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.

Pandemic related mental health

OnTrackNY is a nationally recognized Coordinated Specialty Care model disseminated across New York state for young people experiencing early non-affective psychosis. OnTrackNY is a network of 22 teams located in licensed outpatient clinics, serving over 2500 individuals. OnTrackNY offers medication management, case management, individual and group cognitive behaviourally oriented therapy, family support and psychoeducation, supported employment and education, and peer support services. Teams receive training for implementation through an intermediary organization called OnTrack Central. OnTrackNY was selected as a regional hub of the National Institute of Mental Health Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET), a national learning healthcare system (LHS) for young adults with early psychosis. This symposium will present the different ways in which EPINET OnTrackNY implemented systematic communitybased participatory processes to ensure robust stakeholder involvement to improve the quality of OnTrackNY care. Florence will present results of an assessment of stakeholder feedback experiences used to develop strategies for assertive outreach and engagement of program participants, families and providers. Bello will present on mechanisms for integrating of co-creation principles to design, develop and execute quality improvement projects in EPINET OnTrackNY. Stefancic will present on quality improvement projects that used rapid cycle qualitative methods, tools, and strategies to build team capacity and flexibility to respond to an LHS. Montague will present adaptations to OnTrackNY services during the COVID-19 pandemic using an implementation science framework. Finally, Patel will lead a discussion on the implications of involving individuals with lived experiences in all phases of the process to maximize learning in an LHS.

Towards a Metaverse Workspace: Opportunities, Challenges, and Design Implications

Both enterprises and their employees have globally experienced remote work at an unprecedented scale since the outbreak of COVID-19. As the pandemic becomes less of a threat, some companies have called their employees back to a physical office, citing issues related to working remotely, but many employees have refused to return. Thus, working in the metaverse has gained much attention as an alternative that could complement the weaknesses of completely remote work or even offline work. However, we do not know yet what benefits and drawbacks the metaverse has as a legitimate workspace, because there are few real cases of 1) working in the metaverse and 2) working remotely at such an unprecedented scale. Thus, this paper aims to identify real challenges and opportunities the metaverse workspace presents when compared to remote work by conducting semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops with various employees and company stakeholders (e.g., HR managers and CEOs) who have experienced at least two of three work types: working in a physical office, remotely, or in the metaverse. Consequently, we identified 1) advantages and disadvantages of remote work and 2) opportunities and challenges of the metaverse. We further discuss design implications that may overcome the identified challenges of working in the metaverse. © 2023 Owner/Author.

Lessons Learnt and Policy Implications from Implementing the POWERPOOR Approach to Alleviate Energy Poverty

Energy poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon that affects many Europeans. Alleviating energy poverty is high in the EU, national, and local policy agendas. Despite the attention the phenomenon has been gaining from a policy perspective, especially after the current energy crisis, there are still some gaps due to the complexity of the issue and its vastly different manifestations across Europe. This manuscript presents the policy implications stemming from the implementation of the POWEPROOR approach in alleviating energy poverty in eight European countries, as co-created with relevant stakeholders in each country. The knowledge gained from empowering energy-poor citizens by promoting behavioural changes and small-scale energy efficiency interventions, as well as by encouraging the uptake of renewable energy sources in the form of collective energy initiatives while leveraging innovative financing schemes, resulted in policy recommendations for national and sub-national governments and lessons for civil society and the private sector.

Who is willing-to-pay for sustainable last mile innovations?

The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the growth of e-commerce. As a result, urban freight transport volume is increasing, leading to traffic congestion and negative environmental impacts, while service quality is deteriorating. These challenges can be addressed through radical innovation of urban last mile logistics with environmental-friendly transportation modes (e. g., cargo bikes), consolidation points (e. g., micro hubs) and new digital service models (e. g., time window alignments). However, sustainability improvements lead to higher costs and will not be realized - beyond pilot studies - until they become economically viable. Therefore, willingness-to-pay (WTP) for sustainable last mile innovations (LMI) is one of the most important success factors. In our work, we aim to investigate the WTP for the additional costs of sustainable LMI. While various stakeholders such as online retailers, logistics service providers or city administrations could benefit from sustainable LMI, in our study we focus on the group that is likely to benefit the most: urban inhabitants. Therefore, we investigated consumers' WTP for sustainable LMI by conducting a questionnaire survey in Germany in September and October 2020 (n = 1,071) and analyzing the data using multivariate statistics. The results show four consumer segments, their characteristics, and their WTP for LMI. Based on the results, implications for stakeholders (especially online retailers) are derived to address the behavior of each consumer segment towards more sustainability in urban last mile logistics. Further research would be interesting to evaluate allocation scenarios for the additional costs among all last mile stakeholders empirically. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Introduction

The COVID-19 crisis that emerged in spring 2020 was unprecedented in its impact on the day-to-day operations of higher education worldwide. This chapter describes the experiences of students, staff, and faculty at the University of Utah as they adapted to the new COVID-19 reality in spring and summer 2020. Participants' experiences of the transition to online learning and work during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic illuminate a number of findings that can provide guidance to higher education for future crises. The chapter explores whether it is realistic to expect campus communities to thrive during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. As it becomes clear that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to impact higher education in the near future, it is important to look back on the experiences of those in higher education as leaders consider the best ways to move forward in this dynamic environment. The chapter offers an in-depth and institutionally broad view of how different higher education stakeholders experienced the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also offers an opportunity to consider how the theoretical concept of thriving operates in practice when an institution is in crisis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Corporate social responsibility: Insights from COVID-19 and stakeholder theory

The transition from primary sustainable goals to crisis management exemplifies a new era of corporate social responsibility, sustainable business models, corporate sustainability, and stakeholder theory. This study examines the varied dynamics of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) during COVID-19, as well as its potential and limitations, in order to gain a better understanding of CSR. The results expand upon the instrumental version of CSR and the application of stakeholder theory during COVID-19. It reflects on the necessity for a wider integration of societal issues in CSR's driving philosophy as well as the underlying need to study diverse sectors of governance across the globe due to the increased potential for exploitation of the weak, particularly during times of crisis. This study examines the theoretical foundations of the themes and the lines of divergence between CSR's past and present by reviewing the social, intellectual, and conceptual structure of the literature. It emphasizes the importance of post-COVID-19 policies that prioritize job creation by implementing stronger labor market standards. Governments should eliminate barriers and implement pro-SME laws and programs. A sustainable fiscal policy takes future generations into account. Sustainable corporate finance incorporates long-term financial goals and social values into stakeholder theory. © 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Impact of improving infection control and antibiotic stewardship practices on nosocomial infections and antimicrobial resistance in an oncology centre from India

Background: Improving basic infection control (IC) practices, diagnostics and anti-microbial stewardship (AMS) are key tools to handle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Material(s) and Method(s): This is a retrospective study done over 6 years (2016-2021) in an oncology centre in North India with many on-going interventions to improve IC practices, diagnostics and AMS. This study looked into AMR patterns from clinical isolates, rates of hospital acquired infections (HAI) and clinical outcomes. Result(s): Over all, 98,915 samples were sent for culture from 158,191 admitted patients. Most commonly isolated organism was E. coli (n = 6951;30.1%) followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 5801;25.1%) and Pseudomonas aeroginosa (n = 3041;13.1%). VRE (Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus) rates fell down from 43.5% in Jan-June 2016 to 12.2% in July-Dec 2021, same was seen in CR (carbapenem resistant) Pseudomonas (23.0%-20.6%, CR Acinetobacter (66.6%-17.02%) and CR E. coli (21.6%-19.4%) over the same study period. Rate of isolation of Candida spp. from non-sterile sites also showed reduction (1.68 per 100 patients to 0.65 per 100 patients). Incidence of health care associated infections also fell from 2.3 to 1.19 per 1000 line days for CLABSI, 2.28 to 1.88 per 1000 catheter days for CAUTI. There was no change in overall mortality rates across the study period. Conclusion(s): This study emphasizes the point that improving compliance to standard IC recommendations and improving diagnostics can help in reducing the burden of antimicrobial resistance.Copyright © 2023 Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists

How does social responsibility investment strategy contribute to hospitality firms' recovery from public health emergencies? The case of COVID-19 pandemic.

Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, this paper explores which configurations of six dimensions of hospitality firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) result in higher (or lower) levels of total factor productivity. We demonstrate that different categories of stakeholders and hospitality firms' dynamic capabilities complement each other under the framework of configurational theory. The result shows that: 1) The CSR dimensions of product quality, CSR communication, and environmental protection are critical to high levels of firm performance; 2) After the pandemic, hospitality firms should make investment in CSR communication and environmental protection a priority; 3) Hospitality firms' choice to invest in a specific combination of dimensions of CSR practice should depend on their overall level of corporate governance (high or low). This paper contributes to the strategic management and corporate governance literature by identifying the role of hospitality firms' governance on the linkage between CSR investment strategy and firm performance.

Work in progress: Improvement and quality plans in engineering programs. Critical Success Factors

Engineering education occurs in an environment of change, which has been especially significant faced with this COVID-19 situation. Continuous improvement is reaffirmed as the basis for quality assurance in an engineering program, and requires compliance with various accreditation criteria, as well as recognition of the context of each program. Six Critical Success Factors (CSF) are proposed: Stakeholders, Processes, Information, Improvement Actions, Participation and Communication and Institution, for the formulation and monitoring of Improvement Plans (IP) in engineering programs. The CSFs are operationalized in 48 metrics. The research is based on a systematic review of the literature, takes the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle as a reference, and uses the Characteristics Analysis method for the evaluation of the CSF and the metrics. The proposal constitutes a technical, participatory and comprehensive approach to support the decision-making in the IP management. © 2023 IEEE.

Stakeholder engagement and decarbonization pathways: Meeting the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

Climate change is an extremely complex challenge characterized by its systemic nature and deep uncertainties. Thus, finding solutions requires a continuing and constructive dialogue between the research community and a wide range of stakeholders from governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society, international organizations, industry, businesses and financial institutions. The ENGAGE project (https://www.engage-climate.org/) is advancing knowledge co-production through an iterative process of stakeholder engagement with two main streams: (i) stakeholder co-design and assessment of global decarbonization pathways and (ii) stakeholder dialogues on national policies and pathways. Both the global and national stakeholder processes are designed to inform multiple project activities, including: conceptualization of feasibility and assessing the feasibility of decarbonization policies and strategies;decarbonization pathway development using integrated assessment models and considering both feasibility and equity;and assessment of the relative importance of climate change impacts vis-à-vis potential co-benefits. With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic 6 months after the beginning of the project, all of the stakeholder engagement activities had to be organized as online events. Between March 2020 and April 2022, 5 online workshops were organized, two at the global level and 3 at the regional/national level. This paper documents how the challenges of effectively engaging stakeholders in a co-design and dialogue process in an online setting have been met through a process of evaluation and learning that led to the introduction of new approaches and tools to support an inclusive exploration and development of low-carbon transition pathways. We show that a combination of interactive visualizations, open channel surveys and moderated breakout groups are particularly useful tools for online stakeholder engagement. The learning that has taken place through the use of these tools is demonstrated with reference to both the research team (e.g., learning about stakeholders' views on the feasibility of decarbonization pathways) and the stakeholders (e.g., learning about experiences in other countries in dealing with the challenges of decarbonization). The results of using these tools have been used within the project in the design of new decarbonization pathways using integrated assessment models, in the development of a framework for feasibility assessment and in increased attention to socio-economic drivers of change. We conclude that despite several advantages of online engagement, such as the expanded geographical coverage and reduced CO2 emissions, the need to keep online meetings short means that important elements of face-to-face meetings cannot be included. Online activities cannot completely replace physical meetings when dealing with complex issues such as climate change. Copyright © 2023 Jäger, Brutschin, Pianta, Omann, Kammerlander, Sudharmma Vishwanathan, Vrontisi, MacDonald and van Ruijven.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Times of Epidemic Outbreaks: A Case Study from the Hospitality Industry in Spain

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly seen as a key aspect of business management. The rapid spatial spread of the COVID-19 outbreak led to border closures and mandatory mass quarantine. In this context, sectors such as the hospitality industry have been actively involved in various CSR activities, providing infrastructure and resources to help governments and societies cope with the pandemic. This study examines the different effects of CSR activities in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, both from a business and institutional perspective. A qualitative research design has been chosen for this purpose, based on the analysis of in-depth qualitative interviews with the CEO and senior executives of three international hotel chains in Spain. The results reveal that CSR activities have contributed to containing the pandemic by helping to reduce the collapse of healthcare, as well as improving the organization's performance in terms of reputation and image. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Who is willing-to-pay for sustainable last mile innovations?

The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the growth of e-commerce. As a result, urban freight transport volume is increasing, leading to traffic congestion and negative environmental impacts, while service quality is deteriorating. These challenges can be addressed through radical innovation of urban last mile logistics with environmental-friendly transportation modes (e. g., cargo bikes), consolidation points (e. g., micro hubs) and new digital service models (e. g., time window alignments). However, sustainability improvements lead to higher costs and will not be realized - beyond pilot studies - until they become economically viable. Therefore, willingness-to-pay (WTP) for sustainable last mile innovations (LMI) is one of the most important success factors. In our work, we aim to investigate the WTP for the additional costs of sustainable LMI. While various stakeholders such as online retailers, logistics service providers or city administrations could benefit from sustainable LMI, in our study we focus on the group that is likely to benefit the most: urban inhabitants. Therefore, we investigated consumers' WTP for sustainable LMI by conducting a questionnaire survey in Germany in September and October 2020 (n = 1,071) and analyzing the data using multivariate statistics. The results show four consumer segments, their characteristics, and their WTP for LMI. Based on the results, implications for stakeholders (especially online retailers) are derived to address the behavior of each consumer segment towards more sustainability in urban last mile logistics. Further research would be interesting to evaluate allocation scenarios for the additional costs among all last mile stakeholders empirically. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance Post COVID-19: The Nordic Perspective

COVID-19 outbreak has re-designed business activities and changed the priorities in our lives. Since the pandemic is a sign of overexploitation of our habitat, it has stressed the importance of sustainable and resilient businesses and ‘stakeholderism'. A recent survey conducted by Willis Towers Watson (WTW) revealed that 74 percent of the American companies proceed with their executive compensation frameworks widely consistent with last year's;only 12 percent stated that they will make substantive changes in their corporate governance and remuneration structures. Surprisingly, the survey result does not alter too much in the Nordic countries which are egalitarian and stakeholder-oriented. Three-fifth (57 to 61 percent) of the employers in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland expressed that they are not planning to change the structure of the executive schemes and that one-fourth (24 to 26 percent) are still unsure. Therefore, this book chapter, as a commentary, aims to disclose and interpret the survey results from the Nordic countries perspective and guide the practitioners and academics on how the corporate governance systems and executive compensation schemes should be modified to reach fair, resilient, and sustainable businesses based on the key takeaways from the COVID recession and stakeholder theory. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Analysis Of The Scope Of India's Virtual Court Hearings

With the increasing internet accessibility in India and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the practice of virtual court hearing has been accelerated in India. The virtual Court acts as an effective means to conduct Court proceedings, debarring geographical barriers and uplifting Courtroom functioning's productivity. Along with the practical applicability of virtual court hearings in India comes the glitches or challenges posed by the virtual hearing of matters. Nonetheless, the necessity of physical hearing of matters cannot be ignored. In pursuance of this, arguments in favor of reverting towards physical hearings after the pandemic situation ends are being posed before the Indian Judiciary, which negates the applicability of virtual courtrooms. Thereby, this article aims to analyze the applicability, necessity and efficacy of virtual court hearings and the challenges posed by Virtual Court hearings in India.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.

Auditing of SARS-COV-2 Contagion and Transmission Protocols as a Stakeholder Management Tool

Governments and companies in all affected countries have taken measures to prevent, on the one hand, the rapid spread of the virus among the population and, on the other hand, to alleviate the economic and commercial consequences of the crisis that is already changing the daily functioning of the population and the companies. The COVID-19 pandemic has radically and unexpectedly transformed the global economic landscape. The objective of this work is to demonstrate a set of information that can meet the expectations of the internal and external stakeholders of an organization concerned with constructively relating to its stakeholders–aiming at the possibility of carrying out the work and serving customers in the context of the pandemic. The research method is the study based on the literature review process focusing on information and research systems, books, and a manufacturer's case study. It also has practical data–information collected from audits carried out. Stakeholders' expectations and interests are connected to this issue and can be aligned through an Audit of Contagion and Transmission Protocols of SARS-COV-2. Copyright © 2021 Muncinelli, Pinheiro de Lima, Vecchia, Moro, Deschamps, Gouvea da Costa and Cestari.

Modeling key enablers influencing FinTechs offering SME credit services: A multi-stakeholder perspective.

The study models inter-relationship among key enablers that influence the growth of FinTechs that offer credit services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It focuses on emerging market of India, which is the world's third-largest FinTech centre. It employs Grey DEMATEL method to measure the cause-effect relationship based on the assessment given by FinTech practitioners, experts, policymakers, and investors. The results show that credit demand by SME borrowers, availability of alternate data sources, and Covid-19 are the critical enablers that exercise strong impact on FinTech system. Collaboration between FinTechs and traditional financial institutions, end-to-end financial solutions, and scalability of business operations are recognized as critical dependents that are hugely affected by others. The study recommends policymakers to foster collaborative environment, strengthen digital data landscape, and improve financial literacy to develop FinTech sector. It recommends practitioners to focus on data security and to offer end-to-end financial solutions to its SME borrowers.

Factors Influencing Emerging CompetencieAmong Professional Accountants in the Cyber Era: Malaysian Evidence

The recent rise of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology is a wake-up call for the accounting profession. They face numerous challenges in adapting to the demanding cyber era. This study was conducted to examine the internal and external factors that drive the emerging competencies among professional accountants in Malaysia. A qualitative approach was employed with a semi-structured interview conducted with companies awarded Graduates' Choice Awards, Company of The Year, Best Workplace Practices Award and Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership Award in recent years. This study found that internal factors such as the company's vision, leadership change, individual achievement indicators, technology and business process are the main contributors influencing the changes in the accounting function. On the other hand, external factors such as political issues, the requirement to respond to green the environment, and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused the emergence of competencies among professional accountants. The competencies include soft skills, empathy, analytical, leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, integrity, and flexibility. This is consistent with the stakeholder theory by Freeman, which explains that different stakeholders' expectations lead to changes in how organisations operate. Indirectly forcing the accounting profession to respond accordingly. © 2023, Universiti Teknologi Mara. All rights reserved.