scholarly journals Business and morals: Corporate strategies for sustainable development in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Banik ◽  
Ka Lin

AbstractThere has been considerable attention in recent years on the close linkages between business, ethics, and economic development and how businesses not only have responsibilities to their shareholders but also to wider society. The growing power and influence of emerging economies has resulted in increased scholarly interest in China on studying the domestic political commitments to corporate social responsibility strategies (CSR), and their potential contribution to promoting the country's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative and thereby achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article explores the factors that influence CSR strategies and performance and examines whether we are witnessing the emergence of a new form of social responsibility among Chinese businesses that prioritizes sustainable development. In order to better understand how CSR strategies in China are being potentially reshaped and realigned with the SDGs, we examined the CSR reports and practices of selected Chinese companies both before and after the adoption of the SDGs at the United Nations in 2015. By focusing on the CSR-SDG linkages in China, our study contributes to a better understanding of state advocacy aimed at influencing corporate behavior on sustainable development.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8316
Author(s):  
Camelia Mirela Baba ◽  
Constantin Duguleană ◽  
Marius Sorin Dincă ◽  
Liliana Duguleană ◽  
Gheorghița Dincă

The Covid-19 induced economic crisis has significantly affected almost all businesses from nearly every sector, causing severe financial problems, lack of cash assets, and decrease of revenues. In this context, the economic entities were forced to look for adjustment and rescue solutions of their activities. One possible solution for the recovery and reorganization of economic entities’ activities is demerger. This paper evaluates the impact of demerger upon the sustainable development of economic entities in terms of economic efficiency and financial performances. To achieve this goal, a statistical analysis of profitability ratios before and after the demerger, as well as a structural analysis of 268 demerger projects for the April 2012–April 2021 period, were performed. The results attest there are no significant differences between the ex-ante and ex-post financial performances. However, demerger seems to have a positive effect upon analyzed companies helping them to overcome economic hardships, rethink their business strategies, and continue their activity in the medium and long-term time horizon.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10727
Author(s):  
Hiroki Murata ◽  
Motoyuki Hara ◽  
Chinatsu Yonezawa ◽  
Teruhisa Komatsu

Background Coastal ecosystems are blue infrastructures that support coastal resources and also aquaculture. Seagrass meadows, one of coastal ecosystems, provide substrates for epiphytic diatoms, which are food resources for cultured filter feeder organisms. Highly intensive coastal aquaculture degrades coastal environments to decrease seagrass meadows. Therefore, efficient aquaculture management and conservation of seagrass meadows are necessary for the sustainable development of coastal waters. In ria-type bays, non-feeding aquaculture of filter feeders such as oysters, scallops, and ascidians are actively practiced along the Sanriku Coast, Japan. Before the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the over-deployment of oyster culture facilities polluted the bottom environment and formed an hypoxic bottom water layer due to the organic excrements from cultured oysters. The tsunami in 2011 devastated the aquaculture facilities and seagrass meadows along the Sanriku Coast. We mapped the oyster culture rafts and seagrass meadows in Nagatsura-ura Lagoon, Sanriku Coast before and after the tsunami and monitored those and environments after the tsunami by field surveys. Methods We conducted field surveys and monitored the environmental parameters in Nagatsura-ura Lagoon every month since 2014. We used high-resolution satellite remote sensing images to map oyster culture rafts and seagrass meadows at irregular time intervals from 2006 to 2019 in order to assess their distribution. In 2019, we also used an unmanned aerial vehicle to analyze the spatial variability of the position and the number of ropes suspending oyster clumps beneath the rafts. Results In 2013, the number and distribution of the oyster culture rafts had been completely restored to the pre-tsunami conditions. The mean area of culture raft increased after the tsunami, and ropes suspending oyster clumps attached to a raft in wider space. Experienced local fishermen also developed a method to attach less ropes to a raft, which was applied to half of the oyster culture rafts to improve oyster growth. The area of seagrass meadows has been expanding since 2013. Although the lagoon had experienced frequent oyster mass mortality events in summer before the tsunami, these events have not occurred since 2011. The 2011 earthquake and tsunami deepened the sill depth and widened the entrance to enhance water exchange and improve water quality in the lagoon. These changes brought the expansion of seagrass meadows and reduction of mass mortality events to allow sustainable oyster culture in the lagoon. Mapping and monitoring of seagrass meadows and aquaculture facilities via satellite remote sensing can provide clear visualization of their temporal changes. This can in turn facilitate effective aquaculture management and conservation of coastal ecosystems, which are crucial for the sustainable development of coastal waters.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 413-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hortensia Gorski ◽  
Mircea Fuciu ◽  
Luigi Dumitrescu

Abstract The current changes and challenges of the economic and financial environments have created a need for further development in the way higher education, organizations and management systems view the sustainable development and business education. The purpose of this paper is to examine different aspects and approaches regarding sustainability, sustainable development, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the context of business education. The research is based on a literature review, on the experience gained as a result of our participation in various projects and international activities regarding the above-mentioned concepts, and on the results of several qualitative and quantitative marketing researches developed by the authors. Based on these findings we are underlining the fact that the concepts related to CSR and its components are not well known by managers of companies and public institutions and we also point out the fact that the respondents that have knowledge and skills in this field, have acquired most of them outside the formal education system. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the discussion needed to take place in order to understand that universities should make important steps not only for reorienting curriculum, developing programs, and modules, but also in implementing innovative teaching methods in order to integrate such topics in their educational programs.


Author(s):  
Naglaa Fathy El Dessouky

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a significant field of studies to stress the importance of the new role of organizations towards the society for sustainable development. Nowadays, an enormous number of authors have been participating in this field to highlight the responsibility of organizations towards the community, society and the natural environment where they are operating. Despite the growing number of researches related to CSR in the developed countries little empirical studies have been devoted to examine CSR concept and practice in the African countries, the MENA region (Middle-East and North Africa), as well as in the Golf countries. This chapter seeks to study CSR concept and practice in the emerging market economies (EMEs). It will mainly focus on the implementations of CSR by the public banking sector. We will investigate the role of the public banking sector existing in an Arab country in comparison to an Asian country to explain and analyze the similarities and differences of CSR activities in both experiences. In this comparative study we will primarily examine Banque Misr, as one of the oldest and largest public bank in Egypt and the Malayan Banking Berhad (trading as Maybank) as the largest public bank in Malaysia. After a meticulous review of literature, we propose a systemic framework to study CSR practices and policy implementations. We illustrated the CSR as a constant process where all variables are interrelated and are affecting each other in a mutual approach. In this systemic framework we advocated to study all significant variables related to CSR practice as: the history/philosophy development, core-values, CSR adopted definition, motives, key players, approaches, stakeholders focus, sectors of intervention and mechanisms of policy implementations. The chapter concludes that common CSR policies exist between the Malaysian and the Egyptian experience. Nevertheless the Malaysian model has formulated an elaborated and further sophisticated CSR public banking program. Meanwhile, the Egyptian model needs to adopt more global oriented CSR public banking policies, in particular to assure the sustainable development requirements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5718
Author(s):  
Zdeněk Mikulka ◽  
Ivana Nekvapilová ◽  
Jolana Fedorková

The article focuses on the social aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Czech Armed Forces (CAF) and, more specifically, on professional ethics as a prerequisite for the sustainable development of the security organization. The text presents the results of research conducted on a sample of 278 members of the CAF. This research was based on Schwartz’s holistic concept. To determine value orientation, a reduced version with 21 entries of the Schwartz’s Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) was used. Our data indicate that value orientation changes depending on military rank, depends, to a certain degree, on trait conformity (including obedience, respect for authorities, politeness, and self-control), and increases in the presence of lower-ranking individuals. Based on these findings the authors recommend to continue monitoring the value profiles of CAF members at various stages in their careers, to determine the optimal range of self-identification with a certain military rank and position, and to provide rank and position-specific educational programs into military ethics and ethical leadership aimed at sustainable development of moral-values.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 510-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob D Rendtorff

This paper analyses the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations in the 2030 ‘Transforming the World’ Agenda, from 2015, as a contribution to business ethics and ethical economy. The Sustainable Development Goals combine political aims with visions of economic development and social justice and are therefore important for business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Thus, the Sustainable Development Goals constitute a driver for ethical economic development and social change. However, there is a need for critical analysis of the possibilities of Sustainable Development Goals of functioning as a vision and a strategic tool for management and governance. The aim of the paper is to investigate these possibilities of the Sustainable Development Goals of contributing to business ethics and ethical economy with mobilization of business, public institutions and organizations, and non-governmental organizations. After presenting the Sustainable Development Goals, the paper critically discusses their scope and potential for corporate social responsibility, business ethics and corporate sustainability. This involves the problem of how the Sustainable Development Goals can contribute to a transformation towards another economy. As a contribution to business ethics, the paper elaborates on partnerships for Sustainable Development Goals, sustainable performance management systems and the Sustainable Development Goal Compass with the aim of interpreting Sustainable Development Goals as a basis for progressive business ethics models.


Author(s):  
Cornelia Philipova

The processes accompanying state social policy over recent decades as well as their contradictory impact on the sustainable development of the society are one of the fundamental problems of our time. Nowadays, there are still no clear solutions to the debate how to alleviate some of the fundamental problems like environmental pollution, poverty, aged population, income inequality, social exclusion, etc. This chapter aims to show how multinational corporations (MNCs) take the role to solve these issues following some corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. In this way, they offer a means by which the current CSR model can be used more effectively to achieve these sustainable development targets. The structure of the chapter is organized as follows: Section 2 presents an evolution while Section 3 provides a summary of some contemporary views of CSR. Section 4 describes the way in which CSR is used as a sustainable development tool.


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