity

The problem became so concerning that FDA expanded its guidelines for enhancing the diversity of clinical trial populations.3 Despite recent and profound medical and technological advances, there is limited evidence of these changes moving the needle toward more equitable clinical trial recruitment or improved health outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities. According to data compiled by Shonda Anderson-Williams, healthcare and life sciences digital transformation leader at Microsoft, diverse companies outperform the competition by 35%. The key to change is meeting people where they are. [...]any organization looking to make inroads with new populations must first acknowledge the historical facts that got us where we are, and then work to move past it. 4. Center the human Factor in decentralized trials Relying on digital technology to the exclusion of human interaction misses out on the texture of relationships and the very foundation of trustbuilding-a critical component of effectively en gaging communities of color who may often carry justifiable baggage.

Does the Shield Effect of CSR Work in Crises? Evidence in Korea

This paper investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on shareholders' wealth during market downturn, focusing on the market crash caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermaths. We evaluate the relationship between firms' CSR and stock returns using a sample of 803 firms listed on the Korean stock market. The results of our study reveal that firms' pre-crisis CSR activities do not protect shareholders' wealth during the crisis;in fact, they negatively affected stock returns during the COVID-19 crisis. This finding is consistent across several robustness tests and challenges the prevailing notion that CSR is solely a philanthropic endeavor. This study suggests that firms need to reconsider their CSR approach in order to better align it with shareholders' interest.

The Moderating Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Financial Performance: Evidence from OECD Countries

This study aims to investigate the nature and intensity of the changes in corporate financial performance due to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures as a result of certain relationships between corporate governance and company performance in the non-financial sector. This study selected 625 non-financial companies across six organizations for economic cooperations (OECD) countries' stock markets for the period of 10 years (2012–2021). For this qualitative study, corporate governance, financial performance, and corporate social responsibility score data were collected from the DataStream, a reliable database for examining the research on OECD countries' listed companies. For the data analysis we applied various statistical tools such as regression analysis and moderation analysis. The findings of the study show that all attributes of the corporate governance mechanism, except for audit board attendance, have significant positive impacts on financial performance indicators for all the selected OECD economies except the country France. France's code of corporate governance has a significant negative impact on return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) due to differences in cultural and operational norms of the country. The audit board attendance has no significant impact on ROA. Moreover, all the attributes except board size (BSIZ) have significant positive impacts on the earnings per share (EPS) in Spain, The United Kingdom (UK) and Belgium. The values obtained from the moderation effect show that Corporate social responsibility is the key factor in motivating corporate governance practices which eventually improves corporate financial performance. However, this study advocated the implications, Investors and stakeholders should consider both corporate governance and CSR disclosures when making investment decisions. Companies that prioritize both governance and CSR tend to have better financial performance and are more likely to mitigate risks. Moreover, the policy makers can improve the code of corporate governance in order to attain sustainable development in the stock market.

Opening industry data: The private sector's role in addressing societal challenges

This commentary explores the potential of private companies to advance scientific progress and solve social challenges through opening and sharing their data. Open data can accelerate scientific discoveries, foster collaboration, and promote long-term business success. However, concerns regarding data privacy and security can hinder data sharing. Companies have options to mitigate the challenges through developing data governance mechanisms, collaborating with stakeholders, communicating the benefits, and creating incentives for data sharing, among others. Ultimately, open data has immense potential to drive positive social impact and business value, and companies can explore solutions for their specific circumstances and tailor them to their specific needs.

Hospitality employees' technology adoption at the workplace: evidence from a meta-analysis

PurposeThis research aims to use meta-analytical structural equation modeling to look into how hospitality employees use technology at work. It further investigates if the relationship between the constructs of the technology acceptance model (TAM) is moderated by job level (supervisory versus non-supervisory) and different cultures (eastern versus western).Design/methodology/approachIn total, 140 relationships from 30 empirical studies (N = 6,728) were used in this study's data analysis in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis.FindingsThe findings demonstrated that perceived usefulness had a greater influence on "user attitudes” and "acceptance intention” than perceived ease of use. This study also identified that the effect sizes of relationships among TAM constructs appeared to be greater for supervisory employees or in eastern cultures than for those in non-supervisory roles or western cultures.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valuable information for practitioners to increase the adoption of employee technology. Practitioners need to focus on the identification of hospitality employee attitudes, social norms and perceived ease of use. Moreover, hospitality practitioners should be cautious when promoting the adoption of new technologies to employees, as those at different levels may respond differently.Originality/valueThis is the very first empirical investigation to meta-analyze the predictive power of the TAM in the context of hospitality staff technology adoption at the workplace. The findings also demonstrated differences in the predictive power of TAM constructs according to job level and cultural differences.

Perception of Green Product Consumption in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in an Emerging Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in changes in consumer behavior and has created new opportunities and challenges for the provisioning of green products in emerging economies. The objective of this study was to identify how perceptions on COVID-19 affected the variables of planned behavior and responsible purchase intention during the pandemic in Colombia. A total of 320 consumers participated in an online survey, and the responses were analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM) and AMOS 24 statistical software. The results were positive regarding the development of better environmental awareness, indicating that COVID-19 (COV) influenced the attitude (ATT) of individuals and contributed to subjective norms (SNs) and perceived behavioral control (PBC), and that SNs and ATT influence eco-friendly purchase intention (EFPI). However, PBC does not contribute to EFPI. Colombian consumers have become aware of the importance to society of buying eco-friendly products, and planned behavior is an opportunity for organizations to formulate new portfolios relevant to the needs of the market. This is an important opportunity to sensitize consumers to the purchase of environmentally friendly products and for the identification of commercial strategies by companies that bet on the formulation and commercialization of eco-friendly portfolios that generate value for society.