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SCIENCE ARTICLE
On the way to understand responsible business - CSV and ESG concepts from employees' perspective
1
Department of Commerce and Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland
2
Department of International Competitiveness, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Submission date: 2024-07-28
Final revision date: 2025-01-05
Acceptance date: 2025-01-13
Online publication date: 2025-01-30
Publication date: 2025-02-03
Corresponding author
Joanna Lemańczyk
Department of Commerce and Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland
Department of Commerce and Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland
Management 2024;28(2):444-476
KEYWORDS
JEL CLASSIFICATION CODES
M14
L20
M54
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The main aim of this article is to explore how employees are aware of and perceive companies' commitment to environmental and social issues through the concepts of Creating Shared Value (CSV) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). The authors begin with a critical review of the theoretical background of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Then, they highlight and compare a shift towards the more profit-oriented CSV and ESG concepts. Additionally, the authors examine generational attitudes toward corporate sustainability, focusing primarily on employees' perspectives. The second part of the article presents empirical findings based on qualitative research using focus group interviews. This section clarifies the extent to which employees understand sustainable development. Surprisingly, despite investors' heightened interest in CSV and ESG, employees need to become more familiar with these concepts, being more acquainted with CSR. Moreover, while the literature emphasizes the importance of environmental and social concerns to employees, the results reveal a general skepticism toward businesses claiming social responsibility, particularly when such claims lack concrete evidence. The study also finds that employees prioritize financial factors over sustainable development when making job decisions. This work contributes to the research on sustainable development in the context of human resources.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Supported by funds granted by the Minister of Science of the Republic of Poland under the „Regional Initiative for Excellence” Programme for the implementation of the project “The Poznań University of Economics and Business for Economy 5.0: Regional Initiative – Global Effects (RIGE)”.
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